All Or Nothing

"Then he said to them all, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it" Luke 9:23-24

    We come now to the end of our Lenten Journey as we begin to move through Holy Week.  I've always found Holy Week a difficult week to go through. In part because as we look at the last week of Jesus, I all too often see myself in the crowds. I see myself pursuing Jesus when I think he can do something for me (Palm Sunday) and looking elsewhere when I don't get the answers I want (the betrayal of the crowd). I see myself in Peter, quickly denying Jesus to save his own skin. And I see myself at the foot of the cross contemplating the fact it was my sins that placed Jesus on the cross. Thankfully our story doesn't end there and we can gather with the woman and the disciples to stare into the empty tomb on Easter morning.

   That's all well and good I suppose. But the Scripture above reminds us that we are not to be identified with the crowd. We are called to be like Jesus.  We are to become Christlike people. Now for most of us we tend to see this as a reminder we are to be nicer, more loving, at peace. We are to do something good, help the poor and the homeless. Housefly we are able to be better people. That's what it means to be like Jesus, doesn't it?

  Not according to Him. Yes all of these things are "Jesus-like" behaviors. And no doubt we would be much easier to live with if we did them on a more consistent basis. But that's not what it means to be truly like Jesus. In the Scripture above Jesus says, if you really want to follow me you must flow me all the way. Go through your own Holy Week, take up your cross go to Calvary die that you might rise again. That might seem harsh, but to the first century listener there would have been no ambiguity about taking up a cross.  When you put a cross on your shoulder you were only going to one place. And ti wasn't going to turn out well.

   There is a lot to unpack in Jesus words here. And I won't attempt to describe everything that's going on here. But one thing that should be clear to us is that Jesus is letting every one know that being His disciple will not be an easy thing.  You will be different from the world. You will be at odds with your culture. People in your family won't understand. friendships may dissolve. You will be made fun of, fingers wile be pointed at you.  If one follows Jesus, one must expect  the same treatment the world gave him. to follow Him means to go to the cross.

  But it seems the church today is more Chameleon than Christian. We spend more time trying to blend in than to stand out. We work hard at getting along, not making any waves. We turn a blind eye to wrong, we ignore or join in in sinful practices. We allow our current culture to dictate our beliefs rather than Scripture. We've come to believe that the unforgivable sin is not blasphemy against the Holy Spirit but blasphemy against society.  Heaven ( or I guess Earth) forbid we ever be accused of being intolerant of anything.

  If Christians, and the Church, have lost their influence in our world today it is not because our faith is ode finished, passe' and behind the times. It's because we have watered it down so much that the world can't even taste it when they see us.  We would do well to remember that Jesus calls us the salt of the earth, and also reminds us that "unsalty salt" isn't good for anything.

  I want to encourage you to take Jesus' words to heart. Stop nibbling at Jesus, just getting enough Jesus to get you through the day. I want to encourage you rather to take up your cross and follow Him completely. One can't partially die on a cross. We either give Jesus everything, or we give Him nothing. Which will it be for you? Let us take up the cross that we might also experience the Resurrection of our souls and churches as well.

In Christ,
Rev. Dr. Brian Jones <><