“
The Chief Priest tried again, this time asking, "Are you the
Messiah, the
Son of the Blessed?"
Jesus said, "Yes, I am, and you'll see it yourself:
The Son of Man seated At the right hand of the Mighty One,
Arriving on the clouds of heaven."
The Chief Priest lost his temper. Ripping his clothes, he yelled, "Did you
hear that? After that do we need witnesses? You heard the blasphemy.
Are you going to stand for it?" hey condemned him, one and all.
The sentence: death." Mark 14:61-64 (MSG)
Son of the Blessed?"
Jesus said, "Yes, I am, and you'll see it yourself:
The Son of Man seated At the right hand of the Mighty One,
Arriving on the clouds of heaven."
The Chief Priest lost his temper. Ripping his clothes, he yelled, "Did you
hear that? After that do we need witnesses? You heard the blasphemy.
Are you going to stand for it?" hey condemned him, one and all.
The sentence: death." Mark 14:61-64 (MSG)
I asked Marty
Sarkissian for permission to
share with you his very personal reflection on Trusting the Master.
The Gospel of Mark contains Jesus’ very clear assertion that He
is indeed God. Marty
reflects on what believing this means.
Jeff
Breaking
through the clouds this morning near 20,000 feet en route to Alabama for
a nephew's wedding, my heart melted as we moved out of the darkness
below, and into the light above. As we ascended it struck me that this journey was special in part because this nephew just two
years ago was on a crash course in life with substance addictions (of
which he is now clean for a year and a half), and in part because my
bride of nearly 21 years sat beside me. "What was that?", I thought as I tightened my belt. A hard jolt hit us as we moved into new streams of air flow still climbing, and reminded me that in the journey of life in marriage and family, there will be some smooth journeys, and some more turbulent - all part of the experience.
As expected, eventually the air smoothed out, and as it did I was glad that the person God so perfectly chose for me in this life, was right beside me on this trip to weather the bumpy ride. "Stay calm, trust the pilot (have faith), enjoy the smooth parts of the ride, tighten your seat belt (be still), and hold the hand of your companion next to you in both dark and sunny times," I reflected, "and eventually you will arrive - TOGETHER."
That's tough to do in a culture where 1 in every 2 marriages choose "one way tickets" to different destinations once the first leg of the trip is not as smooth as expected. "Marriage and family" I thought, "are all about having realistic expectations about the ride to come before we take off". In our culture , where Newlyweds are bombarded with pictures of nothing but smiles, good times, and abundant living in magazines, movies, and social media, it's easy to see how the reality of relational turbulence, tensions, and temptations creates a pressure that is sure to fracture the smooth glass of distorted original expectations when they come.
The same can be said too for parental expectations. Indeed, before my kids were conceived, I had already bought into the perfection offered by the images of sheer joy advertised in the 6 night-7 day trip to the "happiest place on Earth". But real turbulence came when I had to come to grips with the fact that my initial dreams of a typical or exceptional child would be eclipsed by the realities of the struggles of parenting a child with special needs. In fact , I (emphasis on my own accountability here) had set myself up for disappointment - not because he has "special needs" (and surely challenges come even with "typical" children), but because I had shaped an unrealistic vision of what "should be" in my own mind
Descending into Pensacola, Mark Schultz reminded me that perfection was only known on this rock "when love was born". Jesus . . . . Son of God . . . . who died for all humanity. How beautifully outrageous! Tomorrow I will sing the lyrics in Taylor and Mallory's wedding:
Oh Christ, be the center of our lives
Be the place we fix our eyes
Be the center of our lives
We lift our eyes to heaven
We wrap our lives around your life
We lift our eyes to heaven - to you.
And with that, I am conscious that in life , in marriage, in parenting . . . . turbulence WILL come. Come let it may - Trusting the pilot, we will survive eternally.
Amen.
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