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Reflections from Good Friday: the cross is also our's.

Today, April 10, is Good Friday.  It is arguably the darkest day in the Christian calendar, as it is the day on which Christ was crucified, and died, at Calvary.  The collects, reproduced below from the Book of Common Prayer, send a petition for the mercy of God on those who profess their faith in He who was crucified today, as well as to those who deny the salvific purpose of his crucifixion.  

In offering himself up for crucifixion, the Lamb of God demonstrated a perfect obedience and love, opening the path for a connection between the human race and God.  For it is only through him that we may go to the Father (John 14: 6), and this is the Gospel emphasis in no uncertain terms.  Today's epistle, too, reminds us that this sacrifice was offered perfectly to take on the sins of the world, and there is no other means to this (Hebrews 10: 1-25; more specifically, 1: 10-14).  

But, I believe, there is yet more set by this demonstration of Christ for perfect obedience and love, namely, that the cross is also our's to bear.  It is our call to responsibility and duty; from this there is also no escape.  To deny this is to fall victim to cheap grace, which is levelled as "the deadly enemy of our Church."  (1.)  

Acceptance of the cross being our's also is an acceptance of hardship and discipline.  It is an acceptance that things will be tough, and that we will be faced daily against sin.  It is, at its utmost, a declaration of faith in Christ crucified, and a commitment to follow him in that journey.  This is part of the very nature of the Christian faith, and, I would argue, a fundamental pillar of its virtue.  It is ingrained in its core.  It promotes a desire to see through the hard times, always bearing our minds towards Christ, who suffered the ultimately penalty for sin, and therefrom demonstrated also its overcoming.  As the Son of God, he was able to do just that.  

In calling his disciples, Christ made his demands in perfect clarity: once the offer to follow him is taken up, there is no looking back.  We, as modern disciples, are to reflect this obedience to Christ from his original chosen, who, like us, had the free choice in their commitment (2).  Those who do are declared to be not fit for the Kingdom of God (Luke 9: 62).  If we are tempted to look back and waver in difficult times, we are further called to remember Lot's wife, (Luke 17: 32,) who was condemned to be a pillar of salt for doing precisely that which she was commanded not to — i.e., looking back.  

Yet, this is not to say that we are not allowed to stumble.  Part of our intrinsic nature, as human beings, is to stumble.  The bounty of Christ's mercy is infinite to those who make the commitment to follow him.  But this bounty is not necessarily one without its demands, and in assessing those demands placed upon us, we can further reorient our response to stumbling.  How do we act?  Is it with contrition, with prayer, with reflection, and with the good intention to resolve against our stumbling?  This is the very barometer of the sincerity of our faith.  

 Through any such hardship and temptation, through trials and difficulties, we are forced to reorient our focus upon Christ and, through him, towards God.  

If we are able to humble ourselves, genuflect, and make a firm commitment to resolve against our sin, we are thereby also creating an arc of redemption against fallen nature.  It is a process, and not an immediate transformation.  The point is that, even when we have fallen, we do not look back with nostalgia for those times when we did not commit to this hardship; rather, we are to plant ourselves deeper into its demands, and seek to reinforce our commitment to it.  It is acceptance of guilt when we do stumble, a sincere request for mercy, and a reinforcement of the path of discipline and hardship chosen.  This is also a part of what it means to bear the cross for ourselves.  
"To endure the cross is not a tragedy; it is the suffering which is the fruit of an exclusive allegiance to Jesus Christ."  (3.) 



+ Collects (from the Book of Common Prayer): 


"ALMIGHTY God, we beseech thee graciously to behold this thy family, for which our Lord Jesus Christ was contented to be betrayed, and given up into the hands of wicked men, and to suffer death upon the cross, who now liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.  Amen.

"ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers, which we offer before thee for all estates of men in thy holy Church, that every member of the same, in his vocation and ministry, may truly and godly serve thee; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  Amen.

"O MERCIFUL God, who has made all men, and hatest nothing that thou hast made, nor wouldest the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live: Have mercy upon thine ancient people the Jews, and upon all who have not known thee, or who deny the faith of Christ crucified; take from them all ignorance, hardness of heart, and contempt of thy Word; and so fetch them home, blessed Lord, to thy fold, that they may be made one flock under one shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.  Amen."

Lord have mercy on this day.  Amen. 



References:

1. Bonhoeffer, D. 2015. 'Costly Grace'. The Cost of Discipleship. SCM Press: London. p. 3. 
2. Ibid. 'Single-minded obedience'. pp. 35-40.
3. Ibid. 'Discipleship and the cross'. p. 43. 

(N.b., a link to a copy of this book, and the Book of Common prayer as well as the version of the Bible cited, is on my reading list page.)


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