Christ Suffers with Us

Last week was hard. It was one of those weeks that makes you wonder how you even got through it. When we experience tragedy people often feel the need to "say something," to explain why bad things happen, or even try to put a positive spin on something that isn't positive. 

Common things we hear: 

"Everything happens for a reason."

"God just wanted his child to come home."

"Give your life to Jesus because that could have been you who died."

"God has a purpose in taking him from us."

I'm mean no disrespect to people who say these things, or even believe these things. But, I must say that comments like these have potential to be very hurtful when people are grieving and mourning. There is no positive spin on violent death. Those of us who loved Angel will always have a "Angel-sized" hole in our lives. The loss is brutal, real, and painful.

We grieve, but not without hope. My best encouragement is found in Psalm 34:18 -- "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in Spirit." The darkness is real, but we don't have to walk through it alone. Jesus can say those who mourn are blessed because He is there with them. The hurting have a special place in God's heart.

Last night at Embrace I sang one of my favorite songs by a band named "Waterdeep": "18 Bullet Holes".  The gist of the song is that our world is jacked-up: full of pain, suffering, death, and grief.  We grieve, but we don't grieve alone. Jesus suffered and he still suffers with us. God is sobbing with us, walking with us through the darkness alongside us. It won't be easy, but we can get through it.

"Oh, God, it hurts so bad to love anybody down here

Why don't you come and help me out?

Cause I can't even see clear

Oh, God, it hurts so bad to love anybody down here

Oh, that's right, You know so well

One thorny crown, three nails, and a spear"

Waterdeep, "18 Bullet Holes"

This song goes out to my friends, Lissette and Cristian. You're not alone in the struggle.

-Pastor John

What is Normal?

https://sojo.net/articles/advent-2016-not-normal-not-now-not-come

I think Jim Wallis is right: We can't normalize what is happening in our nation, especially as followers of Jesus. Through his radical compassion for and identification with the poor, Jesus prophetically criticized what was "normal" and "accepted" in his culture. He also demonstrated another way, offering a new "normal" that was very different from the numbness of the Empire.

 

In his book, Prophetic Imagination, Brueggemann writes:

 

"Empires live by numbness. Empires, in their militarism, expect numbness about the cost of war. Corporate economies expect blindness to the cost in terms of poverty and exploitation. Governments and societies of domination go to great lengths to keep numbness intact. Jesus penetrates this numbness by his compassion and with his compassion takes the first step by making visible the odd abnormality that had become business as usual" (88).

 

From the linked article:

 

"It is theologically and spiritually powerful to understand, especially in the face of our own political context, that the Incarnation came to our poorest streets. Jesus was born poor, later announces his mission at Nazareth as “bringing good news to the poor,” and then tells us that how we treat “the least of these” is his measure of how we treat and love him. That radically defined all of our social contexts clearly revealing the real meaning of Christmas, whatever is on the signs at the shopping malls."

 

-Pastor John

Funeral Arrangements for Angel Juarez (Arreglos Funerarios de Ángel Juárez)

Funeral Arrangements for Angel Juarez

Visitation: 5-7pm on Wednesday, Nov. 30th
Funeral Service: 7pm on Wednesday, Nov. 30th
Graveside Service: 1pm on Thursday, Dec. 1st (meet at Embrace Church at noon for procession)

Visitation and Funeral Service will be held at:
Embrace Church
1015 N. Limestone St.
Lexington, KY 40505

Graveside Service will be held at:
Lexington Cemetery
833 W. Main St.
Lexington, KY 40508

Arreglos Funerarios de Ángel Juárez

Velorio: miércoles el 30 de noviembre de 5-7pm
Servicio Funerario: miércoles el 30 de noviembre a las 7:00pm
Servicio al Pie de la Tumba: jueves, 1 de diciembre a la 1:00pm (Nos reuniremos en la Iglesia Embrace a las 12pm para el cortejo fúnebre)

Velorio y Servicio Funerario se llevarán a cabo en:
Iglesia Embrace
1015 N. Limestone St.
Lexington, KY 40505

Servicio al Pie de la Tumba se llevará a cabo en:
Cementerio de Lexington
833 W. Main St.
Lexington, KY 40508