Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

cross

Carrying the cross on Good Friday

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Ripple Good Friday cross
Members of Ripple Allentown carry the cross as part of an ecumenical procession in Allentown on Good Friday. Photo by April Bartholomew / The Morning Call.

by Carolyn Albright, Ripple Allentown

This year on Good Friday, Ripple participated in the West End Ecumenical Worship, which involved a procession of the cross, ending at the host church, where 5 congregations joined for a 3 hour worship service. Each church was responsible for leading worship for a 1/2 hour slot.

We had announced this for many weeks in advance so many Ripple folks showed up on our front porch, which was along the processional route, where we joyfully and willingly joined the procession, which had started at the Episcopal church just a few blocks away. Isaiah, 6, and his sister, Marinette, 8, regular “Ripple Kids,” were the first to speak up to help carry the cross.

As we solemnly walked along, one woman stopped her car, jumped out, and took photos of us with her cell phone. Others slowed down as they drove past, and once, while crossing a street as the light changed, the drivers respectfully let us pass, as they would have a funeral procession (ironic). As Isaiah tired of carrying the heavy cross, he readily asked for help and for someone else to take a turn. For me, this was a symbol of the community building that goes on at Ripple; we all carry one another’s burdens at different times, and he so innocently enacted this truth.

Getting closer to the church, Isaiah also innocently asked (after observing the newspaper photographer snapping hundreds of photos), “Are we in a parade?”

“Sort of,” I responded, explaining that we were remembering the day Jesus died on the cross, showing us his love for us.

“THIS cross?” Isaiah asked.

“Not exactly, but one just like it,” I answered.

Inside the church, with its stained glass windows, formal pews and high altar, the children became respectfully quiet. During Ripple’s part of the worship, Isaiah helped with the prayer, repeating a regular phrase he has learned at Ripple. I said, “God loves the world,” and he joyfully responded, “And Jesus loves me!”

And that’s the simple message Ripple spreads, as we carry the cross–and one another’s burdens–in this urban setting.

 

Entering into grace: The Cross

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Noah Kolbby Noah Kolb, Plains

At a gathering of church leaders at camp Men-O-Lan in the early 70’s, I heard Gerald Studer (then pastor of Plains Mennonite) say something like: “If I were the only person living on earth, God so loved the world that he would have sent Jesus to die for me.”

As a teenager I was never sure I was good enough to take communion. I knew I did not live up to the expectations of the church community, nor of the Scriptures so I always took communion  with much anxiety and guilt. I lacked an understanding of the grace of God and of my own self-worth. All my being and doing good didn’t achieve the peace and confidence I was taught or hoped for.

After years of college and seminary training I came to discover in a much fuller way the meaning of Christ’s death. Intellectually, I understood God’s grace and mercy. I could preach with passion and conviction that “God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believed in him would not perish, but have eternal life.” I owned it, but did not enter into it fully in my inner being.

Holy week was a rich time for me. I enjoyed leading my congregation through what were often high times in our life together. Yet deep within me was this haunting uneasiness about how this incredible love of God reached my needs. Why would God love me to this degree? With all of my goodness on the surface which people could see, I was still a rebel inside, driven with selfishness and insecurities.

At one point in my early years of ministry I was wrestling with the question of how God could offer total forgiveness and hold nothing against me. How could I be fully his beloved son? I had no sudden epiphany, but the grace of God slowly overwhelmed me over several weeks and months. It had something to do with my self-worth and my being able to forgive and receive forgiveness. My view of God began to change from that of a judge who stood over me to a God who had high expectation but was gracious and understanding and forgiving. I began to hear the loving and welcoming voice of a God who was with me at all times. I was more gracious with myself. I found myself extending grace to others. If God could love and forgive the rascal and phony I was at times, I could do the same.

After 40 years of ministry, I enter another Holy Week eagerly anticipating the week’s events, Thursday evening at the last super and Friday evening at the cross. Yes, I am drawn into deep awareness of my own brokenness and the grace of God extended to me. Even more, though, I am now aware that Christ died for the whole world. Because of the grace of the Lord Jesus toward me, I am freed by His Spirit to extend grace and forgiveness to others; God’s mercy extended to me through the death of Jesus now flows on as I extend that mercy to others.

I am keenly aware of my brothers and sisters around me. I am aware of strained relationships and unresponsiveness to need. I know that I enter more fully into the grace of God as I am more fully in a gracious relationship with other believers.

When I stand by the cross this Holy Week, I will stand in and by the grace of God.  For I know that going deeper into the grace and love of God is related to extending more grace and mercy to others. As I weep because of my times of betrayal, may I also weep for the brokenness of others. As I enter into God’s mercy and forgiveness, may I also release others by grace to experience mercy and grace in God’s Kingdom of Love.