The Gospel of Enough

I grew up under the theology of scarcity. It centered around the hear-tell rumours that I didn’t have what it took to be a “really good” Christian. There were those repetitive voices outside and inside my head that said, “try harder, do more, get better.” I gazed up at the impossible bar and counted myself out. My inadequacy labeled me, before I stepped on the scales.

My past haunted me
My scars mocked me.
My failures demoralized me,
My shame poisoned me.

I never would admit it, but I was certain that no one was as big of a poser as I was. I was weak and the more I tried to fix myself the more self-hatespeech would roll around in my head. And then one day I really did let go.

I raised a white flag and surrendered my efforts, my self-hope, self-punishment, and self-focus. I. JUST. LET. GO.

Then I discovered that the whole point of the gospel is that God is enough.

I just have to love him for being enough. It’s always been about God’s total sufficiency. What does it take to be held in the love of God? It takes a person willing to be still. This is the skill I need before everything else– to be still. He is so much stronger than I have acted like He was.

But I am learning that He is more than enough to carry a struggler. It’s what He does. It’s His specialty and it’s His passion. He’s not wringing his hands over your failures. He is ready to use each one to tell a story of grace and mercy.

It’s the same story that Mephibosheth experienced 2 Samuel 9. It’s an unfortunate name. It’s hard to say and spell so I call him Phiby. Phiby was the physically disabled grandson of a dead, vengeful King named Saul. When summoned, in his self-marinating humiliation he asked, “What does the King want with a dog like me.” He had nothing to offer the present king. But the king sought him out and he was seated at the kings table out of mysterious grace.

King David said to Phiby:

Don’t be afraid, for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table. 2 Samuel 9:7 (NIV)

In the same way God the Father says to us, “I will show you kindness for the sake of my Son Jesus.”

John the Beloved put it this way: Consider the incredible love that the Father has shown us in allowing us to be called “children of God”—and that is not just what we are called, but what we are. 1 John 3:1 (Phillips Translation)

Throughout my days of striving to be acceptable, walking with a spiritual limp, striving to find a place, there is a Good Father who has already accepted me, not as a good servant but a beloved son. And that is good enough for me. In fact, He is more than enough.

I’ve seen him among the children and anyone who loves kids like he does, can be trusted. He is merciful to those who need mercy and He is always just. He willing to sacrifice everything for you and He never sleeps.

He is a doctor who can diagnose an illness before the symptoms appear.

He is a baker and when you go to his house there is always the wonderful smell of bread.
But more than anything…. He is a peacemaker.
He is available to you any time day or night.
He fights for the helpless
He makes time for the lonely
He is ready to step between you and your enemies
When you are befuddled confused and indecisive, He has a plan
When the walls are closing in, His doors will open wide.
He listens when no one else is around to hear you.
He consoles you when there are no arms to embrace you.
He weeps with you when all others curse at you
He is redeemer of your yesterdays and foreseer of your tomorrows.
He been to hell and back and He is still standing strong.
When others doubt you, He says, “you can do it.”
When no one knows you, He calls you by name
When few are truthful He will tell it to you straight.
He has set you apart and pulled you together
He lifts you up and He settles you down.
He’s not insecure, detached or ruthless.
All His plans are above board.
He’s written them all down in a book for you.
And nothing catches Him by surprise.
Many have tried to imitate him
And even more have tried to eliminate Him
But no one can intimidate Him
He is independent and self-sustaining and yet He longs for your love.
He could turn the world on its end and yet he has loved you from the beginning.
And He has invited you to come to His table.

Hurricane People and Storm Shelters

While churning away on the eliptical Saturday at Planet Fitness, I saw the very beginning of Sandra Bullock movie called “The Proposal.” As the movie opens, a busy office is on high alert because their oppressive, driven boss is walking through the door. “It’s Here!” they message each other in the on their bulky 2008 computers. (See clip below)

Most of us at one time or another have been associated with a person that causes pandemonium upon their arrival. These are the hurricane people. If you are in ministry, politics or involved in any aspect of a school system, you’ve definitely been there and know them by name. Here are a few real life examples:

Many years ago a pastor, dissatisfied with the choir’s performance walked up to the podium to preach and said, “Well that was a little sub par. Choir stand to your feet. Let’s show them how it’s done.” Then he turned around and conducted the choir HIMSELF as they re-sang the song. Can you imagine the humiliation of the minister of music? You’d think that the pastor would be reprimanded, but he was a gifted speaker and the band played on.

In an office, long, long ago, there was a department director of a ministry who would habitually pilfer through the refrigerator and eat other people’s lunches. Believe me, I’m not making this up. An administrative lady caught him eating her lunch and she said, “You owe me five dollars.” His face turn red as he wiped his mouth after finishing her chicken salad in the Tupperware bowl.

“What?” He barked.

“I said, you owe me five dollars because now I’m going to have to buy my lunch.”

“Why do I have to buy your lunch?” He said acting like he didn’t understand.

“Because you just ate mine. It has my name on it.”

“Do you know who I am?”

But the administrative assistant held her ground. “Of course I know who you are. I’ve worked here for years!”

Finally he pulled a five dollar bill out of his wallet, wadded it up and threw it at her!

These are the hurricanes.

A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.
Proverbs 29:11

A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.
Proverbs 18:2

Hurricanes are often gifted, brutal narcissists. They get the work done but have blind spots regarding work relationships, especially regarding subordinates. A friend of mine who was a media minister was ordered to fire up the studio cameras for a pastor who was going to be on television. His assistant rolled in several sport coats, and despite my friend having a load of real work to do, he asked him to let him see himself on the monitor with each coat on, one by one, in order to select the one that made him look the best. The process lasted for two hours.

One of my most frequent prayers is simply, Lord, please shelter me from the hurricanes in my life, and help me to never be one.

There are hurricane people and then there are storm shelter people. These are the safe people who you go to, when life is brutal. You know you will be refreshed, restored, and replenished by them. You won’t get judgment.

I want to be like the man of Isaiah 32:2:

“A man will be as a hiding place from the wind,
And a cover from the tempest,
As rivers of water in a dry place,
As the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.”

Oh, if I could be that man for everyone around me! A place to hide in the path of the storm…

Storm Shelters include Barnabas, Jonathan, and John. They don’t have to be the lead guy. They are fierce in loyalty and love.

Storm Shelter People have some common characteristics:

They keep secrets. We all need people we can tell our secrets to. They make us whole. Storm Shelter people keep their word and honor your secrets like a sacred trust.
They are ruthlessly in your court no matter what. They refuse to walk away when everybody else does.
Storm Shelter people are truth tellers and yet what they speak is always infused with love and commitment.
Storm shelter people never stop you mid sentence with “Enough about you, lets talk about me for a minute” or with a behavior that communicates that phrase. Their nature is listening actively and there’s healing in their silence.

I really want to be a storm shelter to my friends. I want to be a person of the highest integrity and devotion to the people in my tribe. There have been days when I have failed. But I believe I’m getting better at it. God is reinforcing my walls and building my fortifications.

More than being known or admired, I hope I’ll be a shelter to people because there have been so many storm shelter people who have saved my life when the weather radar is swirling in red.

Ask, Seek and Knock: The Jesus Approach to Prayer

*Here's the Download for the Sermon

Jesus invites us to ask (and keep on asking), to seek (and keep on seeking) to knock (and keep on knocking). See Matthew 7:7

In this passage, I sense that Jesus is challenging us to pray continually in three different paradigms.

1: To Ask– This is the practice of vocalization.

So often my prayers are scattered shards of synapses. These are thought prayers which can be effective, but not as effective as the prayer spoken aloud in the closet. Our vocal chords are effective tools in private prayer when we speak out to God and in ear-shot of the powers and principalities of this dark age. The sound of your voice in prayer speaks volumes, not only to God but to your own soul. Practice making prayers vocal.

You do not have because you do not ask. James 4:2

Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. Jeremiah 33:3

2. To Seek– This is the practice of curiosity in prayer.

We enter into a sleuthing of God’s fingerprints in prayer. We are hunting for His movement. Spying his aspect… To seek as a praying believer is to never lose your curiosity in the movement and mystery of the Divine.

You will find Him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul” Deuteronomy 4:29).

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6

In a sense I believe that all faith has an element of curiosity to it. Think about Peter on the boat. He must have been curious about this water walking business. Think about Zacchaeus. He must have been very curious about the dinner guest to give away such glorious tax refunds. Faith is often a unique mixture of curiosity and desperation. And I would argue that Thomas’ doubting was caused by a curiosity deficit.

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it has saved many a sinner.

3. To Knock— This is the practice of initiative.

In order to knock we must first approach the door. I must admit, I have a strange phobia about knocking. Maybe my scars that those Evangelism Explosion cold calls of the 80s have had a traumatic effect on my psyche. Nothing gets me more anxious, for some reason, than to knock on a door. Some people get a real thrill out of a door knock. Not me. I admit it. I’m weird that way. Knocking on the door takes initiative and courage. When we knock and no one comes, there’s always that question of how long we should wait before we give up, stop knocking, and move on to the next big idea or possibility. Jesus implored us to continue to knock in prayer, even if there is no answer. Jesus knows what it’s like to stand at the door and knock. He’s been knocking on the doors of churches for years. For some churches, I would imagine that He’s been knocking for centuries with no entry yet granted. But He’s knocking, still knocking patiently.

So think about that when you consider how long you’ve waiting for that mate, that prodigal or that healing. After all, time is relative.

WARNING

This book contains

Lion hunts
Giant death matches
Angel wrestling
Honeymoon Bride Mix-ups
Blazing Chariots
Talking Mules
Sorcerers
Sword fights
Fire-walking
Streakers
Supernatural apparitions
Shipwrecks
Exorcisms
Romance
Nights afloat
Blues songs
Bear attacks
Ambushes
Snake pits
Man-eating fish

This book cannot be tamed. It’s not a comedy of manners complete with tea and crumpets. It’s gritty. It is messy. It is divine. I had the wrong idea for a very long time. I used to believe that the Bible was an answer book when all along it was a book comprised of something much greater than answers.

The Bible isn’t just a set of archaic stories for scholars to debate. God help us all if we ever go the way of so many puffed up proof-texters debating Greek verb tenses and excoriating each other about immoveable objects and unstoppable forces.

The Bible wasn’t written for scholars. It was written for followers.

God didn’t give us the Bible so we could perform intellectual gymnastics. He gave us the Bible so that we would begin to pattern everything in our lives around it. He didn’t give us the Bible so we could make sense of it. He gave us the Bible so that it could make sense of us. In this Book you’ll find flawed heroes who faced giants, floods, betrayal, dungeons, wars, tornadoes, earthquakes, liars, starvation, bankruptcy, illness, shipwrecks, arrows, swords, divorce, and adultery.

This is a Book of danger. Sometimes the good guys die before they win. There are moments of last-minute rescues, unmerited grace, and ultimate victory because there is a Hero who walks over the face of this Book. He’s on every page. He’s in every heartbreak and mindbending moment.

He’s in the stone that sent a giant falling like a tree.
He’s in the furnace that blazes but never burns.
He’s in the deep closets of hopelessness.
He’s riding on the waves.
And we get to see Him soon.

The Bible will ambush your preconceptions and lay siege to the beachheads of your loneliness. I pray the revolution of Holy Words begins today—from your habits to your mission. I pray that everything will be focused around the voice of God; but not in a safe, calculating way but rather in a radical, holy way. It’s the only rabbit hole worth falling into. Listen to the whisper of God through Scripture. Let this journey consume every corner of your life.

When the journey is over, let’s meet up at the big feast. I’ll be the guy trying his darndest to shake hands with Jeremiah.

Waiting, Prodigals, and Prayer

As I wait for my prodigal to return, I am learning. I’m learning about family dynamics, addiction, and culture. I am learning about nights awake, bargaining, denial and anything to forget. I’m learning about doubt and all those things never spoken on “Christian” television. I am learning about how deep in the bones we are connected to our kids. And yet I know love is greater than anything else I’ve experienced. Love mixed with wonder not the wonder of the Rockies, of sunsets, or breathtaking moments. No, this is a different kind of wonder. I wonder if I will see the day he is free. I wonder if he’ll disappear one day taking a greyhound to the new far country. I wonder if all these days of praying will be climatically halted by the sound of door, a phone or a siren. Or will I just wait and wonder and wonder and wonder…

Everybody waits…

You’ve waited, mesmerized by the thought you might someday arrive. You ask- When am I going to find His will? Do I have to wait until? You’ve waited for your son to turn to God. You’ve waited for that love of a lifetime to show up. You prayed for a baby you could hold in your arms. You agonized over how that one word “malignancy” could shatter, scatter, all your preconceptions about God. Alone, you’ve wept bitterly. You’ve prayed consistently. You say, “It doesn’t make sense to me.” You laugh whimsically, about dreams you buried long ago. Every yes turned to no. So you are a Christian- but you have nothing to show. You wonder, “Why is everything so difficult for me?” You cry out to a silent God and wonder,

“Does he care?”
“Is He aware?”
“Why am I stuck here in a line that doesn’t move?”
“Who stole my groove?”
“God, sometimes You just don’t make sense.”

Sometimes. Many times. I wince at the thought that this whole thing is a joke on me Not any sort of divine destiny.

Waiting…

Praying…

Faithing…

But you fear. You fear that you’ve missed out

You shout: Are you even listening?

“I’m tired of watching sand fall through the hourglass.”

“When will I be free from pain?”

“Will I ever love again?”

“Why don’t you do something?”

“I’m in prison.”

“I’m stuck.”

“Where is this promised land?”

“All I ever see is sand.”

But as the noisy rush of life winds down. And we stop and listen. When we scan the horizon of our soul, we hear his voice.

Still and small

Over all

He is there.

In the middle of my mess.

In my brokenness.

In his time.

He is ready

We can stand in confidence blest

The teacher never talks during the test.

He IS watching

And I resolve to wait

He is near.

I will surrender my time

To his time

And in His time. I will stand.

Jesus is calling you to give up your temporary life for something eternal.

In a race, many run but only one wins the Gold. Go for the gold! Swing for the fences! Win the prize. If you want to be an athlete you work out, go through the drills, and treat your body like a temple. And if you win, that’s great! The crowd roars and the trophy is hoisted in the air. But after all the shouting, the stadium empties and the glory days fade. In the grand scheme of things, you don’t hold the crown forever. There will be other races, other teams, and amazing moments, but for us- the crown we get will never fade. This Championship is for the ages.

I Corinthians 9:24-25 (Conversational Bible)

If we really want to hear from God we must be prepared to hear what He says to us. Often, we treat him like Santa Claus. He knows the naughty and nice of our lives and if he checks it twice and we pass, then (as Pedro in Napoleon Dynamite promised) all of our wildest dreams will come true! This is not the economy of Heaven. To change the world we must pray harder prayers. Below is an ancient prayer that often wrecks me when I stumble across it.

The Franciscan Four Fold Prayer

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

Here’s an important question I have to ask myself as I listen for God’s voice:

Am I willing to wait for the call of God?

So many times I try to do things that will somehow orchestrate a response from God. I forget that I am the one who is often impatient and unwilling to respond to His whispers.

God still answers our inquiries this way.

Me: I thought you were going to provide for my needs.

HIM: Yes, but I have something to teach you.

Me: Didn’t you say that you’ll answer my prayers?

HIM: Yes, but if you’ll just wait on me I’ll answer questions that are more important than your requests.

Me: Can I really know You more, deeper, with more certainty?

HIM: Yes, but it’s going to require everything you have.

We ask questions. He answers with even greater mystery.

The story of answered prayer throughout scripture is a testament to the irony of grace. I’ve experienced the same unpredictable God that my brothers who died thousands of years ago experienced.

They asked for multitude. God gave them a remnant.

They asked for comfort. God gave them a cross.

They asked for control. God showed them a whirlwind.

And some say God doesn’t answer prayers?

Waiting is personal for me as I wait for a prodigal to return to God.

I wait and wonder.

Pray again.

Question.

Pray some more.

Look under the hood.

Pull out the books.

Read.

Listen to way too many stories of other sons and other fathers.

Pray some more and then:

“Oh my! It’s been 10 years of waiting!”

I hear-tell some have waited much longer.

The Final Hours

A worship experience around the cross.

by Matt Tullos

This is a simple, yet powerful Good Friday experience which includes Communion, readings, visuals, music, and candle. It’s yours to use and adapt.

Acoustic Instrumental Music

Reader 1: The greatest story ever told is grace.

Reader 2: The greatest man to ever walk the earth.

Reader 3: The greatest burden

Reader 1: laid on this one man.

Reader 2: The greatest injustice.

Reader 3: The greatest faith.

Reader 1: The greatest pain.

All: The greatest moment in history.

Reader 2: It is the reason guilty men go free.

Reader 3: It is the reason for all hope worth having.

Reader 1: Love worth giving,

Reader 3: And truth worth sharing.

Reader 2: Around a table God built a church.

Reader 3: This is My body.

Reader 1: Jesus said,

Jesus: “I have looked forward to this hour with deep longing, anxious to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. For I tell you now that I won’t eat it again until it comes to fulfillment in the Kingdom of God.”

Reader 1: The Garden of Eden.

Reader 2: The flood.

Reader 3: The exodus.

Reader 2: The foreshadowing words of the prophets.

Reader 3: They all looked toward this meal.

Jesus: This bread is My body.

All: Broken for you.

Jesus: This is My heart.

All: Broken for you.

Jesus: This is My will.

All: Broken for you.

Jesus: This is My destiny.

All: Broken for you.

Reader 1: This is the Son of God.

Jesus: I am.

All: Broken for you.

Your Grace Still Amazes Me: Solo with video

Reader 1: In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying,

Jesus: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

Reader 2: This cup is a promise that slips through the corridors of death.

Reader 1: It reflects surrender.

Reader 3: A cup of payment.

Reader 2: A cup of mercy.

Reader 1: A cup of grace.

Reader 3: Aware of the wrath to come.

Reader 2: Aware of betrayers.

Reader 1: Aware of the loneliness.

Reader 3: Jesus said,

Jesus: Take this cup.

Reader 2: Aware of the wars to come.

Reader 3: Aware of the wretched nature of man.

Reader 1: Jesus said,

Jesus: Take this cup.

Reader 2: Lonely wife.

Jesus: Take this cup.

Reader 3: Angry son.

Jesus: Take this cup.

Reader 2: Disillusioned daughter.

Jesus: Take this cup.

Reader 1: Helpless victim.

Jesus: Take this cup.

Reader 3: Anxious father.

Jesus: Take this cup.

Reader 2: Broken child.

Jesus: Take this cup.

Lord’s Supper—Serve at stations near the front of the auditorium. “Instrumental: “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”

(after elements have been served)

Reader 1: See our Savior.

Reader 3: Praying in agony.

Reader 2: Alone.

Reader 1: See Him betrayed.

Reader 3: Deserted.

Reader 2: See Him innocent, yet arrested.

Reader 1: Almighty, yet submissive.

Reader 3: Dare to look at the face of grace offered to us.

Reader 2: Then Pilate took Jesus and had Him flogged.

Reader 1: Completely naked with His hands tied against a pole. A centurion held a cat of nine tails.

Reader 2: A whip laced with bones.

Reader 3: Glass.

Reader 2: And metal.

Reader 3: The whip would gouge into His back.

Reader 1: The full torture would occur with the return of the whip with a firm jerk that would tear His flesh.

Reader 3: They continued this process.

Reader 2: Thirty-nine lashes He would endure.

Reader 1: Thirty-nine lashes, tied to the whipping post.

Reader 3: Endure each blow in our place. Stand with us now in honor of this dark moment in history.

All: One.

Reader 2: For the times we proudly did what we wanted.

All: Two.

Reader 1: The weight of senseless violence.

All: Three.

Reader 3: The flattering tongue.

All: Four.

Reader 2: Gossiping lips.

All: Five.

Reader 1: Inhumanity.

All: Six.

Reader 3: Lust and perversion.

All: Seven.

Reader 3: Terrorist plots.

All: Eight.

Reader 1: Child abuse.

All: Nine.

Reader 3: Prejudice.

All: Ten.

Reader 2: War.

All: Eleven.

Reader 1: Blasphemy.

All: Twelve.

Reader 2: Stubborn disbelief in God.

All: Thirteen.

Reader 3: Thievery.

All: Fourteen.

Reader 1: Unforgiveness.

All: Fifteen.

Reader 2: Pornography.

All: Sixteen.

Reader 3: Lies.

All: Seventeen.

Reader 1: Abortion.

All: Eighteen.

Reader 2: Legalism.

All: Nineteen.

Reader 3: Greed.

All: Twenty.

Reader 1: Boastfulness.

All: Twenty-one.

Reader 3: Heretical teaching.

All: Twenty-two.

Reader 2: Pride.

All: Twenty-three.

Reader 3: Murder.

All: Twenty-four.

Reader 2: Contempt for holiness.

All: Twenty-five.

Reader 1: Apathy.

All: Twenty-six.

Reader 3: Betrayal.

All: Twenty-seven.

Reader 2: Gluttony.

All: Twenty-eight.

Reader 1: Drug abuse.

All: Twenty-nine.

Reader 3: Infidelity.

All: Thirty.

Reader 2: Cruelty.

All: Thirty-one.

Reader 1: Rape.

All: Thirty-two.

Reader 3: Jealousy.

All: Thirty-three.

Reader 2: Apathy.

All: Thirty-four.

Reader 1: Lynching.

All: Thirty-five.

Reader 3: Prostitution.

All: Thirty-six.

Reader 2: Witchcraft.

All: Thirty-seven.

Reader 1: Pride.

All: Thirty-eight.

Reader 3: Mocking.

All: Thirty-nine.

Reader 2: Sin.

Reader 1: Stand in silence as we remember that by His stripes we are healed.

Congregation stands for approximately 20 seconds, and then is motioned to be seated.

Amazing Love

Reader 1: He was despised.

Reader 2: “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?”

Reader 3: Pilate asked them.

Reader 1: And rejected.

All: “Crucify Him!” they shouted.

Reader 1: And forsaken by men,

Jesus: Peter, could you not pray with Me one hour?

Reader 1: A man of sorrows

Reader 3: When He saw the throngs, He was moved with pity and sympathy for them, because they were bewildered,

Reader 2: and harassed,

Reader 3: and distressed,

Reader 2: and dejected,

Reader 1: and helpless,

Reader 2: like sheep without a shepherd.

Reader 1: A man acquainted with pain,

Reader 3: The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head. They tore the robe from His back. The robe had already become adherent to the wounds from the scourging. Once again intense pain, bleeding.

Reader 1: And acquainted with grief

Jesus: Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killer of prophets, abuser of the messengers of God! How often I’ve longed to gather your children, gather your children like a hen, Her brood safe under her wings— but you refused and turned away!

Reader 1: and like One from whom men hide their faces. He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or have any esteem for Him.

All: Surely He has borne our grief.

Reader 2: Divorce, shame, rejection, disillusionment,

Reader 1: sicknesses,

Reader 3: leukemia, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, cancer,

Reader 1: weaknesses,

Reader 2: depression, anger, failure, ignorance.

Reader 1: Yet we ignorantly considered Him stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God

Reader 1: But He was wounded for our transgressions.

Reader 2: Sharp pain coursing through His body.

Reader 3: Bludgeoned by the closed fists of hardened soldiers.

Presentation of the cross

From the back of the auditorium a large cross is carried in and erected on the platform.

Reader 1: He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities.

Reader 2: Now the men who held Jesus mocked Him and beat Him. And having blindfolded Him, they struck Him on the face and asked Him, saying,

Reader 3: “Prophesy! Who is the one who struck You?” And many other things they blasphemously spoke against Him.

Reader 1: They precisely placed the large eight-inch spike into the wrist of Jesus—a place where nerve and muscle would be intertwined to cause torture beyond what we could imagine.

(The sound on the hammer on nails: Six times)

Reader 2: Mocking.

Reader 1: Vulgarities.

Reader 3: Perversion.

Reader 2: Spittle.

Reader 1: Mud.

Reader 3: Harassment.

Reader 2: Religious condemnation.

Reader 1: Naked shame.

Reader 3: Blasphemy.

Reader 2: Loneliness.

Reader 1: Abandonment.

Reader 3: Thirst.

Reader 2: Shock.

Reader 3: Convulsion.

Reader 1: Blood.

Reader 2: Puncture wounds.

Reader 3: And a burning, bleeding back.

Reader 1: Their words spewed forth from all directions and all eras.

Reader 2: He saved others, but He cannot save Himself.