April 2013

Dear all,

The three crosses in the photo were put up for The Easter Story Trail (check out the photos here) that we did on Palm Sunday and the Monday (Riverhead Infant and Amherst Junior Schools children were absolutely fantastic and a credit to their families and teachers). It was a surreal feeling putting crosses up in snow; I almost kept looking round for the manger!

Now, as I get back to the “normal” day-to-day running of things after a fantastic Easter week I keep walking past the crosses wondering when we should take them down…

How long can you leave a wooden cross up in a graveyard before it becomes unsightly and an inconvenience? I’m tempted to find out!

When I was studying at Central Baptist Theological Seminary, Kansas a framed cartoon always caught my eye as I ascended the stairs to my one-to-one course on Black Church history. It was black and white. At the front was a pulpit behind which stood a well dressed male Minister merrily preaching. Behind him was a huge flower arrangement which covered up the cross on the wall. Underneath was written the following words: “Save us from all unpleasantness.”

It’s fair to say it can be a struggle to keep Jesus central in our culture in the Easter period with all the bunnies and chocolate eggs.

  • Would it also be fair to say that it is a challenge to keep the cross of Jesus central in our day-to-day Christian lives?
  • Are we too quick to take the cross down after the Easter weekend?
  • Does our wonder at the love of God dim too quickly as we become consumed with what we want at church?
  • Do we forget the victory Jesus won for us through his death and resurrection in which he destroyed the power of sin and death?

Maybe we should keep the crosses up in the graveyard as a continual reminder of what God did for us through Jesus and as a reminder to take up our cross daily, as Jesus told us to do.

What do you think?

Yours because of Jesus – Neil.

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