Reflections (Identify)

I have been offering these words with the desire to provide words of encouragement and hope in the perilous times of Covid-19.  I am persuaded that we will walk through these days and discover new ways of living more abundantly in the grace of God.
But today.
This is different.  This is Good Friday.  This is the day we remember and reflect on the Cross.  This is the day we read of Jesus being crucified.  If I were to put it in the words of Don McLean in "American Pie", I would say this is the day the music died.
So, we reflect on the cross.  When the sun goes down on Friday evening, there is not a benediction to offer us hope.  There are not words of assurance to bring comfort.  The music died.
During these last few weeks many of us have found ourselves considering our faith in Christ more than normal.  Today I am thinking of how we identify with Jesus.  We preachers talk about that.  We want you to follow Jesus.  But generally we are offering discipleship as a pathway to abundant life.  Today is different.
I realize how difficult it is for me to identify with Jesus in many areas of life. 
I cannot walk on water.
I cannot restore sight to the blind.
I cannot heal the sick.
I cannot feed a multitude with a piece of bread and fish.
I cannot raise the dead.
I cannot even fully grasp the teaching - the example - of Jesus.  I get some of it, but not fully.
Where may I identify with Jesus? Then it hits me.  The cross.
I have experienced pain.  My body has ached.  My spirit has been grieved.  My soul has felt empty.  Certainly, it is nothing compared to Jesus' pain and suffering on the cross.  But I am able to identify with Jesus in pain.  I have felt pain.
Maybe today we can acknowledge some of our pain and suffering.
A teacher who realizes they will not see their students anymore this year.
A graduating senior who realizes they will not have the normal graduation.
A sick person who will not get well.
A loved one we will not see today.
Financial fear.
A body that aches.
A heart that aches.
A soul in pain.
Acknowledge the sadness.  In doing so, you identify with Jesus on the Cross.  Sure, it is small compared to the torture Jesus endured.  It is small compared to having the burden of the entire world's sin put on you.  It is small compared to the sense of separation from God that caused Jesus to quote Psalm 22, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"
Acknowledge your pain, sadness, grief.
But realize this.  There is something that comes with identifying with Jesus in the Cross.
I once heard a bishop affirm that "God plants the seed of redemption at the heart of every tragedy."
People witnessed the death of Jesus.
But Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus' body and placed it in the tomb.
The women not only waited through the Sabbath day, but planned their return to the tomb.
The disciples not only sat together in fear, but were able to hear a witness some hours later, and go see for themselves.
You are invited to mourn today.  But realize something is at work as you identify with Jesus in his death.
In a few hours...
steve