Take Him Down

So, this past weekend I went to Köln to tour with a volunteer group I am helping with over the next several weeks. Köln is the Deutsch word for the city of Cologne. I have been to this city a couple of times previously and still find it fascinating. There is so much history in this country...much of it tumultuous. After World War II, most of the city was destroyed, however this massive Cathedral survived and retained it's original Gothic structure. The cathedral took several decades to complete and many times when a building is under construction for that long, the style will change. This building did not. That is one of the most intriguing things about it. I can actually see the two spires from my kitchen window!! That is how huge this building is. I am struck not only by the size upon entering this massive structure but also at the ornate architecture throughout the entire building. There are many intricate sculptures and beautiful, colored stained glass windows. It's amazing how much time and money men spent on a building that is less than half full with people every Sunday making use of its purpose. The stone is cold and gray, much like the hearts of those who walk those floors every day. As voices echo off the ceilings and walls, I can't help think, so do the lofty prayers of most who enter there. Their prayers also bounce off the ceilings, getting no further than the walls that surround them. This fact breaks my heart. It is amazing how one can be in a place so beautiful but still feel hollow and empty. This building, among other age old beautiful churches, reminds me of the Pharisees mentioned in Scripture...they are nothing but white washed tombs-beautiful and extravagant on the outside while holding dead, dry bones on the inside.

Also inside are many displays of the Passion of the Christ and in all of them, Jesus is still on the cross or being removed from it. There is rarely a display of the resurrection and this saddens me greatly. Take Him down for He is not there any more!! This just reminds me more that the story of redemption does not end with the cross. If it did, then there would be no salvation because death would have won that day. But praise the Father, death was conquered through Christ when He rose from the grave on the third day just as He said he would!! Now there's a reason to rejoice! For this reason I live, move and have my being! This building needs life inside not just mechanical religion that tires the soul. And so do most who filter in and out of it every day. So, as I take pictures of these beautiful, haunting places, I lift up the people that are here and ask that the Father would breathe life into those whose hearts are dead. So many people come into these churches now and see nothing but beautiful architecture and hear only voices from the past. They light candles and pray but know nothing of the One to whom they speak those prayers. We all need more than cold, gray walls and pretty glass windows. The world NEEDS the love of a Savior who cared so much to give His own life that we might know him! He must be taken down from that cross and put on the throne where He belongs!!