Meditation: The Response of Indifference

Read Mark 15:21-32

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh! Sometimes, it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

You may not recognize the hymn above, but for the black church in America, this hymn was no ordinary hymn. Along with other famous songs such as “Amazing Grace”, these songs were reminders of faith despite being enslaved in the 19th century. The white slaveowners – many Christian – did not permit the slaves to worship in a way that they’re comfortable with, so the slaves held secret services where they could sing praise songs that incorporated African rhythms, cadences, etc. And from such squalid and unjust conditions came some of the deepest hymns that, despite their simplicity, still speak to us today.

The passage we read above sounds familiar. After all, we read it yesterday. But for most – if not all – of us, the crucifixion story is just another story. We read it, and maybe just think, “oh, how tragic,” and then maybe utter a prayer or two. On Good Friday, we hear the story, maybe shed a tear or two. But then, maybe two weeks after Holy Week, we’re no different. It’s almost as if we’ve never heard of the crucifixion story at all.

But such a lackadaisical indifference to the story of Christ’s death is not unique to just many Christians today – it’s happening across the world. Just this past week, Newt Gingrich, who is campaigning for the Republican nomination for the 2012 Presidential race, talked about how he fears that America is growing more and more atheist. But where does that atheism come from? Does it just appear from nowhere? Of course not. When people see Jesus’ crucifixion as just another historical event, coupled with the hypocrisy within the Church, the power of the Gospel becomes muddied. Elie Wiesel wrote once that “because of indifference, one dies before one actually dies.”

What, then, could be done? In a world that is all about getting things done quickly, expediently, in a world about becoming “bigger, faster, better, stronger” we need to slow down. When we think of “meditation”, we often think of Buddhist meditation, which involves trying to rid our minds of gobble-dy-gook. Those math equations, chemical formulas, all those things – just forget about them. But in Christian meditation, we’re more… realistic, shall we say? Instead of just clearing our minds of everything, let us refocus our minds on the cross. Let us focus on the image of our God who died for our sins. Let us focus our minds, our lives, on that image.

For tonight, let’s re-read Mark 15:21-32. I realize it’s a Wednesday, and it might not be the best day to do this, but if you have the time, re-read it a few times. Each time you read it, put yourselves in the shoes of the different people involved.

Picture yourself as one of “those who passed by”. How would you ridicule him? What a loony Jesus was! Destroying the temple and rebuilding it in 3 days? You’ve lost your mind! Might as well be crucified – the world is better of without you!

Picture yourself as one of “the chief priests and the teachers of the law”, the “evangelical conservatives” of Jesus’ time! This Jesus is delusional, liberal, Marxist! This is the Jesus who hung out with the tax collectors (think: liberal Christians), the Samaritans (think: illegal immigrants). This is the Jesus who even extended kindness to a Roman official (think: Arabs). Here is a Jesus who claimed that it is harder for the wealthy to go to Heaven! (think: socialist). Who needs a liberal, illegal, Arab, and socialist Jesus? Oh, and since he talked about “saving others”, let’s see if he can do that too!

Picture yourself as one of the Roman soldiers who crucified him. Who cares, right? He’s just one of those rag-tag Judeans, not one of us noble Romans. Those Judeans have no culture; they’re crass and uneducated compared to us glorious and refined Romans. Might as well crucify one more, right? One less Judean means one less crude barbarian on this planet.

Picture yourself as a slave in America singing the hymn above while remembering the cross. Your white masters whip you, yell derogatory comments at you, raping your heart and soul with every racist epithet, tearing down every shred of humanity you ever have. And then, after a day of enduring the scorn and evil heaped upon you, you sing the beautiful hymn of praise… were you there when they crucified my Lord?

And now, picture yourself as a teenage Asian-American man/woman getting ready to go to school tomorrow, probably staying up a little too late because of this long devotional. What is the cross to you?