“Splinters and Bonds”...the Wayfarer 3/27/14

“Splinters and Bonds”

 3/27/14carrying the cross

“And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him and led him out to crucify him.

And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus to bear his cross

And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is being interpreted, The place of a skull.”

(Mark 15:20-22)

Over the years, I have heard many sermons based on the crucifixion of Christ Jesus. Some were the obligatory sermons that seem to come only when Good Friday, and with it Easter, approaches. Others came from the hearts of those attempting to swell coffers of ministries dedicated solely to those coffers, having none of the emphasis of the gift freely given on that cross in mind, or given in their content.

A few, a very few, truly struck a chord within my soul, not by what was said, but by the results of what was said in them. These came from ministers such as Billy Graham that placed the emphasis on the love given from that cross, then assured that that love and the guidance that came with it was understood, and with any resulting expansion of coffers given back to the purpose of the teachings of the one who suffered the indignity and pain while on that cross.

While multi-tasking chores that are requirements of daily life, sitting at my kitchen table, that cross, that pain, that indignity, came once more to mind, and refused to leave. The actual construction of that cross, rough cut timbers, filled with splinters, heavy and cumbersome struck me as well.

Tools of the time were few, and jealously used, to preserve them. The only smoothing done was done was for esthetic effect, for construction of temples, government buildings and the like, most certainly never for anything so common as building that device of execution often used by the Romans.

This meant that a tired, beaten, exhausted Savior, led in bonds was to carry a splinter filled, heavy cross to the place of His own execution.

Having undergone the merciless beatings, torture, and taunting, the weakened physical body of that Savior was incapable of carrying that cross alone. In the typical arrogance and disregard for any other than their own, the occupiers chose at random a passing stranger to finish the task of getting that cross to where it would be used.

Not a lot is given us about Simon, the Cyrenian, chosen for this task. Only his name, a brief identification of where he was from and whose father he was. None of the pain felt by him is mentioned, as had to have been the case while carrying that cross, nor is there any mention of the many splinters he must have picked up along the way. None of the arrogance toward him, given by an occupying army, or from the citizenry of the occupied people is mentioned, except that he was chosen because he was foreign to both.

That arrogance, from both occupier, and occupied, was given for the same reason that Christ was being executed… There was no comprehension of what He had preached, what He taught, what He offered while still in the human body that caused Him so much pain, both physically and spiritually, simply because of the love of and for all mankind,the mission given Him being given, and accepted, to provide a way back into the love, mercy and total grace of God originally intended for this stubborn, wayward and disobedient creature.

This cross, borne by Simon to Golgotha, is not the first mention of a cross given in the gospels, but there is another, far earlier reference to that cross given by Jesus to his disciples while instruction them of exactly what is expected of those following Him.

“He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me is not worthy of me.

He that findeth his life shall lose it and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.”

(Matthew 10:37-39)

This admonition is one ignored by far too many today who profess to follow Christ.

It seems to be a forgotten requirement by a majority of those calling themselves Christian, yet clinging to the life they think to have have found, the rewards of that life, and the riches of that life, rather than facing the fact that by doing so they have lost that life they make noises to profess having accepted in its place.

They don’t like the splinters of that cross that cause discomfort, self-denial, the disdain, having to be disowned by a society still refusing to comprehend the purpose of that other cross, or the offer made on it, through the One executed on it. In short, they refuse to carry that cross with the splinters and bonds that come with it.

“Preacher, are you telling me that I have to be miserable to be a Christian?”

Not at all! I am telling you that the benefits of that cross and those bonds, outweigh, and are far more rewarding than choosing to ignore it!

Along with those splinters, that loss of self once accepted, refused by them that pervades all societies. where most concentrate on the wants of a physical creature, comes true life, true reward and the true love offered from that cross that is to be shared with as many as are willing to also accept the burden that comes with true repentance.

We are given many scriptures that tell us that that love comes with the rewards of enjoyment of a life that is fulfilled, not by chasing the emptiness of self alone, but fulfilled with the joy of having concern for our fellow humans and the possibility of them experiencing that same love found only by acknowledging and carrying that splinter-filled cross that we are asked to bear while here.

We too are in bonds. Some are bound by that love, by that commandment given to love, the pain that comes along with the joy of that love that extends to and from God… and our fellow man as did, as does that love given by Christ on a cross far more splinter-filled, far more painful, far more important than any we may ever carry.

Christ bore the pain, the sin, the corruption, all of the evils that plague mankind while on that cross… then overcame the physical death of a human form to provide for a path, a way through the truth of the love given to eternal life.

We bear only our own pain, and are only able to have a small measure of that love for others, to share with others, given from that cross. We are incapable of reaching the entire world with that love given, by merely trying to carry the lighter burden, by taking the easier yoke given us by Christ, with the little that we are able to do with that love by ourselves.

This may only be done, and has already been done, by the One who suffered not only the splinters and bonds of that cross, whose only request and requirement to find the love given there still remains that same requirement given, to:

“Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

Either we accept the bonds given us by Christ, or we accept the bonds given us by Lucifer that deny those bonds, deny that love, and deny the promise of eternal life and joy that are available only by the acceptance of those bonds.

The bonds offered by that other, are less constraining, and allow the pursuit of all for self, while denying forever the true joy, true love available.

Over the years, I have picked up more than a few of those splinters, usually when in stubborn and futile attempts to escape the bonds placed on me when I accepted them, and no doubt will experience many more of those splinters, earning every one while confined to a body that is temporal, waiting for perfection that will forever remove those bonds.

I close in prayer that all capable of understanding, accept both the splinters, and the bonds, and more importantly the love that comes only with redemption through repentance.

I remain, as I must, simple sinner saved by grace through faith in the One who bore splinters and bonds beyond my poor capacity, to grant me the promise of eternal life, never again to feel those splinters, never again to have those bonds that restrict me to the less than perfect being I was and am intended to be, and will be. Only through that faith, allegiance, and His blood am I able to continuing to carry the cross I daily face because of that imperfection!

I remain also the soldier, chosen to proclaim the liberty and incomprehensible joy, that comes only with bearing that smaller, insignificant cross each must either pick up, or ignore.

I have chosen, I know in whom I have believed, in what I believe, in what I know to be a surety of freedom from those splinters and bonds, and a surety of both that eternal love, and that eternal life.

It is now my cross to call attention to all the one they too must bear, or ignore, the choices of love given by God for having borne both Cross and Bonds, or denial of the rewards that come with them and damnation for eternity of never finding that freedom, love and life. 

2 Timothy 1:12 ¹²For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Again, the choice is not mine to make for you, but yours alone.

AMEN and AMEN
the Wayfarer