Thoughts which drag me back to Jesus and to the Cross

He will say to me, ‘You are my father, my God, the Rock, my Savior.’ 27  I will make him my firstborn son, the greatest king on earth. 28  My love will watch over him forever, and my agreement with him will never end. 29  I will make his family continue, and his kingdom will last as long as the skies!  Ps 89:26–29. NCV

LORD Jesus, I regard Thy bowed head upon the cross, as the sign that Thy head is ever graciously inclined to hear me and all poor sinners in our need. Hear, therefore, the poor contrite hearts and minds, who, in these latter evil days, sigh and cry unto Thee without ceasing. Their hearts are assured that Thine ear is open unto them, and Thou wilt not let them cry in vain; for Thou wilt answer them quickly, “here am I, here am I.” Thou wilt save and grant them life and full satisfaction. Amen.

Basically, then, whatever Jesus did in the company of the Twelve served, at the same time, to lay the foundation of the Church insofar as it was done to prepare them for their role as the spiritual fathers of the new people of God. He regarded the new community of salvation that he created as a new Israel, as a new people of God that has as its center the celebration of the Last Supper in which it originated and which continues to be at the heart of its life. In other words: the new people of God is the people of the body of Christ.

I usually start my posts saying the thoughts draw me to the cross, but lets be honest, some days they have to drag me there.

My thoughts contend with where I know I should be, as they seek to take up burdens I thought I laid down at the altar before. Thoughts about things far out of my control, or even if can be an influence in the issue, the influence has to point to Jesus, not my wisdom, (this is hard for some of us to distinguish)

This is where, hopefully, a devotional life helps constrain my desire to fix everything, knowing that hope comes from God, and that Jesus is the Savior, their Savior. I am not saying there aren’t times that the Holy Spirit doesn’t speak thru me, but that needs to be the cry of the Psalmist – who prophetically points to our Lord Jesus–for it is His agreement with the Father that reconciles us, that provides the remedies we need.

The section of Loehe’s prayers that I am in now, so speak to this – that Jesus will hear our cries, that He will understand our heaviest sighs, that His Spirit will comfort and defend us–as He presence is revealed to be where we are! I and the church so desperately need that!

This is why the Lord’s Supper is so critical in a church that has experienced trauma, or division, or decline. It pulls us out our our individual selves into the community of God’s people. It refocuses us on the sacrifice of Christ, for us. It draws us into that sacrifice on the cross, where our passions and sin are cut away. It is there the church and the individuals God has called to be one in Hm find healing, that find peace…that find hope.

And from that place of healing–that is where we find the heart that will call out to others, that they may be reconciled to Christ as well.

Even if they have to be dragged there, as we do at times.

Lœhe, William. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Translated by H. A. Weller, Wartburg Publishing House, 1914, p. 370.

Ratzinger, Joseph. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Edited by Irene Grassl, Translated by Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth, Ignatius Press, 1992, p. 182.