Take Up Your Cross: Last Sunday's Sermon

The Reading

Mark 8:31-38




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.”

The Sermon

This gospel passage from Mark begins with Jesus telling his followers that some pretty awful things were about to happen. His message of 'good news' would be rejected by the very people he was reaching out to. He would be arrested, die on a cross and finally be resurrected. Peter did not like what he heard and took Jesus aside and told him to stop saying those things.

Peter did not want Jesus to be that kind of messiah. He wanted him to be more like King David. Peter wanted a warrior who would raise an army to vanquish the Roman occupiers.

Jesus would have none of this. He knew his mission and he did not want to be tempted otherwise. Those words, “get behind me Satan”, were pretty harsh. Satan was the tempter. Satan was and is the one who tries to lead us astray and that is exactly what Jesus said Peter was doing.

Jesus tells his disciples that this is not an easy journey for him and it will not be an easy journey for them either. Jesus was a radical. He was not about sugar coating the mission he was on and how it would end. Neither did he tell us his followers that discipleship would be easy.

He told his followers. He tells us, “If any want to become my followers,, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” What does that even mean, deny yourself and take up your cross? We have all heard the phrase, 'he has quite a cross to bare'. We all have challenges in our lives. It could be, the loss of a relationship, a job, or health. Each of us has a cross made up of different things. Jesus is telling us to keep our focus on the divine and not on what this material world will throw at us.

Any way you look at it, the cross many of us bear can be a very heavy burden. It can sometimes seem to be too much. Alcoholics Anonymous has a saying, 'let go and let God'. When your burden seems too heavy. When your cross seems too heavy to bear. That may be the time to have that quiet moment of prayer with God. Give to God a part of the burden you are carrying. Put your worries and troubles in God's hands. Your troubles will be lighter and your relationship with God will be stronger.

Amen