Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
4 14 2025
Why aren’t we broken during Holy Week?
Several of the men from our men’s group had just watched the Passion of Christ. I shared with them that I had not watched it but once because it was so hard. As I reflected on that statement this morning, I was convicted about how hard that was for Jesus. Yet I found it too hard to watch again.
Do you love God but sometimes feel like you’re just going through the motions? Do you even feel any different during Holy Week? We have lived many years and have experienced many Good Fridays, and I think it has become easy to see it as more of an event or a formula to be saved. Then I remembered his words at the Last Supper when he said, “Do this in remembrance of me.”
I asked myself has my heart become hard to His pain?
How can I be a true son of God and not be moved to tears when I humbly reflect on the price you paid for me personally?
Impassive as a Stone
Christina Rosetta (1830-94) Wrote a short poem in 1866 called Good Friday and offers me some relief of honest realism, and an honest remedy for when I no longer connect to the sorrow of this day. Rosetti begins,
Am I a stone, and not a sheep,
That I can stand, O Christ, beneath Thy cross,
To number drop by drop Thy blood’s slow loss,
And yet not weep?
Through Ezekiel 36,:26 God speaks, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh”. The Lord describes us as having a heart of stone. And I cannot help but look in the mirror as I look up at the cross, and there is not a tear being shed, so am I, like she said, “A stone, and not a sheep to see your blood flowing and yet not weep”.
Some time back, we had to put down a dear pet, of almost 17 years old. My daughter still weeps at times as she remembers DJ. As I watched them administer the shot that would take him peacefully away. I was surprised that I, too, became emotional and wept.
This poem convicted me as I saw how stony callousness had grown over my heart. The admission of this holy woman invited me to bring the shame of my apathy to light. How many times have you read the passion story and not wept? Or is it just me?
Rosetta goes on to say;
Not so those women loved
Who with exceeding grief lamented Thee;
Not so fallen Peter, weeping bitterly;
Not so the thief was moved.
Luke 23:27 describes “women who were morning and laminating for him.” As he walked up the Villa Del la Rosa up the hill to Calvary to the wails of many…” This is not right!”
A Disloyal Friend
Luke describes that as the third crow of the rooster sounded in 22:61” the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter went out and wept bitterly”. 3 times. How many times have I betrayed him, yet on this Holy Day.. this Holy Week, and am I still tearless?
Even the criminal who would soon die alongside our Lord was condemned to die, but felt like the psalmist. “like those whom you remember no more, for they are cut off from your hand. . . . Your wrath lies heavy upon me” (Psalm 88:5, 7). And the thief in Luke 23:42 says
“Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom”
He said everyone knows that he is innocent. In stanza three, she talks about the effect even on nature. Luke 23:44 “It was now about the sixth power, and there was darkness over the land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed.”
Not so the Sun and Moon
Which hid their faces in a starless sky,
A horror of great darkness at broad noon —
I, only I.
Yes, God caused this to happen.
“The phenomenon reflected the contradiction that creatures had hung up the Creator. Slaves of sin assassinated the Sovereign. The reliable day went dark over our audacious assault on Christ. We jump when thunder claps, we fall silent at an eclipse.
By now, some sense of passion should be returning to my hardened soul
Yet, Rosetta does not let up.
She voices, the isolation that continued apathy creates. “I, only I” remain indifferent…
While men and women, disciples and criminals, sun and moon weep for Jesus.
And so Rosetta. Turns from reflection to ardent prayer:
Yet give not o’er,
But seek Thy sheep, true Shepherd of the flock;
Greater than Moses, turn and look once more
And smite a rock.
Doesn’t scripture sometimes jolt you out of complacency, especially when you read
Romans 1:24 “God gave them up… Because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie”
Will I Strike The Rock
Do you remember Exodus 17 when the Israelites were in the desert crying out for water? God told Moses, “You shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.”
Rosetta is crying out for the great prophecy of Ezekiel to be fulfilled anew in her: Ezekiel 36:26-28
“I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you . . . and you shall be my people, and I will be your God”
But she knows that a heart transplant must begin with a mighty interruption.
Smite the Rock… Knock me alongside the head spiritually!
Garrett Scott Dawson, who I take inspiration from, and numerous quotes from this article said:
“Maybe, in the end, the remedy to our indifference in Holy Week comes down to such a stark prayer. Just crack open my hard heart. Smack this boulder of a soul. Take me to those who wept for you, and let my jaded heart be moved by their ardor. Turn me from a stone back into a sheep. Let me hear your voice that I may with fresh tears love you in your passion”.
I have included this song in the Audio portion above. I hope you will share this message with friends and family who might need to hear it.
I pray you listen to a special Sister-Sister Song that will touch your heart.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaMNDpNqQ2s
An Easter Hallelujah Cassandra Star & her sister Callahan
Taken from: Garret Scarlet Dawson, a Pastor in Baton Rouge.
“Break the Hardness in Me”
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