Crown Wearers in Heaven, Cross Bearers on Earth

Preparing for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Two Days before Sunday (Year C)

Scripture (semicontinuous)

Psalter: Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16

Old Testament: Jeremiah 23:23-32

Epistle: Ephesians 2:1-10

Scripture (complementary)

Psalter: Psalm 146

Old Testament: Proverbs 28:3-10

Epistle: Ephesians 2:1-10

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Prayer

God of power and justice, like Jeremiah you weep over those who wander from you, turn aside to other gods, and enter into chaos and destruction. By your tears and through your mercy, teach us your ways and write them on our hearts so that we may follow faithfully the path you show us. Amen.

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Reflection

You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, doing the will of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else, but God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places[d] in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we may walk in them (Ephesians 2:1-10).

Throughout his letters Paul never views the cross of Christ as a distant event in the past. He does not believe it to be simply a fact of history for scholars to ponder in their “ivory towers.” Paul does not understand the cross of Christ as irrelevant for the way the followers of Jesus live.

Indeed, Paul clearly believes that we cannot be saved unless we, in some way, participate with Christ in his crucifixion. Paul writes to the Galatians, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (2:20). We encounter this same theme in other places in Paul, “We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin” (Romans 6:6). “We are afflicted in every way...always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies” (2 Corinthians 4:7-10).

We could continue with the quotations but suffice it to say that, according to Paul, there is a participatory aspect of the cross of Christ. In the process of salvation, we are in some way crucified with Jesus, and if we are not crucified with him, then we cannot be raised with him. Charles Spurgeon said, “There are no crown wearers in heaven who were not cross bearers on earth.”

It is an easy thing to view the cross of Jesus Christ from the bottom of the hill called Calvary. To be sure, it may be somewhat distressing to see the person on that cross in pain and agony. We may very well feel badly for him. We may even shed a tear or two; but once it is over and he is dead, we can return home to the routine of life—the mortgage and the car payment, working 9 to 5, and raising the children. He is dead and life goes on. Yes, it is an effortless act simply to watch the crucifixion from a distance.

But what if we are meant to do more than watch it happening to someone else? What if we are meant to hang there in shame and pain? Yes, I know the Bible says that Christ died in our place, that is true. Christ’s death was unique and in one respect not repeatable. Nevertheless, the cross of Christ will not be our salvation until we are willing to put to death all those things in our lives which put Jesus on the cross in the first place. Jesus hangs on the cross because of you and me. Every act of greed and selfishness, every word of boasting and false pride, every sin of racism and sexism, every word of gossip and back-biting, deception and falsehood; everything not pleasing about our lives is what put Jesus Christ upon the cross. We are guilty.

Our culture is not much into guilt. It is supposedly not good for us. It is damaging to our self-esteem, so we are told. “I’m OK, you’re OK.” Of course, there is unjustified guilt. People can feel guilt over the wrong things. There is, however, justified guilt. Some guilt is good; for it causes us to reexamine our lives, and, hopefully, make changes.

Who crucified Jesus? We are all guilty as charged. Yet, that act of crucifixion perpetrated by all of us is also our means of escape from the sin that ensnares us; provided we willingly crucify those things that put Jesus on the cross in the first place.

This is not easy. We love our sin. If sin is such a detestable thing for us, why is it such a continual problem? Yet, if we are willing to overcome our sin, God is able to help us. The same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is available to us so that we might crucify and bury our sin and raise our self, our image into the likeness of Jesus Christ.

PRAYER: Lord God, friend of those in need, your Son Jesus has untied our burdens and healed our spirits. We lift up the prayers of our hearts for those still burdened, those seeking healing, those in need within the church and the world. Hear our prayers that we may love you with our whole being and willingly share the concerns of our neighbors. Amen.

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