Holding the mystery of Christ's passion and glory

Opening Letter in Landmark (Whitkirk Parish Magazine)

March 2008

What you see in a church often depends on where you tend to sit.  The church looks different from different angles.  Each day I spend some time at Evening Prayer in front of the side chapel window and as the hours of daylight are expanding, it is coming back into view.  This window has Christ in Majesty in the centre with Christ being taken down from the cross in the panel beneath.

I often find my eyes flicking between these two scenes – Christ crucified and exalted.  Both need to be held because it is in both that the mystery of life is held.  Our life can be fantastic, full of wonder and glorious.  It can also be dark and desperate with heart ache and tears in abundance.  Both are true and both held by the love of our creator and redeemer.  One of the major attractions of Christianity is that it does hold both of these and doesn’t try to dodge them.

I am never fully satisfied by philosophical arguments that try to dismiss pain and suffering as the cost of free will and having volition.  While it seems true at that intellectual level, it leaves so much human pain and passion lying mugged at the side of the road.  It barely does justice to the emotional.  I find my brain as well as my emotions need to flick between the passion of Christ and his exalting, and thereby to behold the mystery.

Lent is about to enter its culmination in Holy Week.  In this we journey with Christ from the triumphal shouts on Palm Sunday to the Last Supper, agony in the garden, betrayal, mock trial and crucifixion.  If you count the pages in the gospels, these last few hours of Jesus’ life and ministry account for the greater proportion. To miss them out is to miss out on the heart of what our faith has to offer – not least when we find ourselves having to cope with times of deep darkness.

We have a number of special services that provide opportunities to travel with Jesus through this week.  If Lent crept up on you too early this year and you have not managed to keep it as you would have liked, make some time during Holy Week to reconnect with the passion and glory of Christ.  On Good Friday, for the young there is the Children’s Activity in the Morning, for those who like their faith to be physical there is the Churches Together Act of Witness and Walk to Cross Gates, in the afternoon the last hour of the Cross is marked by the Liturgy of the Cross and in the Evening a time of reflection as we walk the Stations of the Cross – see calendar pages.

The Stations of the Cross have an ancient pedigree.  Since the earliest days of Christianity, pilgrims have visited the sites connected with Good Friday.  To save the air miles we turn our church into a series of stations and travel between each one pausing each time to read a passage of scripture connected with the ‘event’ marked there and reflect on it.  It is a powerful re-enactment and commemoration.  If it is unfamiliar to you, come along at 7.30pm and give it a try.  It is like nothing else that we do all year.  Those with internet access can go on a cyber walk and follow the stations via an eBook.

After the emotional rollercoaster of Holy Week comes the gateway to that image of Christ in Majesty.  Easter Day is the most important day of the Christian year.  It is the heart of our faith and the key to how we are able to flick between the two images.  It gives the reason we call Good Friday ‘good’ and to being able to view the two scenes in the side chapel window with hope.

© Ian Black 2008