The Cross
Mark 8:31-38
There’s a story about a Church minister who, before the beginning of the service one day had dressed up as a drunken tramp – he put on the scruffiest and smelliest clothes he could find, wore a big hat, a long dirty overcoat and a false beard. Before the start of the service the congregation were waiting quietly, as the minister banged opened the door and proceeded to walk down the middle of the Church – as he did people looked horrified, some turned away at the smell – eventually he sat down and a few people near by moved away.
You could sense the muttering all around as people wondered what they should do – eventually a decision was made by some of the Church members that they would have to ask the man to leave as he was upsetting the regulars !
Of course, as soon as he was asked to leave he stood up, took off his hat and coat, and false beard, and turned to the congregation and announced the text, Jesus said ‘Whatever you do to the least of my brothers, you do to me !’
The sermon that morning obviously needed few words !
A similar challenge to live out our faith comes with the words of Jesus this morning - ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me’.
During Lent it is right that each one of us is challenged to ask ourselves how much our faith means to us, and how well we actually live out that faith.
We are challenged to ask ourselves if our faith is just a practice of religion or whether there is more to it, and if there is then what ? These can be unpleasant and difficult questions ! But the answers to these questions will enable us to work out how we get closer to God and how we seek his influence more within our daily lives.
Because these words of Jesus ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves take up their cross and follow me’ are some of the most important words that Jesus ever spoke.
He knew that to choose to follow him was to go against much of what the world wanted or expected. He knew that to truly follow him as he spoke these words would mean persecution and suffering for his followers.
Many of those early followers were reluctant to rise to the challenge. At home I’ve got a picture up on the wall of a scene from Dad’s army – gathered around Pike are Captain Mainwaring, Sergeant Wilson, Corporal Jones and Private Fraser, and they’re all looking accusingly at him – below are the words of Captain Mainwaring ‘Stupid Boy’ – Mainwaring of course was the one who expressed the anger whilst the others kind of just looked disappointed, and I always think this scene is similar to that that we’ve heard about this morning – Peter being the mouthpiece for all of the disciples who were just a little disappointed in Jesus !
The reaction of the disciples was not unusual – they couldn’t see the need for suffering – Peter had showed this as he rebuked Jesus after Jesus said that he must go to Jerusalem to die.
Jesus responded with the words, ‘Get behind me Satan !’ These words are often portrayed as if Jesus was incredibly angry, and it seems there was certainly an element of that but what Jesus was saying was to get behind him in a very real sense – get behind him and give him their backing and learn from his example.
Today we often hear of Football Club Directors being right behind their managers – normally the manager doesn’t last too long after such a statement has been made – their backing wasn’t that full.
Jesus was calling for the full backing of his closest followers – he would need them to build his Church, and today he offers the same call to his followers. He needs us to build his Church and if we are willing to do that then inevitably it will be a difficult call. Martin Luther famously said, ‘A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing and suffers nothing is worth nothing.’
True discipleship leads us to follow the example of Jesus. Jesus stood up for love, truth and justice – and if we do the same then we will encounter suffering and opposition.
This LENT it is important that we seek an image of JESUS that speaks to us directly – whether it’s through our Church services, our Bible reading and study or our prayer, or whether it’s at a special place… This week in the readings, we are thrown right into the heart of our LENTEN journey with Christ in the wilderness.
We are asked to take stock of what it means to be a member of the body of Christ, perhaps wondering why we never seem to be able to do enough to build the Kingdom of God; Why our plans sometimes come to nothing, and how we can lack direction and purpose in our lives.
The readings this week are appropriate for the second week of LENT because they challenge us to think about GOD’S COMMITMENT TO US, and OUR COMMITMENT TO GOD. In a sense, we are being encouraged to visit the old friends of our faith. We may know that they are safe and well, and getting on with life, however, we need to visit now and again, to be certain that things are really the same – we need to spend time reading the bible and in prayer, to remember that God is with us, however distant he may seem sometimes.
It is popular to speak of a personal and private faith, even though the New Testament speaks of bringing us into Christ’s life. The entire thrust of the New Testament is the new creation, the new humanity of Christ, the building up of the body of Christ, the coming to the fullness of God. It is about immersing ourselves in Jesus, and all that he means… Being ‘in Christ’ is so important that the phrase is used 164 times in Paul’s letters alone. It is something we cannot do alone. It is a shared task.
The journey of faith is one that we are never called to take alone. There will be good times and there will be bad times…
And as we look around and see tragedy and pain in the world, we need to be reminded of God’s promises of Glory… And all around us if we really look we are being told that if we look to God, we will be spiritually fed and sustained, to purposefully share the promise of God with others.
We are called to live out our faith standing alongside those who suffer for whatever reason. We are called to be strong for those who cannot. We are called to pray for the seemingly impossible, we are called to share in joy and grief…. trusting in God all the while.
I suppose we could ask ourselves; is God like our neighbour whom we see every day, someone we share a cup of tea or coffee with regularly; or is God like the relative or friend that we would rather not visit, but we take comfort from the fact that they still send a card at Christmas!
This Lent let’s make sure that we don’t leave Jesus as an outsider in our lives, but that we make him a central figure in our lives – inviting him to share every part of our lives, and transform them as he desires. AMEN
There’s a story about a Church minister who, before the beginning of the service one day had dressed up as a drunken tramp – he put on the scruffiest and smelliest clothes he could find, wore a big hat, a long dirty overcoat and a false beard. Before the start of the service the congregation were waiting quietly, as the minister banged opened the door and proceeded to walk down the middle of the Church – as he did people looked horrified, some turned away at the smell – eventually he sat down and a few people near by moved away.
You could sense the muttering all around as people wondered what they should do – eventually a decision was made by some of the Church members that they would have to ask the man to leave as he was upsetting the regulars !
Of course, as soon as he was asked to leave he stood up, took off his hat and coat, and false beard, and turned to the congregation and announced the text, Jesus said ‘Whatever you do to the least of my brothers, you do to me !’
The sermon that morning obviously needed few words !
A similar challenge to live out our faith comes with the words of Jesus this morning - ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me’.
During Lent it is right that each one of us is challenged to ask ourselves how much our faith means to us, and how well we actually live out that faith.
We are challenged to ask ourselves if our faith is just a practice of religion or whether there is more to it, and if there is then what ? These can be unpleasant and difficult questions ! But the answers to these questions will enable us to work out how we get closer to God and how we seek his influence more within our daily lives.
Because these words of Jesus ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves take up their cross and follow me’ are some of the most important words that Jesus ever spoke.
He knew that to choose to follow him was to go against much of what the world wanted or expected. He knew that to truly follow him as he spoke these words would mean persecution and suffering for his followers.
Many of those early followers were reluctant to rise to the challenge. At home I’ve got a picture up on the wall of a scene from Dad’s army – gathered around Pike are Captain Mainwaring, Sergeant Wilson, Corporal Jones and Private Fraser, and they’re all looking accusingly at him – below are the words of Captain Mainwaring ‘Stupid Boy’ – Mainwaring of course was the one who expressed the anger whilst the others kind of just looked disappointed, and I always think this scene is similar to that that we’ve heard about this morning – Peter being the mouthpiece for all of the disciples who were just a little disappointed in Jesus !
The reaction of the disciples was not unusual – they couldn’t see the need for suffering – Peter had showed this as he rebuked Jesus after Jesus said that he must go to Jerusalem to die.
Jesus responded with the words, ‘Get behind me Satan !’ These words are often portrayed as if Jesus was incredibly angry, and it seems there was certainly an element of that but what Jesus was saying was to get behind him in a very real sense – get behind him and give him their backing and learn from his example.
Today we often hear of Football Club Directors being right behind their managers – normally the manager doesn’t last too long after such a statement has been made – their backing wasn’t that full.
Jesus was calling for the full backing of his closest followers – he would need them to build his Church, and today he offers the same call to his followers. He needs us to build his Church and if we are willing to do that then inevitably it will be a difficult call. Martin Luther famously said, ‘A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing and suffers nothing is worth nothing.’
True discipleship leads us to follow the example of Jesus. Jesus stood up for love, truth and justice – and if we do the same then we will encounter suffering and opposition.
This LENT it is important that we seek an image of JESUS that speaks to us directly – whether it’s through our Church services, our Bible reading and study or our prayer, or whether it’s at a special place… This week in the readings, we are thrown right into the heart of our LENTEN journey with Christ in the wilderness.
We are asked to take stock of what it means to be a member of the body of Christ, perhaps wondering why we never seem to be able to do enough to build the Kingdom of God; Why our plans sometimes come to nothing, and how we can lack direction and purpose in our lives.
The readings this week are appropriate for the second week of LENT because they challenge us to think about GOD’S COMMITMENT TO US, and OUR COMMITMENT TO GOD. In a sense, we are being encouraged to visit the old friends of our faith. We may know that they are safe and well, and getting on with life, however, we need to visit now and again, to be certain that things are really the same – we need to spend time reading the bible and in prayer, to remember that God is with us, however distant he may seem sometimes.
It is popular to speak of a personal and private faith, even though the New Testament speaks of bringing us into Christ’s life. The entire thrust of the New Testament is the new creation, the new humanity of Christ, the building up of the body of Christ, the coming to the fullness of God. It is about immersing ourselves in Jesus, and all that he means… Being ‘in Christ’ is so important that the phrase is used 164 times in Paul’s letters alone. It is something we cannot do alone. It is a shared task.
The journey of faith is one that we are never called to take alone. There will be good times and there will be bad times…
And as we look around and see tragedy and pain in the world, we need to be reminded of God’s promises of Glory… And all around us if we really look we are being told that if we look to God, we will be spiritually fed and sustained, to purposefully share the promise of God with others.
We are called to live out our faith standing alongside those who suffer for whatever reason. We are called to be strong for those who cannot. We are called to pray for the seemingly impossible, we are called to share in joy and grief…. trusting in God all the while.
I suppose we could ask ourselves; is God like our neighbour whom we see every day, someone we share a cup of tea or coffee with regularly; or is God like the relative or friend that we would rather not visit, but we take comfort from the fact that they still send a card at Christmas!
This Lent let’s make sure that we don’t leave Jesus as an outsider in our lives, but that we make him a central figure in our lives – inviting him to share every part of our lives, and transform them as he desires. AMEN
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