When The Cock Crows

When The Cock Crows
Blind Man At The Gate

When the cock crows
It crows for us too
To crow the sad truth
That when we become a mob
We’ll likely be the last to know
What we do worst
We do as mobs
Sins unthinkable on our own
We unthinkingly do as a mob
Would I cry, Crucify!
Would you cry, Crucify!
No. WE cry, Crucify!
Deep down we know the ugly reason why
If we crucify him, maybe they won’t crucify me
The surest way to avoid being the victim
Is to join the raging mob
The mob has a spirit of its own
And it is not the Spirit of God
Mob mentality is a demonic thing
It can make monsters of us all
Little monsters on the playground
Big monsters on the battleground
When we hate as an activity of group-think
Can you feel the monster beginning to stir?
When the cock crows
It crows for us too
To crow the sad truth
That when we become a mob
We’ll likely be the last to know
We pretend our innocence
We pretend our cause is just
We pretend it’s good vs. evil
Our good vs. their evil
But we’ve been conscripted by the mob
Recruiters on the radio
Tempters on the television
Instigators on the internet
Telling us who to hate
And why its right
Riling the mob
Focusing the hate
When the cock crows
It crows for us too
To crow the sad truth
That when we become a mob
We’ll likely be the last to know
Look upon the Crucified One
Look upon the Innocent One
Hanged upon a tree
Let it forever shame
The hate and rage and venom and violence
Of the merciless mob
And ask yourself troubling questions
Who would Jesus hate?
Who would Jesus bomb?
Who would Jesus target?
Who would Jesus torture?
Look to the cross and let it save you
From the mindless mob
Look to the cross and learn the lesson well
The story the Gospel tells
That the redemptive violence of the mob
Is itself a sin to be overcome
For once we’ve done it to the Son of God
We are so ashamed of our sin
That we’ll do it to no one ever again
Look to the cross and listen
Listen for the words that save
Father forgive them
For they know not what they do
And so it’s true
When the cock crows
It crows for us too
To crow the sad truth
That when we become a mob
We will likely be the last to know

Inspired from “Saved From Sacrifice: A Theology of the Cross” by S. Mark Heim
The artwork is “Before the Cock” Crows by Brian Whelen