A Cross to bear and to believe in.
That is the title I have giving the sermon this first Sunday of September on Labor Day Weekend.
A cross to bear and to believe in.
Look at the Bulletin Cover, and the words from the Gospel are printed load and clearly: “Carry the cross and follow me!” Or as the full sentence of Jesus was that day when large crowds followed him, and he turned to them and said: “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me, cannot be my disciple.”
Carry the cross and follow me, Jesus said.
You cannot be my disciples if you do not, and you also must give up all your possessions too….and on top of it all, you have to hate your father, mother, wife and children, brothers and sister and even life itself… to be my disciple.
This is one of those Gospel readings that we would rather not listen to on a Sunday morning!
This is one of those Gospel Readings that pastors often try to avoid either by preaching over one of the other readings or desperately trying to get a Sunday off when this text occurs.
Well, we are here today. Together. I am preaching over this text, and I will be trying to make these harsh words of discipleship, speak to us about the cross we carry and the cross we believe in.
SLIDE 16 I listen and I think.
Well, I do carry the cross of faith every day. I often wear a golden cross around my neck, but more existentially and spiritually I do carry the cross every day as I think you do too.
In my heart, in my faith, in my hopes, and my love. And I carry it with me in my doubt, in my despairs, in my fears and troubles.
I do carry the cross as I do believe in the cross.
I carry the cross as I do believe in what it stands for: forgiveness, reconciliation, love, compassion, and hope.
It reminds me of the life of Jesus and his path to the cross – how even before he was forced to carry the physical cross to Calvary, he did carry the cross that was laid on him: to bring light and comfort to darkness, to show the way to love God and our neighbors, to lead us on the right path.
We often use the expression “to bear our cross” in a negative suffering manner. Some might say that their cross to bear is to take care of their aging parents, while the parents might say that their cross is our children! Some might say that their cross to carry is their circumstances in life: their illness, their financial hardship, their marital problems, or other hardships. Today we might say that we are happy on this Labor day weekend or scorching heat, that we are not carrying the cross of baking ableskiver at OISF.
We all have burdens to carry. We are all challenged or burdened. And the way we carry these burdens, challenges, and circumstances should be lifted by the cross we do believe in.
The cross we carry and do believe in should lift the burdens we carry and should give us extra strength to carry and extra purpose to not only carry our burdens but help others carry theirs.
The text today clearly states that we cannot be lukewarm disciples, we must give up our possessions.
Oh no, I think when I look at all my beloved books in my office and our home. “Did Jesus say that and mean it?”
I like my books. Or I love my books. I have read most of them once and many twice. I like how I have them organized and alphabetized. I have one shelve dedicated to the books I have not read but are on the priority list to be read. I have a special book embosser custom-made by a lovely person for me with my name. These books help me to be a pastor and a disciple. Surely Jesus did not mean my books.
I like the art on the walls. I will the ceramics, the Danish Design, the old table from my mother’s aunt Anna; I like my clothing, especially the ones that make me look thinner; I like our new kitchen and the clean surfaces. Surely Jesus dint mean all of that, did he?
I do not believe that Jesus asked us to carry out painful, suffering, and ascetic sacrifices and to give up everything we love and like in our lives.
To be a disciple is not to choose suffering or pain, but to surrender to a faith that tells us that I am not the main character in my life – that others are more important than stuff and possessions. To be a disciple is not to be possessed by possession, but to be filled with faith in Christ. To give up our possessions is to forget our vanity and be a good neighbor.
SLIDE 17 Carry the cross and follow me.
On April 8th, 1945, the prisoner Dietrich Bonhoeffer held a short worship with his fellow prisoners. The service was hardly over when two SS officers came and asked the prisoner Bonhoeffer to make himself ready and follow.
The day after on April 9, 1945, Bonhoeffer was executed. 39 years old. And what killed him was his Christian Faith.
Bonhoeffer did take his cross, and he did follow Jesus. And the cross he carried, was not an eccentric esoteric cross of dismissing the world, no it was a cross to be in the world.
It was not about abstaining from alcohol or sex before marriage, it was not about hating the world and turning the back on this world in faith in the coming. It was not about them and us. No, Bonhoeffer followed Jesus by being in the world – just like Jesus was.
Bonhoeffer was one of the main characters and forces in the resistance to Nazism. He was faithful to his church and his faith. Bonhoeffer was involved in the failed attack on Hitler on July 20, 1944, trying to kill the man who was trying to kill Europe.
It failed. And Bonhoeffer was imprisoned, and he has executed 1 month before the war ended.
Carry the cross and follow me.
Imagine the day Jesus was traveling the road on his way to Jerusalem. He was followed by his disciples but also by a great crowd of euphoric followers who had witnessed his miracles and heard his preaching. And then he turns around. Looks at them the giant choir of devoted fans whom all thinks that he is the coolest of cool. And then says that.
“Whoever does not hate father, and mother, wife and children, brother and sisters, yes even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciples.”
That can ruin any good mood!
These words are not exactly the recipe for popularity and enthusiasm. So, after the stunned silence, the crowd got smaller and smaller the closer they came to Jerusalem. And on the cross he was alone.
SLIDE 18 Faith is a deep paradox.
We are not to show or prove our love to Christ by hating… hating our loved ones, our family, or giving up everything that gives us meaning and pleasure in life.
But the paradox in the words of Jesus is that by believing in Christ, and believing what he did on the cross, we are set free to love. Love God and our neighbor as ourselves. We can love because we are loved.
Christianity is to walk where Jesus walked. Among people. Bonhoeffer did that when he went into the world, took responsibility, dared, and paid for it. His cross was heavy to bear.
Our crosses we bear because we believe that Jesus is carrying them with us. To be Christians is to live our lives, among others. To walk where Jesus walked, in the world…. Never on your own but with others.
We can carry our cross because Jesus carries it with us – and we believe that we are sustained, carried, and lifted by the love of God.
So, as we carry the cross, believe in the cross, and follow Jesus the best we can, - we are set free to love our neighbors, our families, our friends, our books, our homes, and our lives.
Ord Testament Reading:
19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, 20 loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days.
Let us always be searching for God, when we are too attached to our possessions, and have trouble sharing them.
Let us always listen to God, when we are so connected to our pleasures that we cannot feel the pain of those around us.
Let us always listen to God, when we are so stuck on ourselves, that we cannot sense our souls slipping away into the shadows.
Most merciful God:
May we feel your healing touch.Reshape us, redeem us, renew us,
so, we may take up our crosses and follow our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
