The Mark
As I looked at the foreheads of the congregation on Ash Wednesday, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Paul’s closing words in his letter to the Galatians when he said, “for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.”
In a few moments we were going back out into the world, marked with ashes, claiming to be disciples of Jesus, and yet in reality, within a couple of hours most of us would be washing this mark off and going to bed. Which made me wonder how any of us were going to bear the marks of Jesus on our lives over the next 40 days.
Will there be marks of aching knees from all the pestering and pleading, like the women before the judge that Jesus spoke of, as we pray for our churches, pastors, congregations, or that lost and lonely soul we pass each day?
Will there be marks of sore muscles and tired bodies that have spent hours cooking, cleaning, building, and discovering what it meant when Jesus said to be great is to serve one another?
Will there be marks in our wallets, purses, and checkbooks where we have shown generosity like the Good Samaritan, where our right hand doesn’t need to know what our left is doing, and the only recognition we seek is to have done this for our Lord?
Will there be marks of broken hearts and tear stains where we have wept like Jesus because once again we, as a nation, live through the horror of watching our children lose their lives just going to school?
Will there be marks of boldness where we will stand up against evil, injustice, and oppression as we have affirmed in our profession of faith and baptism vows?
Will there be marks of bruised cheeks where we have offered forgiveness and reconciliation only to find ourselves once again rejected and knowing that Christ calls us to love not by emotion but with resolve?
Will there be marks of improvement in our souls as we walk away in silence and solitude as Jesus did on a mountainside? Will we reconnect as He did in devotion to ask, seek, and knock to hear the voice of God?
And even in our churches, will there be marks of hospitality with a coffee stain on the carpet from fellowship, someone giving up a seat for a visitor, or those blessed children’s handprints on a freshly painted wall?
How will our body, both individually and the church, bear the marks of Jesus Christ by the time we get to Easter morning? After all, it is a bit difficult to sing “He lives within my heart” unless you are willing to let this Christ put marks on more than just your forehead.
PASTOR GLENN CONAWAY, DELAWARE BAY DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT