Dearly Beloved of God,
It’s Good Friday. I’m contemplating what it all means. The agony that Jesus willingly accepted. What he went through. Why was he doing it and what is the it that he accomplished when he said, “It is finished”?It was in the moment that the questions flashed through my mind that the Limpock appeared sitting atop of the books on the tea table opposite my recliner. He pushed up his spectacles on his bulbous nose and said in his nasal tone, “I think I know what’s bothering you?”I said, “Really?”He responded, “Yup! You are frustrated by the manner in which the average person responds to what Jesus did. You think maybe it never has been made clear enough. That is assuming it is clear to you.”I said, “What?” He smiled. Guess what happened next . Yes, he snapped his fingers three times and we entered the familiar whirlwind of color until he put us down, gently this time, mind you, to a side of the empty tomb where we saw a woman talking to a man. Gingwiggle whispered, “Yes, that’s Mary M.” He raised a finger and said, “Watch what is happening.” We watched as she turned to look at the man behind her. It was obvious that she didn’t recognize him. She questioned him and while speaking turned to look back into the empty tomb. The man spoke a word and Mary M. turned again to face him. Suddenly she recognized him.Gingwiggle snapped his fingers again and returned us to the living room. Before I could gather my wits about me, He asked, “What did you see?” I stuttered and he asked, “Did you see the process? The process is what Jesus did. It is what He accomplished and continues to do today.” He cocked his head to one side and gave me a critical look. “Okay, let’s try something different.” I cringed as he snapped those fingers again. This time the whirlwind dropped us into a crowded room in which a weathered looking red-headed man was addressing everyone. The Limpock whispered, “This is the home of Cornelius the centurion.”I whispered back, “Then that’s Peter?” Gingwiggle nodded, put his finger up to his lips to hush me, indicating he wanted me to listen.Peter continued saying, “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” If you can believe it, Gingwiggle snapped his fingers one more time and we were back in the living room. The recliner felt good but the Limpock wasn’t at all finished with me. He lowered his chin and his spectacles slid down his nose. He raised his eyebrows and said, “Well, do you perceive it now?”I scratched my beard and said, “What?”Gingwiggle sighed. “The Process. The it! The accomplishment! Peter was realizing something new. He was letting go of his old relationship with the Father. It wasn’t rules and regulations and he could no longer perceive himself as one of God’s chosen people. God was choosing everyone. That was like a light bulb going on in his head.”I don’t think he liked the look on my face. He pursed his lips and shook his head and finally spoke. “Open up that bible next to you and find Levicticus 26:10!” I picked up the book and found the passage. It read “You shall have to clear out the old and make way for the new.” “Alright, now turn to Isaiah 48:6,” he said. I obeyed and read “You have heard; now see all this; and will you not declare it? From this time forward I make you hear new things, hidden things that you have not known.” He stood up on top of the books on the tea table and said, “Read Matthew 9:17!” I flipped the pages to the New Testament and found the verse. “Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so they are both preserved.”The Lord of the Limpocks straightened himself up as tall as he could standing on those books and pointed. “We aren’t finished! Read Second Corinthians 5:17.”I read out loud, “So, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” “Now dear priest,” said Gingwiggle. “Share the vision. The process of Jesus creating new life. Good Friday is the doorway through which He takes you. He willingly and patiently endures the agony of giving us new life, by taking all our sins, our baggage, the burdens which hold us back from the relationship with the Father, who desires us as he originally made us. So it is that the Son rises. The old Jesus rises as the new Jesus. You are raised with Him. You are fresh wine poured into new wineskins, new humanity. You are his new creation. You are Easter People.”Gingwiggle sat down and sighed saying, “You know how the story ends now!”I said, “I do?”He slowly shook his head, sort of smiled and said, “Read Revelation 21:5.” I complied. I opened the book again and read, “And the one who is seated on the throne said, ‘ See I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.’”A Blessed EasterFr. Col+EASTER 2016
