Easter // Martyr // Cross
"He is risen" the pastor declares from the pulpit.
"He is risen, indeed" the congregation robotically responds to the statement without thinking, just doing.
How often is our faith based off of habits and doing what we have always done. This year, for the first time in nineteen years, I was not home for a major religious holiday. It was Easter and I sat in a field of bluebonnets in a state that is not my home. It was Easter and I watched Captain America and almost cried at the patriotism, the wrongdoing, the Alzheimer. It was Easter and I ate FroYo and it felt like home. It was Easter and I almost threw up. My nausea is a physical symptom of my utter disgust with the sinful life I have been living. It's odd that there are actual physical manifestations of my emotional and spiritual health. When Paul tells the Corinthians that "For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep", I didn't realize it was a physical thing. Sick: my sin had made me sick.
We've been focusing a lot on martyrdom and taking up our cross in church, in school, in Bible reading, because it's Easter, because it's a Baptist school. The visualization of what it means to take up our cross hits home. Christ dies for our sins. We get involved in the holiday and forget about the sacrifice. We forget about the cross in our everyday life. Maybe we get through the holiday with a mind set on God and a heart that thirsts for Christ. But how long do we commit to taking up our cross? How long do we stay "holy" after holy days? Is it the next day when we watch a questionable movie? Is it later that night lying in bed? Is it the next day driving to work when that silver corolla cuts us off? Or maybe we can keep it up for a while. Perhaps our Facebook posts are all verses and our Instagram is full of uplifting quotes and praises about God's glory and goodness. What happens when we are feeling down and the positivity fades? Will we still be singing praises in the evening? What about when we need to feel accepted so we post a questionable selfie? Are we still representing God well if we have a Bible verse as the caption?
Taking up our cross means praying that the silver corolla that cut us off gets to their destination safely. It means choosing not to watch that morally questionable movie or post that selfie (especially when God can give us all the affirmation we need). It means reading our Bible before bed instead of filling our mind with "endless drizzle", as David Platt so aptly describes the cat videos and vines that we view as scrolling through our Newsfeed lying in bed. Taking up our cross is more than just making bold choices. It's more than choosing the unpopular opinion. It's going outside of our comfort zone and shamelessly sharing the gospel. It is risking persecution and rejection for the sake of Christ. It is going to Turkey as a missionary because that is where God is calling you. It is fighting the status quo instead of fighting God's will for our life.
"He is risen, indeed" the congregation robotically responds to the statement without thinking, just doing.
How often is our faith based off of habits and doing what we have always done. This year, for the first time in nineteen years, I was not home for a major religious holiday. It was Easter and I sat in a field of bluebonnets in a state that is not my home. It was Easter and I watched Captain America and almost cried at the patriotism, the wrongdoing, the Alzheimer. It was Easter and I ate FroYo and it felt like home. It was Easter and I almost threw up. My nausea is a physical symptom of my utter disgust with the sinful life I have been living. It's odd that there are actual physical manifestations of my emotional and spiritual health. When Paul tells the Corinthians that "For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep", I didn't realize it was a physical thing. Sick: my sin had made me sick.
We've been focusing a lot on martyrdom and taking up our cross in church, in school, in Bible reading, because it's Easter, because it's a Baptist school. The visualization of what it means to take up our cross hits home. Christ dies for our sins. We get involved in the holiday and forget about the sacrifice. We forget about the cross in our everyday life. Maybe we get through the holiday with a mind set on God and a heart that thirsts for Christ. But how long do we commit to taking up our cross? How long do we stay "holy" after holy days? Is it the next day when we watch a questionable movie? Is it later that night lying in bed? Is it the next day driving to work when that silver corolla cuts us off? Or maybe we can keep it up for a while. Perhaps our Facebook posts are all verses and our Instagram is full of uplifting quotes and praises about God's glory and goodness. What happens when we are feeling down and the positivity fades? Will we still be singing praises in the evening? What about when we need to feel accepted so we post a questionable selfie? Are we still representing God well if we have a Bible verse as the caption?
Taking up our cross means praying that the silver corolla that cut us off gets to their destination safely. It means choosing not to watch that morally questionable movie or post that selfie (especially when God can give us all the affirmation we need). It means reading our Bible before bed instead of filling our mind with "endless drizzle", as David Platt so aptly describes the cat videos and vines that we view as scrolling through our Newsfeed lying in bed. Taking up our cross is more than just making bold choices. It's more than choosing the unpopular opinion. It's going outside of our comfort zone and shamelessly sharing the gospel. It is risking persecution and rejection for the sake of Christ. It is going to Turkey as a missionary because that is where God is calling you. It is fighting the status quo instead of fighting God's will for our life.
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