Crosses
A Sermon for the Second Sunday in Lent
February 25, St. James, Cartersville
The Rev. Robin Teasley
Jesus began to teach his disciples that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” Mark 8:31-38
Our gospel reading today is not an easy one, is it? We are in the eighth chapter of Mark, and the disciples have been following Jesus since chapter one, where we recall that Jesus invited those first century fishermen to follow him and become fishers of people. It seemed easy enough to transfer their skills to this new and exciting adventure. And it has been exciting to see Jesus heal the sick, cast out demons, feed the hungry and walk on water; to hear him proclaim the good news as he taught them through parables.
But then, fast forward to today’s reading, where Jesus tells his disciples that when he gets to Jerusalem he will suffer, and be rejected, and be killed, and after three days rise again. Then he says, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Well, this was more than fishing, a lot more. This was not what they signed up for, this was not going as expected.
We can understand the shock and disbelief. There is nothing comfortable about this passage, even for us today. Peter, once again, puts into words what the disciples, and indeed what the rest of us are all thinking. He began to rebuke Jesus – how could you say such a thing?! You are the Messiah; you cannot possibly suffer and die! Peter and the disciples were so upset that they could not hear anything beyond suffering, rejection, and death. We so often respond in this way when we cannot accept what is happening, refuse to hear what we don’t want to hear, or will not accept what is the real truth.
I love Peter because I find that more often than not, I am Peter. We are so much like the disciples precisely because we are also human. And because the disciples were human, Jesus had to explain to them more than once, just what discipleship means. Not only was Jesus telling them that he would die on a cross, but that as his followers, they could expect a cross as well. And as we think about that now, it’s not at all a comfortable thought. Do we expect suffering, rejection, and death in our own lives? Most of us have experienced some of these, and yet here we are this morning. So Jesus is speaking truth, even if it’s an uncomfortable truth.
Hopefully, because we are here this morning, we do know what Jesus said about rising again, and that is the promise that gives us hope. Yes, we will rise again on the last day, but have we not experienced little resurrections throughout our lives? Recovery from illness, reconciled relationships, realizing we have just enough when we were afraid we would not?
We see the cross as a symbol of Christianity, of hope. But if we imagine ourselves living in the time of Jesus, we could not miss the meaning behind Jesus’ words to take up the cross. The road to Jerusalem was lined with crosses. Every person living under Roman rule knew what a cross was used for, and it instilled fear. Fear of death. This tended to curb misbehavior or insurrection and kept the Roman government running smoothly. It kept the oppressed under the heel of the oppressor.
Suddenly it was fearfully clear to the disciples that death was on the horizon, and they were very afraid. What did this mean for their mission, for their lives? What was Jesus teaching them now?
Perhaps Jesus wanted them to see the bigger picture, to see beyond their individual fears. Perhaps Jesus wanted the disciples to understand that there were worse things than death in this world. Perhaps Jesus wanted them to see that living in fear was no life at all.
This is something I think we can all identify with, this living in fear. Fear can keep us locked in old or ineffective patterns of behavior. Fear can force us to ignore the truth. Fear can control our lives, harming our relationships with others and with God. It can keep us from really living; it can keep us from following Jesus.
Jesus has been showing them all along what following looks like. Jesus has been proclaiming the message, feeding and healing, reaching out and including everyone as he speaks truth to power. If the disciples would only see his actions, see him doing what needed to be done despite the fear, then they too could take up their crosses and live life rather than fear death. Because there is so much more to living life than fearing death.
We all have fears that come in many shapes and sizes, crosses that line our own road to Jerusalem. We receive an unwanted medical diagnosis. We may fear that our financial situation will continue to worsen. Some of us fear standing up for what we know is right, because the consequences might mean loss of a family relationship or friendship, perhaps even a loss of employment. So many of us won’t reveal who we truly are because we fear rejection.
But Jesus asks us to take up that cross, that thing we fear most, because we are all on our way to a death, burial, and resurrection in this life. It’s a repeating pattern throughout our lives. Every ending and new beginning in life is preparing us for our own death and resurrection. In our burial liturgy this is stated in one of the opening anthems. In the midst of life we are in death; from whom can we seek help? We seek help from God, knowing Jesus walks beside us in our suffering, and we help one another to bear the crosses of this life, because we follow Jesus in community.
Think about the shape of the cross. A vertical beam and a horizontal beam. The vertical beam shows the relationship between each of us and God. The horizontal beam shows the relationship we have with one another in community. Both the vertical and the horizontal are needed, because it’s not all about me.
Sadly, our society has become a selfish one. Entitlement for the individual has become the norm. Some have forgotten that we cannot exist without the community, and that the good of the whole is greater than the good of the individual. We need one another.
Together in community we can move beyond our fears. Fear of the other, fear of failure, fear of rejection for standing up for what is right, and yes, even fear of death. To take up our cross is to hear the rest of the story, the good news that after death comes resurrection.
It seems to me that the hardest cross of all to carry would be to go through life in fear, so overwhelmed by the fear that we never hear the promise. Jesus underwent suffering and rejection and was killed, and after three days he rose again! Jesus showed his followers how to live life, not fear it. In time, his disciples came to understand. He showed them that caring for each other in community would bring about the kingdom, not only in the age to come, but now.
Jesus invites us to take up our cross and participate in the saving love of God right here, right now, in this world.
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