Romans 6:1-11

What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may increase? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, so we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 10:24-39

“A disciple is not above the teacher nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household! So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. Everyone, therefore, who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven, but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven. Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it

The Way of the Cross

Worldly Values vs. Spiritual Values

One of my favorite songs is called “Awake, Awake to Love and Work.” It’s a setting of a poem by the Irish priest, Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy. Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy was born in 1883 in a poor parish in Leeds, Ireland. He attended Trinity College in Dublin, and then taught grammar school before entering the ministry as an Anglican priest. When World War I broke out, Studdert Kennedy was 31 years old. He was a humble man who cared about helping people. He became a chaplain in the army. He rode on trains going to the front, carrying a bag of New Testaments and boxes of cigarettes to give to soldiers. He helped soldiers write letters home. He ministered to wounded soldiers, and he wrote poems about his experiences. In 1927 a collection of his poems was published called The Unutterable Beauty. The song that I like comes from one of these poems and was published in a Mennonite Hymnal.

Awake, Awake to love and work!

The lark is in the sky;

The fields are wet with diamond dew;

The worlds awake to cry

Their blessings on the Lord of life,

As He goes meekly by.

 Looking for something

You know, many people are looking for something. They are looking for meaning in their life. They wonder what they are doing. They don’t have a clear motivation to wake up in the morning. But Jesus showed the way of the cross as the way to find meaning in life. When we find the way of the cross, something opens in our hearts, and we have a reason to wake up in the morning. We wake up to love and work.  When we find the devotional heart, we find the love that motivates our work. We have a reason to wake up, to love and to work.

The Mission

This morning we read from chapter 10, the Mission Discourse, the second of the five discourses in Matthew’s Gospel. Here, Jesus gives the disciples their mission. What is the mission? We can sum up the mission in one phrase: the way of the cross. Christianity is the way of the cross. It’s a way of life, a way of living that is the way of the cross. It’s a way of living through dying to self. Dying to self and being reborn into a new life.

Walk in Newness of Life

Paul writes about this in his letter to the Romans. “All of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death…so that we also might walk in newness of life…Our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, so we might no longer be enslaved to sin.” (Romans 6:3-6)

And then, again, in Romans 12, he puts it in a way I really like: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2)

Disciples of Jesus die to the old life

You see, as Christians, we are different. We’re different. We are not like worldly people. We don’t have the kind of worldly values that so many people have. The way of the cross means a new life. When we follow Jesus, when we become disciples of Jesus, we die to our old life. We die, and then we are reborn into a new life. “So that we also might walk in newness of life.” THAT is the good news. That is the way of the cross. The disciple’s mission is to live the way of the cross and to teach others about this way, to show others, the way of the cross.

Crucifixion in the first century

To understand what “the way of the cross” means, we have to talk about crucifixion. Crucifixion was not something unique to Jesus. In the first century, when Rome occupied Judea, crucifixion was a common form of execution. The cross was well understood. Roman soldiers crucified rebels, criminals, political enemies, anyone who threatened the order of society. Crucifixion was more than a punishment. It was a shameful humiliation and social rejection. It was a complete denial of personal power. It was a degrading execution. To be crucified was to be thrown out of society, rejected in shame as an outcast, a non-citizen, stripped of all rights and dignity, and tortured in a slow and painful death.

Worldly values

So, to take up the cross means to rebel against Rome, that is, to not be intimidated into conformity, to not accept the worldly values of the Roman Empire, but to follow God’s values, to live a Godly life, not a worldly life. The way of the cross means to live a life based on love, compassion, and mercy rather than the pursuit of power and control. Rome was a society that honored aggression, power and ego. But Christ’s way of the cross is the opposite. To die to self, to love others and to serve others, this is the way of the cross.

Geoffry Studdert Kennedy, the Irish priest and army chaplain wrote about this in his poem:

Come, let thy voice be one with theirs,

Shout with their shout of praise;

See how the giant sun soars up,

Great lord of years and days!

So let the love of Jesus come

And set thy soul ablaze.

To give and give, and give again,

What God hath given thee;

To Spend thyself nor count the cost;

To serve right gloriously

The God who gave all worlds that are,

And all that are to be.

A Radical Way of Life

In our reading this morning, Jesus knows that his teaching is radical. He knows that it goes against the worldly values of the Roman Empire. He knows that the way of the cross is going to be disruptive. It’s going to cause problems, to set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother. He makes it clear: the way of the cross is not the way of the world. And so, the question is: why would anyone want to do this? Why would anyone want to take up the cross? And the answer is: “Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”

 The contradiction

You know, I think, eventually, we all get to a place where we see the truth of this. On the surface, it doesn’t make sense. It’s a contradiction. But have you ever noticed, when you pursue a selfish goal, when you pursue something that is all about self-centered importance, trying to get something for yourself, the pursuit of power and control, trying to get more power, get more money, get more pleasure, get more whatever serves I-me-mine, when everything is about I-me-mine, have you ever noticed at a certain point, there is a let-down? At some point, you see how hollow and meaningless these things are, because they don’t last. I have seen it for myself. I have seen how ultimately hollow and meaningless the self-centered life is.

I don’t know about you, but really, for me at least, the most unhappy, miserable people I have ever met are the selfish ones, you know, the arrogant ones, constantly thinking about themselves, always wanting more, more power, more control and influence, to show how important they are compared to others. But really, they are lost and confused. Chasing after their own happiness, instead they create a whirlwind of chaos all around them. There is conflict and drama in all their relationships. They manipulate and strategize. Their lives are based on worldly pursuits. The pursuit of worldly goals, selfish goals. It’s an easy trap to fall into. We see this all the time. In fact, our culture is based on these values.

But Jesus tells his disciples that worldly values are a lie. Worldly power and wealth do not last. He shows his disciples a different way, a different value system. When they die to self, they die to their self-centered pursuits, then they will find life. They will find the life that is ultimately satisfying. They will find the life that is worth living. They will find something to live for, something that will make their life meaningful.

Living a devotional life, in devotion to God, loving God, loving one’s neighbors as oneself, helping others, loving others, giving to others. This is the way of the cross. This is the life that is ultimately satisfying. Those who lose their life for my sake will find it. Those who live in the devotional heart will find true satisfaction.

Invitation

The invitation this morning is to take up the cross. Step into this new way of life. It is here that a person can find meaning and motivation.

Awake Awake to love and work.

So let the love of Jesus come

And set thy soul ablaze.

To give and give, and give again,

What God hath given thee;

To spend thyself nor count the cost;

To serve right gloriously

The God who gave all worlds that are,

And all that are to be.

May it be so for you.

Amen? Amen.