Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

• 1 John 1:5

When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”
They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?”
Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?”
Jesus answered, “You have said so.”

• Matthew 26:20-25

They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”
Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.
Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners.

• Mark 14:32-41

Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said.
But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.
Then he went out to the gateway, where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man!”
After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.”
Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”
Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.

• Matthew 26:69-75

Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.
“Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate.
“You have said so,” Jesus replied.
The chief priests accused him of many things. So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.”
But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.
Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested.  man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.
“Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.
“What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them.
“Crucify him!” they shouted.
“Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

• Mark 15:1-15

They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.
It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. The written notice of the charge against him read: the king of the jews.
They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!” In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

• Mark 15:22-32

From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”
Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”
And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.
When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

• Matthew 27:45-54

Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

• John 19:38-42

Boilerplate

I’m Harold Dykstra.  I’m retired, but I go to food bank distributions all over Tracy and talk to people that need someone who will listen to their story.  My time is well spent.  A police lieutenant suggested that I write down the conversations that I had with an angel.  I did not know she was an angel at the time.  The angel, for a little over a year, indwelled a life-sized posable action figure my children bought me, so that I would not be perceived as travelling alone.  And in a way, she was training me for what I do while talking to the needy.  She probed my heart to find out what I believed and how I express love for others.  She changed my life.

In her leaving, she said someone would come.  I had thought that was Jesus, in His second coming, but a new Babs, a little older, the model for the posable action figure arrived.  While I had no desire to start over with romance, Morrie helped her move in, thinking she was the other Babs who had returned.

This Week’s Question

Last week, Babs purchased an Easter Bonnet, even though there was no Easter parade.

This week, we went to the Maundy Thursday service to take communion and the Tenebrae service on Good Friday.  After the Tenebrae service, she was irritated.

“Babs,” I asked, “You seem to be upset.  Was the ‘Service of Shadows’ disturbing to you?”

Babs sighed, “If you take the Tenebrae service to heart, it should be disturbing.  Our sin, no, my sin is why Jesus went to the cross.  I know, in a few days we celebrate the resurrection, but for this moment, we needed to leave the sanctuary in a somber mood to absorb the weight of what Jesus did for us.  But then, the little old ladies ruined it.”

I knew what she meant, but I had to ask.  “How could a few old ladies ruin it?  And there were some old men there too.”

Babs growled, “The pastor started off telling us that the worshippers should not say another word once the first hymn was finished, Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence.  So, the pastor tells us to be quiet.  The song says to be quiet.  The bulletin says to not say a word before we leave the building.  Maybe they were quiet for a while, but then, when all the lights went out and an usher was supposed to come up and guide us out of the sanctuary, they start jabbering about how wonderful that was.  Did they not know that remaining quiet at that point was the most important thing about the service?!  Their attitude ruined it for me.”

I looked her in the eyes, “Babs, in many respects, worship and how it affects us is an individual endeavor, done by individuals in a corporate setting.  It is part of that thing about ‘when two or three are gathered in my name,’ but I will admit we as a human group of people, we are rather moving at crossed purposes some of the time.  But do you understand the concept of the Tenebrae?”  I asked, and she eagerly nodded.  I continued, “As the pastor pointed out from 1 John 1:5.  Jesus is the Light that shines in the darkness.  Tenebrae is Latin for darkness.  We could talk volumes about how evil lurks in the shadows of life.”

Babs asked in a false low voice, a vocal fry, if you will, “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?”

I huffed, “Now that might ruin my mood, but that old radio show catch phrase is important.  Why would the ‘Shadow’ be the one who would know that for within shadows, that is where evil lurks.  And I do not know what that was, but if you were trying to talk like a man, you sound like a very creepy man.”

Babs giggled, “Or I could become rich and famous on a reality show.” Still doing her vocal fry thing.

I whimpered, “Please, stop.”

Babs nodded and in her normal voice said, “Yes, I got the concept.  I read up on it before I went.  The Catholics love their candles and when the candles are all snuffed out, everyone is to leave quietly and consider the cost of our salvation, anticipating the resurrection.  But that first Holy weekend, there was no hope.  They thought Jesus had died and was not with them anymore.”

I smiled, “Yes, they were downtrodden.  He said He would return, but they did not understand.  But let’s break down the major shadows in the service.  The first shadow is that of betrayal.  Judas legitimately betrayed Jesus.  He sold Jesus to the religious leaders for thirty pieces of silver, but was Judas trying to start an earthly kingdom of Jesus or was Judas interested in the silver?”

Babs suggested, “He threw the silver back before he hung himself.”

I shrugged, “That was after the ‘Judas plan of world domination had failed.  And they say that suicide is the ultimate in selfish acts.  But often linked with the Judas betrayal is the Peter ‘denial.’  Jesus, at that moment, could see two of the Twelve not acting properly, but Jesus had put up with a lot of ‘foot in mouth’ issues.  Jesus knew Judas had been stealing from the money supply.  Jesus predicted, or if you will, He prophesied what both would do.  Yet, the idea in the Tenebrae is that at this point, Jesus is alone.”

Babs smiled, “And then comes the shadow of agony and arrest.  Judas has betrayed Him.  Peter tries to defend Jesus with a sword, but Jesus told him to put away his sword.  Those who live by the sword, die by it.  And then you look around and the disciples have run away.”

I nodded, “But the agony started in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Jesus prayed that the cup would be taken away, but it was the Father’s will that must be done.  I am sure Father and Son talked about what was going to happen, but Jesus had never experienced what was about to happen, having His Father turn His back on Him.  His Father could not look while Jesus bore the sins of everyone.”

Babs started to tear up.  She nodded, “Like your sins and mine.  That was great agony.”

I nodded, “So, that leads us to the shadow of the denial.  It was prophesied and the prophecy took place in a matter of a few hours.  After that was the shadow of accusations.”

Babs nodded, “Yeah, the liturgist read the first verses of Mark 15 for that.  They could never come up with something that even made sense.  Pilate felt it was a religious violation.  The religious leaders gave a lot of accusations, but with no proof.  And in the end, Jesus said nothing in His defense.  Too bad, those old ladies couldn’t keep their mouths shut like Jesus did.”

I sighed, “Let’s stay away from the anger of people not following instructions.  They did that to their own peril.  They were not taking things seriously, but at the same time, when you should have been in a forgiving mood, you got angry.  Yes!  They did not follow instructions, and everyone’s moment of worship was ruined.  If they had openly wept, you would have had sympathy for them.  Instead, the response was anger.  But Jesus could have waved a hand and walked away.  Remember in his own hometown they were going to throw Him into a ravine or something and He turned and walked through the crowd with no one stopping Him.  He stayed because God’s will had to be done.  He said nothing because just suggesting ‘where is their evidence?’ would have stopped the entire matter.  It had to happen then.  There would be a blood moon at sunset that night to coincide with the prophecy of Joel.  I wonder when the next occurrence of a blood moon and Passover might be.  And with the rebellion a few decades later that led to the burning down of the temple, this might have been the only time all the prophecies could be fulfilled.  So, Jesus had His reasons for remaining silent.  The old ladies took a poor time to exercise their rights of free speech.  Besides, they may have some skeletons in their closet that they do not wish to face.”

Babs sighed, “Harold, I have an entire mansion of closets that I face every day.  And each day that I see what God forgave of my life, I love Him all that much more.  Those ladies need to look in that closet and weep.  Only then will they know what God has forgiven.  Then, with God having forgiven that much, we can love one another.  And yes, I can forgive them.  It’s like what Jesus said on the cross for God to forgive those that were killing Him.  They did not know what they were doing.  And I think if some of them knew, they would not have gone through with it.  Then there goes your perfect timing argument, right out the window.”

I nodded, “But the next shadow is the shadow of humiliation and mockery.  It starts with the guards beating Jesus.  There were those at the Sanhedrin that mocked Him when the accusations were made.  Then Mark 15 speaks of the mocking continuing while He hung there on the cross.  But I remember something written by Dorothy L. Sayers.  It is in Catholic Tales and Christian Songs.  It is called The Mocking of Christ: A Mystery.  She mimics the guards mocking Jesus at first, but then she gets creative in this very fictional tale.  The Pope showed up, the Emperor, various mythical beings, some biblical characters, the Bishop, the church organist, a bunch of others before some long-dead philosophers argued over philosophical issues.  All of them mocking Jesus.  Sayers was pointing the finger at every person.  She even had a sympathetic person reciting a poem that sounds sympathetic, but not sympathetic to the reason Jesus was about to die.  In our own way, we have all mocked Jesus.  And before you say anything, you can mock Jesus by laughing as you walk out of a Tenebrae service, thinking it to be fine entertainment.  Worship is not entertainment and if that is what you get from worship, you missed the point.”

Babs scrunched her nose, the tears starting to leak again, “And then we ended with the death and burial of Jesus.  It amazes me that Nicodemus was there at the burial.  You only hear of Nicodemus in the Gospel of John, and when John 3 ends, you picture Nicodemus walking home in the dark totally confused.  But, Harold, he figured out what Jesus was saying.”

I nodded, “And anyone that figures it out is the product of a miracle, that someone with a sin nature that rules the day can listen to a whisper and then follow that whisper. They have to be touched especially by God, regardless of the evangelists’ skills.  And you may not agree, but the conversion of Nicodemus was a greater miracle than yours.”

Babs scrunched her nose, “And how does that work?”

I laughed, “Babs, all God had to do was tell you to look behind you, and all you saw were the wrong things.  At that moment, you knew you needed Him.  Nicodemus looked behind himself and saw a young Pharisee being a good little boy and doing all the right things.  It took more convincing by God to show him that his worldview was a house of cards no better than your stellar naughty life.”

Babs smiled, “You think my lifestyle and worldview were stellar?”

I shrugged, “In a naughty way, you went to your own personal extremes.  You never got to experience for what sexual activity was created?”

Babs nodded, “For procreation.”

I shook my head, “For you, that ship has sailed, but sex was created for that and for it to be the closest thing with another like-minded person of the opposite sex.  Sex is enjoyable.  When you make it a sin or you sin in doing it, you lose that type of intimacy that God wanted two people to enjoy.  But when it is part of marriage between a man and a woman, it should be enjoyed and celebrated, glorifying God while doing so.”

Babs giggled, “So, when do we start?”

I leaned in and kissed her lips, “Let’s enjoy the ride first.”

Credits

All these conversations remind me of my conversations with my wife.  We would talk about anything and everything.  And most of the time, it sounded like a discussion in a Sunday school class.

My wife and I had a ruined Tenebrae service experience.  I think that I have written about it.  The church leaders were afraid that some old lady would trip and break a bone if the lights were out.  They turned the lights back up to full strength, and the old ladies that the church leaders worried about laughed and jabbered away, showing no concern for their sin, what had happened to Jesus, etc.  But the largest casualties from the service were the lay participants.  We had put our heart and soul into it, and we left angry, not just my wife and I.  There was to be no talking at all until they were out of the building.  It took us many years to see our sin in that situation.  We had forgotten what the service was all about.

Tenebrae services are done in multiple ways.  But silence and darkness, with maybe a little light to help the old ladies, is very important.  The Scriptures above are only representative.

The radio show, The Shadow, had those lines.  I think they were spoken by Orson Welles at one time, but then there was the radio program, the movies, a television series …  The only time that I never heard the response of “The Shadow knows” was on Rowan and Martin’s Laugh In when Johnny Brown, a very funny black comedian said, “The Shadow Do.”

Vocal fry is when you go to your lowest register and restrict the air flow so that instead of getting a smooth tone from the larynx, you get vocal cords banging into each other in an irregular manner.  We can stop this growing trend.  We do not need Hollywood elites brainwashing us into doing this.  Occasionally, it might be cute, but continuously it is annoying.  No one knows the long-term effects, but all it takes to stop it is to have better posture and breathe deeper, not running out of air before your sentence is finished.

And the reality show jab was that the world’s explosion of vocal fry seems to center around the Kardashians, but it had been used in a more limited way years before that.  Probably slipping into vocal fry due to trying to say too much before the person took a good breath.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.