"Sunday Morning"

Matt Redman: Worship Songs aren't for the Blokes

via Brad

Blokes aren't the only ones who have trouble singing these songs.

Meditation for Worship: Dec. 27, 2009

William Holman Hunt, The Finding of the Savior in the Temple (1860)

Psalm 148
1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26
Luke 2:41-52
Colossians 3:12-21


Mary and Joseph searched for Him everywhere.
Is He with the relatives? Playing with his cousins?
Perhaps he’s with John—
you know how those two like to run and play hide and seek!
No? Not with John and Elizabeth and Zechariah?
Well, then, Perhaps He’s with friends…Nathan and Jakin!
No?
Not with them, either?
What about Levi and Hannah?
Oh dear…
What’s that?
No one’s seen him since the day before yesterday?
Where is he? Where did he go?
Oh, Jesus! Where ARE you?

Sometimes we can’t find you either, Lord,
We take it for granted that you’re around somewhere,
And then when we call for you, there’s no response.
We become frantic—
Have you left us? What’s happened to you?
Where are you? Where did you go?
What will we do without you?

Mary and Joseph finally found him, after three days of diligent searching.
"Son, why have you treated us like this?
Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you."
Centuries later, our question is no different:
Lord, why have you treated us like this?
We’ve been anxiously searching for you!
I’ve been anxious...
I’ve been searching…
Why have You left me?

Later on You would pose that same question to Your Father.
But on that day,
you met Mary and Joseph’s question with one of your own:
Why were you searching for me?

Lord Jesus, thank you that You have come and searched us out:
Help us to remember that it is not You who are lost, but we ourselves.
May we be found in You today,
as God’s chosen people,
members of Your body,
holy, and dearly loved.

How to Worship

via Tall Skinny Kiwi

Incense needed...lots of incense!

via Brad, Internet Monk explains that "If I become Lutheran, Anglican or Catholic, it will be because I watched this too many times." Specifically, IMonk presents us with "The worst worship ever."



The comments are really the best part of the blog entry. I love Father Ernesto's suggestion:

"Well, in situations like this, I suggest a healthy dollop of incense, to be used at the time when the socks are being taken off to be flung around."

Wonders for Oyarsa offers an amazing contrasting video:

Which gospel do you choose?

Scot McKnight poses a question: "Which Gospel do you Choose?"

Here's a first option, which I've slightly edited, and one that is becoming more and more a way articulating the gospel for some:

"The gospel is not a call to follow Christ's example or his teachings. It is not a proclamation of his kingly reign. It is not an invitation to enter the Church. It does not include a promise of his return. These are all aspects of Christian teaching. But the Gospel, very specifically, is the starting point that prepares for the teaching. The gospel is the good news that Jesus came to save us from our sins by dying on the cross and rising from the dead."

The second one comes from NT Wright, from his book called What Saint Paul Really Said: Was Paul of Tarsus the Real Founder of Christianity? :

My proposal has been that 'the gospel' is not, for Paul, a message about 'how one gets saved', in an individual and ahistorical sense. It is a fourfold announcement about Jesus:

1. In Jesus of Nazareth, specifically in his cross, the decisive victory has been won over all the powers of evil, including sin and death themselves.
2. In Jesus' resurrection the New Age has dawned, inaugurating the long-awaited time when the prophecies would be fulfilled, when Israel's exile would be over, and the whole world would be addressed by the one creator God.
3. The crucified and risen Jesus was, all along, Israel's Messiah, her representative king.
4. Jesus was therefore also the Lord, the true king of the world, the one at whose name every knee would bow.

Two options on the table here. What do you think? Which best captures the gospel for you? What would add to each or either to make it better?

It's an intriguing question. Actually, I wouldn't add anything: I'd edit them both down, the same way that those who have gone before us did. The liturgy puts the gospel at at its center in the memorial acclamation. It is short, sweet, memorable, and transcends every culture:

"Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again."

This puts CHRIST at the center, and requires us to position ourselves in relation to Him each moment of our lives, either to move toward Him, or away from Him.

Whether this proclamation of the gospel better coincides with #1 or #2 matters less than whether we are able to enter into it in faith, with hope, in order to love. I look forward to being able to make this confession every time we have communion at VCC.

Gounod's Sanctus

Continuing to think about music that feeds my soul. Here's Stephen Costello singing the "Sanctus" from Gounod's St. Cecilia Mass.



One of my favorites. What would it be like to worship with such music? I've got to hand it to the Chinese....

Meditation for Worship: Dec. 20, 2008

Lord Jesus Christ,
Morningstar and Light of the World,
You became Incarnate as man
in the womb of your humble servant, Mary.

You, through whom the universe was created—
Flaming nebulae and flashing waters,
Gleaming goldfinches, glowing birches--
you began your earthly course,
in the dark interior of a chaste Virgin.

At the annunciation of this miracle,
Mary responded in faith:
"let it be done to me
according to your word."

May we who are made new creatures
by your grace,
respond with such faith,
when you call us to your service.

May we who are redeemed
by Your sacrifice,
bear You, Lord Jesus, into the world,
with Mary’s same love and courage.

Amen

by David Bennet, with additions by Beth Bilynskyj

Singing to Holst's THAXTED

Susan was excited to report that she was able to sing two wonderful hymns in worship this morning.

We have the first one, "Be Still my Soul," (set to Finlandia by Jean Sibelius) in our Covenant Hymnal, but we do not have the second hymn. It is set to the solemn, stately tune in the Jupiter movement of Gustav Holst's The Planets. I love it when words and music "fit" together and reinforce one another. I hope someday we will be able to sing this at VCC.

O God, beyond all praising
Tune: THAXTED, by Gustav Holst

listen to solo organ here or to a choral/orchestral version here (Starting at 3:03)

O God, beyond all praising, we worship you today
and sing the love amazing that songs cannot repay;
For we can only wonder at every gift you send,
at blessings without number and mercies without end:
We lift our hearts before you and wait upon your word,
We honor and adore you, our great and mighty Lord.

The flower of earthly splendor in time must surely die,
Its fragile bloom surrender to you, the Lord most high;
But hidden from all nature the eternal seed is sown
Though small in mortal stature, to heaven’s garden grown:
For Christ the man from heaven from death has set us free,
And we through him are given the final victory.

Then hear, O gracious Savior, accept the love we bring,
That we who know your favor may serve you as our King;
And whether our tomorrow be filled with good or ill,
We’ll triumph through our sorrows and rise to praise you still:
To marvel at your beauty and glory in your ways,
And make a joyful duty our sacrifice of praise!

The SLU Center for Liturgy

here is a wonderful resource courtesy of our brothers and sisters at St. Louis University.

I only spent one semester at SLU but it was fantastic.

It's difficult keeping the alleluia buried...

It's Lent, and we're burying the Alleluia at VCC, but this morning when A. came in part-way through the praise songs, and flanking her, her mother D. and her mother-in-law, B., it was difficult to resist screaming HALLELUJAH!

So we gave a round of applause instead!

Neither D. nor B. speak any English, and none of us speak Farsi, but I think they felt the love of Christ this morning. I was especially thankful that at this, their first experience in Christian worship, we celebrated communion. Whereas it was impossible for A. to keep up translating Steve's sermon for them, she was able to whisper some explanation about what was happening with the bread and the cup and all the people going forward and sharing in the meal. The Spirit took care of the rest.

Afterward the service ended, A removed her shoes, kneeled and bowed before the altar to pray, as is her custom. "Mamma B" and "Mamma D" did the same, behind her. Kent and I joined them and we all praised God in English and Farsi. He has brought A. through 8 rounds of the strongest chemo available. He has overcome the bureaucracies of two nations to reunite B. with her daughter. And perhaps most amazing of all, he is moving in A's father-in-law's heart, so that he is wanting to read more about Jesus. When Mamma B. pointed to the large cross on the wall behind the altar, and said, "Isa Masi--AMAYN!" we couldn't have agreed more!

My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Col. 2:2-3)

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Postscript:

Rowan Williams has reflected here on his church's practice of "burying the alleluia" while visiting Sudan.

Yes, we need to be reminded by abstinence and restraint that the world is still a Good Friday sort of place, shadowed by abandonment, terror, pain. But what if you don't really need reminding? What if, like the Sudanese believers, you have lived so long with abandonment and terror and pain that you can never forget or ignore it? These were people whose whole life was a particularly awful and crushing 'Lent'.

Yet they could not stop saying, singing, shouting, 'Alleluia'. If they lived in a long-term Lent, they also lived in an unceasing awareness of Easter. They had come through the horrors of war and oppression with the confidence intact that God was always there on the far side or in the depths of what they were enduring. If everyone else forgot them, God would not and could not. Because he was alive, they could live too - to echo the words of Jesus in John's gospel.

What he writes could also be said of A: almost all her life has been one long Lent, yet --as she says, "thanks God"-- she lives with an unceasing awareness of Easter. Because Jesus is alive, she is, too. And that Life flows back and forth and around and through.

Meditation for Worship, Nov.11, 2007

Father,

we thank you this morning that

we are your sheep,
And that you provide us with green pastures.

We praise you that you are not a god

who condemns us to freedom.
You have not left us as wild animals,

in the jungle of sin,
free to roam and pounce

according to our own bloodthirsty desires;
feral in our freedom;
vicious in our vices.

And we praise you that you are not a god

who strips us of freedom.
You have not confined us,

as if we were animals in a divine zoo,
captives of your commandments;
lashed by your laws.

No! You have assigned us our portion and cup,
You have made our lots secure.
Your boundary lines fall for us in pleasant places,
Because it is in Christ
that we live, and move, and have our being;
Because it is in Christ
that we are freed from sin to fresh friendships
with you
with each other
with all creation.

Today we celebrate this mystery:
It is because we are bound

by Christ’s love and truth,
That we are no longer animals,

either captive or wild.

It is because we are in Christ,
that we are free to be

what you always meant for us to be:

fully human.

This meditation to accompany worship at Valley Covenant Church, November 11, 2007.

Text: I Corinthians 10:23-11:1
Sermon, "Freedom in Christ," available here .

Bringing Church to A.

This past Sunday after the potluck, about 15 people accepted my invitation to come bring church to A., who was still recovering from her exploratory surgery. We all piled into A's living room, and she made her way down the stairs, sat between Steve and me on the couch and gripped my hand with all her strength, beaming.

The coffee table before us became the altar, as Steve spread out the bread and communion cups and I placed a fragrant basket of stargazers, pink roses and red and white dahlias next to them. A. has promised Jesus to bring Him flowers each Sunday; but Saturday, when she realized she would not be able to do so, I assured her I would take care of it.

It was all very upper-room. We sang some simple praise songs, had communion, prayed, and annointed A. with oil. A. was excited to be able to choose whatever song she wanted, and decided on this one:

"I love you, Lord, and I lift my voice
To worship You
Oh, my soul rejoice
Take joy, my King in what You hear
Let it be a sweet, sweet sound in Your ear."

H. came home just as we were praying, and was there to witness A's annointing. I laid my hand on A., and held H's, in a sort of human chain, and several of us prayed for A. Paul speaks of unbelieving husbands being sanctified through their believing wives, in 1 Cor. 7:14. I'm not exactly sure what that means but I think that H. could see that God has given A. great faith, and that some of that hope and love is streaming out to him. Her soul was clearly rejoicing in the Lord, even in the midst of terminal illness. H. lacks the Christian framework to articulate what he was experiencing, but he was visibly moved, and kept thanking us for "surrounding A. with so much positive energy."

Soon it was time to depart. Despite our protests, A. insisted on standing, as is customary in her culture, to say goodbye to her guests. Swaying, she kissed each one's hand as they left . "She's so stubborn!" H. and another friend moaned, but A. was the happiest I have seen her, and the most peaceful.

Thank you, Lord, for coming to A. and reassuring her of your love and care, so that she is not afraid to die. Please help H. to see this and wonder more about how it is possible. Please give H. and A. occasion to be truthful with each other, so that their final times together are not about pretending and false hope, but about facing reality with genuine hope. Please give H. the courage to hear things that A. needs to say, and please give A. the courage to be able to say them. Spare A. from pain, especially in her shoulder and back. Please provide for M., and help A. to be reassured that H. will raise him well. In Jesus' name, Amen.

The Oregon Bach Festival: Rilling and Brahms

Helmuth Rilling, (right) the world's leading expert on the music of Joahann Sebastian Bach, is co founder and artistic director of the Oregon Bach Festival.

What a wonderful 28th wedding anniversary we have had!

Last night, the girls made us a dinner of souvlaki and wild rice and then Susan gave us tickets to the opening night ceremonies of the Oregon Bach Festival. Oh, the joys of grown children!

We heard a performance of Brahm's Requiem, but in truth it was not a performance, it was worship. This work is often called "Ein Deutsches Requiem," or "A German Requiem," because instead of using the Latin of the traditional Catholic liturgy, Brahms chose his texts himself from Luther's German translation of the Bible.

My favorite parts were "Denn alles Fleisch ist wie Gras" and "Wie Lieblich sind deine Wohnungen, Herr Zebaoth." The latter is everything I have ever imagined when I have read Psalm 27 (my favorite psalm).

The program notes pointed out,

"Brahm's requiem is for the the consolation of the living, in addition to expressing the hope of resurrection."

I cannot think of a better way to celebrate our anniversary this year.

Thank you, Susan! Thank you, Joanna. Thank you, Herr Brahms und Herr Rilling, and the Festival Chorus and Orchestra. But most of all, thank you, Lord, for my husband, and over a quarter-century of life together in You.

from "The Victory of the Cross"

Exalted and glorious God of patriarchs and infants
the shame you freely accepted has become our pride.
Let all of us be lifted on high by your cross.

Let us string our hearts on its pegs
so we can tune the lyres of our lives to it
and sing to you, Lord of the Universe, the odes of Zion.

The Bible says a wooden ship from Tarshish
once supplied gold to Solomon every three years.
Now every day and hour, the wood of your cross
gives us riches beyond measure,
For it is the cross guides all of us
on the return to Paradise.

--"The Victory of the Cross" by Romanos the Melodist, 6th century

Susan alerted us to this wonderful hymn/poem, found in
R.J. Schork, Sacred Song from the Byzantine Pulpit: Gainsville: University Press of Florida, 1995. The entire poem is worth reading. It is a dialogue between Hades and Belial (the Devil) at the point of Christ's crucifixion. Romanos uses lots of interesting wood/tree imagery throughout, with many references to the OT. Isn't find this final image of the cross as a lyre amazing? Right now I can appreciate the "stretching"metaphor of heartstrings, and the idea that it is our lives which are to be tuned to the instrument.

Of cups and choruses

Brad mentions's Michael Spencer's blog, http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/five-post-evangelical-answers-for-todays-evangelical-crisis in which Spencer writes,

"we need to find a way to simply have less music in evangelical worship. I don’t say that out of any distaste for art or from a lack of appreciation for the need to reach musicians and people with musical gifts. I mean exactly what I mean: in the typical evangelical church, there is simply too much music, too much attention to music, too much judged by music, and too much attributed to music."

"Beyond Words" has this comment:

I think the downfall of evangelical musical worship is that electronically amplified music divides the music experience between the performers and the congregation even more than elevated choir lofts and organs did in the past. Praise is not a corporate act when you can’t hear yourself think, let alone hear the voices next to you. Also, Pop/rock band music requires a particular set of skills that marginalizes the participation of otherwise musically gifted people and creates a sort of celebrity clique.


I think Beyond Words has a point, and it is an ironic one. One of the Protestant gripes about Catholics during the Reformation was that the chalice was restricted to the officiating priest. Article 30 of the Anglican Church's 39 Articles of Religion is entitled "Of both kinds" and states:"The Cup of the Lord is not to be denied to the Lay-people: for both the parts of the Lord's Sacrament, by Christ's ordinance and commandment, ought to be ministered to all Christian men alike."

While music is not a sacrament, in my lifetime, I think it has gone the way of the 13th century chalice. Music is less and less a corporate act; and yet it is more and more the focus of our attention. Is church music the evangelical equivalent of the priesthood? Hmmm.

In-spired: Pentecost, 2007

It is a tradition at VCC that Acts 2 be read in the many different languages persons in our congregation are able to speak. This year we had the following lineup:

Greek -- Steve
Farsi -- A.M.
Latin -- Susan
English -- Kent
French -- the Honns
Spanish -- Emma
Italian -- Rob, David F. and me
German -- Jeff
Czech -- Lubos
Swahili -- Carl
Japanese -- (a last minute save by David S!)
Norwegian -- Elizabeth, the Shepherd's exchange student

Each person reads a verse or so , and then everyone joins in to simultaneously read verses 22-24 together, to recreate the "sound" of what it must have been like that first Pentecost.

What was even more amazing is that A. was able to stand with us, and that she did not read her verse: she had memorized it! A. is a living parable among us; certainly the embodiment of Steve's
message that morning:

"Breathe in God’s breath. Breathe in the Bible. Come listen to the Word taught in Christian formation and worship on Sunday mornings. Join or form a small group and study together during the week. Open up the Scriptures and read some of it every day. Draw the Bible into you regularly, and you will find it easier to draw God’s breath of life to you when you need it most. May God’s Word constantly be for you the fresh breath that you need to live. May it fill and inspire you to the new life we have in Jesus." (May 27, 2007 Sermon MP3, "Fresh Breath")
http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons.htm

Yesterday, we were all in-spired!

Worship Meditation for April 22

Almighty Father,
Maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen,
we bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life.

We thank you for your Son
Jesus Christ,
through Whom all things were made,
and through Whom all things are being made new again.

Today we celebrate Jesus as the Living Word.
Jesus Christ is the Word of God,
Incarnate Word, Word made flesh.
He pitched his tent among us, and dwells among us even now
through the Holy Spirit, the giver of Life.

Today we confess that ours is a generation overwhelmed with human words.
We have constructed our own virtual world, which some of us prefer to your creation.
We are flooded with information, consumed by conversation.

One of our poets once wrote that our words
“strain. Crack and sometimes break;
slip, slide, perish,
They decay with imprecision, do not stay in place,
and will not stay still.”

But your Word isn’t like that at all.
Our words strain, crack and sometimes break,
But Your Word is living, and active.

Our words slip, slide and perish,
But your Logos is enduring, faithful and True.

Our words decay with imprecision,
they do not stay in place, and will not stay still.
But Your Word stands forever.

Today we praise you for your powerful and gracious Word,
and ask that He might dwell in us richly.

Today we confess that we do not live by bread alone ,

but on every Word that comes from the mouth of God.
Enable us to taste and see His goodness, we pray.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

Akathist of Creation for Creation Sunday

This Sunday at Valley Covenant, Steve is thinking about using part of the Creation Akathist, "Glory to God for All Things"to observe Creation Sunday.

According to OrthodoxWiki, this hymn is often attributed to Priest Gregory Petrov who died in a Soviet prison camp in 1940, but also to Metropolitan Tryphon (Prince Boris Petrovich Turkestanov) +1934. The title is from the words of St. John Chrysostom as he was dying in exile. It is a song of praise from amidst the most terrible sufferings.

Steve selected and arranged parts of it as a responsive reading, pasted below.

If anyone's interested in the whole enchilada, they can go here:
http://www.goarch.org/en/ourfaith/articles/article8228.asp

CREATION AKATHIST HYMN

(parts selected and arranged responsively; N= north side of congregation, S=south side. From the Eastern Orthodox Church.)

All: Incorruptible Lord, your right hand controls the whole course of human life, according to the decrees of your Providence for our salvation.

We give you thanks for all your blessings, known and unknown:

N: for our earthly life and for the heavenly joys of your kingdom which is to come.

S: Henceforth extend your mercies towards us as we sing:

All: Glory to you, O God, from age to age!

I was born a weak, defenseless child, but your angel, spreading his radiant wings, guarded my cradle. From my birth, your love has illumined my paths, and has wondrously guided me towards the light of eternity. From my first day until now, the generous gifts of your providence have been wonderfully showered upon me. I give you thanks, and with all those who have come to know you, I exclaim:

N: Glory to you for calling me into being.

S: Glory to you for spreading out before me the beauty of the universe,

N: Glory to you for revealing to me through heaven and earth the eternal book of wisdom,

S: Glory to you for your eternity within this fleeting world,

N: Glory to you for your mercies, seen and unseen,

S: Glory to you for every sigh of my sorrow,

N: Glory to you for every step in my life's journey, for every moment of joy,

S: Glory to you, O God, from age to age.

All: O Lord, how lovely it is to be your guest:

N: Breeze full of scent; mountains reaching to the skies;

S: Waters like a boundless mirror,

N: Reflecting the sun's golden rays and the scudding clouds.

S: All nature murmurs mysteriously, breathing depths of tenderness,

N: Birds and beasts bear the imprint of your love,

S: Blessed are you, O earth, in your fleeting loveliness,

N: Which wakens our yearning for happiness that will last for ever

S: In the land where, amid beauty that grows not old,

All: Rings out the cry: Alleluia!

How glorious you are in the triumph of spring, when every creature awakes to new life and joyfully sings your praises with a thousand tongues: you are the source of life, the con­queror of death. By the light of the moon night­ingales sing: the plains and the woods put on their wedding garment, white as snow. All the earth is your promised bride awaiting her bridegroom who does not know decay. If the grass of the field is clothed like this, how glori­ously shall we be transfigured in the coming age of the resurrection: how radiant our bodies, how resplendent our souls!

N: Glory to you, bringing from the darkness of the earth an endless variety of colors, tastes and scents,

S: Glory to you for the warmth and tenderness of the world of nature,

N: Glory to you for surrounding us with thousands of your works,

S: Glory to you for the depth of your wisdom: the whole world is a living sign of it,

N: Glory to you: on my knees, I kiss the traces of your unseen hand,

S: Glory to you for setting before us the dazzling light of eternal life,

N: Glory to you for the hope of the unutterable, imperishable beauty of immortality,

S: Glory to you, O God, from age to age.

All: How filled with sweetness are those whose thoughts dwell on you: how life-giving your holy Word; to speak with you is more soothing than anointing with oil, sweeter than the honeycomb. Praying to you refreshes us and gives us wings: our hearts overflow with warmth; a majesty filled with wisdom permeates nature and all of life! Where you are not, there is only emptiness. Where you are, the soul is filled with abundance, and its song resounds like a torrent of life: Alleluia!

A's Baptism

This morning I think I got to feel a little of what the Lord's heart must be like.

Today I taught Cornerstone, and drew the story of David and Bathsheba. Tough, as J. and her daughter were there. I prayed to have grace to speak the truth in love, and not add to their pain.

Then came worship. I don't think it is wise that I use real names, because the persons I am writing about are Iranian, but today "A." was baptized and her husband "H." came, along with his ex-in-laws. H. is a sayed, meaning that he traces his lineage to Mohammed's family. He came with A. for Easter services but has said all along that he would not attend her baptism. A. has stage IV stomach cancer, and this was her greatest wish, that H. would witness her baptism.

Lo and behold, today H. was there, with the children from his first marriage and their grandparents (mother's side)! He had a lovely pink azalea for the piano, a german chocolate cake with "Congratulations, A." on top, and a gold cross and chain necklace for her after the service.

Steve asked A. if she had anything she wanted to say before going into the hot tub. (What spirit--even though she is in great pain, she insisted she wanted to be immersed, so we rented a hot tub and brought it into the sanctuary!) "I want to say that I have cancer, and that it doesn't matter what happens to me, now that I have Jesus." Wow. Not a dry eye in the entire congregation.

My heart was overflowing with joy. H. is an extraordinary man, and has shattered all my preconceptions about Muslim marriage. He clearly loves A. very, very much. J. took all this in, in light of her own situation, and noted how remarkable it was. And that broke my heart.

A. has discovered what is really important. I trust J's husband will, too. This from William Willamon came to mind:

I'm glad this story is in the Bible because it lets us know that unhappiness, tragedy, regret are part of loving and living in a family. It was true for King David; it is true at your house and mine.

We're in a mess, particularly in our families. There is regret and things don't turn out as we planned. We can't get everything together. We can't make it all work out right. If we are hurt by our own families, how much more must God be hurting for the faults and foibles of God's whole human family? What is to become of David's troubled family, or ours?

A cross is raised outside of the capital city. Upon it hangs a beloved son, hanging there not because of his rebellion against his father, but rather because of our rebellion. The Father gives everything for his kingdom, even his own Son. The cross does not set everything right. The cross does not erase the seriousness of the evils we commit. Rather, the cross forgives and makes it possible for life to continue, despite the tragedy. David said that he would have given his life to save his son from death. But even kings can't do that. No, it takes a God to do that. At Calvary, on the cross, God's whole, tragic human family was gathered, embraced, saved by a Father who, in grief, loves us yet.

----William Willimon (Dean of Duke University Chapel)
http://www.chapel.duke.edu/worship/sunday/viewsermon.aspx?id=30