Mark 8:31-38

March 1, 2015

Cross Words

Back in 2003 worshipers at the Church of the Holy Cross in Midtown Manhattan discovered that Jesus was missing from a large cross near the entrance to the sanctuary. The missing Jesus was made of plaster of Paris and weighed 200 lbs. The thieves had gone to the trouble of unbolting him from the cross. The caretaker was quoted as saying: They just decided, Were going to leave the cross and take Jesus.

Those thieves were onto something. Their attitude is similar to many Christians throughout the years who have decided that Jesus is pretty cool as long as He doesnt make you change your life very much. In fact, Jesus is even cooler if He helps you get everything you want out of life.

Thats how things seemed to be going for the disciples. Jesus had made a blind man see, a deaf man hear, and fed thousands of people with just a few pieces of fish and bread. Who are people saying that I am? he asked the disciples. They said that he was being compared to John the Baptist and to Elijah. But who do you say that I am? he asked.

You are THE MESSIAH! Peter said. The Big Guy! Large and in charge! Peter answered wisely, but Jesus tells all of them not to tell anyone about this. Then Jesus goes on to share stuff about the Messiah that they didnt want to be told, including his suffering, rejection, and death. When Peter hears Jesus talking like this, he takes him off to the side, away from the disciples, and rebukes him. But then Jesus takes Peter and moves toward the disciples and rebukes Peter. Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things. Jesus then goes on to inform the guys that is they really want to be his followers, they will have to deny themselves, take up their cross and follow him.

I recently read an article by Prof. Brian Peterson in which he notices that although Jesus calls Peter Satan, he then tells him to get behind me which in Greek can also be translated: follow me. Peter, start acting like a disciple again and pay attention to what I am showing you. Being a disciple is work. It is interesting that in the New Testament the word Christian is used only three times; the word disciple is found more than 250 times.

I think it is safe to say that this sanctuary is full of Christians. The big question Jesus continues to ask us is: Are you ready to be a disciple? Must Jesus bear the cross alone and all the world go free? I pondered that a moment or two and said: It works for me!

When Jesus talks about having our cross to bear, he isnt talking about putting up with argumentative teenagers or abusive spouses, but about deciding to sacrifice some of our personal desires in order to seek what God would have us do. In essence, we will choose to even suffer at times for the greater good. I think that one reason the world outside of the church seems so skeptical about Christ is because Christians rarely set ourselves apart from the world. We just dont look that different. And things are coming full circle. Some churches desiring to create seeker sensitive worship spaces will remove the cross and try not to bring up the hard demands of faith. Faith can sometimes be really hard and I dont mean to assume that everyone is able to love Christ to the uttermost; God loves you even if you arent able to give up your personal desires for others.

But how else will the world know the genuine love of Jesus Christ without seeing that kind of love in action? As we share in the bread and the cup this morning, may Jesus touch us with a renewed sense of discipleship and a willingness to follow Him again. Who knows? We may all find our souls again and bring others into the light of Gods love in the process. Amen.