Luke 14:27 Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
It was the practice in first century Palestine that when someone was to be crcified, the criminal had to carry the horizontal piece of the cross through town. People could throw things at the criminal who would not be in a postition to defend himself. Jesus is saying that when you follow him, you will be exposed in this way. As our society is increasingly less supportive of Christian behavior as a norm, we, as Christians may , for example, suffer some ridicule for using vacation time to go to scenic Biloxi to do construction work. I just read in the paper today that there is a 5K family walk in Baker Park on Sunday morning September 9. While faithful church attenders are now a minority, we have not reached the level of persecution of first cnetury Palestine. Try to imagine what it would be like to go to Yankee Stadium and cheer for the Boston red Sox for a glimpse of what it would feel like to be a despised outsider.
Ask yourself what you are willing to endure for your faith? Not everyone is called to die as a martyr, but each of us is called to pick up a cross -- our unique cross. What is your cross? Where do you get help when your cross is too heavy? Keep in mind that "[His] yoke is easy and [His] burden is light." (Matthew 11:30)
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4 comments:
Fr. Phil,
Great questions. I dare not give a fast response. As I type this ditty, it may even be part of the answer. Am I willing to give up the morning activities to think about and answer this question? Answer…sadly, no. This will have to be a contemplative evening activity. How’s that for a lousy excuse? How many of my brothers and I are trapped into similar excuses?
Good stuff. Thanks for making us think. Better answer coming....
Cam
It is interesting that I chose to read this today, on the anniversary of 9/11. Yes, we all have our own "crosses" to bear, with our busyness of our own lives, but I think we need to pause today and remember those who lost loved ones and whose lives will never be the same because of someone else's "religious" beliefs. This morning's radio commentary was observing the fact that already we are becoming complacent about the date, and we seem to be more interested in Britney Spears' comeback attempt than the more important task of rebuilding and renewing our own selves in Christ's image. I like Cam's idea--I think this would work good as an evening deal--maybe even opening up that handy tool we have with our Prayer Book and look over the Evening Prayer.
Bruce
First of all I don't think we should go looking for a cross!
I have found that life presents situations where one can choose to bear the cross presented or to choose not to bear it. In those cases where taking up the cross carrys moral and spiritual consequences we must take up the cross since that is what it means to follow Christ.
I agree with Joe that crosses seem to find us. As the years go on and with the experience that comes with age, the crosses that present themselves these days seem to be easier to carry perhaps because I've stopped seeing the costs as sacrifices. That being said,to answer the question about heavy crosses... last week when Hurricane Felix was hitting Honduras dumping 25" of rain, where my daughter is in college, for two days it was as tense in my house as when Jonathan was in Iraq. My phone rang off the hook as my brothers and sisters in Christ shared my cross with me. Help came to me before I asked. Once again, All Saints people gave me more than I've ever given them. For 26 years at All Saints my yoke has been lightened many times.
Cam
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