I love coffee, if I am at Starbucks, I get a caramel macchiato upside down with extra caramel. Yes, I know exactly how I like it. Don't judge me. The aroma of it "gets me going" in the morning. I love the way it tastes as it goes down. It is hot, but its smooth if you get it upside down. One day I got a cup and as I was leaving the store I dropped the cup! While feeling inadequate in my Steve Urkel moment, everyone apologized for me dropping the cup. Wasn’t sure what to do at this point. Perplexed, I picked the cup up from the ground but at that moment, I immediately lost the desire for the morning making contents in the cup. Frustrated, I decided to discard the damaged cup but at that moment the barista said, “can you bring me your cup of coffee?” As I walked to the counter she took the cup examined it and said I want to give you a refill but this cup can’t hold the new contents because it is too damaged. So the barista redeemed the cup of coffee for me at no charge.
Can you imagine the frustration of dropping the cup? I am not the only one, a lot of us have dropped the cup in life. Our first response is to operate in darkness and tell ourselves that we are unredeemable. The enemy AKA "the accuser" begins to speak and say We aren’t good enough. We aren’t smart enough. We aren’t worthy. Guess what, Its ok to drop the cup, the contents of your dreams have been spilled for all the world to see. The contents of your weaknesses have leaked out and people see your flaws and they apologize to you for your ineptitude or they whisper behind your back! However, on a Good Friday over 2000 years ago, Jesus made a decision to refill your cup at no charge to you. Your job is to simply bring him an empty cup.
And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” Luke 22:41-42
I am so thankful for Jesus taking the bitter cup of sin and trading it for a sweet smelling redemptive sacrifice on the cross! On the cross, He was destroyed and cut off from His Father. It was to have been our fate. In the midst of humanity’s own darkest hour, and in the face of His followers’ cowardice, selfishness and laziness, God does not cut us off. God does not throw us away! He never discards us! In His awesome mercy, He sends His own Son into the darkness so that we might live in the light. God’s son died so that I might live. Because he lives I now know that everything I am going through has redemptive purpose if I just surrender it to him! Make this a Good Friday and give someone hope. Sweeten their cup of coffee.