Holy...Fertilizer!

     Jesus said, "Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." (John 12:24)  He was talking about his life, of course, and the reality that even in nature, death brings new life.  Through his death on the cross, ressurection became possible along with another opportunity for humanity to be in relationship with God.  But he was also talking about the lives of those who want to be his disciples.  The need to "deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me."  All this talk about dying can be very sobering, as if God wants God's children to suffer. 

     But Jesus is trying to tell us there is often a purpose in the suffering: to bear fruit.  As I am fond of saying, you can't get to Easter without Good Friday.  The cross becomes the fertilizer for our resurrection experiences.  The "fertilizer" stuff that we go through in life often give us the motivation to bear fruit of love and kindness and patience and self-control (just to name a few).  The Susan G. Komen foundation which has raised billions for breast cancer research and screening was founded out of the pain of one lady who lost her sister Susan to breast cancer.  Non-profit organizations abound that grew out of the "fertilizer" of pain and heartache and disease and tragedy.

     Now don't get me wrong.  I don't believe God causes or wants all those fertilizer times to happen.  There is still evil and humanity's free will which is the reason behind much suffering.  But God can help us bear fruit from that fertilizer, from the darkness, from the cross moments.  And one day, we just may experience a new shoot of green growth in our lives, a small light that continues to grow, a resurrection story we can share with others.
     As we approach Holy Week and remember the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, reflect on the cross moments in your life that have led to ressurection.  Are you going through some fertilizer times right now?  If so, know that while a seed is slowly dying, soon a small shoot of new green life will appear...and it will grow...and it will bear fruit.

The Reality of the Cross

     We wear them around our necks.  We hoist them up above sanctuaries.  We make them out of rough wood and pure gold.  Crosses are all around us.  Strange to think that an instrument of death is now accepted as an everday sight. 

     We journey to the cross in this Lenten season.  But what happens when we get there?  Are we ready to recognize Jesus' incredible sacrifice?  Do we want to imagine how tortuous it must have been to die in that way?  While I realize there was much criticism regarding the movie The Passion of the Christ, one thing it did do was confront us with the gruesome reality of death.  The blood, the pain, the scars, the agony.  It made us look at Jesus' bloody, spat upon face and vicariously experience with him what his death must have been like.

     The polished gold layered crosses we wear are a far cry from the reality of what they represent: a man, a God, who died a horrible death out of love for you and me.  The cross has been so sentimentalized that for many it has lost the shock and horror it truly represents.  That's why Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are my favorite services.  They bring me down to earth, back to reality, and MAKE me remember that Jesus' suffering was real, and awful, and excruciating. 
     Would you have done it?  Would you have voluntarily agreed to die in that kind of way at the age of 33?  We can hardly voluntarily give up one meal in order to feed another person.  Yet Jesus says, "Take up YOUR cross, and follow me."  Where was he going?  Calvary.  Take up your cross.  Feel its burden and the pain and the sacrifice.  Take up your cross and travel to the place where you too will die.
     Doesn't sound like fun does it?  Maybe that's why it seems like these days it seems like so few Christians really "get it."  So few are willing to die and follow Jesus to Calvary.  A pastor from Africa came to the states to be a guest preacher for a few months.  At a pastor's meeting, an American pastor recognizing the more difficult way of life in Africa, gave the African pastor his sympathies.  "It must be extremely hard to minister over there," he said.  "Not at all," replied the African pastor.  "In fact it must be much harder to minister in the U.S.  After all, how do you teach people about following Jesus if you don't know what suffering is?" 
     This year don't skip too quickly from Palm Sunday to Easter.  Take some time to live into Good Friday.  Ponder the amazing sacrifice that was made for you. Recognize all that it took to voluntarily give up one's life for others.  Then, go and do likewise.