“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him. John 3: 16-17 NRSVue
This is Good Friday, a solemn and yet wondrous day in the Christian calendar and one with profound meaning for me. I led dozens of services over time yet despite the familiarity I was unexpectedly moved to tears as I preached during the final Good Friday worship experience before retirement. While some interpretations of God's sacrificial love in Jesus, the Christ, have been gross misinterpretations (see The Passion of the Christ film) the cross is such a powerful symbol.
Over time I became increasingly convinced that the promise of redemption is intended not only for humanity but all of Creation. This realization coincided with our awareness of an environmental calamity that threatens all creatures. We can choose to be careful about speaking of "crucifying" our planetary home but the degradation is staggering and the Crucified One speaks to this crisis.
I come back to Blake Debassige's stunning Tree of Life painting which graces the front of the chapel in the round at the Anishnabe Spiritual Centre on the way to Manitoulin Island. The crucified Christ amidst so many creatures is a hopeful image. When we lived in Northern Ontario I had many occasions to contemplate the painting in the beautiful setting at Anderson Lake.
On this Good Friday morning I look out to our birch trees against a blue sky and I pray for the broken to be made whole In Christ. I have already stepped outside to experience the dawn chorus and we'll find time today to be outdoors, to marvel in the beauty of a redeemed Creation.
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God, for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its enslavement to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning together as it suffers together the pains of labor, and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what one already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Romans 8: 18-25 NRSVue
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