A Really Cool Tapestry of Love by Kelley Barton

On Easter at City Church we focused on the Resurrection of Jesus and how His followers grappled with life as a community, following Jesus teaching to love God and neighbor.

There was something else afoot on Easter Sunday, and I wonder if you felt it the same way I did.

On the floor near the stage was a cross, wrapped in twine and vines, draped with white cloth. It stood silently, but still communicating to me the pain and sadness associated with the crucifixion of Jesus, the wrapping of his body in cloth which was then laid in the tomb.

During a worship song, we were invited to walk down, pick out a flower from the vases on the floor, and tuck the flower into the twin or vines on the cross. Quite quickly there was a crowd around the cross, of various ages and in various states of mind. Some I would imagine attached their flower through their grief. Others with hope for the future. Some with awe of the sacrifice Jesus made. And some might have just thought this was a cool thing to do.

 It was a really cool thing to do!

I have walked into many churches in the past, decorated exquisitely for Easter and providing an atmosphere of new life to enjoy. But what we did together, as a community, as we decorated the cross with flowers was so different. Did you feel it? Did you experience it the way I did?

For me, it was the embodiment of Paul’s words to a church in Colosse that had shown great love to their community, that he called a “case study” (read Colossians Chapter 1). What Paul wrote in verse 2 of Chapter 2 is what I experienced, with all of you, on Easter.

I want you woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know of God. Then you will have minds confident and at rest, focused on Christ, God’s great mystery. 

Colossians 2:2 MSG

We wove together a beautiful cross. A symbol of our hope in Jesus. A testament to our desire to be in community with one another. A true tapestry of love.