Ancient Anglican

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. John 3:15

And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

Jesus answered them, “Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up. . . But he spoke of the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this;” John 2:19-22

For Lent this year, we are going to reflect on the Passion predictions in the Gospel of John. These are the statements of Jesus where Jesus speaks about his death and resurrection. Through the study and meditation on these verses, we hope to gain a deeper understanding of Good Friday through Easter.

The story ends with Cash singing with weakness and humility. It ends with God’s grace being perfected within him. It ends with him having solidarity with Jesus.

The gospel message in “Delia’s Gone” is that the sin is its own punishment. The man doesn’t need to wait on the civil authorities or God himself to mete out retribution, the punishment flows from the act itself.

It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation. War is hell.

Our love of God must be primary. Everything in our lives, including our love of country, but be subservient to our love of God and must be properly ordered in light of the teachings of Jesus. Our citizenship of our country can never take priority over our citizenship in heaven.

“Sunday Morning Coming Down” is our reality into which the good news of Jesus Christ is spoken. The story of the Gospel begins with the recognition that we are enslaved to the elemental spirits of this world. (Gal. 4:1-9).

What Jesus requires of us, is to see the dignity of everyone, not simply as the cog in the means of production, and to walk in solidarity with them. The problems that face working men and women today of which Cash sings are still with us today.

We are called to be neighbors to those in need in a personal, concrete, and intimate way. Our prayer should be that Christ will open our eyes to see those opportunities to be a neighbor like the traveler in the song.

God is always found on the side of the oppressed, not because they are inherently better than the oppressor, but rather simply because they are oppressed. The challenge for us is to see the world as God sees the world.