Bus evangelism
A most excellent statement from a seemingly unlikely person, heard this morning. The speaker was a tall, retired man in a suit, addressing a younger bearded man who may or may not have had some religious interest, but who had a great deal to say about the Pope, the Roman Catholic church, and the recent Roman Catholic World Youth Day (WYD). They were talking about the re-enactment of the route to Jesus' crucifixion that happened as part of the WYD celebrations. The older man, who spoke broken English with a heavy Armenian accent, had this to say about the re-enactment:
Jesus say after he die, three days later he wake up. I say “Why you no show the wake-up?”
There are so many good things about this comment, it's hard to know where to start. Putting aside the question of whether or not re-enacting the crucifixion is a good idea (especially when embellished with non-biblical mythology, such as Jesus meeting his mother and a woman named Veronica as he went on his way), the old man's question was more than reasonable. It's not only the cross but the resurrection of Jesus which lies at the very heart of what we believe as Christians. Because Jesus rose again, he is revealed as Lord and Judge. Why have a religion which focusses, in its art and drama, on Jesus as a baby, on Mary his mother, and on Jesus nailed to a wooden cross, but which, at the same time, fails to portray his victory over sin and death in the resurrection? For he was “raised for our justification” because if he wasn't, “we are still in our sins”.
As the old man demanded, “Why you no show the wake-up?”
That question was encouraging enough. But, in addition, the old man did not allow himself to be sidetracked by the younger man's rant about the Pope and various pilgrims; instead, he had zeroed in on the heart of the Christian faith, and had proclaimed it in a voice loud enough for all the waiting passengers to hear ... well, it just made my day.
When I see him next (the old man, not the younger man), I am going to go and thank him. For the moment, I'm just saying a word or two to the risen Lord Jesus—that he might make the words of that gospel presentation effective in bringing new life.
I receive a number of RSS feeds from various sites, including quite a few Christian web sites. Usually, after reading them these days I am somewhat despondent after all the news of the state of the world wide Anglican Communion.
But this was a great read. I hope the bishops at Lambeth read it. As you say, it is the heart of the Gospel.
I am sitting here at home in my office facing the daily problems of work. It is cold, and wet outside. It is a thoroughly miserable day. But now I feel good.
Thanks for making my day.
On the other hand, emphasising only the Resurrection to the expense of the Crucifixion is not a good thing either. The way I’ve heard some Evangelicals talk, it seems they think the Crucifixion was just a temporary setback (or at least an apparent one). And little more than that. We must admit that our Lord’s death is a pretty important part of the Gospel - it brought about our Redemption. “We preach Christ crucified: A stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles”
Catholics celebrate Christ’s death and Resurrection every day, but particularly His Death on Good Friday, and His Resurrection on Easter Sunday. After this, most Fridays take their lead from Good Friday though in a lesser way, while Sundays particularly celebrate the Resurrection.
We need to keep all these aspects of our Faith alive and real. There is nothing wrong with a prayer that emphasises one aspect or the another. Quite admittedly it’s not the whole story. It’s not supposed to be a last-ditch effort to tell everyone everything you know about the Gospel. The Way of the Cross brings out the great trials Christ went through out of Love for us. These deserve recognition.
It is not true or fair to characterise Catholicism as not emphasising the Resurrection. It’s just that we don’t forget about all the rest of it.
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