By My Own Merit

At hearing this, great sorrow gripped my heart. For many persons of the greatest worth were held, I knew, suspended in this strip. “Tell me, sir, tell me, my dearest teacher,” so I began, determined – on a point of faith which routs all error – to be sure, “has anyone, by merit of his own. . ., left here then been blessed?” And he, who read the sense my words had hid, answered: “I still was new to this strange state when, now advancing, I beheld a power whose head was crowned with signs of victory. He led away the shadow of our primal sire, shades of his offspring, Abel and Noah, Moses, who uttered the law, of Abraham the patriarch, David the king. . .All these he blessed. Until these were, no human soul had ever been redeemed.”[1]

In Dante’s Divine Comedy, as Dante begins his journey through hell, he has a question for his guide, Virgil. On the very first level, with eight more left to go, he asks the question, “Has anyone ever made it out of here on their own merit or effort?” Dante expresses this concern because so many of the people he saw were people of “reputation and honor.” Surely, there must be someone who would be considered of sufficient moral character, who would have made it out of hell and gone to heaven. These are good people, people we respect, admire, and wish to emulate.

Virgil’s response is, “Only one, and his head was crowned with the signs of victory!” We tend to think we are moral people. We like to view ourselves as only needing a little boost to skip over hell and land in heaven. If we choose to hang on to that notion, we will find ourselves ill equipped for the afterlife when the time comes. It turns out that hell is filled with “good” people, “honest” people, people of “good reputation,” and exhibiting strength of character. They are there because, in the end, they rejected God’s way, even as the first human beings did, and rely on their own works.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.[2]

The crown of thorns has become the sign of victory!

Pastor Craig

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[1] The Divine Comedy: Canto 4. Dante.

[2] Ephesians 2:8-9

Church Names and Commitment

My friend, Ken Lane, has just returned from a trip to the Holy Land. He got to see many of the places where the Biblical story took place and, before he left, read and prayed his way through the Via Dolorosa, the path Jesus took from the time of his condemnation on through the crucifixion and burial. There are a number of holy sites along that route, yes, obviously. Churches named The Chapel of the Flagellation where Jesus was beaten by the Roman guards, and The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which contains the tomb of Jesus.

We are so used to churches being called First something or other, Grace ______, Faith ______, Mercy ________, or having the names of Saints or great people of faith. We even name them after streets. Here the church is named after an event in the life of Christ. It calls us to remember what Jesus did for us. Certainly Grace, Faith, Mercy, etc. are excellent names as well. We even prefer them to Flagellation. It reminds us of things we would rather not think about.

We certainly want to remember the love, grace, and compassion of Jesus Christ that God has extended to us. We just don't want to remember how it was procured for us. It seems way too gory and gruesome. We prefer the resurrection to the crucifixion.

Of the people I know who have seen The Passion of the Christ, the scenes they found most "offensive" have been the scenes dealing with the crucifixion. We are confronted with the selfless act, freely given for us, and we know that we take it for granted. We do not appreciate the extent to which we have been saved. We do not comprehend our lostness. Oh, we certainly can give it mental recognition, but we can't "wrap our minds around" the enormity of our lostness and the magnitude of the effort to win us back. Certainly the very battle for our soul should be an adventure story beyond any other ever written.

I teasingly mentioned to my friend Ken that I might want to send a resume' to The Chapel of the Flagellation. I could joke about the commitments sought from new members in the New Members' Classes, but the fact of the matter is that it reminds us of the commitment and provision made by Christ to our justification, sanctification, and glorification. Oh, that we would make the same commitment to Him!