Rev. Gale M. Nealy
Senior Pastor

From the Pastor’s Desk

What Have You Done For Me Lately?

He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account.  Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken down by God and afflicted.  But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  (Isaiah 53.3-6)

Just recently, I attended a viewing of The Passion of the Christ.  Mel Gibson has offered us one of the most riveting accounts of the crucifixion of Christ I have ever seen.  As a result of growing up in a Christian home, I was familiar with the events surrounding Jesus’ ministry as well as the events surrounding his crucifixion.  I have seen countless pictures depicting the suffering of Christ on the cross.  However, there isn’t anything that could have prepared me for what I saw while viewing this movie.  Christ’s suffering was brought to life on celluloid.

For years, I have heard ministers preach about how Christ suffered, bled, and died.  This was something I always knew.  However, the extent of his suffering was just to horrible to imagine.  I was comfortable with the carefully detailed art work in bibles that showed just enough to let you know that Jesus died a horrible death.  I had grown accustomed to hearing preachers spout familiar words in their sermons concerning the passion of Christ.  These are words that would take you right to the brink of reality, but still allowed you to hide behind a mask of human sensibilities.

This year, I was forced to confront the reality of the crucifixion.  Crucifixion was a horrible and brutal death.  It was a death for criminals.  It was a death that Christ endured on our behalf.  The agony and the pain is unimaginable.  With each scene of the movie, I began to see how precious my salvation really is.  My redemption was bought at a great price.  God sacrificed much to save my soul and the souls of many around the world. 

As I pondered the reality of the crucifixion in my life, I heard the question: What have you done for me lately?  After years of hearing what I went through, now that your heart knows what was required, What have you done for me lately?  I had to admit that the Holy Spirit had posed an important question.  What have we done for Jesus lately?  What have we done for others that demonstrates the reality of the Passion of Christ in our lives? 

As I write this article, I sit in awe of who Christ really is.  This season of Lent will have a whole new perspective for me as we progress toward Easter Sunday.  Let us take time to ponder the possibilities of doing more for Christ.  He has taken on the world for us.

In Christ,
Pastor Nealy