The cross is serious business. It is not something that should be taken lightly. It is the business of Jesus, and in turn, it is our business when he admonishes all who will listen: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” When Jesus talks about the cross, he means business.
The ultimate way of life and living for Jesus comes through the cross. Jesus shares this information with his disciples as we began our reading this morning. Jesus tells them of the suffering, the rejection, and his death. This was not something that the disciples were prepared for. This did not fit their understanding of Jesus and what he had been doing . . . no, this was a far cry from how they viewed things. And, thus, Peter pulls Jesus aside and rebukes him . . . they just don’t get it. They see no purpose in such talk, but they do not understand. Jesus knows this as he tells his disciples: “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
In their minds they see the cross as the end . . . the end of everything that Jesus had done . . . the end of everything that they had hoped for. The cross was a dead end. Yet, for Jesus, the cross was the ultimate example of what he had been teaching, preaching, and living . . . the epitome of love. For Jesus, the cross was the way and the means of fulfilling God’s will of establishing the Kingdom of God. That was the purpose of the cross.
Thus the purpose of the cross was pretty serious business.
How serious?
It was so serious that the whole destiny of life is depending upon it. Jesus states: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”
As I see, in simplest terms, Jesus implores those who would follow him to live their lives as he lived his . . . in love. In a love that would sacrifice anything, even one’s own life, to be in that intimate relationship with God and others . . . to bring about the Kingdom of God. In the words that Jesus taught and preached, he spoke of such love. In the actions that he took, the miracles that he performed, he acted in such love. And, in the grandest expression of all, he laid down his life upon a cross so that all might live and know the way. No greater love has one person for another than to lay down his or her life for the other. The cross demonstrates this love . . . and, it is such a love that Jesus calls us to.
Such love is a selfless love . . . to put God and others first. That is a pretty tough love to live . . . especially in our society today. We live in a pretty selfish time where everything around screams at us to take care of ourselves . . . to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps . . . to watch out for Number One--ourselves. We are bombarded by that message constantly in all walks of our lives. We are inundated by over five-thousand advertising images each day telling us this message of us first and everybody else last. Selfish love focuses on strength and power instead of vulnerability and compassion. It is a message we have heard since the day we were born . . . it is well instill in us . . . to the core of understanding who we are.
Because of this, this whole business of Jesus wanting us to pick up our cross and follow him . . . well, it is tough. Tough to let go of what we have been taught, what we have witnessed, and what we have been living . . . to give up who we think we are . . . and, to become selfless.
Remember that last week as we kicked off the season of Lent we were called upon to enter into the wilderness and confront our own temptations that kept us from loving God and others . . . of following Jesus and his way. This week we are asked to nail our temptations to the cross and allow new life to come into being . . . to allow love to swallow us all. As we lay our temptations down upon the cross and we begin to lift it up . . . a thing of beauty occurs . . . we discover a love that will save us. The goal during the season of Lent is to be able to pick up our cross and follow Jesus’ example. In doing this we gain all that Jesus promised.
This is serious business. The hardest part of it all is learning to stop thinking as the world thinks, but to think as Jesus thought. Like the disciples we are caught up in the world’s thinking. He tells us as much when he says, “You do not have in mind the things of God, but things of men.” In picking up our crosses and following Jesus we think and act and speak as Jesus did.
In the last newsletter I wrote that even though it is a trite and overstated question . . . the most important question for anyone who follows Jesus is: What would Jesus do? That is the foundation of our faith when it comes to following Jesus . . . it is the reason we pick up our crosses. In the answers that we receive in asking the question we discover this selfless love . . . the cross purpose.
In carrying the cross we save our lives . . . we secure intimacy with God and others . . . we build the kingdom. There is no greater call in life than to love as Jesus loved . . . no greater reward. In this serious business, let us pick up our crosses and follow Jesus . . . each and every day . . . each and every moment. Jesus shows us the way. Amen.
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