Taking up the Cross

We Christians have just celebrated the high point of our liturgical year with our Easter festivities.  I hope that all of us had a wondrous and joyful time that was full of the blessings of our God. 
In most of our traditions we observe Good Friday just prior to Easter Sunday.  There is a certain tension in these two holidays being so close to each other, but that is the case with so much of our Christian lives, isn’t it?  Part of healthy Christianity is maintaining that tension and balance in our lives.  As difficult and somber as is Good Friday, we cannot have Easter Sunday without it, can we?  From my perspective, the focus of Good Friday is the cross.  That cross is the instrument which won our salvation.  Without the cross, there is no crucifixion.  Without the crucifixion, there is no resurrection.  Without pondering the trouble and the horror of Good Friday, we cannot begin to appreciate the majesty of the resurrection.  We cannot ignore Good Friday, but must make it part of our lives.
I would estimate that for practically all Christians, this is a difficult message.  But Jesus himself left little room for discussion in this matter.  In Luke 9:23, Mark 8:34, and Matthew 16:24 we are all challenged to deny ourselves and take up our crosses.  What is the price of failure?  Look at Matthew 10:38 and Luke 14:27.  We are not worthy of him and cannot be called his disciples.  This is a hard thing, particularly in today’s world of instant gratification and materialism.  It is so hard, that many people have sought out much more comfortable messages of prosperity and ease – and unfortunately sometimes they find those messages in churches.  That message is contrary to what Jesus himself told us.
We had a wonderful Passion play that was put on by our youth on Good Friday evening.  As part of that play, one of the soldiers asked, “Who will help him carry his cross?”  Another asked, “Who wants to wear his crown?”  As I watched this drama unfold, I was moved to reference it in my homily.  Who will help him carry that cross?  Who will wear that brutal crown?  That cross is rough.  It is full of splinters and it cuts into your back and shoulders.  The crown of thorns is an instrument of torture, piercing us.  Will we take them up?  As I have worked with people who have struggled with mainstream Christianity, I have become aware that in many cases it is difficulty that they cannot embrace.  They want to hear fun stuff.  They want to hear that they will have no difficulties in this world if they just take their “Jesus pill”.  They don’t want difficulty and a difficult message, they want to be entertained and comforted.  As I pointed at the cross on Friday, I reminded people that the cross is the reason many people are leaving.  That cross is not a pretty picture.   It is not entertaining.  It is not for the faint of heart.  It is somber and sober and it calls us to a deep place of prayer and introspection.
Now those of us who have lived a bit (and I’m old enough to count myself in that category) recognize that the cross is coming to each of us, whether we want it or not.  Difficulty will come.  Loved ones will disappoint us, or sicken, or die.  It happens.  It is part of this world.  Jobs will disappear, homes will be lost, natural disasters will occur.  We have all seen this.  If the message I have heard is one of ease, how do I reconcile the difficulty and the disasters?
For those who have healthily embraced the cross, they have also embraced Easter.  The difficulties are borne because of an undying belief that our Lord will defeat death for each of us who are his disciples. 
Nothing will cause us to swerve from that belief.  We bear the burden of the cross because he told us to do so.  The great saints who so often inspire us not only bore the cross but did so gladly and even asked for more if it would cause them to more closely identify with Jesus and his most unfortunate children. 
Recognizing the ultimate reward that is associated with that acceptance of the cross is what allows us to maintain an attitude of Christian joy. 
I do not pretend that it is easy.  These will not be Hallmark days.  It will not be pleasurable or happy.  But joy, my brothers and sisters, is a much deeper place.  It is a place where people reside secure in the knowledge that our God is there for them regardless of the illusions of this world.  Why?  Because our God took the ultimate evil of this world and transformed it into the ultimate victory.  And that, my friends, is our ultimate Alleluia.

Mt 10:38  and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

Mt 16:24  Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Mk 8:34  Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Lk 9:23  Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

Lk 14:27  And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.