Hope Even When You are Melting-Sermon Preached at Longs UMC March 23, 2014

This sermon was preached in Memory of Louise Hunter Greenwood and Robert Brown.  Both who showed amazing faith and hope in the midst of "melting." 

 

I am so excited to share with you the good news of the faithful obedience of Jesus Christ and what that means for us that I don’t know whether to shout, to cry tears of joy, or to dance. Paul gives us a clue in this text, we are to celebrate and so celebrate is what I am going to do today.  I am going to celebrate  Just as Paul celebrated in being able to share the magnificence of God, in his justification, his suffering and his reconciliation with God, we today have these very things to celebrate so let’s not waste any time Let’s celebrate!

We continue looking this morning at Paul’s letter to the Romans.  We are given an interpretive clue right off the bat when the first word of our text is therefore.  Whenever we see the word therefore in the Bible, the writer is saying make sure you know and understand what I just wrote before you proceed forward.  In this instance Paul is talking about the fact that he has just established that both Jew and Greek are part of the covenant God made with Abraham.  Israel doesn’t have dibs on God’s grace and love.  God’s grace, love and peace are for all. Knowing that we can all approach the next part of the text knowing it is for us, justified by Christ’s faithful obedience even unto death.  That is the first thing we celebrate!  We celebrate that while there is nothing we can do to justify ourselves, Christ’s faithful obedience unto death has justified us.  In that moment we were pardoned and the restoration of ourselves into the image of God we were created to be began!  NT Wright says that in his death Jesus has ushered us all who believe into a room where we now stand, a place characterized by the presence and sustaining love of God” This is the grace into which we stand and that is something to be celebrated! 

Paul says hold onto your seat though.  If you think that’s great there is more.  Not only do we celebrate in being justified, at peace with God, standing in God’s grace.  We also celebrate in our suffering.  What?  What do you mean celebrate in our suffering?  I will never forget the moment I got the call that my best friend’s mom was quickly losing her battle with cancer at the young age of 43. I was devastated, I was in my first year of seminary and I was already in the midst of questions that I didn’t know the answers to.  Many first year students in seminary talk about losing their Jesus.  I was quickly losing my Jesus and this wasn’t helping matters.  Louise’s life had been marked by more suffering than any one person should have to endure and I didn’t understand.  That question of where God is when bad things happen to good people was coming to the forefront of my thoughts and my confusions.  In that moment a good friend looked at me and said “I envy Louise right now.”  He went onto explain to me that “Louise is knowing God right now more intimately and more fully then I could ever imagine, and I envy that.  He was right, when asked for a word as she laid on her death bed she awoke for just long enough to recite Psalm 91 which includes a promise for long life.  Yet, there she lay dying.  This week our community lost a wonderful man when they lost Robert Brown.  We’ve been praying for Robert over the last 3 years.  Elsie has requested prayer for him.  Andrew has requested prayer for him.  Many of us know and love his wife and know all the suffering she has endured over the years.  Our hearts hurt as she and Robert battled this cancer together over the last 3 years.  Last Sunday at Long’s Chapel Robert gave his “God Story” through video to the congregation.  The video was taped within the couple of weeks preceding and Robert knew his battle with cancer was near its end.  As the members of Long’s chapel watched that video, Robert laid in a bed at the Homestead Hospice with one foot still here and the other in the very presence of God.  What did Robert say in his God story?  He said:

 “Even though I am melting as we speak I’m so glad I’ve made it to this day.  As I look around, I thank God for the gifts that he’s given me and that I got to lie to this time.  There’s always hope.  My story is to say as I fought through the cancer I was dealing with stuff that made me realize that everyone has struggles in life.  I am not alone.  With God I am not alone, I am never alone.  And he has given me the strength to see through, as I’ve told my wife recently, I can do this with God, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  That is where I am in my life.  I have not given up hope and I know that he’s behind me and he’s behind my family and those who are losing hope have to know that hope is always here, right behind the chair you’re sitting in.  I couldn’t sit here any longer, I wanted to come and share with you that there is hope.”[1]

 

He knew he was dying…..yet there was still hope.  You see friends when we are suffering we are not alone.  God is with us and gives us the endurance and strength.  Write these words down.  Suffering produces endurance, endurances produces character, character produces hope.  Now say it with me suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, character produces hope.  Don’t forget that.  We have hope because we have God’s love poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is always with us!  That is something to celebrate! 

                But wait……there is more.  After Paul expounds on God’s love for us, his great love for us that is so great that even when we are alienated from God, even when we are hostile toward God, we are reconciled to God through Jesus.  He says yep, there is even more to celebrate.  Not only are we justified, not only do we have hope even in our suffering, but we have received reconciliation.  I looked up the word reconciliation in the Eerdmans’s dictionary of the Bible.  It says that to be reconciled means that there is a changed relationship in which formerly estranged persons experience a restored harmony.  Because of the faithful obedience of Jesus Christ we are reconciled to God.  “God is the perfect reconciler.  Death and resurrection restored all people to a right relationship with God and summoned every believer to cooperate in this ministry of reconciliation.” (Erdman, 1112-1113) 2 Corinthians 5:18says: “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.”  We celebrate today in the fact that we through the death and resurrection of Christ we are everyone invited into reconciliation with God.  God is always there, never leaves us, and never forsakes us.  Now we are to respond to that by seeking reconciliation in our world, in our communities, in our church, in our families.  Who do you need to reconcile with this morning.  Who are you estranged from?  Who do you hold a grudge against and avoid being around.   My friend God reconciled God’s self to you, won’t you take the steps to reconcile with others. 

                In a few moments we are invited to the table to feast on the gifts of the body and blood of Jesus Christ.  We come to the table in celebration of the fact that God loves deeply each and every one of us.  We come to the table in celebration of the fact that by the faithful obedience of Jesus Christ we have been pardoned.  We come to the table in celebration of even our times of suffering for in those times of suffering we are made strong and given hope through the outpouring of God’s love through the presence of the Holy Spirit with us.  We come to the table in celebration of the fact that we are reconciled with God. 

                We are going to sing our song of response this morning.  It is a song that celebrates that marvelous infinite grace of God in which we stand.  The altar is open this morning.  As you celebrate your reconciliation with God, as you celebrate standing in this room of grace that Jesus brings you into, do you need to bring others into the room of God’s grace by way of extending that grace to others?  Make that commitment today, either where you sit or stand or here at this altar. Now, let’s celebrate this marvelous, infinite Grace in which we stand.  In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit Amen. 

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[1] Robert’s full story can be seen at http://www.longschapel.com/media.php?pageID=106

Seeking God, Seeking Kingdom, Seeking Life

Luke 11:1-13

Focal Luke 11:2-4

 2-4 So he said, “When you pray, say,

Father,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.”  (The Message accessed at www.biblegateway.com)

Luke's version of the Lord's Prayer is shorter, direct and to the point.  The disciples asked Jesus how to prayer and this was how he responded.  Sometimes it is hard to know how to pray, what to say.  Sometimes we get caught up wanting to use the right words, have the right posture, be in the right place.  We make it much more complicated than it should ever be.  I like the way the message portrays the prayer.  Sometimes, when I pray, I use the Lord's Prayer to structure my own prayer, expanding each element.  It is interesting that in none of the synoptics does the Lord's Prayer include petitions for other people.  It gives me pause to wonder, it gives me something else to consider.  I personally add those prayers of petition into my prayers.  

Jesus goes on to use an example of a persistent person who gets what he is asking for through persistence.  He says Ask and it shall be given, Seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened to you.  We seek God's Kingdom.  I have to quote Dallas Willard again today.  Dallas states that we should seek God's kingdom in every face to face encounter we have.  To do so transforms us, our relationships, and others.  

We ask for our "daily bread", that which we need.  Notice the model prayer is asking for what we need to sustain our life, not what we desire or want.  

Finally we ask to be forgiven, forgiving and in right relationship with God through the resistance to temptations to be outside of right relationship with God.  

Can you start out your day with this prayer?  Can this prayer become your life mantra?  Can this prayer become more than something we recite on Sunday morning.  Can this prayer become embodied within each of us and within our community of faith.  Knock on the door of God's heart and the doors the the Kingdom will swing wide open and you will enter in!  Thanks be to God.  

God, Neighbor and Self

Luke 10:25-32

Focal Passage:  Luke 10:26-28

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all yourheart and with all your soul and with all yourstrength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love yourneighbor as yourself."

Today's Lenten Refelction completes the 10th chapter of Luke.  The disciples and others continue to follow Jesus on the journey to Jerusalem and we walk with them.  Jesus continues to instruct the disciples in hopes that they will soon "get it."  Both of the stories are well known stories of the Bible. In the story of the Good Samaritan Jesus defines who are neighbor is.  In the story that follows Jesus lets the disciples know through his interactions with Mary and Martha, that the busyness of life should not interrupt the more important things of life, such as spending time with and listening to the teachings of Jesus.  As Bishop Ken Carter pointed out this week in a reflection he posted on these passages, Luke designed these stories to be read together.  There is a lesson to be taught in looking at them as a whole story.  I posted Ken's reflection on my facebook page for you to review.  The Bishop points out that it is through spending time with Jesus and learning his teachings we are then equipped for showing compassion to our neighbors.  Jesus defines neighbor as anyone who comes across out daily path with a need.  

As I consider this I am again reminded of something I heard Dallas Willard say in a broadcast I am currently listening to.  He said that no ones obituary ever reads __________ had a wonderful car, was a great housekeeper, had pretty teeth, and so on.  No people are not remembered by the busyness of their lives, they are remembered by their kindness, by their compassion.  

The other thing I want to point out about our focal verses for today is that we are to love neighbor as self.  My 4th grade Sunday School teacher, Marietta Crayton, pointed out to me that this verse tells us that it is important that we love ourselves.  It is important for us to see ourselves as the creatures God created in God's own image.  I am 45 years old, some 37 years past the 4th grade and I have never forgotten that lesson.  It left an imprint on my heart.  It was a simple yet profound message as she had us peer into a box to see something that Jesus loved.  In that box was a mirror reflecting my own image.  God loves me.  

Take time out tonight to sit at the feet of Jesus just as Mary did.  Soak up the love and learn to love yourself as Jesus loves you.  Then take that heart full of love and let it spill out onto those who cross your path in need, for those are your neighbors.  

The Gospel Jesus Preaches

Luke 10:1-24

Focal Passage:  9 cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.  Luke 10:9(NIV)  taken from www.biblegateway.com

As our journey to Jersulem moves forward into Luke chapter 10 Jesus exapands the harvest workers beyond the 12 apostles.  He appoints around 70 people to go out into the villages to proclaim the good news.  I discovered a Jewel yesterday when I downloaded what I thought was a typical John Ortberg Book for my next listening excursion on my commute.  It turns out that I downloaded a whole conference that featured Dr. Dallas Willard.  The conference, given 3 months before Willard's death has been turned into a book study entitled:

Living in Christ's Presence
Final Words on Heaven and the Kingdom of God

More information can be found at www.dwillard.org.  I think I have discovered a jewel in Dallas Willard though my 1 hour exposure to his writings is hardly enough to fully endorse.  However, his teaching thus far in this book speaks into our scripture for today.  

We are all called to be workers in the harvest.  There is a lot we could unpack in these 24 verses but I want to focus on verse 9.  Dallas Willard, in this book, poses the question:  "What is Jesus's Gospel?" He points out that evangelism today tends to focus on winning converts through a message of "what are the minimum requirements for going to heaven when you die."  Think about it?  Isn't that true?  While he points out that God is gracious enough to use this as a jumping off point for people, it was not Jesus's Gospel.  Jesus' gospel was "The kingdom of God has come near to you."  Matthew records the great Commission:  "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20, NIV from www.biblegateway.com)  He did not say go and tell people how to get into heaven.  He said go and make disciples.  What is a disciple?  Webster's dictionary states that it is someone who "accepts and spreads the teachings of a famous person."  The call is not just accept Jesus as your saviour.  The call is to accept Jesus as your teacher and teach others his teachings.  Embody those teachings.  When you look at what the gospel of Jesus is, it doesn't take long to realize that the gospel message Jesus brings is the "good news of the Kingdom of God."  The kingdom of God is open to us right now.  By following the teachings of Jesus we experience the Kingdom of God "On earth as it is in Heaven."  Wilard goes on to point out that disciples are not for the church, disciples are made by the church for the world.  Are we doing enough in our churches to make disciples or are we preaching and teaching a message of "these are the minimum requirements to get into heaven when you die?"  My challenge for you today is to become a disciple of Jesus Christ by learning his teachings and living them out for by doing so you don't have to wait until you die to experience the Kingdom of God for the Kingdom of God is available to you right now.  So, get in the yoke with Jesus and let him lead you and guide you!  

Thanks be to God.  

Yes, But

Luke 9:57-62

⁵⁷ As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
⁵⁸ Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
⁵⁹ He said to another man, “Follow me.”
But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
⁶⁰ Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
⁶¹ Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”
⁶² Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

I can't help but think of Whoopi Goldberg and Sister Act when I read that first verse.  However the upbeat song and dance of Sister Act doesn't match well with the rest of the scene here.  Three different men are called to discipleship and three different men have excuses for delaying their response to the call.  This hits home with me.  I played the yes, but game with God for Six years.  It just didn't make sense to me that God would call me to quit my job, let go of the security, calling not only me but my family to that kind of sacrifice.  In my mind I was putting my family first.  We couldn't live without my salary.  It seemed illogical to me.  Yes, God I will proclaim the good news but surely you only want me to do that part time.  Yes, God, I will proclaim the good news but I'm only a few years away from retirement, let me retire first and maintain my security.  Yes.....but.  Jesus lets the disciples know here that there is not room for yes, buts in discipleship.  To be a disciple is to become like Jesus.  It's not an easy road.  You may find yourself homeless.  There will be times that discipleship conflicts with family responsibilities. These are tough words, these are hard words.  There are still times that I question the wisdom of giving up my social work salary, taking on new debt, and leaving my family for half the week.  There are certainly others who think I'm crazy.  Who does that at 45 years old?  What I can tell you is that I have no regrets.  I've never felt more free then I do right now, being obedient to the call no matter how crazy it may seem.  I've never felt more free then I do right now, depending on God for my every need.  God provides, God is with us.  What have you been saying yes, but to.  Commit to your Yes right now.  You will not regret it! 

Finding a Place of Welcome

Luke 9:51-56

51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven,Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem.54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them[a]?” 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them.56 Then he and his disciples went to another village. (NIV from www.biblegateway.com)

It is that time.  Jesus has been preparing his disciple for the trip they will begin today.  He has sent them out on their own, he has now twice warned them of his impending departure, he has corrected them when they haven't gotten it.  Now it is time to begin that walk to Jerusalem, the center of it all.  He set's out resolutely with a mission in mind, nothing will deter him.  He wants to go straight there.  He chooses to go through Samaria.  Typically when one travels to Jerusalem they will go around Samaria because Samaria and Jerusalem are enemies.  They do not get along.  To go through Samaria to Jerusalem is to risk ones life but Jesus does not let this deter him.  He will meet with the enemy.  His choice to go through Samaria signals to us an example that we are all part of the Kingdom of God and we need to learn to erase the borders, to live at peace with one another.  Jesus, however does not just show up.  He makes preparations by sending 2 messengers ahead to prepare a way for him.  He sends messengers to let the Samaritans know they are coming through, to get permission for the journey.  This village didn't accept that.  They said he was not welcome.  What did Jesus do?  He respected that they were not ready.  James and John wanted to "call fire down from heaven."  Jesus rebuked them.  Violence was not the answer.  One translation goes further to say that Jesus told them he didn't come to destroy life but to save it.  So, instead of forcing their way into and through a Samaritan Village that did not welcome them and were not ready for them, they chose a different village to go through and a different Village welcomed them.  

Who is not welcoming you?  We read everyday about different places that are not welcoming to this group or that group.  The example Jesus gives us is one of diplomacy.  It's not effective to force your way in with "guns a blazing."  It is not transformative to "rain down fire from heaven."  Earlier Jesus had instructed his disciples about people who did not welcome them.  He said  "If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”  (Luke 9:5-6, NIV at www.biblegateway.com)  Jesus here sets the example.  He moves on.  If you are not welcome in one place, rest assured you will be welcome in another.  Find that place of welcome for you and pray for the transformation of hearts in the places that do not welcome.  Be a bringer of peace.  Make preparations for Peace.  

Thanks be to God.  

Welcoming the Vulnerable-Welcoming Christ

Luke 9:43-50

While everyone was marveling at all that Jesus did, he said to his disciples, 44 “Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you: The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.” 45 But they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.
46 An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. 47 Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand beside him.48 Then he said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest.”
49 “Master,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.”
50 “Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.” (NIV)

As we continue our journey with Christ toward Jerusalem today, we pick up where we left off yesterday.  Jesus has just performed a miracle, one that the disciples had been unable to do and all were amazed.  Jesus again, continuing to try to prepare his disciples for his departure, takes the disciples aside and again tells them of his pending death and departure.  Yet, they still do not get it but they really don't want to know more about it.  They are afraid, they are in denial.  They want to continue on with Jesus in their midst.  Then, as they are walking along toward their next destination they begin to argue about who is the greatest among them and Jesus again turns things upside down on them by telling them that whoever welcomes a child, welcomes him.  That is who the greatest is.  The Greatest are those who humble themselves in service to those that are most vulnerable.  Who are the most vulnerable in your circle of influence.  What are you doing to welcome the most vulnerable among you?  

Think on these things today and as your Lenten Practice today commit to doing something for the most vulnerable among you.  

Thanks be to God.  

Faith and Prayer

Luke 9:37-43

How often do you pray?  How often do you spend time in the word, reading the words and lessons of Jesus?  How often throughout the day do you think about God?  If you are like me, when things are going good it is very easy to neglect these things.  It's very easy to wake up in the morning and start your day without a thought in the world of your faith, of your relationship with God.  It's easy to reach for the phone and read the latest facebook posts, play your lives in the latest game you're playing, check your emails and then realize you barely have time to take a shower and jump in the car to make it to work or school on time.  You get to your destination and you immediately jump into the busyness of the day and so the story goes.  Many times it's not until something stops us in our tracks that we remember to pray, that we remember to seek God (who by the way never leaves us, we shouldn't have to seek very far.)

Today our journey takes us to the beginning of a series of stories of the disciples messing up and Jesus continuing to teach them the lessons of life they need to know and embrace before he departs from them.  This story occurs right after they come down from the mountain.  A man with a sick child (demon possessed we are told) comes to Jesus and says I asked your disciples to do this but they couldn't.  Jesus becomes angry with the disciples and says: “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied,“how long shall I stay with you and put up with you? " (vs. 41 NIV)  If we read Matthew and Mark's version of this stories we learn that after Jesus healed the boy and is back in private with the disciples they ask him why they were unable to cast out the demon.  Jesus tells them because they didn't believe they could and because they didn't pray.  

We can not do this thing called life on our own.  We particularly can't follow Christ and do the things disciples of Christ should be about the business of doing without faith and without prayer.  During this Lenten Season make a point to start a habit of prayer and a habit of seeking God.  Next time you wake up and reach for your phone first thing to check facebook, play a game or check email how about checking in with God first.  As my Uncle Dwight used to say when teaching my 8th grade Sunday school class:  "When I point to you, I have four fingers pointing back to myself."  

Luke 9:28-36

Today our Journey takes us to a place where Jesus is praying with Peter James and John.  Peter, James and John had fallen asleep, as they often do when they are praying.  While they were sleeping an unbelievable thing occurs.  Jesus' appearance changes.  The story depicts him being radiated by bright light and suddenly Moses and Elijah, forefathers of the faith who have been long departed from this earth, appear with him.  It's as if they are having a heavenly meeting of the minds as they talked about "his departure" soon to be fulfilled.  Peter, James and John awaken to see this sight.  Can you imagine.  They must have thought they were still asleep and dreaming.  I can imagine them rubbing the sleep from their eyes, pinching themselves to see if they were awake, or even alive.  It was in this moment that they fully understood and knew who Jesus was.  There was no doubt.  A cloud covered them and they were afraid and a voice came from the cloud:  "This is my son, listen to him."  Then Moses and Elijah were gone as quickly as they came.  This portion of the story ends with Peter, James and John not telling anyone about this "at this time."

What it must have been like to meet God in such an intimate and personal way.  I'm reminded of Moses' encounter with God in the burning bush.  There are moments we too are standing on Holy Ground.  For me there are two times in life that I know without a doubt I am standing on Holy ground.  One is when I have witnessed the birth of a child.  The other is when I have sat by the bedside of a dying person.  Those are moments when any doubts I might have about the existence of the divine are completely washed away and I am in Awe.  "I Stand Amazed in the Presence."

I'm also reminded of my own "words from God" when I read this story.  A direct, clear, voice of God message has only happened once in my lifetime.  Once is enough.  I shall never forget it and it will always be a part of my story.  It was when I woke up in the middle of the night with the words Revelation 2:3 in my mind.  It was quite bizarre as I had not recently read revelation, I had never committed that verse to memory.  Why am I waking up in the middle of the night with that reference on my mind.  Here is what it said:  "Wake up!  Strengthen what remains and is about to die for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God."  (NIV) This night began my journey back to answering the call into ministry that I had first answered at the age of 13.  There have been many other ways that I have encountered God in my life.  I encounter God in scripture, in song, in other people but this was the most direct encounter I have had and it was awesome, scary, and amazing.

What about you.  In what ways have you encountered God in your life?  In what ways has God revealed God's self to you.  When do you feel as though you are standing on Holy Ground?

Carrying our Cross

Luke 9:18-27

As we continue walking with Jesus on his journey to Jerusalem we encounter his revelation to the disciples of who he is.  He is with the disciples praying with them in private and asks them who they think he is.  Peter says You are God's Messiah.  He tells them not to yet tell this to anyone.  It is at this time that Jesus reveals to them that he must die.  He then goes on to tell them what this means for them as followers and students of his.  This text can seem to be a riddle, mysterious and hard to decypher.

23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? 26 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of themwhen he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
27 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”  

What does all that mean?  What does it mean to take up your cross.  What does it mean to save your life by losing it?  To save your life by losing it can actually be seen as an interpretation or further explanation of what is meant by "take up your cross."  In the first century the cross represented death.  Think of it as the electric chair or the needle.  When I think of being required to carry a cross to your own execution it reminds me of a parent having a child go get the belt for their "spanking."  It is a walk of shame, of dread, of fear.  This was what the cross represented for those hearing Jesus's words in the first century.  To carry a cross meant to die.  So how do we die to self?  We must remember that Jesus came to establish a new kind of Kingdom.  The type of King the world expected was a military conqueror.  Jesus was the opposite.  He came teaching a different kind of ruling.  He came teaching love for all.  He came teaching peace.  He came teaching love not only for friends but for enemies as well.  To carry ones cross is to die to the old ways of ruling and to take on the characteristics of Christ.  We must remember this daily.  It what ways do we still seek the old ways of ruling the old definition of Kingdom.  We are reminded here in verse 27 that we don't have to die to experience the Kingdom of God.  As Jesus says in the model prayers "thy kingdom come.......on EARTH as it is in heaven."  

There is yet another mystery in this passage.  In the midst of talking about losing yourself, dying to self, Jesus says "what good is it for someone to gain the whole wold, and let lose or forfeit their very self?"  That seems a contradiction to the rest of the passage.  Perhaps what needs to die is all the pretensions we put forth in order to fit into this world.  I recall sitting outside one day about 21 years ago in the pits of depression coming to this very revelation.  I was living the way others expected me to live.  I was "religious."  I was "following all the rules."  but I was not fully being who God created me to be.   I was living into others' expectations of what it meant for me to be a Christian, to follow Christ."  I was denying who God created me to be and in the process I was slowly and literally dying.  I weighed 105 pounds, you could see every rib in my body, I couldn't eat and my therapist had told me she was going to see me in a hospital bed soon.  That day, sitting out in the son I committed to be me.  If not I would literally die.  It was time for me to live into God's expectations of me and no one else's.  With all this in mind I would suggest that the cross represents putting to death all other expectations of you except the expectations of God.  Live into who God created you to be!  Follow the lessons of Christ, not the lessons of the world.  In doing so you might just get a glimpse of Heaven without even tasting death.

Welcoming the Interruptions

When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, 11 but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.  Luke 9:10-11

The disciples have just returned from their first solo mission.  They must be full of excitement and anxious to see Jesus and tell him of all they have encountered.  As I read this I am reminded of times in my career when I have had an exciting day at work.  Perhaps I had a major breakthrough with a family I'm working with.  Perhaps I've come across something very disturbing that I didn't quite know how to handle.  I immediately would want my supervisor's attention.  I yearned to tell my stories.  This must have been how the disciples felt.  Jesus recognizes their need and takes them off by themselves to retreat and debrief.  They were interrupted however.  The crowds learned where they were and demanded attention.  In that situation I would want my boss to protect our time together, to tell the crowds they must wait their turn.  I would be angry about the interruption.  I would be angry with the crowd.  I would be angry with my boss.  What did Jesus do?  He WELCOMED them!  He Spoke to them about the kingdom of God.  He healed those who needed healing.  Who is your life today?  Who needs to hear the good news of the kingdom?  Who needs to hear some words of healing?  We are on a journey to Jerusalem with our Savior.  Let's follow his example.  Let's welcome interruptions into our daily lives.  Let's share the good news.  Let's be the healing hands and feet of Jesus.