To listen to the sermon from Sunday June 24, 2007 preached by The Reverend William R. Nesbit, Jr. click here.

St. Charles' Episcopal Church – St. Charles, IL
The Fourth Sunday After Pentecost – Proper 7 – Year C
Sunday June 24, 2007
Zechariah 12:8-10;13:1 – Psalm 63:1-8 – Galatians 3:23-29 – Luke 9:18-24
Rev. William R. Nesbit, Jr.

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

"Who do you say that I am?" It is the question that Jesus asks his disciples when he gets a moment alone with them to pray together. This incident is squeezed in right after Jesus fed 5000 people near the city of Bethsaida, and right before Jesus is transfigured on the mountain in front of Peter, James and John. It is a very subtle and quiet event sandwiched in between two very powerful miracles. It would be easy to miss. "Who do you say that I am?" His disciples answer that question about the same way you would expect any group of people to answer a question...with a group of answers. Like any good teacher, Jesus waits patiently, drawing out their answers until he gets the one he is looking for. The right answer. "The Messiah of God!"

This little exchange is recalled in three of the four Gospels and as you might imagine, it is a little different in each one. In Matthew's version, Jesus replies to Peter that he is the rock on which he will build his church and the powers of hell will not stand against it. In Mark's version we have a version very similar to what we heard today, except that Peter takes Jesus aside when he begins to talk of his death, and tells him not to talk that way. Jesus responds with the well known line, "Get behind me Satan!," before continuing on with his plea for his followers to take up their cross daily. Peter is almost absent from the version of the encounter we hear today, Luke's version. He is surely there with the other disciples, but he doesn't step out from the crowd today. He speaks as one voice of many. What are we to take from this subtle difference? What do you think Luke was trying to tell us? What wisdom is waiting for us among the words?

For me two things stand out. The first is that the message from Jesus is to all of us equally. It is not for the leaders alone, the Peters among us, to take up our crosses daily. It is for everyone. "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." In our Gospel today, the message that Jesus proclaims is neither goaded by Peter the exemplary disciple as in Matthew, nor constrained by Peter the Satan, as in Mark. It comes to us wholly unaffected by Peter. In this way I think Luke is reminding us in a subtle way, of the new demands that Christian love place upon us. Our leaders give us vision and help to focus our efforts, but in the end it all comes down to the simple act of taking up our own cross, and that is something that no one else can do for us, be they leader or follower. It is our task alone if we are to be followers of Christ. Each one of us has to take up our own cross.

This is the second part that seems to stand out to me. We started this sermon with the question, "Who do you say that I am?" but now we come to the crux of the matter, if you will pardon the pun. What does Jesus mean when he tells his followers that they need to "deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." Here, I think, our lectionary folks, the people who have worked hard to give us a regular schedule of Bible readings, here, I think, they do us a disservice. They shave off a verse. The verse where Jesus tells us to take up our cross is followed by two more that bear on the subject. We only got to hear one of them this morning, so I am going to add the other one back in. Here are the three verses together. "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. What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves?" This last verse, I think, brings the whole image of taking up our cross into focus. If we do not take up our cross and follow, we run the risk of losing ourselves, losing ourselves in the vain search for power and safety in this world.

The cross of Christ is the supreme icon of God's love to the world. To take up our cross is to participate in the power of that sacrificial loving kindness.To be the hands and feet of Christ in the world is to take the nails of hate and rejection willingly and to show the marks of the nails not to condemn but to confirm. To give freely of ourselves out of the deep well of all we have been freely given by God.The power that Christ came to share is the power of love given freely with no expectation of anything in return. This is a power altogether different from anything the world has ever seen as power, for it is power tied not to might or influence, but to love; and it is power not hoarded, but given freely, even recklessly. It is not the power to condemn those different than yourself, though sadly it is often misused in this manner. It is not the power to confirm our own good behavior, though sadly it is often misused in this manner as well. It is the power to love first, and then speak the truth in the midst of that love. It is a power that transcends the law.It is an awesome power. The power to stop the devil in his tracks. Indeed it can stop all the powers of hell. And sadly, it is a power that we don't use nearly enough...and we should. As followers of Christ we should be known by this power.

And so I beg you, just once this week, take up that awesome power given to you by a God that loves you wildly. Take up your cross and follow Jesus.Condemn the fear, or anger, or guilt within you and cast its weight upon God. Forgive the fear, or anger, or guilt in someone else.Love somebody who doesn't deserve it, expecting nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, in return. Do it, not because I told you to, or because God wants you to, though both are good excuses, but because it is the right thing to do. Take the first step toward making it a habit in your life. Open your heart. You'll never be the same again. Amen.