Cross centred lives

Death! Not a popular word is it. Very rarely is it something people sit around the dinner table and discuss, and when it is discussed it certainly isn’t discussed in the same way that marriage and birth are discussed, and most people certainly don’t sit there and say to their close friends and family “I’m going to suffer lots, be rejected, and then be killed”. I think if someone said that to me in such plain terms like Jesus did my reaction would be much like Peters, to take the person aside and accuse them of being a doom merchant etc.

Of course what the passage actually says is that Jesus was teaching that “the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.” Not only was he saying what was going to happen to him he was saying it must happen, that it was Gods plan. It doesn’t surprise me that the disciples didn’t listen to what Jesus was saying, yes he was prophesying his death but he was doing the same about his resurrection. But when someone says they are dieing most of us focus on that and stop listening to what the person is actually saying. Maybe if they had listened a bit more carefully then Jesus’ resurrection wouldn’t have come as such a surprise as it seems to.

I must admit to feeling very sorry for Peter when I first read the passage. I felt he did what most people would do faced in a similar situation and said Jesus was wrong and he didn’t have to die. Well actually we don’t know what he said as all we are told is he rebuked Jesus, but I’m sure it went along those lines. Jesus didn’t sympathise, or comfort him, the complete opposite infact – he shouted at him "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." When I first read this I thought ouch that’s harsh.

Then I got thinking, Peter had been with Jesus and the other disciples for a while, he had seen many miracles and signs about who Jesus was, he had, when asked by Jesus earlier in the chapter, said that he believed Jesus to be “the Christ” or the anointed one, and was one of a select few people who knew Jesus very closely and so should have known that Jesus wasn’t going to say things just to get a reaction, and that Jesus knew what he was talking about. So when Jesus said “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” He meant you know who I am, this is Gods plan not yours.

Would Jesus’ reaction have been the same if it was not one of his close disciples who rebuked his predictions, I suspect not, because they would not know Jesus in the same way. In today’s society how often do we rebuke Jesus’ claims? How often do we question the Easter story and view it almost as if it’s just a nice story? Obviously part of the reason for this is society is no longer a Christian society, if it ever was, but we, as the church, are the ones who are supposed to know Jesus, we are the people who claim to know Jesus as “the Christ” but the questions are how well do we know Jesus? How often do we rebuke him? And do we have in mind the things of God or the things of men?

I need to make this clear, I am certainly not saying we should not be having discussions exploring the Bible and the teachings of Jesus, I’m not saying we shouldn’t be debating how things Jesus said and did should be interpreted in today’s world. What I am saying is the complete opposite, we should be doing more to get to know Jesus closely so that as a church and as individuals we can say we are doing all we can to know we are doing things of God not things of men.

If we claim to know Jesus and if we claim to have relationships with him then Ephesians says we should “take on an entirely new way of life--a God-fashioned life, 23a life renewed from the inside” This doesn’t mean we should be completely separate from society, it doesn’t mean we should be abandoning our friendships or giving away all our belongings, what it does mean though is that the focus of our lives should be God, and this in turn makes us different from a world which often has its focus on material things such as cars, houses, and even TVs.

The message is simple, we are called to be different but being different isn’t simple! How often have you heard Christian preachers saying come to Jesus and your life will be better etc etc? I’ve heard it a few times and have a huge problem with that type of message for various reasons. How does that make those Christians who’s lives have fallen to bits around them feel? The same question about those whose lives don’t particularly change, things don’t get any better or worse, and how does that fit into what Jesus said when he said “"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35For whoever wants to save his life[c] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.” That doesn’t sound easy to me.

Deny yourself, take up your cross, follow Jesus, save your life by losing it! Four challenges which are all very difficult to understand but even more difficult to put into action.

How do you deny yourself? I feel this goes back to the passage in Ephesians mentioned earlier, if we are to live a God fashioned life then we need to deny ourselves some of the things which get in the way of doing this.

The question most people are asked at this time of year is what have you given up for lent? Infact it has become such a common question that people often give things up without asking why. Giving things up for lent is completely pointless unless you do something with it. Lent is the time we prepare for Easter, giving things up is a part of this, not for health reasons, or to save money but it is there as a challenge to get rid of something which maybe a hindrance to your relationship with God, and to replace it by spending more time getting to know the things of God. If we deny ourselves only to spend our time thinking about what we are sacrificing then all you are doing is replacing one hindrance with another.

Take up your cross and follow Jesus. We all know the cross and what it meant in the times of Jesus, it was the ultimate way of killing criminals. It wasn’t the image that it is today and so when Jesus said take up your cross he certainly wasn’t saying things will be easier if you follow me. I feel he was saying the opposite, that in order to follow him you need to be prepared for the pain and suffering that may come from following him.

Obviously if its such hard work then we need to know it is worth it, and Jesus does tell us “whoever wants to save his life[c] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.” Once again saying if you go through all this you will receive life, but only once you’ve lost it for me. No we don’t have to all be killed for God in a physical sense, but we need to be prepared to pass control of our lives to God in order to receive the life he promised us.

This last week I read in one newspaper about a man in Iraq who had become a Christian after doing some work with a Christian support agency. His family have reported him to the police, he has been arrested and now he is waiting to hear what his punishment will be, and it could mean death. I am sure this man knows the true meaning of taking up the cross, but how can we know it when we live in a free country where our faith is accepted no matter what it is? The man has given control of his life totally to God, he is prepare to die, we may not have to risk our lives for our faith in the legal sense but what this situation should make us ask is how much of our lives will we give up for God?

The Iraqi was prepared to give up his family and friends and maybe even his life, would we be the same if we were in his situation? Who has control of our lives? In our working lives is our aim more money or do we ask God what he wants us to do? What place does God have in our family homes when he says he should be the focus but human nature says our spouse and children should be most important? Not easy questions but they are questions which we all need to answer in order to work out what losing our lives for the gospel means to us, and whether we are prepare to do so.

None of this sounds easy and none of it promises an easy life but what it does promise us is that living a God centred life will be worth it in the long terms.

Of course most of this you will hear a similar message again in 2 weeks when we celebrate Easter, so why am I sharing this message during lent. Because we must all use lent as a time of preparation. Easter is the time of the year when the miracle of Jesus’ sacrifice is celebrated and remembered and it is the time of year when we should be renewing our Christian faith but it should also be used as an opportunity to share our faith with our friends and family and society as a whole. This can only be achieved if we have “the things of God in mind” and so it is vital we use the next couple of weeks to prepare and ensure we can honestly say this.

Tonight I believe God is challenging each one of us to get our lives in order, making sure that God is the centre not just a bit on the side. He is challenging us all to accept that this might mean making sacrifices and may be difficult. He is asking us how important he is to us and how our lives show it. Finally I believe God is challenging us to all pick up the cross and follow him on his journey over lent and prepare to experience the true meaning of Easter.

Amen