August 29, 1999
Majestic things have been happening so very, very quickly. It seems like just a few short weeks ago that the healings began, followed by the feeding of the five thousand from a small, even paltry amount of food. Immediately afterwards, the disciples are heading across the Sea of Galilee and in the middle of the night Jesus comes to them walking on the water. A day or so later, another multitude and another paltry amount of food made enough to fill the need with more besides. It was just earlier in the morning when Jesus was wondering what people were saying about him, and, when pressed, Peter said, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God," to which Jesus replied, "You are Rocky, Peter, and on this rock I will build my church."
In the afternoon, Jesus is telling his disciples that he must now go to Jerusalem — leaving Galilee behind for the last time — where he will be turned over to the authorities, crucified, and killed (and yes, by the way to be raised again, although they apparently did not hear that part). Things were looking up; it looked so good at noon, but by mid-afternoon there is trouble ahead, rejection and death. And now this same Peter who just a few hours earlier had said, "You are the Messiah," turns around and says, "Jesus that is not exactly what I thought would happen. Let's go somewhere else. We don't need to go to Jerusalem, especially not in the holiday season. Let's go there in the off season, when there are not very many people, and we can go in and out." Jesus replies to the rock, "Get behind me, Satan. You are now a stumbling block. You are thinking of yourself and not of the Kingdom. If you are going to follow me, if you are going to be my disciple, you must take up your cross."
The story is told about events that happened a couple of thousand years ago, but it is a very modern story about very contemporary people. For today, we as Christians are again at a very critical point of decision — to follow Jesus to Jerusalem. We gather in our churches, week after week, to hear the word of God. We gather here to tell the stories of Jesus, to know about this God become man who dwells among us to redeem us. We gather in our churches to witness to the changed lives around us and to see in each other's eyes the healings that occur, the hope that is restored.
But there is more to it than that, for we are a sent people. We end every Sunday being sent back into the world, to go to people beyond ourselves, to God's people out there who hunger and thirst for what we already know, and that is very, very hard work. The things that build us up as a body of disciples are the things that we participate in so regularly, the worship of Almighty God on a regular basis. The things that build us up are studying the Scriptures and educating ourselves about the great and majestic acts of God in the past. The things that build us up are being cared for by our fellow parishioners and caring for those in our midst. One of the things that build us up is the fellowship that we know as we gather on the grounds and in various places around the property and in our homes.
Those things provide for us a time of rest and healing. Being gathered as the body of Christ provides for us nourishment and succor. We have to continually remind ourselves that we are nourished, not only for our own health and well being, but we are nourished primarily in order that we may put as much effort into doing the work of Christ in the world as we do in doing the work of Christ in our parish. We work hard in this parish. We do great and wonderful things here, but we also have hard work to do. It is much harder to build community than it is to grow it. It is like getting seedlings to come up out of the ground, but getting them all the way to bloom and health is another task altogether. It takes constant love and attention.
We are now about the work of building a community. It is harder work to witness to Christ's love than to know it. I have always found it fairly easy to know that Christ loves me, and in the darkest days of my life, as well as the brightest days, I have known that. Saying it to another person is much more difficult. The hard work of the community means that we must do the very hard work of caring for others out there rather than the easy work of condemning people for their dependencies. To take up our own cross and follow Jesus to Jerusalem means that we are compelled to invite a friend to come with us rather than allowing that friend to sleep in on Sunday morning. To take up our own cross and follow Jesus to our Jerusalem means that we must do the hard work of being reconciled rather than the easy work of allowing separations to continue. To take up our cross and follow Jesus to Jerusalem means that we are called to heal, the difficult part, rather than to inflict wounds, which is so terribly easy, especially with the most lethal weaponry at our instant beck and call — the tongue.
It is harder to go to Jerusalem than to stay in Galilee. In the name of going to our own Jerusalem, Jesus bids us, with Peter, to take up our cross. He bids us to actively seek out our brothers and sisters in Christ from whom we are estranged— to work diligently to make amends, to work diligently to seek and to grant forgiveness, to do the hard work of being reconciled with one another in the name of the Lord. In the name of going to our own Jerusalem, Jesus bids us to engage in ministries that take us out of ourselves and into the care of another person in his name — to feed his sheep. In the name of going to our own Jerusalem, our Lord bids us to do these things so that we can better proclaim his love to each other and to the world around us.
We all know that some of us, maybe all of us from time to time, will undoubtedly cry out like Peter for an easier, softer way, "No, Lord, let's not go to Jerusalem." We say it in other ways — "Let sleeping dogs lie; don't fix what ain't broke." We say, "I am not going to go to that person because they will be upset if I try to bring up the past. So let's deny there is any estrangement. Let's just be polite like mama taught us and then we can avoid all that reconciliation work."
Others may even say, "We are big enough already, let somebody else grow Christians." But Jesus looks us in the eye and says, "Now you are becoming a stumbling block to the Kingdom. Pick up your cross and follow me to Jerusalem." The softer, easier way is not God's way. Half measures are not God's way. With Jesus Christ and discipleship, it is, in fact, all or nothing.
Our Lord bids us, as he bid Peter and the others, to put self interest aside, what we define as self interest, and to follow the Lord. Our true self interest is being in the presence of Christ. We are going by way of the cross, the hard work of the cross. We know a little bit more than Peter knew. We know about the resurrection and that is our goal. If the resurrection is our goal, then the cross is merely a passage. It is hard work, yes, but so very worth it. And so we come to the Gospel story today and hear the words of Jesus, "Take up your cross and follow."
AMEN
The Rev. Dr. Robert Certain
rgcertain@stmargarets.org
29 August 1999