Arrows of Light

Training Wheels Read Luke 9:21-27 

He walked in the punishing April heat shimmering up from the blistering asphalt of a Philippine highway. Stripped to the waist and barefoot, he was shouldering a large wooden cross. Lenten devotion, I thought quietly. And then I saw attached to the foot of the cross a small rubber wheel, rolling it down the road. 
Sarcastically I thought, Wow! That’s the cross for me! Minimum effort. Judgmentally I thought, That’s a rather watered-down Lenten offering. Talk about compromising with the modern world! 
But I’ve been thinking about the cross with the wheel, and the more I think about it the more I am convinced that that fellow might have caught the true meaning of Jesus’ cross and the crosses that we bear. 
When Jesus carried his cross he had the full weight of my sin and guilt, trouble and pain, failure and inadequacy, sickness and death. He paid for me and for you—the full fare—with nothing left for us to bear. I’m literally home free all the way into the marvelous heavenly mansions where he is even now preparing a place for me. 
So when I take up my cross daily and follow Christ I’m not bearing the load that he carried. Indeed the sin of the world which he bore would surely crush me in a moment. The cross of my daily struggle is only an instrument of discipline. Its purpose is to help me grow more fully into his ways of faith and of service to others. 
But sometimes I still try to carry Christ’s cross instead of my own. I act as if I must save the world, as if my guilt is still on me, as if God is against me, as if nobody loves me. I lack confidence and live in gloomy expectation of a troubled future. Joy is absent. Are you ever with me? 
Jesus himself comes to remind me that I am usurping his burden instead of taking the one he has assigned to me. Perhaps you are with me again as he approaches and says, “Friend, there is no need for you to carry the sin of the world. I’ve already borne the whole load, including yours. You have just a learner’s cross now. Here, let me put these training wheels under it for you.” 
Discussion? 
If I try to save the world is it a sign that I devalue Jesus and his work? 
What specific lesson is God teaching you through the cross that you carry? 

Take up your cross; let not its weight pervade your soul with vain alarm. 
His strength shall bear your spirit up, sustain your heart, and nerve your arm. (LW 382:2) 



Sunday Faith vs. Friday Blood Read 1 Corinthians 15:20-26 

Boom! Bang! Shatter! The Lord is risen! He breaks out of his tomb. He smashes the powers of death. He blasts guilt and the sadness of sin. He is risen indeed! 
Ugly things are happening in beautiful South Africa. Political violence comes to the front burner as election day approaches. Not only are party leaders being killed but also ordinary citizens are eliminated because they support the “wrong” party. 
But it isn’t all politics. Our friend Udo was tending his store when robbers entered and shot him in 1997. It took almost a year for him to die from the wounds, but we buried him late last year. Our friend Stompy was shot by a person trying to steal his car; he died a few days later. A member of our Bible study group was giving a glass of water to a stranger, when the man pulled out a gun and shot him dead in his own living room. And these are only people whom we know personally. 
Does it sound irreverently theatrical to mention the tragic deaths of friends just after announcing Christ’s resurrection? But the two topics belong together. The Lord is risen. And only he can help us swim through the tears. 
What does Jesus’ resurrection mean for South Africa? Comfort for the bereaved? Strength for the survivors? Forgiveness waiting for killers to repent? A living hope for a lively future, even in a context of death? 
Yes! All of the above. Christ is alive. Death has been defeated. Life is new. 
But our spirits sometimes sag into discouragement and down toward depression. Faith can look like an impossible goal, rather than a victorious reality. From the middle of the bloody deaths of our friends we call out “Lord, we believe. Help us with our unbelief” (Mark 9:24). Maybe I need to keep bumping the victory of our Lord against the horrible reality of human death until a new appreciation of Jesus’ resurrection appears—born out of a real, ugly, bloody conflict in my heart. 
Today’s reading contains several helpful thoughts. Yes death is a reality; it happens to our friends. But resurrection is also real; it happened in Christ, a true man, and will spread to others—to all those who are his. He is only the first. Many will follow. 
Death is our enemy and the enemy of Christ. He has defeated all his enemies, including death. As we fight our way through the death of friends he keeps repeating the word that matters—the word that he has won the right to say: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” And finally it happens. We believe. He is risen indeed—and so are we. 

Discussion? 
Can you tell about events that try to kill your faith? 
Which Scripture stories or biblical characters or hymns or songs or friends encourage you in faith when it’s dark inside your heart? My favorite is below: 

Jesus Christ is ris’n today. Alleluia! Our triumphant holy day. Alleluia! 
Who did once upon the cross. Alleluia! Suffer to redeem our loss. Alleluia! (LW 127:1 LSB 457:1)