Healing found at the cross

Wednesday, April 16, 2003
Dawn Cribbs

I think we must be born with a natural penchant for arrogance.

It seems to be part and parcel of the human condition, and no one it seems is immune.

Arrogance can show itself in many different ways, depending upon the unique situations of life.

There is the arrogant of the superior attitude, prevalent among the privileged class. People with more money and more possessions can sometimes lord their prosperity over those who have less.

Then there is the arrogance displayed by those of higher intelligence or higher education over those who either could not or chose not to avail themselves of those opportunities.

Arrogance can also be displayed in suffering -- of an individual, an ethnic group, a neighborhood or a region.

This is the arrogance of "one-up-manship." Perhaps you've encountered someone like this in line at the grocery store or the post office.

"How are you?" they'll ask, and if you've a specific answer, especially a complaint, they'll have something worse to share.

"Oh, I know just what you mean," they'll exclaim and continue without taking a breath to itemize a similar complaint, always ending up worse off than you.

If it is a natural disaster, then their flood was deeper, their hail larger, their winds stronger... you know the drill.

Physical beauty, athletic prowess or a well-formed physique can also contribute to an attitude of arrogance and superiority over those who are not similarly blessed. The commercial with the line, "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful" comes to mind.

Arrogance can lie dormant in the recesses of the heart as well, emerging only when the subject that inspires the arrogance appears. These attitudes of arrogance deal with heart attitudes of self-righteousness, the -- "I'm doing the best I can with what I've got and that's just going to have to be enough" -- attitude from those who cannot imagine that God will not accept them on their own merit.

Many take the reverse posture, adopting an arrogance of guilt that says, "What I've done is too bad, beyond God's ability to forgive. I am too bad, and can never be good enough."

The arrogance of the disappointed heart or the wounded heart is hard to bear. These are the hearts that reject the grace and sovereignty of God because they believe that he has somehow failed them. These are the hearts that lay disappointment at the foot of God, claiming that because they didn't get the job, child, house, car, ad infinitum they desired, he is undeserving of their allegiance. Others, refusing to comforted in their grief, blame God for dreams broken by the choices of others.

In the same league with these malfunctions of the heart is the bitter arrogance. This heart, when struck by the consequences of his sin, cries out, "Mercy" and accepts grace freely and with joy only to turn around and refuse mercy to others. Jesus had much to say on this heart attitude, warning repeatedly that if we withhold forgiveness, God will not forgive us.

Traditions in Christian churches differ as to when and how to remember the crucifixion of Jesus. The remembrance typically includes the Sacrament of Holy Communion, called by many names and offered at different intervals, depending on the tradition of each congregation or denomination. For each member of those congregations, it is to be a time of personal reflection on the high price paid for their salvation. This week, virtually all of Christendom will set aside a special time of remembrance. Remembrance of the night in the Upper Room. Remembrance of the Friday of betrayal and crucifixion. And, thanks be to God, remembrance of the empty tomb discovered on the first day of the week. Don't hurry past the remembrance of the cross too quickly, though the vision is hard to bear. Meditate on the image and find that it is the cross that strips away the arrogance of man.

At the foot of the cross all of our earthly possessions and all of the gold we could ever hope to hold, turns to dust.

At the foot of the cross we discover, in spite of our education or intellect, our knowledge is nothing more than foolish gibberish.

At the foot of the cross our beauty or athletic prowess fades in comparison to the wounded soul hanging there with words of forgiveness on his lips.

At the foot of the cross all of the good we can do is nothing more than a pile of filthy rags, fit for no good thing, and we stand, naked and ashamed.

At the foot of the cross the magnitude of our sins and the price paid to satisfy them overcomes our our false humility.

At the foot of the cross, and only there, we find healing for our brokenness, balm for our wounded hearts, and forgiveness sufficient for our sins and for those who have sinned against us.

"But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself." John 12:32 (NIV)

-- Dawn Cribbs will join in the celebration of Resurrection Sunday, remembering first the cross that preceded the joy.

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