A little cross

Back in 2004 a major movie, The Passion of the Christ, was released. Directed by Mel Gibson, and starring Jim Caviezel in the title role, the movie portrayed in a very graphic way the last 12 hours or so of the life of Jesus Christ leading up to his crucifixion. The violence was extreme, but probably not more than the actual reality of what happened around 2000 years ago.

Some time later, though I am not sure exactly when, I was in the Christian bookshop in Hull, and happened to notice a cross and chain which was one of the items being sold in connection to the movie. Having wanted a cross and chain for some time, I bought it. As I was walking down the street afterwards, I noticed something unusual about my purchase. Most often, when one buys a cross and chain, the chain will include a link which can be fastened and unfastened, allowing the wearer to put on and remove the item easily. However, I realised that there was no link in my chain - I just had to hope that it fitted over my head!

With a little bit of a struggle, I managed to put the cross and chain over my head, and it has hung around my neck ever since. Over the years it has become somewhat tarnished, but I have never thought about exchanging it for a new one. Yesterday I noticed that although the chain was still around my neck, the cross itself had disappeared! Presumably part of the metal of the cross had worn through, and it had fallen off. I may never know exactly what happened to it. What I now have is just an empty chain.

There is a danger in the church today, when talking about the Christian gospel, to stress the "nice" bits. We talk about things like the love of God, the peace and hope we have in Jesus, and the joy of Christian fellowship. But I wonder if sometimes we are guilty of avoiding the less easy bits. The suffering and crucifixion of Jesus lie at the very heart of our faith; if Jesus had not died on a cross, there would be no Christian faith. Yes, he rose from the dead, and is alive today, but there would have been no resurrection without the crucifixion. The amazing thing is that he died for us - so that we can be forgiven and know the assurance of eternal life.

And Jesus himself said that if we are to follow him we must first "count the cost". Yes, the blessings of following him are amazing, but the cost is great too - we must give our lives to him. The cross reminds us of how much God loves us. It also reminds us of the call for us to lay down our lives.