Doing Spiritual Pushups
- davidwperk
- Sep 5
- 7 min read
Devotional Reflection, Friday, September 5, 2025
Proper 17, the week of the twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Key phrase for reflection from today’s reading:
25 It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. 26The inscription of the charge against him read, ‘The King of the Jews.’ 27And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left.
You will find the full text of today’s Gospel reading at the end of this reflection.
Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 982)
AM Psalm 31; PM Psalm 35
1 Kings 11:26-43; James 4:13-5:6; Mark 15:22-32
Today we celebrate the Feast of Katharina Zell . (See below.)
David's Reflections
Crucifixion--an excruciating and prolonged way to die. The victim was flogged with a whip that had bone and metal woven in, so that the flesh of the back was lacerated and laid open. Methods for crucifixion varied, but one of the most common procedures was to have the victim carry the horizontal beam to the place of execution where the wrists were tied or nailed to that beam. Then, that beam, with the condemned tied to it, was hoisted and joined to the vertical beam already in place, on which there was a peg that served as a seat for the hips. The feet were impaled with a large spike, often driven through the ankles or through the top of the feet.
Death resulted from exposure and asphyxiation and thirst and could take days. The only way the victim could breath would be to flex the legs to free the diaphragm If the victim lingered, the thigh bones would be broken, which made flexing the legs to breathe impossible (See John 19:32-33).
Crucifixion was reserved for the most heinous crimes against the state; those the state regarded as traitors and seditious and slaves who rebelled were executed in this way. Jesus' indictment, fastened to his cross, was for claiming political authority that conflicted with Caesar's rule of Palestine, being “King of the Jews.”
The sign of the cross, made with oil of chrism on the forehead of the baptized, identifies us with Jesus in his death and resurrection. The best historical evidence reveals that Christians began making the sign of the cross on their foreheads by the second century. In our tradition, you often will find a basin of holy water in the narthex of a building; the custom is to dip your forefinger and make the sign of the cross as a reminder of your baptism, that you are crucified and buried and risen with Christ. The most basic places in Holy Eucharist where the sign of the cross is appropriate are at the opening acclamation (Blessed be God), the absolution after the confession of sin, and the closing blessing. Beyond those moments, you will see people making the sign of the cross at other points, the reading of the Gospel, receiving communion, and so forth.
Jesus invites us to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow him. That involves sharing Christ’s place of rejection in the world, even to the point of death. Last week we celebrated the Feast of the Martyrs of New Guinea, ten people who lost their lives in 1942 because they stayed on location in mission service in the face of a Japanese invasion. They lived a cruciform life, sharing in Jesus’ rejection.
See this link for their story, if you missed it last week.
Charles Talbert captures well what living a cruciform life means:
. . . the cross was not a burden but an instrument of death. A condemned person carried it on the way to execution. So to "take up [one's] cross daily" means to live daily as a condemned person to "deny [one]self." If so, then self-denial means to live the life of a condemned person, one who has been stripped of every form of worldly security, even physical existence. For such a one, there is nothing and no one to whom there can be permanent attachment except the one who goes before carrying his cross. All other attachments have been terminated by the sentence of death, a sentence passed upon oneself.+
Literary critic Terry Eagleton in his Terry Lectures at Yale quipped, ". . . the New Testament is a brutal destroyer of human illusions. If you follow Jesus and don't end up dead, it appears you have some explaining to do.”* As I reflect on this statement, it occurs to me that I’ve not faced a moment that put my life at risk for my commitment. Perhaps my best intent would be to keep letting go of my life radically every day, giving myself over to Christ for that day, no matter what it might require. Perhaps those recurring spiritual pushups would strengthen my resolve so that if I faced death for my faith, I will not flinch. Better yet, when I face the risk of lesser rejections, I will not flinch.
Last year, I tore a rotator cuff tendon doing push ups. My physical therapist suggested standing wall pushups as an option. Risking lesser rejections than death feels like wall pushups. But, those may be my best option; just keep doing those wall pushups, taking those lesser risks.
This amazing collect captures so much of the dynamics of a cruciform life and its challenges.
“O Tree of Calvary, send your roots deep into my soul. Gather together my frailties—my soiled heart, my sandy instability and my muddy desires—and entwine them with the strong roots of your arboreal love. Amen.”#
+Charles H. Talbert, Reading Luke: A Literary and Theological Commentary on the Third Gospel (New York: Crossroad, 1984), p. 107.
*Terry Eagleton, Reason, Faith, and Revolution (New Haven, CT: Yale UP, 2010), p. 27
#Daily Prayer for All Seasons {New York: Church Publishing, 2014), p. 129
Collect of the Day, Proper 17, the twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 233)
Today we celebrate the Feast of Katharina Zell, church reformer and writer (died 5 Sep 1562 CE).
Collect of the Feast of Katharina Zell
Almighty God, whose servant Katharina Zell toiled for the reform of your church both in word and in deed: Fill us with the wisdom to speak out in defense of your truth, with love for you and for our neighbor, that we may serve you and welcome all your people with a mother's heart; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
A Collect for Fridays
Lord Jesus Christ, by your death you took away the sting of death: Grant to us your servants so to follow in faith where you have led the way, that we may at length fall asleep peacefully in you and wake up in your likeness; for your tender mercies' sake. Amen. (BCP, 123)
In the Order of Worship for Evening
Almighty, everlasting God, let our prayer in your sight be as incense, the lifting up of our hands as the evening sacrifice. Give us grace to behold you, present in your Word and Sacraments, and to recognize you in the lives of those around us. Stir up in us the flame of that love which burned in the heart of your Son as he bore his passion, and let it burn in us to eternal life and to the ages of ages. Amen. (BCP, 113)
A Collect for Mission
O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 280)
Daily Office Gospel, Mark 15:22-32
22Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). 23And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it. 24And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take.
25 It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. 26The inscription of the charge against him read, ‘The King of the Jews.’ 27And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left. 29Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, ‘Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30save yourself, and come down from the cross!’ 31In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, ‘He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.’ Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.
Daily Prayer Offices in The Book of Common Prayer
Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, Book of Common Prayer
Noonday Prayer, p. 103, Book of Common Prayer
Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p. 109, Book of Common Prayer
Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer
Compline (Night Prayer), Page 127, Book of Common Prayer
Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer
Comments