Pick Up Your Cross

2nd Sunday of Lent

Today's Readings: Romans 4:13-25; Mark 8:31-38

Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

One of the things I love about being part of the ELCA is that we always read the Bible in context. So to understand the full power of this gospel text, let us back up just a few verses. Our gospel reading started today with verse 31, but it’s verse 27 that sets the scene by telling us that Jesus and the disciples are in Caesarea Philippi. This is important for two reasons: 1) Caesarea Philippi was on the outskirts of Galilee and reminds us how Jesus’ ministry was done primarily on the borderlands, as he pushed the boundaries between Jews and Gentiles (Galatians 3:28-29) (Gentiles = anyone who is not Jewish, like Jesus and the disciples at the time). 2) Caesarea Philippi was known for worshipping the Greek god Pan. It is here, with the backdrop of the Temple of Pan, a god of the empire, that Jesus asks the disciples ‘Who do you say that I am?’ (v. 29) To which Peter makes the declaration, ‘You are the Messiah.’

*Cue earthquake – ripping apart of the heavens – curtain temple torn in two! These four simple words form an earthshattering, mind-blowing, life-saving phrase! Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah and Peter boldly proclaims this in risky territory - directly in the face of empire, of powers that can (and will) kill him. This phrase changes everything. Yet, although Peter is willing to speak these words, he may not be fully prepared to let them soak in and turn his life around quite yet.. for as Jesus begins to explain to the disciples what it means that he is the Messiah, Peter pulls Jesus aside and rebukes him. Pulling from Matthew’s account, what Peter says to Jesus is, ‘God forbid it! This must never happen to you!!’ (Matt. 16:22) Jesus then rebukes Peter, and not privately in their aside, but to all the disciples and the crowd! ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things!’ (v. 33)

Jesus reminds us again and again to turn our minds to divine things; letting go of the human things we know to turn and see God, present and at work among us. If you remember from last week, this is what Jesus means by repent: turn from the old ways to see the new thing God is doing; change your way of life, your way of thinking and join in God’s kingdom which has begun here and now on earth. This is where we find our life – in God and God alone. We must lose (let go of) our human ways for the sake of the gospel. But what does that even mean, ‘for gospel’s sake’.. Well, the gospel/the good news, remember, is that God is here, the kingdom of God has come near, has entered our realm in Christ Jesus! Shed the skins of your old life, let it go, lose it – for you have been found anew in Christ. Turn your sights to God, ‘who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist!’ (Romans 4:17)

Peter was holding onto human things, unable to see the new things God was doing right before his eyes. Peter declares Christ the Messiah, but holds onto Jesus like a personal life preserver. He’s pulling Jesus aside in pure love to say, ‘What do you mean you’re going to suffer and die!? That can’t be right! I couldn’t bear it!’ Salvation has come and Peter is unable to see how that salvation will continue once Jesus is killed. We, on this side of history, have a great advantage in knowing the realities of Christ’s resurrection, but I think we all still have a little bit of Peter inside of us.

We too are more than willing to declare Jesus as the Messiah, but not always willing to accept the repercussions. What are we tempted to hold onto? What are our life preservers we struggle to let go of? In what ways do we still attempt to preserve our ways of life rather than live into the kingdom of God Christ established? Whether its power, wealth, personal comfort, or the desire to reject anything that’s not warm and fuzzy… I invite you to lay it down. Lay it down before Jesus; strip yourself bare of all that you cling to in this life. In the face of your Savior, relinquish all your false securities and place yourself in God’s hands alone.

This is NOT comfortable. This is NOT safe. This is revolutionary. This is NEW life. There are certainly images of ‘warm, cuddly’ God in our scriptures, whereas God truly is our comfort and our shield, our love and our peace. This is true and we need to remember those aspects of God to help us survive.. but I have found that we in America especially, have taken this to be the only form of God, forgetting why those images were so important to the original audience. The Israelites wrote those scriptures out of tumult and despair, out of deep seated need to hope in their God who has always provided and will continue to provide. They are messages of encouragement for survival. We have fed far too long on this ‘one-track God of comfort’ which has allowed us to continue on living our own earthly lives, without turning to the divine realities among us; for these divine realities pose as much of a threat to us today as they did to empires of old.

If you want to follow Jesus, pick up your cross, deny yourself, and follow Christ. It seems so simple and easy to say, but it feels like we need some super powers to actually live it out. The thing is, I don’t think Christ would have invited us to do this, if he believed it to be an impossible task. Like Erika reminded the youth this morning, we CAN do the hard things - like denying ourselves and standing up for the life of abundance God intended for ALL people BECAUSE we have the power of a SUPER God behind us and within us.

The world does not need us to be a people who carry on the status quo, who turn a blind eye to the homeless, the hungry, the immigrants and refugees, the oppressed, imprisoned and enslaved.. complicit with the world’s brokenness. The world needs us to pick up the cross of Christ and live into the kingdom of God at hand; working toward the world God intended. You see, to be God’s ‘chosen’ people is NOT to be ‘set aside’ as the ONLY ones receiving God’s salvation. To be God’s chosen people means that we are the kingdom people working toward a more just and peaceful world. A world that reflects God’s kingdom ideals, where there is enough resources and love to go around. Where all are free to be their God-given selves and none shall thirst of hunger any more – physically or spiritually.

When we look around the world and see the despairing, see the injustice, see the hoarding of resources and abuses of power.. it is hard not to feel powerless, to feel hopeless. But beloved child of God, you do have the power, the power of a super God behind and within you to do something about it. To pick up your cross and follow Christ. To do hard things. Christ lived, died, and rose again to show us that we don’t have to wait until death to experience salvation. Salvation NOW can be experienced when we bring to life the kingdom values of love, justice and peace. THIS is the good news that allows us to ‘hope against hope,’ (Romans 4:18) to find hope when all hope seems lost. THIS is the good news that brings life to our bones and can bring life to a suffering world. Beloved child of God you are chosen, set aside to be a beacon of hope, like Christ before you. Pick up your cross, even if you do it afraid. You are called and equipped by a God who’s saving grace knows no bounds, who’s love has changed everything, who has the power to bring life out of death, to make the impossible possible!

Thanks be to God!

Amen.