Illustrations, Quotes and Lectionary Reflections
by Various Authors
 
Why Must We Carry a Cross?
Sermon Starter


Mark 8:31-38
Smirnoff is joking but we make these assumptions about Christian Transformation - 
that people change instantly at salvation. Some traditions call it repentance and renewal. 
Some call it Sanctification of the believer. Whatever you call it most traditions expect some quick fix to sin. 
According to this belief, when someone gives his or her life to Christ, there is an immediate, 
substantive, in-depth, miraculous change in habits, attitudes, and character. 
We go to church as if we are going to the grocery store: Powdered Christian. 
Just add water and disciples are born not made.

Unfortunately, there is no such powder and disciples of Jesus Christ are not instantly born. 
They are slowly raised through many trials, suffering, and temptations. A study has found that only 11 percent 
of churchgoing teenagers have a well-developed faith, rising to only 32 percent for churchgoing adults. 
Why? Because true-life change only begins at salvation, takes more than just time, is about training, 
trying, suffering, and even dying (adapted from James Emery White, Rethinking the Church, Baker, 1997, p. 55-57).

Peter took Jesus aside and rebuked him. Why? Peter believes the kingdom of God can be obtained instantly by force. 
Peter has a worldly view of the Kingdom and Jesus is speaking about a heavenly kingdom. 
For a moment I would like you to listen to this story with new ears and see Jesus through the eyes of Peter 
and the rest of the disciples. Get rid of all your notions about who Jesus is. Take away from your mind 
Jesus as the Son of God. Strip from your memory that he died on the Cross and that he did that for your sins. 
Forget that Jesus ever said love your enemies or love your neighbor.

Now I want you to think of Jesus only as a military leader. Imagine that your country has been invaded 
and is being ruled by godless men. Sense, now, that the tension is mounting and you are about to go into battle. 
That you are about to conduct a coup d'etat. That you and this band of ruffians are going to attempt to overthrow 
this government by a sudden violent strike. That the odds are stacked against you but you have a very strong belief 
that God is on your side despite the overwhelming odds.

Now you are thinking like Peter. Jesus comes before his disciples and lays out his military strategy. Look at verse 31. 
Jesus says, "We are going to march into Jerusalem you, the soldiers, are going to lose your lives and I, your General, 
will suffer many things. Furthermore, we are not going to get any help from our Jewish brothers the Elders. 
Even the Chief Priest and the Sadducees will not join us. Our government, the Sanhedrin, is corrupt 
and can be of no help to us. We are going it alone and I will die in this battle."

On this day Jesus spoke plainly to his disciples about the events soon to transpire and even though it was plain language 
it was not plain enough. Peter was not able to shake his understanding of Jesus as his General so he pulls Jesus aside 
and rebukes him. He says, "Sir, this is not a very good military strategy. You are not going to die, don't say that. 
It's not good for morale. We are going to be there with you and we will fight to the end 
and we will throw these godless Romans out of Israel, you will ascend to the throne in place of Herod, 
and we will be at your right and left hand as the new leaders of Palestine.

It is fascinating to note that just before Jesus rebukes Peter he turns and looks at his disciples. 
It is as if Jesus is putting two and two together and realizes the disciples have put Peter up to this. 
It is a perilous moment in the life of Christ. He must dispel this error from their minds and teach them 
the meaning of his mission. So, he rejects Peter outright calling him a tool of Satan and says, 
you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.

Jesus is up against a formidable foe. And in the end this foe may posses more power then he. 
But the foe is not Peter and it's not the Sanhedrin or Pontius Pilate, or Rome. This formidable foe 
is not even Satan himself. The powerful enemy of Jesus is our quest for positions of rank and status.

To address the confusion Jesus pulls his disciples together and brings them before a crowd. 
And in front of the crowd he corrects the disciples' aspirations for privilege, rank, and power 
and he gives them this simple little directive: You must take up your cross and follow me. 
This morning I would like to ask the question "Why must we carry a cross?" and give three reasons 
we must do so.
  1. To remind us that we are not the center of the Universe.
  2. To remind us that there are others who suffer.
  3. To remind us that we are responsible in part for the cross that Jesus carried.
(from http://www.sermons.com)
You know the U2 song, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For has the lines that say ...
 
"You  broke the bonds 
And you loosened the chains
Carried the cross
Of all my shame
all my shame
You know I believe it."
"Cross" carries much symbolic baggage greatly divorced from the reality of 
world in which Jesus advised people to "deny themselves, take up their 
cross, and follow him."

In the first century, "cross" was an unambiguous symbol.  It clearly marked 
those who posed a threat to empire, and marked them fatally for 
extermination. To "take up a cross" would definitely deny one's self the 
advantages of empire favor. It was not about avoiding simple pleasures or 
enduring inconvenient pains. It was about taking a stand for an alternative 
way to structure human communities. As Bonhoeffer put it, "When Christ 
calls a man, he calls him to come and die." In what way is that ever going 
to be "good news?"

Becoming cross bearing people created risk of death. It required abandoning 
the prevailing reality of the Roman Empire for the alternative reality of 
the Kingdom of God (or Kingdom of Heaven, as Matthew alone tended to call 
it).

Clarence Jordan was right, of course. It used to be that Christians got 
exclusive life-time use of a cross for free.

Influenced by Jesus, Gandhi chose a non-violent strategy to end imperial 
rule in India.

Martin Luther King, Jr. chose a non-violent, but insistent strategy to 
transform racist public policy in America.

Nelson Mandela chose a non-violent and reconciling strategy to end apartheid 
rule in South Africa.

The cross symbolizes the strategy of Jesus to live as if God were already in 
control.  And as Clarence Jordan also like to say, "Faith is not belief in 
spite of the evidence, but LIFE!  Lived in scorn of the consequences!"
My Greek dictionary used an english word I had never noticed or looked up before 
and it's about time I did -- especially since it's a darn good one. Diabolos is defined first 
as a  "traducer". Traducer -- One who exposes another to shame or blame 
by means of falsehood and misrepresentation.

Certainly that happens a lot in life-- on the big political scale ('swiftboating' anyone?)
as well as in the office.  We just don't know what to call it.

The devil was attempting not just to tempt, but to traduce Jesus.  If Jesus had bitten, 
it would have been massively shameful, and that would have been that with his ministry.  
Reading it this way, I wonder if this is a reshaping of temptations 
that Jesus may have had at the hands of temple authorities or family.
Have been wondering what 'agendas' we nail to the cross and also the way in which 
we have used the cross as a tool of oppression [ironically].  Copied below are some ramblings 
from a piece I've been writing.

If taking as a theme idea of taking up one’s cross: Use of the expression: It’s just a cross I have to bear? 
/ we all have crosses we have to bear [emphasis on use of the word “have”].
NO, we choose to pick up the cross / need to get away from a negative reading of this, 
and this also takes away our own responsibility.  It’s a positive choice we make, 
not some fatalistic thing thrust upon us.  What does this sentiment reveal about image of God?  
God viewed as hard, punishing task-master?  This is a theology essentially devoid of grace, 
a cross without the resurrection.

What is the cross we are asked to take up?  Or what are the agendas we nail to the cross 
we raise and carry before us?  Ricoeur’s work on signs/symbols: cross is a powerful symbol, 
but its symbolism is multi-layered.  What it symbolises to me is not necessarily what it is symbolising to others. 
Can the cross be redeemed from some of the more negative associations it has had historically?  
e.g. the Crusades / and the use of the word by George W. Bush after 9/11? a new crusade, 
use of apocalyptic and dehumanising language “the axis of evil”.  Is the cross used here as a symbol of Western 
“we are right” imperialism?  Is it a cross of misogyny - where women are told they must endure the suffering 
of domestic abuse because Christ suffered?  A cross of racism used to justify slavery, for example?

Rene Girard’s downward spiral of violence/scapegoating comes to mind. Have we unwittingly taken on 
the violence of the cross, mimicking those who used violence on Jesus and repeated this pattern through the centuries, 
rather than repudiating systems of the world through non-violence as Jesus did? Setting our minds on human, 
not divine things?  Using violence on those we deem as “other” - scapegoats for our own failings.  
Again, what cross are we taking up - one that brings transformation and life, or one that brings death?
I found a useful comment in Mark: Realistic Theologian by Wilfrid J. Harrington, Columbia Press, 1996. p 139.

'If Jesus is the image of the invisible God (see Col 1:15), the cross is the revelation of true God and true humankind.  
On the cross Jesus shows what it is to be human. God's Son dramatically demonstrates the radical powerlessness 
of the human being.  He shows us that we are truly human when we accept our humanness, 
when we face up to the fact that we are not masters of our fate.  The cross offers the authentic definition of humanness: 
God's definition. There, he starkly and firmly reminds us of who and what we are.

On the cross God defined the human being as creature - not to crush or humiliate, but that he might be, as Creator, 
wholly with his creature.  On its own, humankind has indeed reason to fear.  With God, in total dependence on God, 
there is no place for fear.  The resurrection of Jesus makes that clear...... God, in the cross, is a radical challenge 
to our hubris, our pride.  He is the God who has entered wholly, into rejection and humiliation and suffering.  
He is the God present in hu7man life where to human eyes he is absent.  he is the God of humankind.  He is God /for us/.'
THE CALL
by Ken Medema
Can you hear it down the ages like a mighty trumpet sound,
A call to leave the night and step into the morning?
It's a call to joy and gladness in a world of war and pain,
And yet it sounds a note of danger and of warning.

It's a call to leave your treasures and your trinkets on the road,
A call to join the weeping, and to bear the sufferer's load.
It's a call to live like fools by another set of rules,
Well, it's a call to take your cross in hand and follow,
Yes, it's a call to take your cross in hand and follow.

It's a call to love the stranger, it's a call to live as friends,
In a world that says good fences make good neighbors;
It's a call to face the makers of destruction and of war
And to plead that we put down those guns and sabers.

It's a call to death and dying, it's a call to life and birth,
And it's a call to plant the seeds of love on barren planet Earth.
It's a call to live like fools by another set of rules,
But it's a call to take your cross in hand and follow,
Yes, it's a call to take your cross in hand and follow.

It's a bloodstained invitation to a life of sacrifice,
A call to walk the road that leads from here to glory.
It's a joyful expectation of the dawning of that day
When God shall write the final chapter of the story.

It's a call to be the lowly, and it's a call to be the least,
It's a call to join the fasting that shall lead to final feast.
It's a call to live like fools by another set of rules,
But it's a call to take your cross in hand and follow.
But it's a call to take your cross in hand and follow.

I hear that music, and it's calling me,
Come and be all that you were born to be,
If anybody would come after me,
Take up your cross and follow.
Take up your cross and follow!
The Cross Has Always Caused Problems


A Pastor on Northern Vancouver Island wrote to online study group this message: 

"I'm having difficulty with the Gospel this week; what is this cross that I am to take up, 
and what am I to deny in following Jesus?" 

Another Pastor, a student minister in the United States wrote: 

"I find this a hard gospel text because it talks about suffering rather than joy."

The cross has always caused problems to people. Brutal and barbaric - the
cross was a tool of political power for the Romans. They maintained their
power because of the fear of death on the cross. 

When one was condemned by the state, the condemned literally had to "take
up his cross" and carry it to the public place where he was to be
crucified. It was part of the humiliation process, the mechanism of social
control for which crucifixion was invented.

The cross was an instrument of suffering and shame - and no more so than
among the Children of Israel - where the scriptures themselves declare:
"cursed is anyone who hangs on a tree". 

To die on a cross was a sign that one died cut off from God, and cut off
from the people of God - a sign that the person was rejected. And of
course in the case of Jesus this was very true. 

(by Richard J. Fairchild from If Anyone Would Follow Me)
 
Ambition: Bigger Is Not Always Better


The American businessman was at the pier of a small, coastal Mexican village when a small boat 
with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. 
The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long 
it took to catch them. The Mexican replied only a little while.

The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish. 
The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs. 

The American then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?" 

The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late; fish a little; play with my children; 
take siesta with my wife, Maria; stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine 
and play guitar with my amigos; I have a full and busy life, señor."

The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing; 
and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat; with the proceeds from the bigger boat, 
you could buy several boats; eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. 
Instead of selling your catch to a middleman, you would sell directly to the processor, 
eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. 
You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, 
then Los Angeles and eventually New York City where you will run your expanding enterprise."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But, señor, how long will this all take?"

To which the American replied, "Fifteen to 20 years."
 
"But what then, señor?"

The American laughed and said that's the best part. "When the time is right, 
you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich; 
you would make millions."

"Millions, señor? Then what?"

The American said, "Then you would retire and move to a small coastal fishing village 
where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, 
stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos." 

Sometimes our American culture thinks only about things that are bigger. Bigger is always better. 
We get so caught up in the success syndrome of our culture that we forget the way of Jesus 
which called us to simplicity and, in our text today, to a life of self-denial.

(by Mickey Anders from Self Denial)
 
I Am No Longer My Own


In his covenant prayer, which he offered every year at midnight on New Year's Eve, John Wesley prayed,

"I am no longer my own but Thine, put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt, put me to doing, 
put me to suffering, let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low for thee; 
let me be full, let me be empty; let me have all things, let me have nothing; I freely 
and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal."

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we'd do well to pray with Wesley and be reminded that we're not free 
to follow the dictates of our own sinful nature; we're free to surrender our wills to the will of God 
and to submit ourselves to the authority of Jesus Christ. 

(by Philip W. McLarty from The Costs of Discipleship)
 
Taking Up Your Cross - Service
 

During the dark days of World War II, England had a great deal of difficulty keeping men in the coal mines. 
It was a thankless kind of Job, totally lacking in any glory. Most chose to join the various military services. 
They desired something that could give them more social acceptance and recognition. 
Something was needed to motivate these men in the work that they were doing so that they would remain in the mines.

With this in mind, Winston Churchill delivered a speech one day to thousands of coal miners, 
stressing to them the importance of their role in the war effort. He did this by painting for them a mental picture. 
He told them to picture the grand parade that would take place when VE Day came. First, he said, 
would come the sailors of the British Navy, the ones who had upheld the grand tradition of Trafalgar 
and the defeat of the Armada. Next in the parade, he said, would come the pilots of the Royal Air Force. 
They were the ones who, more than any other, had saved England from the dreaded German Lufwaffa. 
Next in the parade would come the Army, the ones that had stood tall at the crises of Dunkirk. 

Last of all, he said, would come a long line of sweat-stained, soot-streaked men in minor's caps. 
And someone, he said, would cry from the crowd, "And where were you during the critical days of the struggle?" 
And then from ten thousand throats would come, "We were deep in the earth with our faces to the coal." 
We are told that there were tears in the eyes of many of those soot laden and weathered faced coal miners. 
They had been given a sense of their own self worth by the man at the top.

Service does not always come with big fancy ribbons. And I think that it is forever true, 
that it is often the humble acts of service that provide us with the deepest sense of joy 
and the most fulfilling satisfaction.

(by Brett Blair from www.eSermons.com)
 
The Fork in the Road


According to that great font of wisdom, Yogi Berra, "If you come to a fork in the road, take it." 
Mark 8 is a kind of theological fork in the road. This chapter is the hinge of Mark's gospel. 
Not only is this the exact middle of Mark in terms of chapters and verses, it is also theologically 
the center point at which the ministry of Jesus takes a decisive turn toward the cross. 
Jesus seems to know what he is doing and also where he is going (or, better said, where he must go 
whether he wants to go that direction or not). For the disciples, however, Mark 8 does present 
a kind of fork in the road. And like Yogi Berra, as they look at the fork in the road, they want to take it. 
They want it both ways. They want to stick with Jesus and be his followers while at the same time 
insisting that Jesus follow them down the path they want to take. 

(by Scott Hoezee from The Lenten Fork)
 
Take up Your Cross


This is a cheerful world as I see it from my garden under the shadows of my vines. 
But If I were to ascend some high mountain and look over the wide lands, you know very well 
what I would see: brigands on the highways, pirates on the sea, armies fighting, cities burning; 
in the amphitheaters men murdered to please the applauding crowds; selfishness and cruelty 
and misery and despair under all roofs. It is a bad world, Donatus, an incredibly bad world. 
But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret. 
They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their souls. 
They have overcome the world. These people, Donatus, are the Christians--and I am one of them.

(by Cyprian, a third-century martyr)
 
Built Around the Cross


There's a great story about the artist Rodin, who one day saw a huge, carved crucifix 
beside a road. He immediately loved the artwork and insisted on having it for himself. 
He purchased the cross and arranged to have it carted back to his house. But, unfortunately, 
it was too big for the building. So, of all things, he knocked out the walls, raised the roof, 
and rebuilt his home around the cross (Best Sermons 3, Harper & Row, 1990, p. 115). 

When you hear Jesus' call to radical discipleship, I hope you will decide to knock down the walls 
and rebuild your life around the cross. Remember, Jesus said, "If any want to become my followers, 
let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."

(by Mickey Anders from Cross-Bearing)
 
Hard Truths


Billy Graham poses the question this way: "When Jesus said, 'if you are going to follow me, 
you have to take up a cross,' it was the same as saying, 'Come and bring your electric chair with you. 
Take up the gas chamber and follow me.' He did not have a beautiful gold cross in mind - 
the cross on a church steeple or on the front of your Bible. Jesus had in mind a place of execution."

(by Gary Weston from Hard Truths)
 
Living Life from the Outside In


Were I to create a short list of people who live from the outside in, it would include people 
who don't know what their political beliefs are until they've read their favorite political columnist; 
don't know what books they want to read until Oprah tells them; don't know how to decorate 
for Christmas until Martha Stewart directs them; don't know what to believe until their denomination 
tells them; don't know what to wear until they have consulted a fashion guru; don't know how to respond 
to the controversial issues of the day until they check their windsocks to see which way the breeze is blowing. 

People with this pattern are like submarines cruising through life at periscope depth 
and they will not come to the surface until they have surveyed the surrounding territory, 
making sure that their emergence will occur within optimal conditions for safety from others 
they perceive to be potentially menacing critics. 

Living life from the outside in -- we have all been there at one point or another in our journeys. 
And when we are accurately so described, we are the same folks Jesus had in mind 
when he talked about people who have gained the whole world, but forfeited their lives. 

We've gotten it backwards, Jesus says. Instead, turn matters inside out and live from the inside out. 

(by Robert A. Noblett from Sermons for Sundays in Lent and Easter, CSS Publishing Company)
I have always appreciated Walter Brueggemann's take on
Genesis 22, that we can not understand the story if we
see it only as about 'testing.' 

While that word is used in verse 1, Brueggemann takes note
of the fact that in verse 12, God now 'knows' something. 
At the beginning of the story, God genuinely does not know
how Abraham will respond to this test/command. It is not
some game God is playing, according to Brueggemann. He sees
a movement in the story which says something about the 
history between God and Abraham. It begins with 'take' (vs. 2)
to 'you have not withheld' (vs. 12) and from 'test' (vs. 2) 
to 'now I know.' (vs. 12). For Brueggemann, the turning
point in the story comes in verse 8, when Abraham, in trust,
provide a central disclosure about God, 'God will provide.'

If Brueggemann is on target, and I think he is, then this
story has implications for the Lenten/Easter story. Not
so much about the crucifixion of Jesus being child sacrifice
or abuse (sorry, I just can't buy that theory), but that
with Jesus being fully human, God genuinely does not know
how Jesus will respond to this test he faces. It is not 
until the event of the cross that God finally 'knows.' So
perhaps the parallel between Genesis 22 and the Passion is
not that Jesus was the ram caught in the thicket and cast
willy-nilly upon the sacrificial altar. But that, in 'knowing'
what Jesus has been willing to do, God takes resurrection
and uses that event to change the history between God and
humanity.
 
Sermon Closer: We Have a Choice to Transform


There is a story about two young brothers who were caught stealing sheep. 
The punishment back then was to brand the thief's forehead with the letters ST which stood for sheep thief. 
As a result of this, one brother left the village and spent his remaining years wandering 
from place to place indelibly marked by disgrace. The other remained in the village, 
made restitution for the stolen sheep, and became a caring friend and neighbor to the townspeople. 
He lived out his life in the village--an old man loved by all.

One day a stranger came to town and inquired about the ST on the old man's forehead. 
"I'm not sure what it means," another told him. "It happened so long ago, but I think the letters must stand for saint."

We have a choice. We can lay down the cross we have been given to bear and passively live life 
with no challenge to change or we can take it up and be transformed, 
living for something greater than ourselves: The Kingdom of God. The choice is yours. But I adjure you: Take it up!