Gently Used

Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. (Luke 23:26-46)

When you finally finished your shopping, you always smelled like mothballs. No matter how short or long your visit to the old shop was, you’d depart with that smell-proof that you’d been there. And even though it was a journey, people would go there multiple times a year, looking for a costume for that themed party, an iconic garment from a past era, or a treasure that would draw the eye of those they walked by. The vintage clothing business was popular, in part because you got to enjoy the pieces of someone else’s experience, the clothing of someone else’s life.

We can draw a similar parallel to an event that happened on that Good Friday. After Jesus had made His way through the city, after He’d stumbled multiple times and the Roman soldiers conscripted an unsuspecting man to carry His cross, and after the executioners stripped Him of his clothes and nailed Him to the cross, it was then that the soldiers cast lots for our Messiah’s clothing. This was their right, after all. The reward for a Roman soldier was to keep the clothing of the man they crucified. And so, Luke, like Matthew and John, tells us of this profane distribution of the clothes of Christ. With their backs to the crucified Saviour, the soldiers foraged through His garments, claiming them for themselves. So, do we.

We take the things of Jesus but often leave Him behind. We dress up to look like Christ, choosing easy Christianity over a disciple life. We pick through a pile of clothes—things that may be cut by a whip, bear a hole from a thorn or are soiled from spilt blood—even as Christ is beckoning us to the cross. We rummage through the trappings of Christianity while missing Christ Himself.

All the travel with none of the toil. All the patina with none of the pain. All the style with none of the sacrifice.

So today, may we put aside our search for gently pre-worn discipleship instead of embracing the One in whom our faith rests. The price has been paid, and the gift is beyond what we could ever afford.

LET US PRAY - Crucified Christ, who wore our sin and shame, grant that we might choose Your way even when it will cost us so that through us, your gift of love might be extended to the world around us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.