Christmas was a wonderful experience for us all. The times of worship, the caroling, the Christmas Eve service, the children, the music, and the beauty of God’s gift to us wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.
December is a month of celebrating Christmas, and now in comes the New Year and we move into Epiphany, Lent and Holy Week. I want to share some words that both look back and ahead to the vision and mission Jesus called us to follow.
The stark nakedness of a cross
has little significance to many people today,
some even see it as a negative image.
After all, it was a means of capital punishment.
The cross is also a symbol of Jesus’ love, even as he suffered.
Jesus never asked us to worship a cross,
but to take up our cross and follow him.
Jesus could have walked away from Jerusalem
but his mission led that direction and so
he set his face toward Jerusalem.
Jesus faced the cross and saw beyond the cross.
He saw a greater vision and mission,
to the joy set before him, a vision of life for us all.
Abundant life that shimmers with grace and beauty and joy
reflecting the new creation in resurrection life.
Followers of Jesus are called to set their face beyond the cross,
to reach for the vision and live the mission
trusting God who is greater than the cross.
The cross is in the past, the resurrection is now!
-Richard Shreckhise
May we always celebrate the great works God has done.
May we ever rejoice in the moments now when we experience the nearness of Christ.
May we pay attention to the vision and mission ahead in the leading of the Spirit.