I want to share a little story of what Jesus teaches us about suffering. Chauvon and I were blessed to hear a story of what happens when you give your life to such a great journey that we have in Christ.
So the picture is Melk Abbey in Austria, a day’s travel from Vienna in the year 1000, midway between the days Jesus walked with us and now. The property was originally a castle on the top of a hill overlooking the Danube River. It was donated to a group of Benedictine monks who were going to use this to teach the Word to those who couldn’t read or write, establish a library of books to enlighten those with no means, and to feed the hungry. A great endeavor in that period of time.
But this picture is the new church on that property, built about 300 years ago. You can see, when you walk up, a statue of Jesus not on the cross, but holding the cross. I like that. It shows me that the cross didn’t beat Him. He conquered the cross and destroyed sin and death. You can also see Peter the Rock and Paul, who showed us how anyone can turn their life around and give God their everything.
But it was something inside the church that reminded me of 1 Peter 4. It’s how we suffer sometimes to see what God has in store for us. The church is so much more about what each of us… individually… can do for God’s will to be instilled within us.
I would have loved to have Jenny or Ed taking the pictures inside to share and document. Or I wish Don could have been there to narrate the story. Or the angels on the ceiling, with their horns and instruments, giving glory through song to heaven. Like David or Matthew leading worship. My little buddy Ambrose would have really enjoyed that. And the voices I hear through all of you singing during our worship services. Each of us, living, breathing examples of God’s grace and wisdom.
But when you looked at how the monks did the church, the layout, the colors, the thought and atmosphere, that is what really impressed me. What we see is not just an altar with Christ on the cross at the front, and I am in no way minimizing His sacrifice. But other elements stood out. At the opposite end, a great circle of Benedict (the Benedictines) and the angels, singing and dancing, looking up toward an eternal heaven at the far end of the church. The journey of the Good News. From Jesus to the day of judgment. It was the small reminders between the two events where they focused their teachings. It’s us right now, witnessing the time between these two significant and life-changing events. Hold on, there’s more.
A lot of old churches have people buried inside. This one has someone buried inside who really suffered from man’s horrible absence of love and compassion. Remember the greatest commandment (Love God) and the second (Love Each Other)!
His name…
Coloman of Stockerau, an Irishman, a missionary, a pilgrim, a stranger, a first-time visitor. You get the picture? Back then it was well known that the Irish had become missionaries to Europe, a sort of back migration. And the story goes that he arrives here, on the banks of the Danube River, about 1,200 miles from home and still another 1,000 to go to Jerusalem. His spiritual walk meets man at its worst. The townspeople, wary of a hostile enemy, get so caught up in his strange language and outspoken preaching they kill him.
But our God has a message sent through this horrible deed. They had left him strung up on a dead tree on the edge of town, figuring that it would be a message for those who chose to try and attack them. But the dead tree began to blossom and revive with new life. And reports of strange miracles happened near where he was martyred. The monks got word, gathered his bones, and placed them in a sarcophagus under a side altar inside the church in the year 1014. He is now known as Saint Coloman of Stockerau.
First Peter 4 tells us, FOR SO CHRIST SUFFERED IN THE FLESH FOR US, WE SHOULD ARM OURSELVES FOR THE SAME AND DO THE WILL OF GOD, WHICH KEEPS US FROM SIN.
Here today we meet to break the bread and drink the cup that marks us as God’s chosen vessels to bear witness and give thanks to Jesus for His everlasting love for each one of us.
Let’s pray—
We share this emblem of covenant promise of everlasting life in Christ and unity through the Holy Spirit with You, Father. May each one of our spiritual pilgrimages bless You and Your wish that we all come to Christ and receive the promise of eternal life in You. May the bread and the cup be received with love and mercy. May the gift of grace live abundantly in our hearts and minds. May humbleness and peace flow from our souls and our mouths. Bless us, Your children, Father. In Christ’s name, Amen.
Paul Matherne | Shepherd
