So it was for me this past week. A colleague of mine, Rev. Sam Caldwell, Pastor, Lakeway UMC, Pottsboro, TX, shared his previously published article as inspiration for me and several other colleagues in ministry. Pastor Sam gave me permission to share these words of encouragement with each of you as disciples of Jesus Christ. I pray it will bless you as much as it blessed Marlane and me.
On Saturday, at the Memorial Service for Bishop Rhymes
H. Moncure, Jr., our worship was inspired with the grand new pipe organ at First
UMC Richardson and the singing of the hymn “Lift High the Cross!” The cross led
the processional and was carried by a layperson from First UMC Commerce. What an honor to lead such a processional and carry the cross of Jesus Christ. Following the cross were the acolytes, also in bright robes, carrying three large altar
candles which represent the three persons of God, a sister deacon carrying the
Bible, worship leaders from all across the United Methodist connection, and then
a succession of Bishops and other Presiding Elders.
It was a joy to me to get to sit in the congregation and worship with Cathy, Cammy, and Aubrey. As a pastor, I seldom get to just be a part of the congregation and worship with my family. But at this point in my story, I have to admit that it is a challenge for me to sit in worship without analyzing and evaluating what is going on. The focus was on the cross as we stood singing ,
“Lift high the cross,
the love of Christ proclaim,
‘til all the world adore
His sacred Name”.
As the cross-bearer approached the stand on which the cross was to be placed, it became apparent that the cross pole did not fit into the base. A few awkward smiles ensued and a little struggling and turning. The shiny brass cross at the top of the pole reflected and flashed light all around as they tried to figure out how to connect it with the base. The processional continued and few noticed… or maybe everyone noticed.
Before long it appeared they had given up and that our brother Wyman would need to stand there for the entire service and hold up the cross. I saw him gaze into the congregation toward his pastor Lisa, who no doubt was the one who had nominated him for this honor and gotten him into this mess. “Well imagine that!”, he might have been thinking, “In front of all these people, and the whole world on live webcast, here I am--stuck with this cross!”
A cross can be a dangerous thing. People have made great sacrifices because of a cross. People have been killed with crosses. Martyrs have given their lives because of a cross, thieves have been redeemed on crosses, and in one life-changing case, a
mother gave her son on a cross. Jesus Christ, the savior of the world and me,
suffered at the hands of an rough-hewn crowd and a unruly cross.
A cross can be a dangerous thing. The cruel history of this kind of capital punishment says that the person’s hands and feet were nailed to the cross while on the ground and then the cross was erected and placed into a base—a hole—fashioned in the hard ground. Fitting that cross into its base must have been even more awkward.
A cross can be a dangerous thing. Yet we are stuck with it. We can’t put it down. We are not sure we want to hold it constantly, every day, every moment. But once we carry it for a little while, we find that there is not a way to gracefully put it down. We may try to lay it aside. We may try to trade it for a smaller cross or a more comfortable one or one that is easier to carry. But in the continuing journey of faith and ministry, we are stuck with the cross. With Jesus we know that the
cross is where we are headed, again and again. That’s one reason it’s hard to
make disciples of Jesus Christ. And be one.
Yet Jesus has shown us a way beyond the cross. We are disciples of a risen Lord! Every dying corner on our good Fridays is illumined by the Light of the World on Easter Sunday. The empty cross is the symbol of the risen, living Christ for whom we live and die. It is this Christ for whom our Bishop and brother Rhymes lived, died, and now lives again. He calls us to live this resurrection life--even
now!
Lift high the cross! It is an honor to carry it. And to hold on to it. We are disciples of the Living Christ! But a cross can be a dangerous thing.
Yes, the cross can be a dangerous thing. May we keep the courage to lift high the cross at Wylie UMC and in our community anyway!
Grace and peace,
Jack
