The Calm Before the Storm

It is Wednesday of Holy Week. Today things hit a "lull." There are no major events recorded in the Gospels about what Jesus did on this day. It is like the calm before the storm. Indeed, for those of you who are church workers (especially pastors), today is the calm before the storm. The flurry of activity that will take place starting tomorrow and running through Sunday can be overwhelming. For those of you who are active members in a church, you may well be busy too, attending services while also preparing for family celebrations and community activities. The calm before the storm.

But it isn't the activities and all that we must do that is what is on my mind. Instead, I look at the calm before the storm in the Lord's life. Sitting in Mary and Martha's house on this Wednesday so many years ago, I can't imagine what must have been going through His mind. As the Son of God, He knew what was about to take place. He knew what He was going to go through in the next 48 hours. More importantly, He knew why He was going to go through all these things.

He could well have had the year 2013 in His mind as He sat quietly, contemplating His Passion. The sin of the people - shown as the United States Supreme Court justices try to decide if marriage is between one man and one women or between two people of any sex. How He must have shook His head and shed a tear! Then He probably thought about the heterosexual sexual activity taking place outside of marriage between one man and one woman and He again shook His head and shed a tear! Then He thought about those sitting and looking at pornography at the computers, and He shook His head and shed a tear! He probably thought about all the ways that mankind in 2013 misuses the wonderful gift of sexuality and tries to justify their sin by couching it in words of "love" and "compassion" and "understanding," and He shook His head and shed a tear.

Then I can just imagine that Jesus bowed His head in prayer and said to His Father, "It is for all these sins that I must sacrifice My sinless life upon the cross. Without My death and resurrection, there would be no hope, no forgiveness, no heaven for any of them. Father, Your will be done." The calm before the storm and He goes into the storm for you and me and for each sinner. He goes to the cross for the heterosexual who engages in sex outside of marriage. He goes to the cross for the homosexual who engages in any sex. He goes to the cross for the heterosexual who is involved in the perverse sexual activity that is disgusting to God. He goes to the cross for the sinner.

Things will break lose in less than 24 hours. The events that took place on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday (our terms, not His) will roll quickly through our days and our lives. The question I ask you, "Will they make a difference in your life? Will those events change you? Or will you continue in your sin like nothing happened?"

I doubt that our nation will change. There will be the debate if same sex marriage is acceptable. Some will say yes and some will say no. The one question not being asked (and I don't expect it to be asked) is, "What does God say?" And then the debate begins anew as each side argues their point of view. In the end, God had already spoken on this issue (and on all sexuality issues) in the the 6th Commandment. Redefine marriage? Does that change God's view? Not at all. It just makes it all the more important to remember that Jesus died on the cross for all sinners.

Yes, the calm before the storm.