Christ, at the last supper said, “take this bread, it is my body broken for you.” Do I dare say those words back to Him? How can I read these words “my body broken for You” and not realize that my life is not broken for Him. In contrast my life is given tactfully, thoughtfully, piece-by-piece, so that the pain, and therefore the joy, He experienced will not be fully repeated in me. How can we experience the fullness of Christ if we are not willing to follow His lead, our purpose: Total surrender to the will of our Father in Heaven.
We would do well to repeat these words to Him in prayer, “this is my body broken for You.” Of course even Christ Himself felt the despair that follows a prayer such as this or else why would He say “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me.” Often times this is where our prayer ends. We have asked that God have His way in us, but when it becomes too much we say, “enough.” Don’t we see this separates us from the fullness of God? We imagine God as the dispenser of “good” things “fun” times and prosperity. We cry out to God so we will never have to experience suffering. This however is the gospel robbed of its fullness, of its joy. It places God in an all too modern wardrobe.
Don’t we know that we would still be slaves to sin if Christ followed our example and said, “that’s too much, you’re asking too much.” But that is exactly why Christ is the example, the Teacher, the Shepherd, the Messiah! Where our prayers end is where His prayer begins, “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me.” Then He says the words that are not said enough by us, “Yet I want your will, not mine,” His body broken for us; an example of what our relationship with the Father should be like.
A culture's mantra: Expect More, Pay Less. 
Paul had a different mantra. Romans 12--1And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice--the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? 2Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.
2 comments:
A letter to Mr. Eastwood:
I am the good, the bad and the ugly. I have a fist full of dollars and yearn for a few dollars more. I was a high plains drifter, thinking I would always be unforgiven. The sudden impact of the Spirit in my life allowed me to escape from Alcatraz. For Him I will go any which way I can, any which way but loose. Not to walk some tightrope between two worlds, always looking for my pink cadillac blessing. No I should be content in his will as I walk though the gauntlet like a pale rider for Jesus.
That what I'm talking about!
We will never know how indebted we are to those whom have allowed us the ability to see (however dimly) beyond our cultural lenses:
"If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulders of giants." - Al
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