Today is Good Friday 2011.  It is drawing to a close.  Calling it a holiday may not be totally accurate.  Schools tend to take the day off but this may be more about their calendar than the significance of the occasion.  We who believe in Jesus observe today to commemorate the event of the crucifixion.  This is why it may not be a holiday to some degree.  Believers do mark this day with reflection on both the physical and spiritual meaning of the cross.  I do not know if there really is any way to wrap our mind around what happened.  Dying in this manner was nothing short of brutal.  Roman troops were very adept at causing as much torture as possible.  We also deal with the spiritual meaning.  Jesus is more than a good man who is wrongly executed by the government.  He is God's son yielding His life in our place.  It is a gift far surpassing our being deserving of it.

Maybe this is where we might miss out on what today means.  We know Jesus died in our place.  We talk about how His death is demonstrating God's love for us.  Anyone can look on the calendar to see that Easter follows on Sunday.  All of this works for us as long as it stays safe or distant.  What tends to make us nervous is to be real about our place in this drama.  It is one thing to grasp Jesus dying on account of sin.  We just would rather not deal with our individual responsibility in the matter.  So we live with differing degrees of guilt for what we did or imagined we did wrong.  We draw back from the divine presence because we refuse to be honest with self or with God.  Some go an entirely different direction.  Comparing faults or failures leaves room for a few to feel superior than others.  This is not because of divine grace but it grows from some insecure need to think self as better than another.  Neither of these choices really deals with Good Friday or what it is about. 

Here is one of the reasons churches struggle along.  Good Friday as well as Easter are days on a calendar more than they are statements of who we are.  They become another religious observance more than a reason for us to get real.  Being honest about our sinful tendencies is no cause of shame.  We get shame from the cover up not the confession of failure.  No room is left for feeling superior to any other human being.  You come to grips with being a sinner in desperate need of grace.  Boasting is not allowed once you admit to being helpless without divine help.  You will realize this makes you like every other person on the planet.  There is an old gospel quote that says, "The ground is level at the foot of the cross."  Here is reason to celebrate.  You are free to be who God made you no matter how far you fall short.  This is a big deal compared to any other option.  It's what makes Good Friday so good.

Bro. Trey