Sermon
June 20, 2004
The Reverend Pamela Snare

If someone asked you why you are here, in church, today, how would you answer them?

Would you say coming to church is a habit, and you just do not “feel right” if you do not come? Would you say something is missing in your life – the way you are living is simply not satisfactory and you decided to do something about it? Would you say that you are having difficulties right now, and you know you need some outside help to get through? Would you say everyday of your life you know you need outside help and this is where you get it? Would you say that you are here to see friends; or that you want your child baptized here; or that you want to be married here; or that the person you are with wanted to come and you happen to be with them? Would you say you are here because Christianity is the Truth with a capital T?

Do you know how you would answer if someone asked why you are here today?

There is a sense in which it doesn’t matter why we think we are here. Some reasons may be better than others, and some worse. Some reasons may be more altruistic and others more self-serving. But whatever we may think or understand our reasons to be for being here, God has us here for his purposes. God wants to accomplish something in us and through us, and by giving ourselves to him for this hour, more or less, we give him the opportunity to do his work in us.

Then Jesus said to them all, “if any want to become my followers…”

If we are here today, it is because at some level of which we may not even be aware, we want to become followers of Jesus. We want to pattern our lives after that of Christ. We are here voluntarily. We will not be fined or put into jail if we don’t show up. We will not receive a detention slip or a failing grade if we are not here. God gives us the freedom to be here or not to be here – but God wants us here and has us here because he wants us to become followers of Jesus.

It is difficult and it can be frightening to live our lives after the pattern of Christ. The first disciples knew this; the gospel writers knew this; all the saints have known this; Jesus himself knew this.

That is why today’s gospel is both a warning and an encouragement: “ If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.”
All of the gospel writers attach this saying of Jesus to one of his predictions of his passion. Have you ever noticed that Jesus is no mincer of words? He directly tells his followers that he will suffer, be rejected, be killed and be raised. He tells them this because he wants them to know that if they want to keep following him it will not be easy. “His future is also theirs,” as one writer puts it.

St. Luke, however, adds a word to this saying that the other gospel writers do not have. He adds the word, “daily.” “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily…”

What does taking up the cross daily mean? Is Jesus here referring to the physical suffering of crucifixion? Although, from what I have read and heard of Mel Gibson’s film, “The Passion,” the physical suffering was the aspect on which the film focused, in this context Jesus obviously has something else in mind. Neither Jesus nor his disciples were literally crucified daily; not all of Jesus’ followers were crucified. Many died natural deaths. Besides, these words were not written just for the first generation of Christians. They were written for you and for me and for generations of Christians who would never experience or witness the brutality of crucifixion as a method of capital punishment.

So what is the difficulty, the suffering, the cross of which Jesus is speaking here? It has to do, I think, with a deeper and perhaps more agonizing type of struggle than physical pain.

It has to do with a struggle to put God’s desires and purposes for us above our own. A struggle to relinquish control of our own lives and to trust in God’s providence. A struggle to forgive when others wrong us or those whom we love, or hurt us or those whom we love; a struggle to bear patiently with those who are weaker than ourselves, or less talented than ourselves or less well-educated than ourselves. A struggle of learning to give - freely and generously – without expecting anything in return. A struggle to be charitable toward others when they are not charitable toward us. A struggle not to let anger overtake us. A struggle not to mistreat others when they mistreat us. A struggle not to be afraid of shame and humiliation in practicing the love of God. A struggle not to be afraid of appearing foolish in the eyes of others by practicing the love of God. A struggle not to be afraid to be different because one is marching to the tune of the love of God.

Now, let us ask ourselves: Do any of us not have an opportunity daily to struggle with these things? This is my list, and it is incomplete. Please feel free to add your own difficulties in following Christ.

If patterning our lives after Christ is this much of a struggle, a daily struggle, then why do we want to do it? Why do we want to be followers of Jesus?

I was struck last week by a phrase from the felt board presentation that our Vacation Bible School children did in the place of the sermon. The story being told was that after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, the early Christians faced the Roman authorities and the religious authorities and the pagans who made fun of them and threatened them with torture and with death. In spite of this opposition, these Christians were not afraid to tell others about the love of Christ and that Christ lives. Then the narrator said they were able to do this because “God’s love is always enough and more than enough.” God’s love is always enough and more than enough.

I believe that in living after the pattern of Christ – struggle that it is - we discover that God’s love is always enough and more than enough; or in the words of the psalmist: “Your loving-kindness, O Lord, is better than life itself.” I believe that that discovery is why we are in this struggle, and stay in this struggle, as hard as it may be.

We have learned and experienced, in trying to live our lives after the pattern of Christ, that by giving ourselves away, we and our lives are made more full – not of things, but of love, of joy, of peace, of God. We have learned and experienced that by giving ourselves away, other lives are made more full – not of things, but of love, of joy, of peace, of God. We have learned that in giving ourselves away, our deepest needs and longings are mysteriously met and more than met.

There is already far too much needless pain, suffering, violence, hatred, strife and death in this world. We want to live a different way – a better way – the best way – the way of Christ – the way of love – the way of sacrifice. When we live this way we make ourselves vulnerable to being mistreated and humiliated and ridiculed - but like the first Christians, we do it anyway – it doesn’t matter, because God’s love is always enough and more than enough. And above all else, we want that love to be known and to grow in us and in others and in the world.

That is why we are here today. That is God’s purpose for us and for our lives. Jesus said it this way: “Those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.”
Amen.
 

Return to Recent Sermons