What Does it Really Mean to Take up the Cross?
Matthew 16:21-28
I knew a woman in one of the parishes that I served, who was frequently abused physically by her husband. At first, she really didn’t admit that her husband had beaten her. Referring to any bruises that showed on her, she would say that she had fallen, or walked into a door or something like that. After awhile the beating became more severe and she actually laid an assault charge against her husband. She then withdrew it and continued to live with him. The next time she was assaulted, the police were called and they laid a change against him so that she couldn’t withdraw it. He went to prison for a short time and she took out a restraining order to prevent him from trespassing on the property where she lived, or contacting her in any way. I asked her why she had kept going back to him when she was aware of his history of violence. She answered, “I guess it was the cross I had to bear.”
A lot of people think that anything distasteful that happens to them are considered to be a cross they have to bear. They talk about “taking up the cross” as accepting any kind of suffering in their lives. It could even be a toothache, headache, stomach cramps, difficulties in their studies, a difficult child, disappointment, sickness, disaster, an accident, bad marriage, trying to get along with difficult people or any other nasty thing happening to them.
There are some people who would even say that enduring all these things is a way of sharing the suffering of Christ.
I think that talking of suffering in general as “a cross to bear” and “taking up the cross” and “sharing the suffering of Christ” is a complete misunderstanding of what Jesus meant when he said in the Gospel today, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” ( Matthew 16:24) Jesus is not saying here that it is necessary to accept any kind of suffering that we encounter in our lives as your cross in life. In fact, much of what Jesus did throughout the Gospels was to relieve many kinds of suffering that people were experiencing. His words were challenging people to join him as members of his new community, and make his way of life the ultimate priority in their lives, even though they may face difficulty, persecution and death. It was not suffering in general that he was talking about. It was suffering directly related to following their beliefs regardless of the consequences.
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There have been people throughout history who have suffered for their beliefs or because of the community to which they belonged. This week I have been reading a book entitled Night by Elie Wiesel. (Elie Wiesel Night, published by Hill and Wang, new English translation by Marion Wiesel, 2006) He tells of the suffering he experienced as a teenager being taken with his family from their home to concentration camps in Auschwitz and Buchenwald. It is a terrifying account of his memories of the death of his family, and the death of his own innocence. It is about the outward and inward suffering he faced mainly because of the community to which he belonged. He and his family were Jews and because of that, they had to endure all the suffering that human beings were capable of afflicting on them.
Jesus is saying that people who become part of the Christ Community, the community that is committed to God’s new age, may have to face the same kind of suffering when their beliefs and actions conflicts with the world’s agenda. I believe that the “Cross” represents the extreme suffering that human beings were capable of afflicting on one another. Death by crucifixion was a long, dreadful and painful process. Jesus warns his followers that if they follow him with unwavering conviction they may have to endure the worse. There was a cost in following him.
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On the other hand there was a gain in following him. He also said in this page that those who were willing to lose their lives would find it. This doesn’t just mean in the hereafter. It meant right here and right now. They were to find true life and meaning in the loving, giving, caring life of the servant and in their work for peace justice and the well-being of all people. This way of life would definitely conflict with the values of those who had authority in the world. The political and religious leaders of the time were more involved in controlling others and gathering more and more wealth, possessions, status and power. War, self-interest, and oppression of others were more important than peace, justice and well-being for all. It was ultimately a road that never ended. It did not bring the satisfaction and happiness that they demanded of life. It brought increasing discontent and the desire for more. They “took what they wanted until they no longer wanted what they took”
The ones who were willing to follow Christ’s way would know satisfaction and happiness even though they may face discomfort and difficulties in their pursuit of it.
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Today we may find that on the simplest level. We do find joy and satisfaction in serving others in ways that may be costly to us, or in making sacrifices in our work for justice and peace. It might be just in caring for another person in a special way. Bass Mitchell in one of his reflections on the Gospel tells this story:
I know a man who every day after work went over to his neighbor, a shut-in who was unable to take care of himself. This man took him groceries, bathed him and shaved him. He could have used that time to do any number of other things he enjoyed. In stead, he gave up a lot of his time and money to take care of this other man. It was nothing forced on him. He chose it. And he was one of he most joyous and life-filled persons I have ever known. Those who live only for themselves, never experience real life. Only in giving up your life, in bending down and picking up crosses for the sake of Christ do we find real joy and life.
(from a sermon by Bass Mitchell )
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What does “Taking up the cross” mean for you today?
For me, it does not mean accepting any suffering that comes my way without complaining. It is specifically in following Christ even when things may be rough. It means taking on ministries and tasks which may be unpopular and uncomfortable at times. It may mean making sacrifices in our love for God and love for our neighbor if that is what love demands.
However, that is the way of the Christ community. That is the community to which we belong.
When we look at the passion of Christ we have a glimpse of Costly Love – the Love that God has shown us in the person of Jesus Christ. When you consider the Passion and the Cross you realize just how costly love was. The only way that we would ever come to know the depth of God’s love was to experience him meeting us in the pain, the suffering, and the anguish of our human existence. How would we ever know that God loved us if we didn’t find him there?
It was about caring. It was about involvement. it was about entering into the sadness of others. It was about giving your life for others. It is the kind of love that we today see in the Passion of Christ.
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