We're in full-blown Christmas mode and as we celebrate the birth of Jesus this week I thought I'd share another thought from my experience this past year of walking in his steps in Israel. By far the memory I'll carry with me the longest was the experience of walking the 14 Stations of the Cross through the Old City of Jerusalem. But before we get to that, I have to give you a little background.
Something happens to you when you stand in the places Jesus stood. It's hard to describe, but you are confronted with the reality of his life...of his living...in a way I don't think I ever faced before. Even in those places...standing on the shore of the Sea of Galillee, kneeling to touch the place he was born in Bethlehem, standing where the Temple would have been...it is hard to grasp the reality that he was here. That he is real. But as that truth begins to sink in you are confronted with another reality.
He is the center of everything.
No, really. It is all about him. Not me. Not you. He is the center.
So why in the world do I so often think I am?
Our group adopted Charlie Hall's song "Center" as sort of a theme song for our trip. The line that I continue to carry with me (almost as a daily thought) comes in the bridge: "We wrap our lives around your life." What does it look like for me to live with my life wrapped around Jesus' life? How do I move in that direction?
I felt the battle in me growing as we moved through the week. I want Jesus to be the center. But I think I'm honest enough to say I also don't want that. I like being the center. I like doing what I want with my time. I like picking the people I'll interact with. I like spending my money on what I want to spend it on. I like choosing my own path. I like arranging for my own comfort. I like it being about me.
Enter the Stations of the Cross. As we moved from station to station, we paused in the chaos of the Jerusalem streets to listen to our leader read some devotional thoughts and pray. Jesus. Beaten. Condemned. Falling 3 times under the weight of the cross. Mocked. Abandoned. Nailed to a cross. Until we found ourselves at the 12th station.
As you stand looking at the 12th station, you can see the large rocks that cover the hill at Calvary beneath a glass covering. There is an altar table in the center. It isn't very big. Just large enough for one person to crawl under. And you do crawl. At this station you get down on your knees and crawl under the table where you'll find a round metal plate on the floor. There is a small hole cut in the middle of the plate that you can reach your hand down through. There with your arm immersed up to your elbow and your forehead almost touching the floor you can touch the rocks of Calvary. The place where Jesus died.
Emotion overwhelmed me at this point...the only point I really got emotional on the trip. And all I could whisper were 5 simple words: "Thank you, Jesus. I'm yours."
In that moment all I wanted was for it all to be about him...for him. For a brief moment I didn't matter except for how I could point to him.
I am still wrestling with what it means to have my life wrapped around his life. I want the new church I lead to be a community of Christ-followers who are trying to live out this wrapping.
So as we move into Christmas and deal with a different kind of wrapping, may we all remember to give the Center his rightful place. May our hearts whisper, "Thank you, Jesus. I'm yours."
