Called to be a Cross Bearer
Faith-Lilac Way Lutheran +September 3, 2023 +Pastor Pam Stalheim Lane
Have you ever given or received some unwanted advice? Growing up in a family of girls, it happened… more than I would like to admit. Something was said; voices were raised. And then there were tears. And by the time it was done, we were sent to our rooms.
But we never got a rebuke as strong as the one that Jesus gave to Peter. Remember… when Jesus asked the disciples, “who do you say that I am” Peter proclaimed, he “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus had praised the answer.
So maybe Peter was feeling empowered to speak or maybe he was just shocked, surprised and worried when Jesus began telling the disciples, for the first time, that he was headed to Jerusalem – not for glory, not to ride in on a white stallion to establish his kingdom –but to suffer and to die at the hands of the priests and scribes. This is not the Messiah that Peter was looking for.
In his rebuke, Jesus calls Peter “Satan” and accuses Peter - the rock- of being a stumbling block. Pretty hard words for the one he had just praised. But Jesus will simply not allow anyone to promote glory instead of the cross.
And it is not a problem only for Peter. It’s a problem for the whole church. As a working preacher commentary reminded me, Dostoevsky’s novel, The Brothers Karamazov, illustrates the church’s desire for glory rather than the cross too. In the novel, one of the brothers tells a parable called the “Grand Inquisitor.” In the story, Jesus returns to a Spanish town during the Inquisition and begins doing miracles. He is arrested and sentenced to be burnt. But that night, The Grand Inquisitor visits Jesus and explains why the Church chose to side with imperial power. He says, ““The Church no longer needs you. You were wrong to refuse the power to feed the poor, perform a miraculous leap from the Temple, and grab rulership over the world. We picked up where you left off and improved on what you started. In fact, we corrected your mistake. Yes, it was necessary to use the devil’s principles to do so but we do it in the name of God. What you don’t understand,” says the Inquisitor, “is that humanity cannot handle the free will you gave them. We gave them what they really need, security from want.” 1
Like Peter, the Grand Inquisitor and the powers that be in the church wanted glory – not the humility, pain and suffering of the cross. They were happy to partner with the devil – claiming that the ends justified the means. They even dared to declare that they had improved on Jesus’ message because they took away freedom – and instead gave the people food security. And they did it all in the name of God.
But this is not the way of God. Jesus tells Peter to “Get behind him.” In essence, Jesus is reminding Peter that his role is behind Jesus, as a follower. And so is ours.
Jesus gives the disciples and us a powerful challenge: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves – some translations say “forget themselves” – a hard challenge for the Grand Inquisitor to be sure. But it is also a challenge for us – and for our culture today. Our culture encourages us to look inward and to buy everything that we want – not just what we need.
But Jesus challenge remains: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
Unfortunately, this verse has been misused and misinterpreted in hurtful ways so many times that I feel compelled to clarify what “taking up one’s cross” does not mean. Taking up one’s cross does not mean that you have to put up with being in an abusive or dangerous of life-less situation. Taking up one’s cross does not mean that you should be treated as less than the beautiful child of God that you are. Taking up one’s cross does not mean that you have to become a victim or adopt self-sacrificing behavior that does not allow you to enjoy life’s joys and blessings and responsibilities.1
So what does it mean to deny yourself and take up your cross?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote that when Christ calls you… it is a call to come and die – die to the “old self” and our attachments to what the world values. It is a call to live in the way of Jesus. For the disciples, that meant leaving their nets and their homes and literally following Jesus. For Paul, it meant traveling to other churches to spread the Good news to the Gentiles. For Martin Luther, following Jesus meant getting out of his cloister and bringing the word to the people. For Bonhoeffer, following Jesus led to martyrdom. For all of us… it means following Jesus’ way – and not the way of the world and that means the loss, the death of the way things “were” in order to become new. As Bonhoeffer says, “Thus it begins; the cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ.” We are called to be cross-bearers – not only bearing the cross of Christ on our brow but also living a cruciform life – a life that reflects Jesus’ life. 2
The challenge for us is this: how do we be cross-bearers in our everyday lives? Paul understood that challenge and wrote about it in his letter to the Romans. At first glance, today’s reading looks as if it would be good advice for anyone – whether they are a believer or not. But taken in context, Paul’s letter to the Romans is a call to compassion for the church and for their relationships with one another and with their neighbors.
Paul begins with love, Agape love. “Let love be genuine”. In other words, it needs to be authentic. Love needs to be real – not just an act. He urges the church to “love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.”
He continues: Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering; persevere in prayer. These are good practices for faith-full living for yourself but Paul also encourages the Romans to care for their neighbors and strangers. “Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.”
These are good words to live by, but Paul goes even further, reminding the church in Rome to show loving even to your enemies. This is in keeping with the teaching of God throughout the Bible. In fact, what seems like an odd instruction to feed your enemies if they are hungry and give them something to drink if they are thirsty because it will be like heaping burning coals on their head is a direct quote from Proverbs. I think it is meant to instill a little humor. It’s ok to laugh. We are to take the way of the cross seriously – but not take ourselves too seriously.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Leave the vengeance to God. This is what God calls us to do.
This is what Jesus does in Dostoevsky’s story. After silently listening to the Grand Inquisitor’s proclamations, Jesus silently kisses him on his “bloodless, aged lips” – offering agape love despite everything he has done.
Jesus responds with love – agape love -- for this is the way of cross, the way of Jesus and – as challenging as it is -- this is how we, as cross-bearers, are to act too. May God help us to make it so. Amen.
1 Richard Ward. https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-22/commentary-on-matthew-1621-28-6S
2 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship (London: SCM Press, 1948/2001), 44.