9-3-19 - What's Your Cross?

(You can listen to this reflection here.)

“Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” This is right up there with “hate your family” in the how-to-win-friends-and-influence-people canon.

What did people think when they heard Jesus say this? We hear “cross,” and think of his crucifixion, but this was earlier, when Jesus’ movement seems flushed with success. In fact, the first sentence of this week’s passage reads, “Now large crowds were traveling with Jesus…” Was he trying to weed out the faddists and thrill-seekers, whittle the numbers down to those who were really serious? Talking about “carrying your cross” to subjects in a Roman colony might do it – the cross was a terrifying, brutal imperial instrument of execution. I can imagine a few people in that crowd slowing, falling back to the edges, slinking off home.

I might have been one of them. Interpreting “carry the cross” as “embrace your suffering,” as some have done for centuries, doesn’t induce me to cry “sign me up!” Yet I don’t believe God desires suffering for his beloved, even as some passages in the bible suggest it can be part of God’s plan. I believe God shows up in the midst of the suffering that comes our way; that God’s power and love can redeem and transform it in ways that yield life and healing and growth.

So how else might we interpret “carry the cross?” How about this: "Take up your ministry, commit yourself to your mission within the whole of God’s mission of restoration and reconciliation." For each of us, our mission is a product of our gifts, passions and circumstances – and the leading of the Holy Spirit. It is not something we undertake alone. We undertake it with the second half of that imperative, “and follow me.”As we become people of purpose following Christ, using our gifts, filled and guided by the Holy Spirit, we find ourselves more focused and peaceful.

The fullness of Jesus’ ministry involved suffering on the cross. Because he did, we don’t have to. We may be asked to sacrifice our resources, our prerogatives, our agendas; we might even face resistance and suffering, not because suffering is redemptive, but because passionate engagement in God’s mission transforms us and the world.

What do you see as one of your ministries as a Christ-follower? Where do your life circumstances, gifts and passions intersect? (If answering that is hard, try making a list of some of your gifts, your passions, and think through your circumstances: where do you live, what do you do, who do you live with, who do you live around? That's important data.)

Do you feel asked to sacrifice, or “lay down,” any of your preferences or resources to make space for others? To alleviate suffering for other people?
Today, this week, have a conversation with Jesus about the answers you come up with.

Finding our way into God’s mission is a lifetime vocation. At different times in our lives we’re called to live out our mission in different ways. Where will you “carry the cross” today?

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