May 1, 2005: Is Jesus on Your Cross?

+THE SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER


A couple of weeks ago, some parishioners and I were chatting after church and they told me that they had just returned from a trip to Arizona. While out there, they went to mass in a church they described as very big and modern. The thing that really struck them was the cross. There was no corpus—no Jesus—on it. They were quite surprised at this, and in fact, they asked me if that was allowed in a Catholic church. And by the way, it’s not! They evidently asked someone in the church why the cross was empty. The answer they got was, “Oh, Christ is risen! We don’t have to have him on the cross any more.”

Ay caramba! When you think about it, it’s very true that Jesus Christ is hard to accept. Look at him up there on our cross: emaciated, bleeding and quite dead. He’s a picture of unimaginable suffering and pain.

All of us human beings know pain to some degree or other. But the question is: are we willing to accept it, and embrace it, as part of our religion?

Since the very beginning, people have been trying to take the cross out of Christianity. In Jesus’ own day, people walked away from him if his teachings seemed too hard or too weird.

Forgive somebody 70 times 7 times? Forget it!

Eat his body which is real food, and drink his blood which is real drink? What do you think we are, cannibals?

Take the speck out of my own eye before criticizing someone else? Get real!

And once Jesus had left the earth, his teachings seemed still more difficult to defend. Think about why there are so many Protestant churches and break-away Christian sects! People left and splintered into groups when they couldn’t accept a teaching or doctrine… or couldn’t stand the people in their present church!

Henry VIII wanted a divorce. The Roman Catholic Church refused to grant him an annulment—so he split away and began the Church of England. And guess what? His own Anglican church, or the Episcopal church as it’s known here in America, has continued to fragment. Why in recent days, there has been splintering over ordaining women and ordaining a gay bishop… to name just two situations.

In the gospel today, Jesus alerts us to all this. He speaks of the Holy Spirit and describes him as “the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept.”

Why does the world have such trouble accepting God and his truth? Maybe we’re just too smart for our own good!

It’s important to remember that people are rational. They act purposefully.

So, very logically, they try to avoid pain, misery, poverty, ignorance, frustration, unhappiness and all the other “demons” of life. Sin is not “stupid”; rather, it is blind. We think it will solve a problem for us or let us exercise more so-called personal freedom… and in the short-term, maybe it will.

I’m in a jam, so I tell a lie. I need something that I can’t afford, so I steal. I’m desperately unhappy in my marriage, so I bail out.

Yet Jesus Christ tells us that the road of life is quite curvy. You’ve all driven on curvy roads; you can’t see around the bends. Likewise, at the time we commit our sins, we can’t see their upshot around the bend.

But take another look at Christ on the cross. There’s the price he paid on our behalf. Sin is pretty serious stuff.

But ugh! How depressing! I don’t want to think about it. So I push the cross away. I soften the edges of my religion to make it more pleasant… more uplifting.

And now the critical question is: is the religion I’ve fashioned for myself true—or is it a bill of goods? It’s a question with eternally important consequences.

Jesus says today, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” He is the way and the truth and the life.

What we sometimes tend to forget, though, is that Christ’s teachings and commandments are tempered by a profound love. He wants us to be safe—and saved! He knows the power and impact of the devil. To the greatest extent possible, while still respecting our free will, Christ tries to entice us to love him back and follow him. It’s not an easy sell, especially in the modern world.

One of our main responsibilities as believers and disciples is to help “market” Jesus Christ in the world. You can call it witnessing, evangelizing or marketing. The point is, one of the most important ways we love God is by loving each other—and we do that most excellently when we bring folks to Jesus.

Now, if you wanted to sell me something, you’re going to be happy… upbeat… positive… excited about your product. You’re going to stress the benefits, all the good points. To be a grumpy, dishonest, judgmental or hypocritical person who calls himself a Christian isn’t going to win over anybody.

During this holy season of Easter, we would do well to think about how we stand with Jesus Christ. Are we taking him down from the cross so we don’t have to face anything unpleasant—or do we love him and trust in his love for us, knowing that no matter how rough things may seem sometimes, to follow Christ is the sure and certain path to holiness and happiness? Jesus promises, “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” He’s not going to jilt us—ever.

If perchance you’ve turned your heart away from Jesus Christ… or if you know someone else who has… pray for a new infusion of faith, hope and love. And may the Spirit of truth lighten your load and strengthen your heart.


Today’s Readings:
Acts of the Apostles 8: 5 –8, 14–17
Psalm 66
1 Peter 3: 15–18
John 14: 15–21