Artwork by Kajsa Meyer
Written Reflection by Laura Flanders
Welcome to the website for Centennial Covenant Church’s podcast Centered. This podcast was created by Karl Helvig, David Dillon, and Kaley Rodda, with the help of many other wonderful people. The content below is a guide for the prayer practice known as The Stations of the Cross, and this website was designed particularly with our friends in the D/HH community in mind. You can use it on its own without the audio podcast, or you can use the website while listening to the podcast to create a more immersive experience. The content here is exactly the same as that on the audio podcast. In other words, this website and the podcast can function either independently or together.
Welcome back to our series on the Stations of the Cross. The Stations of the Cross is an ancient spiritual practice in which people pray through a series of moments from the last day of the life of Jesus. Our hope is to present a spiritual practice that can meaningfully help us live lives that are a little more centered, and a little less distracted. A little more experiencing what scripture calls “the peace that passes all understanding.” And maybe a little less of the stress and anxiety that many of us feel on a regular basis.
This week coming up is Holy Week. Today’s Station of the Cross - Station 12, Jesus Dies on the Cross - matches up with a day towards the end of Holy Week called Good Friday. Good Friday is the day when Jesus is crucified. If you’re interested, our church Centennial Covenant is hosting a Good Friday service, this Friday. The service will be on Friday at 6:30pm at the church, and we’re going to put on display in sort of a gallery style all of the artwork that you’ve been seeing with each Station of the Cross. For more information, visit the church website at www.centcov.org. And of course we’d also love for you to join us for our Easter gatherings at 9:00am and 10:30am on Easter Sunday morning.
We’ve been talking a lot recently about how we approach scripture. We want you to reflect and think really intentionally before engaging with scripture. The idea is that we get our mind, our body, and our heart posture all aligned, so we can more introspectively, more intentionally engage with scripture.
So before engaging with today’s scripture, we encourage you to take a couple deep breaths.
If you’ve been thinking about your day, your week, things going on in your life, try to slow your mind down to just this present moment.
The best way to do that is to focus on your breathing. Notice how you’re inhaling, and exhaling.
Where in your body do you feel your breath? Maybe in your stomach, your chest, or your lungs. Maybe it’s your nose. Try to put your attention there.
Now that we’ve created that alignment with our body and our mind, take a moment to read the scripture - John 19:30:
When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
As you reflect on the scripture, take a look at the artwork for this Station.
What do you notice about the colors and the shadows used in the artwork? Are there certain colors that draw your attention?
What do you find intriguing about the style of this piece of art?
With that in mind, take a moment to reflect on how the colors, the shadows, and the style of the artwork conveys an emotion, or several emotions.
How does this cause you to think about the character of God? Is there a word or a phrase that comes to mind?
The written reflection for this station comes to us from Centennial member Laura Flanders.
It is Finished.
By Laura Flanders
I think if most of us were honest, we would admit we live with a scarcity mindset. By that I mean we struggle to believe we have enough or we are enough. Instead of remembering that we’ve been given a faith and that this is all that we need for life and godliness (See 1 Peter 1), our minds become oriented towards our unfilled needs. We scramble towards the urgent instead of attending to the more important. We spend our time gathering instead of enjoying what is right in front of us.
In John 19:28-30 we see Jesus experiencing his last moments on the cross. He expresses his thirst and is given wine vinegar. “When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”
What does it mean when Jesus says, “It is finished?” In the Greek, we learn that this phrase does not mean “it is done or it is over or I am done for.” Instead it means, “it is perfected.” Jesus is declaring that the reason for his taking on flesh has been successfully accomplished. In other words, he won the battle and conquered evil. He defeated our enemy by doing the will of His father (John 4:34). As John the Baptist has declared, “Behold the Lamb of God who has taken away the sins of the world.” (John 1:29).
It truly is finished. As we wait for Jesus to return we struggle to believe that “it is finished.” We live as if there is more we have to add to the work of Christ. For sure we are to live generously and to work hard by serving the needs of the world! But we do so under the truth that IT IS FINISHED. We have all that we need as we respond to the truth of what Christ perfected. We need not fear as we serve others whose needs seem beyond repair. There’s no reason to despair over what we don’t have as we seek to respond to the desperate needs of the poor.
There is nothing we have to add to the cross as we learn to respond in love to one another.
How is it that you might respond? Having reflected on this art, the ways it might cause you to think about God and His character? What responses are prompted in your own heart, and your own mind? What might be different about the way you live your life this week, as you continue to ponder this station of the cross?
If you want to leave a response or a comment for our artists and writers, please do so here on the website. As always, we look forward to being with you again next time. Grace and Peace.