Why the Cross?

I haven't been thinking "theologically" for a while. More devotionaly, and ministorially (is that a word? if it is it isn't spelled right...anyway). I am happy to be a Free Methodist again. Art has had to take a course on Free Methodist History to be on track for ordination, so we've been reading some books and articles together, and of course I've been listening to his papers. Both of us got our bachelors degrees at a Free Methodist college in NY, this refreshment course has truly been refreshing. My son Ardy brought up an old friend the other day - a blogger friend of ours, and an old question. Why the Cross? Having had the honor of playing Mary, the mother of Jesus in this year's Passion Play, and having to go to the cross for four nights during Holy Week, the cross became more real to me than it has ever been. Pushing past the guards to reach Him, touching His bloody feet, looking into his sorrowful eyes, watching them pierce His side...33 years before, Simeon told Mary that a sword would pierce her own soul as well (Luke 2:35). When they take Him off the cross and lay Him on the stretcher, Mary rushes to His side. His body is still warm and sticky with blood and sweat. If anyone ever agonized over the question "why the cross" surely it was this women. In the rock musical "Jesus Christ Super Star" Judas asks the question "what about the cross, was that a mistake, or did you know your messy death would be a record breaker" (the man who wrote that play was a Jew). Once, when I was praying for my own dear son, in the midst of his crisis, I thought, how can I ask God to have mercy on my son when He allowed such a horrible thing to happen to His own son? But His still gentle voice reminded me of the Blessed Trinity, and how it was actually God Himself hanging on that tree of shame. He allowed Himself to suffer and die on the cross - "I lay down my life only to take it up again, no one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have the authority to lay it down and to take it up again...John 10:18 But why? The cross is the one main thing that separates Christianity from other world religions. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ split time and changed the world. Hundreds of years before Jesus' sacrifice, the Prophet Isaiah "saw" and wrote about the event. "He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon us, and by his wounds we are healed." (53:5) Doesn't that explain pretty clearly why? What does the cross show us? How ugly and disgusting our sins are to God. How deformed our selfish, sinful natures look to the Almighty, All Beautiful One. Not the way He intended when He lovingly formed our bodies from the red clay of the earth He designed to be our home. The cross shows us how much He loves us. He longs for us to understand that, and to choose to love Him back. The cross shows us that He, the Almighty, understands our pain, He chose to experience pain for our sake, that we would know how intimately He understands. Words are not enough. Words are never enough. Actions do indeed speak louder and more clearly then words. Jesus was a real, living breathing, human being - 100% Human (and 100% God). He wasn't someone's dream or fantasy. He didn't just speak this world into being, He walked on it. We can actually trace His steps. We know where He prayed, We know where He died. He came to the world He created at just the right moment in history. No other god or goddess, no other prophet or shaman, no science or logic can ... can what? can hold a light to Jesus and His Cross - what does that mean? How can I say it? Why the cross? Why do people ask that question? Why can't everyone see? Maybe, because if they accept the cross, and the peace it offers, they might have to give up their false gods and their favorite sins .Or maybe because there are so many people out there in this dark and depraved world who claim to be followers of the Lamb of God, who died to take away the sins of the world, but who are hateful and hurtful and foolish and prideful and petty. If the cross and its message are true, then people who follow Him who died and rose again should be out changing the world, not hiding in their churches holding on to their particular traditions and arguing among themselves. Tongues or no tongues, pretrib or post, guitars or organs, what kind of drums, what kind of dance, which translation is best???????LORD have mercy on us. Jesus died on the cross for me. His blood is on my hands. He died so that when I die I can be with Him eternally. He died because I was (and sadly continue to be) a sinner, in need of forgiveness. He died to save me from the punishment I deserve. He died because He loves me. He died and rose again to prove that all He has said through all the ages is True. He is the Truth! Why the cross? Because in His infinite wisdom He decided that that was the best way to act out what He wanted us to understand. I look at the cross, and I don't wonder why...I say Yes, and Thankyou, and Amen.

April 3, 2008

The globe willows are in bloom as are many of the fruit trees in the area, but there is no apparent growth on our rose bushes. They still just look like sorry sticks poking out of the dry, hard ground. I know I'm just being impatient, but wasn't Jesus being a little impatient with the fig tree he cursed? I confess to being impatient with how slowly things seem to be going here on the mission complex too. We've said that Isaiah 61 is our mission statement, but the problem with "preaching good news to the poor", is that they can't put much cash in the offering plate, and restoration - even planting to display the LORD's splendor - costs money. My Bible almost automatically opens to Isaiah 61 but over the past few days I've been starting at Chapter 55 and reading to 62. There is a lot in these chapters about summoning the nations and gathering the nations, and people from all nations coming to the place of promise. Have I mentioned lately how living in the Four Corners is like living in the midst of a gathering of nations? Within 100 miles of Farmington there are 5 Native American reservations. As in the rest of the southwest, the Hispanic population is high, and of course the "Anglos" are still here trying to claim, in an area where they are often the minority, that they are still the dominate culture. So what are the Brokops? We are of course seen as white - Anglo, though Pastor Art is actually Spanish/Navajo/Russian - no Anglo (English) blood there. . .But I digress. I hear music when I read Isaiah 55. And a call to seek God. A call to the nations and a promise that they will come. Isaiah 56 talks about how no one will be excluded. It also warns against getting drunk. Alcohol has such a grip on the people we are called to rescue from the darkness. So many people are being held captive by the chains of drink and drugs, especially meth. So many spiritual - emotional prisoners. And how do we proclaim freedom to people who don't want to hear, or who are so full of hostility and despair that they can not hear…I began this essay at work, during my lunch break. Now it is early in the morning. A crescent moon and the morning star are shining. I grabbed one of my Bibles in the dark, it’s one I haven’t read from in a long time, The Message, not the most reliable translation to be sure. But it opened right up to Isaiah 55 where I had written these words in July 2003, “looks like we will need to buy the mission without money.” And in the margin between Isaiah 60 and 61, the words “the mission”. It’s still amazing to me that we are actually, physically here in this place. There it is again, dated October 29, 2003 “the mission vision” next to these verses in Isaiah 58 “You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your past…restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again..”
But, as I write this, I am avoiding 58 and 59. Perhaps these chapters contain the reason why things seem to be moving so slowly. I remember “preaching” from Isaiah 59 at the other Free Methodist Church in Farmington (which is now closed) one year when the “men” were at men’s retreat. As a church, we had been praying that the Rocky Mountain Conference wouldn’t close us down, but we were doomed. I wonder which one of my Bibles has the notes from that “sermon”. Well, I’m going to bring this to a close. I need to go to work. The sun has nearly risen above the trees, a few little birds are yelling at our kitty in the courtyard. The courtyard doesn’t look too bad, we did the best we could over spring break, with the tools we had. And the place one of my sons works donated a sign yesterday. Like the one we wanted. All we need now are letters, light bulbs, and an extension cord. Blessings on you all. Yes, God bless u s everyone…Next snail mail news letter will be going out soon with pictures from Easter and the Passion Play. If you want to receive it, email me your snail mail address. My email is “artandme@juno.com.