17 July 2006

Reflections will be focused on pieces by Douglas John Hall in "The Cross in our Context" specifically in the Chapter The Church and the Cross.

What kind of ecclesiology - what doctrine of the church - emerges from the theology of the cross? There can be only one answer: the theologia crucis gives rise to an ecclesia crucis. Indeed it could be said that the whole purpose of this theology of the cross is to engender a movement - a people - that exists in the world under the sign of the cross of Jesus Christ: a movement and people called into being by his Spirit and being conformed to his person and furthering his work. A cruciform people.

So, we will be moving into some discussion about the shape of the church. It is best to say the shape of the life of the church - for it is a living body. Hall has a track record of attempting to speak of such a church specifically in the context of North America. In the midst of our affluence and power and yet with great evidence of many who are poor and without power, how does the church take shape and is that shape being consistent with the one who goes to the cross and bids us to follow him?! Right from the beginning of my reflections in these devotions it is important to note that I write from an affluent life. Though we do not have everything in the world, my wife and I want for nothing material. So how does the cross play into my life and your life? In a consumer society that is always looking for how we can be served and what will be of benefit to us, how is the cross made manifest among us. Hall will remind us that this way of the cross is a way of suffering. But he will insist that this is not merely a "gloomy" presence carrying the banner: "No cross, no crown." Walking around as a sorrowful people does not mean we are people of the cross nor are people of the cross merely an optimistic bunch ready to overwhelm the world with joy, joy, joy...down in my heart. In fact, all of us could be reminded of the way of the cross and the meaning of suffering along that way as we move within our context.

Connection: Sometimes we are so consumed by cultural values and images that we are unable to settle into what it is to be people of the cross. As is so common in the themes of these devotions, we must be able to do what children are taught when they are about to cross a street: stop - look - listen. The way of the cross is usually in sight...but it is that road less traveled.

It is by your Spirit, O Lord, that we are able to begin our journey along the way of the Christ. But then within our lives, so many other ways are being sold and it is so easy to follow the way that appeals to our own wants. Keep us engaged in the dialogue that reminds us of the way of Jesus and how that way is the way of life in which we have been baptized. Amen.