Our God meets us where we are. Our God risked being born in human flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. Our God comes to us while we are still sinners (Rom. 5:8). “Our God meets us most profoundly at the point of our deepest reality - our honest confrontation with weakness, pain, solitude and death” (Daniel Erlander, Baptized, We Live, p. 4).

Of course, this is not to say that God is only around at times like Good Friday. God meets us just the same in our joyful and happy moments. Yet, at some point all of us are faced with the reality of life in this world. It is not all gladness and light. People suffer and die and grieve. People are lonely and sick and oppressed. People are hurt and abandoned and experience loss. And when we are the ones who are going through these things, God meets us where we are.

Our God has entered into human experience through Jesus Christ. Our God knows what it is to weep. Our God knows what it is like to be abandoned and left all alone. Our God knows what it is like to watch your child suffer and die. Our God knows suffering and grief and pain. Our God knows what it is like to be hungry and tired. Our God knows what it is like to have jealousy and hatred and scorn directed at you. Our God knows first-hand how despicable and cruel human beings can be.

While many might wish that God would simply get rid of all of these things, we miss the fact that all of the human beings would need to be removed from the planet in order for that to happen. Instead, God has entered into our experience in humility and in love, enduring even the cross and the grave through Jesus Christ. And it is here, at the cross, that God invites us into a relationship with him through Jesus.

It is here, at the cross, that our sins are forgiven. It is here, at the cross, that we see the depth of God’s love for us. It is here, at the cross, that the power of sin and death are overcome, so that even when suffering and death enter into our lives, it is never the last word.

For those who believe in Jesus Christ, we still experience both the best and the worst that life in this world has to offer. However, we know that we have a Saviour and that we are never alone on our journey through this world. We also know that death is never truly the end, but simply a gateway into the life to come.

And so, when we are hurting or weak or vulnerable, God is there. When we are sick or grieving or dying, God is there. When we are feeling abandoned or alone or sad, God is there. In fact, it is at these times that we discover the power and strength of God most profoundly. Whatever it is that we are going through, God feels it with us. Our God meets us where we are.

Still, our God does more than simply meeting us. Through faith in Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, our God takes our despair and infuses it with hope. Our God takes our sin and death and gives us eternal life instead. Our God takes our weakness and vulnerability and teaches us to rely on God’s strength. Our God takes our suffering upon himself in order to give us healing and new life. What wondrous love is this! Amen.

Good Friday      Isaiah 52:13-53:12
April 10, 2009      John 18:1-19:42
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2009 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved