Take Up What?

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Beethoven Sonata Op.31, #2, second movement Adagio.

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Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 (NRSV)

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous." Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him,

"As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.

I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.

God said to Abraham, "As for Sarah your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her."

Romans 4:13-25 (NRSV)

For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.

For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations")—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become "the father of many nations," according to what was said, "So numerous shall your descendants be." He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. Therefore his faith "was reckoned to him as righteousness."

Now the words, "it was reckoned to him," were written not for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.

Mark 8:31-38 (NRSV)

Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."

He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Message:

Have you noticed, I’m certain you have, we all die?

There are those who spend their lives denying they will die. Some Action Hero movies seem to reinforce this idea that some of us will not die. and then there are those among us so caught up in the last chapter of our life, the one where we will die, probably from some awful, debilitating, drawn out illness, that we have missed living now. And there are those of us who live, not so much thinking about dying but rather thinking about what we can get now.

And then there was a global economic down turn that has come like an electroshock therapy to our terribly inhuman system. I just don’t know if it will last long enough. I have such great hopes. During this crisis, I hope that we as a society will see each other as citizens in stead of consumers. In this crisis I hope we will see each other as humans rather than employed or unemployed. During this crisis I hope that people will look each other in the eyes more and think, “Oh, I bet you have a family too.” Or “Oh, I hope you have friends who love you. “ Or “Oh, I hope your faith life is growing through this time of suffering.... “ So, church a question for you. What is the good you hope will come from this economic crisis? What element of humanity would you hope to regain?

There is real suffering. There are families out of work, out of their homes, out of food, and without access to medicine or healthcare. There are skilled people willing to work and no job to go to. There is real pain.

Last week, Terry gave us four element to use as part of our lenten discipline. These were Reflection, stopping to look at where we are and where God is in our lives

Preparation, making efforts to consciously make time for spiritual growth and nurture.

Correction, an other old word for this is repentant, that is to turn around from our direction and

return to God’s direction.

Renewal: new life, new beginning.

This week we harshly reminded that this Christian life does not protect us from suffering. While it is against all you may have learned from the TV evangelists, a spiritual life/a prayer life is about seeking God’s will. A spiritual life/a prayer life is not a means of forcing God to do what you want to do. Not even if you tantrum.

The reading from the Book of Genesis tells a story of how God does something so unexpected that it simply is laughable.

The reading from the letter to the Romans tells of another surprise. This narrow covenant given to Abraham has become a covenant of relationship so wide that everyone who seeks this loving God is welcome no matter where they were born or to whom they were born.

But, says the gospel, while God will do things you can not imagine and all are welcome into that amazing love - and surprise - it will cost you.

Terry mentioned last Sunday how we don’t like the word “Correction .” We like the word “Sacrifice” even less.

In the gospel of Mark, Jesus is talking with the disciples. Impulsive Peter, our extrovert among the disciples, at first proclaims Jesus the messiah and then upon hearing this includes suffering he rebukes Jesus in front of the other disciples. You would never do this to a teacher in the time of Jesus or really even in this day and age. Jesus sets Peter strongly back in his place. And then Mark includes a passage that is for us. It is unlikely Jesus spoke these words as we have them as it is unlikely Jesus knew he would be crucified. Oh, it is very likely he knew he would be killed. It is unlikely he knew the means...

Mark wants us to know, that to be church, to be people following this way of Jesus there is suffering. Deny yourself. Take up your cross. Spend your life in Christ.

Deny yourself as the center of the universe. Deny yourself as the God above all other gods. Deny yourself as greater than another. This is not deny yourself and let others trample on you in the name of “good Christian behavior.” There really are predator humans. They are built with the intent of getting their needs met, their need for power mostly. These do not come with any stripes that identify them.

To deny yourself is to welcome Christ into yourself and to welcome the image of Christ in others. You are not greater than another and you are absolutely not less than another.

To take up the cross, was not Jesus teaching that we must go out and be crucified. The teaching is that we must take up this way of the criminal Jesus and follow after his example. It is a statement of solidarity with the way of Jesus. A way that is against the usual teachings of society. It is a burden to carry this way that calls us to look at human systems and question the use of power. It is a burden to look at human behavior and question the intentions and motivations. It is a burden to continue to remind people that they are not less than others and that if they have been treated less than others they are also not above others.

1. Deny yourself as god so that you can

2. Take up the cross of the Christian life. This is a life that seeks to live in truth, that treats others with dignity, that seeks to be treated with fairness and treat others with fairness. Take up this cross of Jesus and follow. It’s an active way of being. And thus,

3. This “follow” is a spending of your life. If you will try to save your life, you will lose it. If you live your life in the ways of Christ, you will find life and find it abundantly.

This brings me back to where we began. You know you will die - right? You know you will meet up with God at your death - right? Well, not too many have reported back. It is my belief that we do meet up with the loving compassionate God that is revealled in Jesus Christ. But I am more interested in what I do see after death. What I know from this side is that who you live your life with matters, not just to God. It matters to the whole structure of society.

During these weeks of Lent, I invite you to see yourself as a reflection of Christ in the world. I invite you to take up the suffering that comes with seeking to live faithfully, and I invite you to welcome a renewed life in Christ.

I invite you to consider what it means to be church. Here we have the opportunity to reflect upon the ways we live. We have the opportunity to prepare ourselves to go out into the places in need of the way of Jesus, we have the opportunity to correct our ways not just as individuals. When we have strayed from the way of Jesus as a church, when any of our ministries have strayed from the way of Jesus, we have the opportunity as church to correct, to repent, to turn around and face the direction of God once again. And with that does come renewed life, life with meaning, and life with purpose.

Yes, it is true, we will all die. The great gift is to live this life as we have it now. How will you spend your life? Why should you spend your life, accept for the Lord? Deny yourself, take up this cross of the Christian life, and follow.