The more we do the work at NL, the more we continue to understand why throughout the scriptures, God calls us to turn towards the vulnerable, live generously, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. To experience resurrection in Christ, you must first know what it was like to be on the cross. Spending time doing this gives clearer understanding just how much effort and primarily, grace, we need to transform situations and our own lives. The more we do this, the more we recognize the vulnerabilities present in our lives today, even if we're resourced.
Spending time with those suffering not only shows us the pains of life that can represent the cross, it gives us fresh perspective on resurrection when God works through us to bring light to dark places, or when Christ transforms our own vulnerabilities through relationships only formed in brokenness. We need this for our own transformation whether you're a follower of Jesus or not. We believe this is applicable for all of humanity.
Thoughts we'll be thinking about during this Easter weekend.
Isaiah 53:5-6 has been getting my attention as of late:
The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling,
a scrubby plant in a parched field.
There was nothing attractive about him,
nothing to cause us to take a second look.
He was looked down on and passed over,
a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.
One look at him and people turned away.
We looked down on him, thought he was scum.
But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—
our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.
We thought he brought it on himself,
that God was punishing him for his own failures.
But it was our sins that did that to him,
that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!
He took the punishment, and that made us whole.
Through his bruises we get healed.
We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost.
We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way.
And God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong,
on him, on him.
