Tuesday April 1, 2014 Reprieve without the cross would be preferred. Just a while ago, the phone rang, and Helen at the doctor’s office called to say, “After putting heads and treatment plans together, our doctor here and her counterpart at MD Anderson felt that I would do as well or better this time around with one rather than a combination of chemo therapies. She went on to say that “this particular drug has fewer side effects, and will require less time under the needle.” I sit writing this with very little pain, and my basic discomfort a silly little half cough that won’t behave. And my soul speaking says, “We are wrapped in mystery with every thought and breath, and prayer continues its worthy and redemptive work.” “But, of course,” you must still have complete all the additional radiation and chemo treatments,” Helen said. We want the reprieve, but not the cross. This makes that other cross come to mind. Next Sunday I’ll do the 8:30 morning service and already I’m thinking it needs to be about the cross. I’m as guilty as the next person who wants to talk and write and preach about God’s grace and love and mercy, while looking away from the cross. Whatever else may be said about the cross, this one thing stands out: It says that God knows about pain and suffering in a personal way. Even God is not exempt. The reason the cross is so central to the New Testament and in the history of our faith is that we all (I’m thinking) want the healing without the treatment, the ‘all clear’ without the suffering or inconvenience. In short, we want ‘the crown, but not the cross.’ Honestly, I’d much rather write about goodness, kindness, compassion, and love. But even as one writes, you think: Is there goodness, kindness, compassion and love without cost? Sure, we could have a Savior without a cross, but it would be a Savior who did not know our pain and suffering, or our need to confront and deal with death. The cross is not all of our faith. It is a centerpiece of it, however. Preaching ‘light, and triumph, prosperity, and health’ with no sense of the cross in the real world becomes ‘sound and fury signifying nothing.’ Thankfully the cross is not the last word. It is a word that must be spoken, but there is a Power that defeats even the cross. We’re in ‘cross time’ just now, but the other word is moving toward us. I hope and pray I’ll be well enough to be propped up, sound turned up, and be heard Easter Sunday saying: “Christ is risen!” If I can ‘say’, I’ll probably say more, but when Easter Sunday comes, if that ‘risen’ gets into us, reprieve will begin to appear, and we’ll be able to sing: “In the cross of Christ I glory, towering over the wreaks of time, all the light of ancient glory, gathers round its head sublime. When the woes of life o’er take me, hopes deceive, and fears annoy, never shall the cross forsake me. Lo! It glows with peace and joy.” Thank you God. Always love, always, Keith
Posted on: Tue, 01 Apr 2014 12:25:10 +0000
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