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CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – One of my favorite Christian hymns is ‘Lift High The Cross,’ written in 1877.
“Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim
till all the world adore his sacred name.”
So, now that we have the Easter message of Christ’s resurrection, who will lift up the cross?
It is nothing short of a miracle, guided by God’s almighty hand, that the Christian church spread throughout the world.
Jesus’ final instructions to his followers was “go now, and make disciples of all nations.” And so this group of nobodies fanned out across the ancient land telling the story of Christ. This was not a promising group. They were fisherman and laborers, not prominent people at all. They were poor, having to ask for food and shelter. Some were run out of the towns that they preached in. Others had stones thrown at them or jailed. What did they expect when strangers showed up to tell people that they were doing religion wrong, and here is the correct way?
But churches were planted, among Israelis in Jerusalem, and in Damascus, and Antioch, and Babylon. At St. Peter, after a divinely inspired dream, preached that the salvation of Jesus was not just for Jews, but for Gentiles as well. And churches were founded in Carthage and Alexandria, and Rome. There were the prominent ports of the day, crossroads of the ancient world, and Christianity spread from there.
I would think that telling strangers that they were doing religion all wrong would be difficult and risky work. That Christ’s teachings took hold tells me that God loves his church and wants us to know him. Today, talking about Jesus is still difficult, but not as difficult as it must have been back then.
Who will lift high the cross? You, and me. Together we have the good news. Let’s not keep it to ourselves.
Chris Conley
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