"Strength and honor."  Those are the words that General Maximus, played by Russell Crowe, proclaimed to his soldiers before they advanced to do battle with a coalition of Germanic tribes in the opening of the movie Gladiator.  Strength and honor.

     Do we wish to have strength?  Most of us do.  How we define strength, however, is crucial.  Ultimately, strength is found in weakness.  Being strong is easy; being a bully is even more so.  Consciously and deliberately giving up our "strength," however, is where true strength is found.  Weakness is our richest way.
     And therein is true honor.  Many of us honor people; perhaps some of you receive honor in turn.  Those of highest honor, however, are those who see honor for what it is:  an affirmation of weakness.
     As I think about ancient Rome and everything it brought to the world, I think about these words.  And I recall that the Empire's greatest legacy is not its strength, but its weakness, the weakness of God that, in Jesus, it crucified on the cross.
     And out of this weakness long ago came the the greatest strength, a life transforming strength of weakness, of all.