Death Cleaned Up

We have cleaned up death. You go into the meat department you don’t see carcusses of animals. You see nicely wrapped steaks. Hospitals ease the pain associated with death. Hospice care is our way of easing the workload that it takes to die. Funeral homes are spotless as they incinerate or embalm death. None of this is bad. It’s great to have no flies, or pain, or difficulty, or smell when it comes to dead things. It just makes the story of the cross a little more distant. It’s primative from our clean world. How can you look at the execution and murder of someone in such a disgusting brutal way, when we live in a society that kills its criminals with a painless liquid? It’s embarrassing to come to terms with it. The center of our faith, our omnipotent God, crucified. That’s messy! The cross stands in the middle of history as an embarrassing, vulger symbol that flagrantly rubs against our pride. Religion we think should be nice, religion should be love. Yet here we have a terrible vision of anguish nailed in the middle of our clean nice loving faith.

To some, they aren’t ready to go there… not ready to get their hands dirty. But for others they can’t profess that the purell world is really what they see. And they cry out for someone to answer what they actually do see. They see people claiming love, and not living it. They see war. They see abuse around them. They see clearly that there is a problem. And it is for those who see that Christ did what he did. Nailed here in our world because it is dirty down here. We pursue things that slime the world we live in, and we areselves are slimed by others. We cry out and find a way to get them back. And we do. Will it stop? The cross stands in the soul of a person poised for retaliation and demands forgiveness. The cross takes the tightened fist against his brother and turns the other cheek. The cross is dirty, because it deals with the dirt of our lives. It puts to death our pretention. It gives us humility. After a heavy contemplation of the cross you will find the burden of sin has fallen off and rolled into the grave where it belongs.

(from the Pilgrim's Progress)

Now I saw in my dream, that the highway up which Christian was to go, was fenced on either side with a wall, and that wall was called Salvation. Up this way, therefore, did burdened Christian run, but not without great difficulty, because of the load on his back.

He ran thus till he came at a place somewhat ascending, and upon that place stood a cross, and a little below, in the bottom, a grave. So I saw in my dream, that just as Christian came up with the cross, his burden loosed from off his shoulders, and fell from off his back, and began to tumble, and so continued to do, till it came to the mouth of the grave, where it fell in, and I saw it no more.

Then was Christian glad and lightsome, and said, with a merry heart, "He has given me rest by his sorrow, and life by his death." Then he stood still awhile to look and wonder; for it was very surprising to him, that the sight of the cross should thus ease him of his burden. He looked therefore, and looked again, even till the springs that were in his head sent the waters down his cheeks. Now, as he stood looking and weeping, behold three Shining Ones came to him and saluted him with "Peace be unto you". So the first said to him, "Your sins are forgiven"; the second stripped him of his rags, and clothed him with change of raiment; the third also set a mark on his forehead, and gave him a roll with a seal upon it, which he encouraged him to look at as he ran, and that he should give it in at the Celestial Gate. So they went their way.

"Who's this? the Pilgrim. How! 'tis very true,
Old things are past away, all's become new.
Strange! he's another man, upon my word,
They be fine feathers that make a fine bird.

Then Christian gave three leaps for joy, and went on singing--
"Thus far I did come laden with my sin;
Nor could aught ease the grief that I was in
Till I came hither: What a place is this!
Must here be the beginning of my bliss?
Must here the burden fall from off my back?
Must here the strings that bound it to me crack?
Blest cross! blest grave! blest rather be
The Man that there was put to shame for me!"

I have a dirty project for you.
I would like us to look at the elements in our life that are embarrassing, prideful, ugly, maybe simply been evil for the sake of self preservation. Essentially, if you can, use this time to reflect on the burden of sin that you are carrying.
Then I’d like you to spend some time seeing that the cross is to there to free you from that burden.
Finally, if you find it appropriate, Please write your burden on a piece of paper… get your hands dirty and bury it.