Yesterady, I had the opportunity to walk the "Stations of the Cross" in the Great Room with the "Unbinding Your Heart" class. I was struck by the words of Christ "My destinity was to die for you but your's is to live for me." It was a poignant reminder that when Jesus tells his disciples "If any want to become my followers, let them take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who would save their life will lose it, but those who lose their life for my sake will save it." (Luke 9:23,23), that he was telling them to live, full robust, daring lives for him.
I was thinking about those people who have taken up their crosses in history- Martin Luther, Martin Luther King Jr., John Calvin, Mother Theresa, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. They each made a difference in the world. I am also struck by those people who are slightly less famous, but who have made a difference in the faith community in which we live- Jim Naylor, Kelly Cox, Bill Brewer, Calvin Ross, Sarah Johnesee. I have been reminded this week of each of these saints and the vitality and life that they shared in Christ. And they are only a few of the saints who have touched my life and yours at Covenant. I invite you to remember some of those who have taken up their crosses and followed Christ in their lives and the impact they have had in our lives.
I am reminded of the Heidelberg Chatechism: "What is my only comfort in life and death? That in life and in death I belong not to myself but to my faithful savior Jesus Christ, who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that he protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit his purpose for my salvation. Therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him."
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