Crosses to Bear

This sermon was offered by Alison Montgomery Fischer to the congregation of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Bakersfield, CA on Sunday, August 30, 2020. The assigned lectionary was Matthew 16:21-28, Romans 12:9-21, and Psalm 26:1-8.

[Mat 16:21-28 NIV] 21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. 22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!" 23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns." 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. 28 "Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

May the words of my mouth and meditations of my heart be pleasing to you, Lord. Our rock and redeemer. 

 Today’s Gospel lesson is loaded with Jesus’ wisdom for how His followers should live and what is to be expected from a life that is devoted to our faith in Jesus Christ. The verses proceeding today’s scripture teach of Jesus’ divinity and His anticipated death and resurrection. Jesus warns us that although there is resurrected life in living out our faith through Him, that we are to anticipate inevitable suffering. 

Our holy scriptures, our Living Word, graciously provide wisdom that is applicable to our lives and context. Through Christ, we are graced with salvation through liberation but that requires releasing our worldly desires and priorities and focusing on our role in the combined spiritual and physical realities that is created when we choose a life of faith.  

Jesus rebukes Peter’s renunciation of His impending death in Jerusalem by stating “Get behind me Satan!” and to to focus his mind on “divine things rather than human things.” This declaration of “Satan” is not equating Peter as the Eurocentric depiction of an evil being with horns. As, the original text can also be interpreted as “evil”. “Get behind me Satan!” acknowledges evil exists with a purpose in separating us from fully experiencing a covenantal relationship with God, in communion with each other, and the resurrection of living through Jesus Christ. The demand for the evil to “get behind us”, and making this statement in full faith in Jesus, declares the sovereignty of our Christ. Because our Jesus is greater than any source of evil or suffering. 

In preparation for this homily, I have spent the past two weeks identifying the “evil” in my life that was separating me from fully living in communion with God. It was a healthy discernment in the significance I have given to certain factors in my life and for me to recognize what was affecting my communion with the Divine and preventing me from living out the life I am called to do. In this practice, I intentionally declared “get behind me Satan” to address the evil and pray through resolving the obstacle. This practice was a fun challenge that I recommend. There was a lot to lay claim for Jesus when acknowledging what was separating me from Him. This charismatic spiritual practice led me to declaring more hindrances that I had created myself rather than the worldly sins and suffering that I had anticipated. 

Yes, I found myself claiming Jesus over COVID19, over the other suffering disease and death, and acknowledging the evil that is creating such division and hatred in our nation and world. But more so, I found myself being separated from God due to my more personal actions and thoughts. 

Like fear of the future and frustration over uncertainty rather than trust and confidence in God’s orchestration and will.

Or isolation caused by depression and anxiety rather than resting in the communion with God and those who love me and want to help me endure those illnesses. 

And the personal biases, racism, ableism, and judgement I hold towards myself and others who are different from me or from whom I disagree with. 

 Or falling prey to comparison and envy of the materialism of our capitalistic society that is rooted in toxic productivity. 

 Or my disappointment in not achieving the expectations, schedule and patterns of what I had planned rather than finding peace and confidence in God’s plan and needs from my life. 

The holy life that I strive for is riddled with evil and sin that must be identified and can only be overcome by trusting in and obeying Jesus. 

So what do we do when the worldly evil and sin is behind us but the realities of life that remain with us? 

We pick up the heavy remains, the joyful remains, the unexpected remains and turn them into our crosses and we carry them as we journey towards Christ. In choosing Christ, we continuously work to put the world behind us and in doing so, we “pick up our crosses and follow” Him. Jesus calls us to identify the sources of our lives that separate us from God, the sources of death of spirit and body, and to claim “I am living with these problems, but my faith in the Source of Life and all the is good and Holy is greater than these sources of death and suffering for the body and Spirit.” 

 We are to carry our burdens with confidence and courage that we are loved by Jesus just as we are. We are to honor the Holy in all others and love them as we are loved. We are called to strive to be better through the teachings of the Jesus and our Holy scriptures. 

 In the Body of Christ, we support each other’s journeys and growth. When living in Christ, we have hard conversations so we may build bridges rather than walls. We choose relationship and love rather than create or remain complicit to division. We choose discipline and discipleship over destruction. But our small sacrifices are more than worth the benefits of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice. 

 “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”

Because, y’all, we are promised resurrection and salvation. Which, yes, requires death and suffering, but with confidence that these experiences are not the end. Through Christ, we are graced with salvation through liberation but that requires releasing our worldly desires and priorities and focusing on our role in the Kingdom of God. Liberation through salvation means that when we live in sincere communion with God and each other, we experience the peace, love, and tenacity that naturally evolves from what we offer to this world. In doing so, we must live our lives according to His teachings. And that requires honest self-assessment, sincere repentance and lamentation for our sins, and continual renewal of who we are and who we can be. We must account for our sins and we will gain freedom from our sins. We will gain freedom from our suffering. 

 Every time we examine the opportunities to claim “get behind me Satan” so we may pick up our crosses and draw closer to God, we are practicing resurrection. Everyone is worthy of redemption and resurrection. God loves us and desires a relationship with us. The cross may be heavy at time, and life in Christ is hard work. But life in Christ enables all experiences to be endurable and to have goodness. And through Christ we experience Glory on earth and in heaven. 

The Glory that will always overcome what seeks us to be separated from God. 

The Glory that is greater than the suffering and sins of this earth. 

The Glory of resurrection and Risen Life. 

The Glory found in Jesus. 

Thanks be to God.