Take Courage, Pick Up Your Cross

Take Courage, Pick Up Your Cross

Matthew 16:21

In our gospel lesson Jesus calls to pick up our cross and follow him. As Christians we are called to follow the path of the suffering servant who was willing to confront the powers that be. This takes courage be a minority voice when popular opinion is against us Jesus was very vocal in his critique how the ways of this world were contrary to God’s law. To appreciate our lesson today we look back to Matthew 10 when Jesus first sends out his disciples, he told them “ Whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”
Now I’m not going to suggest that each of us going will be called to be a martyr for Christ. In a different time and place that may have been the case. For many of us the cross we carry are moments when God is calling us to proclaim God’s kingdom in our daily lives and our immediate spheres of influence. We are confronted with many idolatries and social pressures that tempt us to be quiet and acquiesce to the prevailing opinion. Jesus and the cloud of witness that have gone before us were mavericks who refused to be silent when God’s creation was being trampled and violated.
Our mission and vocation as Christians often challenges the ways and means of the world. We struggle to find the courage and grounding we need to stay the course. Speaking the truth has consequences we cringe to acknowledge. Here in North America, we can face ostracism and ridicule, in other lands, one’s profession of faith is much graver. Why are we so timid and wishy washy when it comes to the proclaiming God’s Kingdom, here and now? Are the implications too radical for our civil, status quo? Are we willing to pick up that Cross that Christ has set before us?
The martyrs of our faith stayed the course when the boots of the powers that be pressed down hard on them hard. Can we find the stamina and courage to do the same? If we are to pick up our cross and follow Jesus, what does this require? If we deny we know Jesus, do we have the humility required to pick ourselves up and try again? We are not hypocrites if we keep trying to hit the mark!
In today’s bulletin, I have shared with you the Barmen Declaration. This is one of the more recent confessions in our Book of Confessions. Karl Barth wrote it for the Confessing Church, a group of pastors who resisted the Nazi government trying to control the German Evangelical Church. They had the courage to speak up and break the silence when the powers that be were trying to take the place only Jesus as Lord belongs. Many pastors were put into the camps.
I want to lift up Barth and Bonhoffer as two heroes of the faith, who had the courage to carry their crosses very difficult times. These two men in particular are inspirations who have shaped my theology and sense of call. In the midst of the Nazi era, Dietrich Bonheoffer came to the US to teach at Union Theological Seminary in NY. After WW 2 broke out he declined his American friend’s offer of sanctuary. Bonhoffer felt the call to return to his homeland, and continue in the resistance against the Nazi government.
In spite of the fear and uncertainty, Bonhoffer boarded the ship and watched the Manhattan skyline fade into the horizon. It is poignant that this was the last time he saw Lady Liberty. He could not rest under Lady liberty’s torch in Manhattan, while Hitler continued to extinguish the precious light of freedom throughout Europe.
Bonhoffer would eventually become a double agent, for the Allied forces and the Nazi regime. He picked up Christ’s sword of truth that does not necessarily bring the kind of peace we expect. Christ Peace did not mean submitting to the Nazi government and its subversion of Christ’s church in Germany.
This was a far cry from the lecture halls in Manhattan. As a double agent, Bonhoffer met with allied forces in London to inform them of their planned assassination attempt of Hitler. They sought Allied support and assurances. Millions of peoples’ lives held in the balance. This was Bonhoffer’s faithful response to Christ’s call to pick up his cross and follow him. He was committing treason, and when the assassination attempt failed, Bonhoffer was implicated and sentenced to death. He was killed just days before Allied forces liberated the prison camp where he was being held.
Bonhoffer did not allow his fear of death to prevent him from following Christ’s call. He was more afraid of God’s judgment than the patriotic fervor of his countrymen. Was he was a trader? This question depends on where you think his loyalty should lay, With God or the Third Reich?
We are not greater than our master, Jesus Christ. We can anticipate resistance and persecution when we proclaim the freedom and dignity we have in Jesus Christ. We have to pick up the cross and move forward. God promises to give us our Simon of Cyrenes who will join us and help us carry our crosses when we grow tired and weary. We are Simons to each other, and Christ is present with us as we try to move on in spite of our fear and isolation.
I have shared this document called the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with you for study and reflection. After WW 2, nations gathered in SF to sign this commitment. World leaders were still reeling from the horrors of facism and racism . We committed ourselves to never again remain silent when our brothers and sisters human rights were being violated. As leaders of the free world we must keep our word and stay true to our calling.
As Americans we value freedom and liberty, as Christians we understand this rooted in the freedom in Christ. As Christians we carry the cross of defending the human rights of all of God’s children. Yes this will mean sometimes we engage in the political arena when our leaders have failed to live up to Christ’s call to defend freedom and dignity for everyone.
Who are the Bonheoffer’s present with us today? They need our encouragement and support. Facing persecution for proclaiming Christ’s reign is not just an issue for missionaries in Muslim or Hindu extremist communities. When we challenge some of our governments policies, the hammer of nationalism could strikes nails in the crosses we carry.
With President Bush and Vice President Cheney in town, I want us to ask ourselves, what have we lost as moral leaders in our response to 9-11. In our pursuit of peace and security we violate the human rights of others. How can we defend freedom by denying it to others? Our suffering Christ compels us to wrestle with these questions because he is present with every victim of human rights violations.
We carry our cross, we speak out against people being tortured people for information. This is the slippery slope that has left us in a free fall. John McCain, a torture survivor knows what is at stake. Whether McCain or Obama take the oath of office in January let us pray that God’s Spirit will lead them to close this painful chapter. We must not lose our moral standing in our quest for peace and security.
We may feel safe and secure, but what has been the price? Have we lost our integrity and compromised the very principles we pressure others to follow. Lady Liberty’s torch was not blown out on 9-11. Rather her torch has grown dimmer by our response to the tragedy. Whether our next President Obama or McCain, as Christians we cant keep silent when our government fails to live up to this moral document we signed in San Francisco many years ago.
I am a Christian and a patriot. I love my country too much to see her compromise the freedom we profess to defend. Our values of freedom and democracy are based on the freedom we have in Christ. As someone who has served in uniform, I fear that we have placed my brothers and sisters in harms way. Now it’s no holds barred. POWs and hostages will be fotter for vendettas, and eye for an eye. My unit has been in both Gulf wars, and my loyalty to their safety and well being is unwavering. My criticism of the policies in Washington by no means devalues their service and sacrifice in the field. It’s out of our concern for their well being that faithful Christians press the issue.
We are most Patriotic when we carry Christ’s cross through the crucible that will guarantee freedom and dignity for all of God’s children regardless of their citizenship or legal status.
Jesus calls us not to be afraid of the people who can destroy the flesh. Rather we are to fear those who destroy the Spirit. The powers and principalities of our day cannot destroy our Spirit. The Communists of yesterday, and the terrorists of today will never be able to destroy our spirit. It’s our own personal failure to the carry the cross before us and speak up when our own leaders fail us that is most damaging. We can not remain silent. We must defend the human rights of all peoples.
Brothers and sisters, we carry Christ’s cross with courage and conviction. We will have to be endure ostracism and or name calling that comes when we speak to truth power. This is the cross we are called to carry. We are not greater than our master, and his path leads us to our own Calvary moments.
We press on in spite of the resistance that will compel some of us to set down our cross and blend back into the crowd. Praise God, that the Body of Christ will produce another Barth or Bonhoffer to pick up the cross where we left off. There is grace for us, it is never too late for us to be another Simon of Cyrene and help others carry the cross. We can walk beside them and offer courage and support as the weight of the cross bears down on us.
Jesus has walked this road, and he will never abandon us. This same comforting presence that sustained Bonhoffer in his own personal journey to Calvary is with us today. With Christ’s Spirit dwelling in us, no cross is too heavy to bear. Christ promises to make the yoke easy. Our Risen Lord and the immense clouds of witnesses that have gone before us are with us this common struggle. May God’s kingdom be known through our witness to the liberating freedom we have in Christ. Take courage and pick up your Cross.