Today’s Word from Pastor Tom Kidd…
An educator was expounding on the importance of imagination, “Creativity must be co-equal to literacy.” Picasso said, “All children are born artists.” So how is it that most of us would plaintively sigh that there is not an artistic bone in our body? What happened? Being a grandfather to the lovely Vivian Magdaline (2-years) has taught me the truth that children dance before they can walk, and sing before they can talk. Truth?
This same educator spoke of a 6-year-old child who was uninspired in school. The exception was if the class was standing at an easel, drawing. The teacher asked the little girl what she was drawing. “God,” she replied. The teacher told her that no one knows what God looks like. “They will in a minute,” came the best of answers.
Creativity, or imagination is, I believe, a spiritual gift. Holy Week is about the imagination of the heart as much as it is about the Passion of our Lord Jesus. The drama of Holy Week is, in fact, a daily reality in all of our lives… triumph, shared symbols of life, betrayal, failure, the isolating darkness, a new start. Imagination, in the face of a Coronavirus, can be fresh air.
Question: Who was the high priest who officiated at the Good Friday sacrifice of Jesus?
Spoiler alert… He was the same guy who committed suicide (Matthew 27:1-10).
I often reflect on the life of Leah during Holy Week. Mother Leah was the first wife of the patriarch Jacob (this was a day of multiple wives plus the odd concubine… don’t ask, rules have changed). Mother Leah wanted only one thing in life, she had only one prayer she brought before God: she wanted her husband, Jacob, to love her. That’s it. Jacob? He loved his second wife, Rachel, Leah’s sister. God saw that Leah was not loved, and so he opened her womb and she gave Jacob a son. Leah named him Reuben, which means “The Lord has seen my misery.” But Jacob did not love Leah. So, God blessed Mother Leah with a second son, and she named him Simeon which means “The Lord has heard my cry.” Jacob? Nope. He did not love Leah. A third son was born. She named him Levi which means “Now my husband will love me.” But Jacob remained a jerk; he did not love Leah.
When her next son was born, Leah’s focus changed. It changed from the anguish of a disappointed life to a life of gratitude for God’s blessing. She named her fourth son Judah, or “Yudah,” which means “I will praise the Lord.” Yudah is also a gesture, it is two hands raised, with palms turned up as a sign of praise, or as a gesture of handing over. As with a priest handing over the sacrifice. Or, as an act of betrayal.
Judas, or Yudah, served as the high priest who handed over Jesus for the Good Friday Sacrifice. How often do we think of Judas serving in a holy capacity? Yet, all the while, Jesus was preparing to sacrifice for the sins of the world, including the sins of Judas. Now, this calls for some imagination.
Like Mother Leah, we too can find life disappointing. We can be faithful, wash our hands, go to church, and still be struck (directly or indirectly) by a pandemic. As broken as life can get (and it can get pretty broken) this is a week to try our best to focus not on our story, but on the story of Christ, the story of God’s love for us. Imagine, all the while Judas is planning on betraying Jesus, God is planning on loving Judas. Even in his death. This all works a little better if you can muster some imagination… a little Holy Week creativity of the heart. God loves us, is a good place to start.
Stay safe, check in on one another, and believe that God can bring blessing out of these difficult days. A blessed Holy Week to you all, we are loved. All of us.
Pastor Tom Kidd
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