Heavy Lifting

Matthew 16:24-26; Romans 12:9-21
Heavy Lifting

 

        I realize that history is filled with examples of the church’s failure. But I think we too often forget that rewritten history often excludes the exploits of Godly people. I am reminded of this whenever I get into a conversation concerning international politics. Folks who have never heard of Urban II want to blame the debacle in the Middle East entirely on the Crusades. I do not deny the church has a bloody history. But it also has a redemptive history based on Christ’s mandate that we strive be better each day at who we are and what we do. As Christians we are encouraged to awaken each morning to the directive, “Deny yourself and take up the cross.” Beyond our history, beyond our misreading of history, beyond our yesterdays is this proclamation that we need to bring our faith to any conversation and offer our backs as part of any solution.

        Even if you don’t watch TV you are aware last week a catastrophic storm parked itself outside of Houston, Texas and refused to move. Each day rain fell on the concrete and asphalt. Each day people watched as the slow moving water crept to unimaginable levels. Each day the storm was replenished by the Gulf of Mexico. Each day the cycle repeated itself because the storm had no prevailing winds to push it eastward. Each day we sat helplessly, wondering what would become of thousands of displaced folks.

        Then we witnessed the heroes. It began with police and firefighters risking their lives to float folks to safety. We heard of response agencies such as FEMA signing folks up for relief even before first drop of rain fell. We cheered as state and national agencies moved to implement strategies that were developed in the aftermath of Katrina and Sandy. We even applauded as Democrats and Republicans finally dropped their rhetoric and only spoke of a common cause.

        But there were other heroes. My favorite was the Cajun Navy. Despite knowing that Harvey would eventually come their way, fisherman from Louisiana headed west to assist in the rescue.  They remembered 12 years ago when the State of Texas opened its doors to those fleeing New Orleans. The Cajun Navy came with every boat imaginable to aid in the rescue of its neighbors.

        It is inspirational to see people in anything that floats going into the water time, after time, after time in search of those needing help. In a country divided by tribalism, no one’s tribe seemed to matter. Black rescued white, white rescued brown, and brown rescued all colors in between. No one was too young or too old to offer a helping hand. No one cared which bathroom was used. We witnessed nameless heroes work beyond exhaustion. Sadly what we will witness next will not be so heroic.

People that understand the human psyche remind us that during a disaster, be it a hurricane or an unexpected death, folks will go through a long road before finding peace. Many of us felt this two weeks ago as we witnessed, in the words of John Grisham, “The violation of Charlottesville.” A tragedy occurs. It disrupts our lives. We panic.  Thankfully both strangers and loved ones race to our side. They take heroic risk just to make our lives manageable and we are overwhelmed by their random acts of kindness.

        But tragedy does not subside as quickly as it arrives. HEROES EVENTUALLY WEAR OUT. The heroic efforts we witnessed this week will not be sustained. Folks will move on, leaving behind a cloud of disillusionment. We will soon see tempers and voices escalate as anger, confusion, denial, and despair rise to the surface. You cannot replace a city and you cannot replace the loss of a loved one with a magic wand. Tragedy offers a shattering and discouraging reality that life will never be the same. 

This is where the real heavy lifting begins. It is then, when everyone else has gone home, that Jesus calls us to be cross bearers. You see, if cross bearing were easy, more people would do it. Cross bearing demands a commitment beyond what we thought was humanly possible. Maybe that is why cross bearing begins with a divine example.

        Jesus asked Peter, “Who do people say that I am?”

        Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”

Jesus followed up with a tougher question, “Can you even begin to imagine what that means?”

Peter hopefully answered, “Life everlasting?”

Jesus responded, “You are right, but first you must join me in being a cross bearer.”     (stop)

Folks who suffer experience a hundred deaths. Cross bearer soon learn they weren’t called to resurrect the dead. They were called to resuscitate the living and that is a long, precarious journey.

A year ago I received a phone call from a dear friend who lives in North Carolina. His son had unexpectedly died of a heart attack. His only request was that I perform the funeral. Matthew had been a member of my youth group. We had gone on mission trips together. He was an old soul who loved Southern Rock and Roll. We spent many an evening at my house listening to The Allman Brothers Band. But now Matthew was gone.

Deb and I traveled to Clinton, visited the family, performed the funeral, and went then home. I received letters and phone calls telling me how healing my presence had been. But I knew better. You can’t put a band-aid on death. You have to be there when everyone else has gone. You have to listen until your ears bleed. You have to remain silent when everyone else is speaking. Then eventually you have to say the things no one else would dare utter. That is the difficult, thankless, yet necessary job of cross bearing.

In a week or so Houston will be dry and we will be complaining about gas prices going up to close to $3.00 a gallon. How do I know this? Because most folks are already weary of talking about what happened in Charlottesville. We turn the page on tragedy so quickly. We can’t seem to learn tragedy has no timetable.

I guess that is why Christ calls us to be cross bearers. For a few that might mean once a month sending a letter to a place like Emmanuel Church in Charleston and telling them we have not forgotten their tragedy. But for most of us it means the weary, exhausting, work of caring for the sick, or paying attention to  the lonely, or remembering that not every anniversary is a birthday, or just pulling up a chair and listening to the same story for the fiftieth time. Heroes perform miracles. Cross bearers complete the unrewarding and unrecognizable task of being a holy presence. Heroes find their stories recorded by CNN.  Those who bear another’s cross initiate a new redemptive chapter in someone’s life. That kind of history making is seldom recorded. But is the kind of history we the church always need to be making.              To God be the Glory.      Amen