"On the night he was betrayed..."

This week is "Holy Week" for Christians. This week, we remember the events leading up to Christ's crucifixion and resurrection. Today, we celebrate Palm Sunday which remembers Jesus entry into Jerusalem (see Mark 11). It was a celebratory day where Jesus was welcomed into the city and celebrated greatly. It foreshadows the drastic change of events that will happen the end of the week.

This is the first time that I've experienced a Palm Sunday service in a more liturgical church. In the past, the Palm Sunday service has always been very celebratory, followed by a Good Friday Service that was more solemn. This service had a tone of solemnity through its entirety. The celebration of Palm Sunday was definitely overshadowed by the impending suffering that we will remember later this week.

The one aspect that was renewed to me, can be seen in 1 Corinthians 11:23. The night before Christ is crucified, he gathers with his followers for a Jewish festival called Passover. This gathering is significant because it remembers the faithfulness of God to the Jews when He delivered them from slavery in Egypt. Jews gather yearly to celebrate Passover. It's an intimate gathering with family and close friends. Paul retells the story in 1 Corinthians by saying "on the night that he was betrayed...." Jesus knew what was coming. As he broke the break and shared the meal, he knew Judas was going to give him up to the most painful experience in his life. During the meal, Jesus called Judas out for the traitor he was. Jesus wasn't fooled. He knew exactly what he was doing, and he did it anyway.

I'm amazed by that, and have so many questions about that. The reality of the situation is that Jesus had to be given up to be crucified. It was the main purpose for his time on earth. He chose a man to walk with him during his time in ministry on earth who he knew was going to later betray him, and he did it anyway. Judas was not treated any different until the last night when the plot had been planned and Jesus releases Judas to do as he planned. Jesus allows himself to be betrayed, unjustly killed, so that he can raise to life and so that we can know God. It's a painfully, beautiful story.

And a lesson for us. We will be betrayed. We are humans, and sometimes life is hard to do with humans. We turn our backs as often as we offer to help. Yet, God still reaches out to us. We aren't worthy of his affections, and yet he gives them all the same. We turn our backs on him, and yet he welcomes us back with open arms. What a great God he is.

Christianity and Culture: Part 4

This is the last post of this series, so for those of you who are done hearing about this, please be glad. :)  For those of you who have enjoyed reading my thoughts, thank you. It has been a fun journey for me to write. It has been a short journey, and I'm sure there is still much more we can discover, but I think that is enough for this forum.

So, why spend a month on Christianity and Culture? Because I am a Christian who loves the God I serve and wants to share about him to others. It's not a conversion scheme, its that my God is such a big part of my life, and if you know me, you should know about the big parts of my life. Just like my friends know about my husband, who is a big part of my life, so they know about my God. I have studied other religions and always come back to Christianity as the one I want to follow. I leave it to you to make your own choice.

Why did I talk about culture? I am fascinated by culture. I love the good ways in which humans have taken the world and made their place in it. Each culture represents a part of humanity that is good. At the same time, each culture has its downfalls. One of American cultural downfalls is our obsession with independence. We forget that we need others in the race to be recognized as an individual. The part of communal cultures that values togetherness and supporting each other is something I struggle with but also desperately desire. The reality of life is that we need each other and that our lives impact each others. The people we each encounter can and do have an impact on our lives, whether we like it or not. Christianity teaches that we need God and that we need each other, but this concept oftentimes gets lost in American culture. Other cultures, such as Nepali culture, do this very well.

The question that has not been answered is why talk about Christianity and culture together? Unlike other religions, Christianity was not founded in a culture that supported Christianity. The first Christians were converts from other religions and they had to figure out how to make their new religion and their culture, which was founded in a different religion, work together. They had to figure out how to live. It makes Christianity stand a part form other world religions. It's not that other religions are better or worse for their cultural foundation, it's just different. As I talked about in my last post, Christianity continues to take on different cultural garments, but for most, still remains true to its core message. I love going to different churches and feeling at home in all of them. I do understand and recognize that some churches have walked away from the core beliefs of Christianity, and I'm not addressing those here. During my life, I have gone to several churches, each holding to the core beliefs of the Christian faith, and they have all looked different but they have all been home. I love having a diverse church experience because there is no right way to do a church service. The Bible doesn't give us an example of what a church service should or shouldn't be. It just gives us core values and beliefs and then lets us express them. The beliefs can be expressed in any language and through any culture.

I believe that God is creator and since we are made in his image, we are creators as well. While our creation ability is less than Gods because we can't make something from nothing, we still create something from something else. Culture is our creation in the world. We make the world around us what we want it to be. When I was in college, I used to move at least once a year. It was always exciting to me to get a new place with blank walls. It was an opportunity to create a new space. When we moved from the southern part of the US to the northern part, I was excited because it was a chance to experience something new and create something new in a whole different space. The reason that people paint, knit, sew, build, cook, imagine, draw is for the chance to create something new. People make money everyday on new products and inventions to make life better. It's all about creating.

So, on this beautiful day, take a chance to create something. Think about your culture and all its values. Learn from someone else about a different culture. Open your mind to a new idea, a new perspective. Don't be afraid to ask questions and explore other ideas.