Lent 5: Readiness

Back in 2019 I did some Lent Pauses based on a series of Stanley Spencer paintings entitled "Christ in the Wilderness" and I used this one which is called 'foxes have holes' and refers to Luke 9:58, where Jesus says that 'foxes have holes, birds have nests- but the Son Of Man has nowhere to lay his head.' 

He is pointing out to those who say "Jesus, I will follow you anywhere" that the path will not be easy, that there will be self-denial and sacrifice involved. I sometimes wonder if it is too easy for us as Christians to 'get comfy' in our faith. We meet up with our mates on Sundays, have a good sing, read the Bible. pray, and enjoy a decent cup of coffee and conversation after the service.
All of which is fine, but is that it? Jesus called us to take up our cross daily and be ready to serve Him, to do the difficult things, week in week out. 
In first century Judea, the Roman Impressment Law meant that if a soldier demanded a Jew should carry his pack for him, he was required to bear that burden for a mile. Jesus said people should be ready to 'go the extra mile' - to carry it for twice as long.
Sometimes the things we are called upon to do are not easy. They may 'take us out of our comfort zone' but if we truly believe they are the right thing, then we should be ready to do them. Perhaps helping others in a practical way, perhaps speaking out against injustice...

It is eighty years this Wednesday since the the execution of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German Pastor and theologian hanged for his part in an assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler. Bonhoeffer understood what it meant to be a Christian, to 'take up the cross daily and follow' He spoke out against the Fuhrer, and was involved in active resistance to the Nazis. He wrote these words in "The Cost of Discipleship" - and I think they are very appropriate to consider right now. 
"Thus it begins; the cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die. It may be a death like that of the first disciples who had to leave home and work to follow him, or it may be a death like Luther’s, who had to leave the monastery and go out into the world. But it is the same death every time – death in Christ."
I hope I will not be called upon to do things which will lead to imprisonment and execution [but for many Christians across the world, that is a daily reality] but if my life is to make an impact, then I have to be ready to do the right thing, even if it is the difficult thing.