Take up your Cross
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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 them when 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.”
Introduction
What I’d like to focus on is the call to take up the cross. Jesus often spoke in riddles, encouraging us to think about the meaning of his words. Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it is another one of those. The IT is your life. Jesus tells us that losing our life (in him/for him) will cheat death, gaining eternal life… that’s a promise. This is why must we take up the cross.
[1] First - We must take up the cross to remind us that we are not the centre of the Universe
[2] Second - We take up the cross to remember there are others who suffer and that we must fight for justice in their lives
[3] Thirdly - We take up the cross to remind us we are responsible in part for the cross that Jesus took up for us
[1] We must take up the cross to remind us that we are not the centre of the Universe
That our suffering is part of our discipleship as Christians.
It is characteristic of great leaders to make demands upon their followers. Winston Churchill beginning WW2 told the British that he had nothing to offer them but "blood, toil, tears, and sweat." Demanding stuff but Jesus was a thousand times more demanding Jesus said, "If any come after me let them deny themselves and take up their cross & follow me." Film Dunkirk Flotilla of pleasure boats
Jesus Cross was a literal cross & he died to take on himself our sins. Our cross is not the sufferings we go through, taking up our cross is about abandoning a self-centred life - receiving a Christ centred life. Doing difficult things because we are his people, difficult people, thankless jobs, being involved with a difficult neighbour.
Nothing can stand between you and the Lord. Selfishness, possessions, fear; nothing can stand between us and the Lord. Jesus is not some wishy-washy boyo, cap in hand, hoping to win our favour. He comes as Lord of History and demands: ‘Take up your cross and follow me.’ Surprisingly this way promises a peace the world cannot give, promises our burdens lifted, forgiveness, a promise of eternal life. Dave Young said ‘It costs too much to be a Christian.’ - It costs too much not to be a Christian.
[2] . We take up the cross to remember there are others who suffer and that we must fight for justice in their lives.
What does our cross look like? It looked like Calcutta for M Theresa, Looked like unexploded bombs and aids sufferers for Lady Di, It looked like Africa for Dr David Livingstone, [Illustr] It looked like keeping the Sabbath for Eric Liddell, Scottish Christian and Olympic champion had his story in film Chariots of Fire. He was ready to forfeit an Olympic medal than run on Sunday. Eventually he does run in the Olympics. “God made me for running,” he tells his sister. “He made me fast. And when I run I feel pleasure.” I remember crying as he wins Olympic gold.
But after that, Liddel gave up his Olympic career, went to China (mission field). Taking up the cross meant giving up athletic glory and ultimately his life, as he is killed at the hands of the Japanese in World War II...he was fully committed to fighting for justice. Likewise, we intercede for others less fortunate than us..on the wards..in the world..
[3] We take up the cross to remind us we are responsible in part for the cross that Jesus took up for us
Dietrich Bonhoeffer Lutheran in Germany stood against Hitler during WW2, sent to prison camp & executed 1945 at age of 39 days before war ended. In prison he wrote ‘The cost of Discipleship’ He wrote about cheap grace “Cheap grace is a deadly enemy…. Cheap grace is preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance…. Communion without confession. Cheap Grace is grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ.” We live in a world where it is fashionable to speak of spirituality but unfashionable to follow Christ, to say sorry that our sins nailed him to that cross, to detest and resist the temptation to sin and be separated from Christ.
In conclusion, I’d like each person here to have a knitted cross to take away to remind us of our call to take up our cross. Our cross will look different for each person, but our faith is in Jesus, and it is worth it for time and eternity.
