{"id":4089,"date":"2022-04-30T04:47:41","date_gmt":"2022-04-30T11:47:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jonandlayne.com\/?p=4089"},"modified":"2022-04-30T04:47:44","modified_gmt":"2022-04-30T11:47:44","slug":"it-is-in-dying-that-we-are-born-to-eternal-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jonandlayne.com\/it-is-in-dying-that-we-are-born-to-eternal-life\/","title":{"rendered":"It is in Dying that We are Born to Eternal Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Layne Post<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peace Prayer of Saint Francis<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

where there is hatred, let me sow love;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

where there is injury, pardon;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

where there is doubt, faith;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

where there is despair, hope;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

where there is darkness, light;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

where there is sadness, joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to be consoled as to console,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to be understood as to understand,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to be loved as to love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For it is in giving that we receive,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Easter felt a bit different for me this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have friends walking through the hardest days of their lives. My job, my ministry, revolve around people suffering, fighting to live, yet often dying. As I listened to worship songs of death being defeated, I felt a strange sting. It doesn\u2019t feel defeated in the way I want it to. I believe Jesus conquered death and rose from the grave. I do. I also know the hard truth that death is still the required road to eternal life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I reflect on the story of the Messiah, I can see myself in the Jews. I, too, expect Jesus to come in all His power and glory to defeat the Romans, the oppressors… my oppressors<\/em>, sickness, cancer, depression, hardship of any kind, maybe death… <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isn\u2019t that what I was told? Isn’t that what you were told? I was told my whole life of a powerful Redeemer, who gave us the keys to the kingdom, who would deliver me from all my suffering. Ask and you shall receive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glory. Power. Dominion. Victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is so much harder and messier than I expected. More pain. More suffering. I have struggled to reconcile this Jesus I was taught with the life I am living. The formulas I was sold aren\u2019t working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The declarations. The faith of a mustard seed. The laying on of hands. The two or more that are gathered. The prayer chains. The begging. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t get me wrong, it is not that these are bad. You’ll often find me rubbing a patient’s leg, whispering prayers and Biblical promises over them, and then face down in my bathroom pleading Jesus to intercede. I’m the first to jump on Facebook and ask for communal prayer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But people are still dying. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have known the truth of His presence. That wasn\u2019t in question. He just looks so much different than I expected. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More honestly, He looks different than I want<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where’s the victory?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I realized is that this Jesus, who was born in a manger, who chose to live in poverty, who rode on a donkey, who washed the feet of others, who walked the Via Dolorosa<\/em><\/a>, this Jesus<\/em>, in His unexpected upside-down kind of way, instead of changing the required death-road to eternal life demanded by sin, decided to show us how<\/em> to walk through suffering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He showed us how to die.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said, “Follow me.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It isn\u2019t that I don\u2019t pray for miracles, or for relief, or for mercy. I do. Sometimes it is granted. I also know that when it doesn\u2019t come, as it didn\u2019t for Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, I am in good company. When the road ahead overwhelms me to the point of death<\/a>, I have an example to follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He might not look like I expected or wanted; He is far more humble, but after some time in His presence, I assure you He is so worth following. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Layne Post Peace Prayer of Saint Francis Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O divine Master, grant that I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonandlayne.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4089"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonandlayne.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonandlayne.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonandlayne.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonandlayne.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4089"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/jonandlayne.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4089\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4096,"href":"https:\/\/jonandlayne.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4089\/revisions\/4096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonandlayne.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonandlayne.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonandlayne.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}