By Rev. Canon David B. Tabo-oy
“31Then Jesus began to teach his disciples: “The Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. He will be put to death, but three days later he will rise to life.”…… “you must forget yourself, carry your cross, and follow me.” Mark 8:31,34
The Anglican tradition, like every other Christian tradition, is founded upon the affirmation that Jesus Christ is Lord. That affirmation is essential to, and the foundation of, the unity of the church. Given that affirmation I would like to connect this to the utterance of Jesus uring his time particularly during his impending suffering and death – and relate this to the now established death via crucifixion and his advocating of cross-carrying as a proof of being true followers.
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While Jesus and followers were on the way to another village in Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked the disciples, “Who do you say I am?” And the response is now the famous confession of the Apostle Peter, “You are the Messiah.” Based from numerous Bible readings and stories and sermons heard, now we know or at least have an idea what Jesus did as the Messiah. Yet in a deeper sense do we really understand and give life to that idea or understanding about Jesus in our lives as Christians?
One of the main goals in preaching is to gain a fresh hearing for Jesus, especially among those who believe they already understand him. In reading the Bible and hearing stories and sermons about Jesus we have the impression that we already know this guy. But if we look and search deeper this presumed familiarity has led us to unfamiliarity. And like the disciples we hear Jesus asking us, “Who do you say I am?”
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Surely we have heard explanations from our pastors or priests about Jesus as the Messiah. If that is what we ‘say’ about him we realize that Jesus clearly didn’t’ fit into what a Messiah was expected to be. Messiahs were supposed to have power, were supposed to take charge, were supposed to set things right and free the Jews from political oppression. But Jesus gives the full freedom for us to define his power, his taking charge and setting us free to whatever bondage in our lives– he is no autocrat or dictator. We also see Jesus as a Rabbi – a teacher that gets his message across in a unique way that really hit and captivate the heart. And yes, we also proclaim him as our Savior. But what is he saving us from and what is he saving us to? Some people clearly had no interest in being saved. When Jesus said the poor are precious and the rich are in big trouble, only those on one side of that equation found it intriguing.
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Indeed, it so difficult to put Jesus in one category or in a box that we could conveniently open if we are in some difficulties. Jesus is sometimes downright incomprehensible; he is often enigmatic, ambiguous. From the very beginning, who Jesus was, what he was about, was far from self-evident. There were people who stood face-to-face with Jesus and said, “This is God incarnate.” There appear to be many more who said, “This man is nuts.” Although I think that for most of us, the biggest issue isn’t that we’ve listened to Jesus and found him incomprehensible; it’s that we’ve listened to him and found him too damned difficult. But Jesus is unquestionably Lord and Savior – for those who recognize him and accept him as such.
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Acceptance and submission to Jesus is another difficult faith issue to wrestle with if we go beyond the shallow Christian practice of raising our hands and saying a prayer formula to the effect. How then can we truly fulfill acceptance and submission to Jesus? Our gospel gives a direct answer, “If any of you want to come with me,” he told them, “you must forget yourself, carry your cross, and follow me.” (v34). Self-denial and cross-carrying. Just hearing these words is difficult. Putting them into practice seems utterly hopeless and unrealistic. We cringe at the very thought of self-denial. It is so contrary to our human nature. We wonder if anyone can take Jesus seriously. And yet, ‘self-denial’ is right there; and not just once but repeated in the Gospels. Self-denial is important in our Christian living. It sets us free to follow Christ. Denying ourselves and carrying our cross enables us to truly follow Jesus means we cannot follow Christ while we are following the world. But the problem is that we want all that God has to offer, while also wanting all that the world has to offer. But Jesus has told us, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or will be devoted to the one and despise the other.’ (Matthew 6:24). In embracing self-denial we become free to follow Christ alone because the things of this world no longer have grip on us. We are no longer bound to them.
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Self-denial sets us free to be content. The mind-set of the world is all about self: it is about power, control, competition, and acquiring more. The world will tell you that if you only have more of these “things”, or if you have power and control, you will be happy and contented. But in reality they put us in perpetual bondage, because there are always some more things we can collect and have, some more people to control and more power to exercise. It is an unending quest. The result is discontent and soon we lose focus on the things that really matters in life. Our priorities get mixed up and in the end we find that self-gratification only leads to discontent. But then most of all, self-denial sets us free to embrace and carry our cross. We cannot carry the cross when we are busy trying to carry all the distractions of this world. We cannot take up our cross daily when our hands are full of so many things. Our call is to let go of the many things that we are carrying so that we can embrace and carry the Cross. It is not something glamorous, but as far as Jesus is concerned, it is the only way to follow him. And if we are going to follow Him, we are going to embrace the Cross.
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I came across in the internet this interesting cultural practice of the people of Lithuania with regards to their deep-seated understanding of the cross. They take cross bearing a little more seriously than any ordinary Christian does. For them the cross symbolizes faith, hope and love. There are crosses which are everywhere in the countryside, on roads, in city parks and village squares. Communities and individuals erect crosses to bring them health and to commemorate events like weddings, births and christenings. Crosses are also erected to commemorate historical events. One of these is the Baltic Way, in which millions of people linked hands stretching across the Baltics from Estonia to Lithuania on August 25, 1989. About 9 monuments commemorate this extraordinary event. The nation’s pride is the Hill of Crosses, located north of Siauliai. Lithuanians erected crosses there as early as the mid-19th century. The Soviet government couldn’t tolerate that kind of spiritual expression, so they totally destroyed the hill in 1961, then again in 1973 and 1975. But people kept erecting more crosses, until in 1980 their destruction stopped. Today the crosses number in the many thousands. They are different sizes and shapes, some simple, some ornate, but they immortalize Lithuania’s troubles, misfortunes, joys, hope and faith. For them, the cross is more than a symbol in the church. It is symbol for the world to see. A symbol that will not go away. It is a symbol of sacrifice. A sacrifice that gives each and every one of us hope and faith and courage.
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As we contemplate on self-denial and carrying our cross as proof of our submission and acceptance of our Lord Jesus Christ, we can pray this prayer of the Holy Cross.
Almighty God, whose Son our Saviour Jesus Christ was lifted upon the cross that he might draw the whole world to himself: Mercifully grant that we, who glory in the mystery of our redemption, may have the grace to take up our cross and follow him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen. – The Book of Common Prayer.**
