By Kevin Barron
This column appears during Holy Week, when we are encouraged to embrace the Cross and, on Sunday, celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ! These are certainly exciting times for people of faith. And they should be. If we do not have the Cross and the Resurrection, we have nothing.
As the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:19, “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” But we do have hope beyond this life, because Christ did die on the Cross for us, he did physically rise from the grave, and he is alive today. What great news!
But there is more to Christianity than believing, there is the living out of that faith. That is where the term “soldiers of the Cross” comes to mind. I have been thinking about that expression for several days. Last Sunday night, at a Lenten service, the speaker ended his sermon by having us sing the Isaac Watts hymn from the 1700s, “Am I A Soldier of the Cross?” The first three verses of the hymn all end with a question mark. Verse 1 asks if we are willing to be soldiers of the Cross and followers of Christ. Verse 2 questions if I will be committed while others rally to the Cross. Verse 3 looks for a foe to fight and evil to overcome. The last three verses reflect on what it means to be a soldier of the Cross. Verse 4 states that “I must fight, if I would reign.” Verse 5 declares that all the saints of God will be victorious. Verse 6 looks to the future when final victory is ours, to the glory of God. We should note that victory comes only at the end of the soldier’s service, that it is not assured, that faithfulness is a must.
Appearing a bit later was the African-American spiritual, “We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder.” Every verse ends with the line, “Soldier of the cross.” After stating that “we are climbing Jacob’s ladder,” verses go on to ask sinners if they love Jesus, states that if we love him we should serve him, and ends with “Faithful prayer will make a soldier,” always ending with the “Soldier of the cross.” Commitment to being a soldier of the Cross is seen as necessary.
I don’t think the church has a problem with demanding that the clergy be committed. Pastors are expected to pray more, know the Bible better, witness more, on and on. And most clergy, I think, are OK with that. We are to be examples to those we serve. But what about the laity of the church? There are a lot more of them, to be sure! Every army has its generals, but there are a lot more privates in the army. We all need to be soldiers of the cross. I graduated from God’s Bible School in Cincinnati years ago. Decades before I was a student there, the college launched its GIs of the Cross program in the 1940s. This was a three-year evangelistic crusade that traveled in jeeps and trailers across the United States and into foreign countries. Anyone could be a part of this crusade. All you had to do was sign up.
As we pause here at Easter, are you willing to sign up? The Apostle Paul was certainly willing to sign up, and he lived out his commitment through “many dangers, toils, and snares,” as the third verse of “Amazing Grace” puts it. His advice to us? “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power” (Ephesians 6:10). He continues in Ephesians 6 to describe the full armor that we have from God - the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, footwear that comes from the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. Woven throughout verses 11 through 17 are descriptions of these pieces of armor and reminders of how God’s power will enable and protect us. Paul ends this section of Ephesians 6 (verses 18-20) with a call to prayer. Different forms of the word “pray” are used five times in these three short verses. In order to be an effective soldier of the cross who finds spiritual victory at Easter and every day of the year, I must pray. Who’s with me? Are you ready to sign up?
Kevin Barron is the pastor of Perryville and Crossroads United Methodist churches. He can be reached by phone at 573-547-5200 or via email at kdbarron@gmail.com.
