{"id":766,"date":"2021-06-03T05:31:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-03T12:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/?p=766"},"modified":"2021-06-01T14:33:41","modified_gmt":"2021-06-01T21:33:41","slug":"god-calls-me-to-bear-my-cross","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/?p=766","title":{"rendered":"God Calls Me to Bear My Cross"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(Luke 9:21-26)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to tune out for a bit, this might be the sermon to do so, because Jesus isn\u2019t speaking these words to everyone. How do we know that? Because he\u2019s only addressing \u201cwhoever wants to be [his] disciple\u201d (v.23). <\/em><\/strong>That\u2019s not everyone. That\u2019s rather obvious when it comes to unbelievers. But it isn\u2019t just unbelievers; it’s a whole lot of people inside the church that aren\u2019t really interested in being disciples either. They may be quick to identify as Christians, but the blunt truth is, there’s no shortage of Christians who have little interest in being disciples. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does being a Christian automatically make one a disciple? Consider two individuals enrolling at SDSU in the fall. One of them attends all the classes, completes the homework, studies hard, and eventually graduates. The other is there to party, making zero academic effort. Which one is the student? In that they are both technically enrolled and pay tuition, each would be considered a student. But an honest evaluation would conclude that only one of them is in reality a student. So also, Scripture lays out criteria that apply to disciples of Jesus: they hold to his teaching (Jn. 8:31), they love one another (Jn. 13:35), they bear fruit (Jn. 15:8), and they make other disciples (Mt. 28:19), to name a few. To that list, Jesus adds yet another challenge: \u201cWhoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me\u201d (v.23). <\/em><\/strong>There you have it. Jesus\u2019 disciples are called to bear our cross. Doing so involves a three-step checklist: deny self, bear crosses, and Follow Jesus.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you know why this is such a struggle for us? We want to jump right to the cross-bearing part, which is tough enough as it is\u2026 but made even tougher if we don\u2019t address the bigger obstacle in the way before we even get to the cross-bearing part: ourselves. Imagine if every time you opened your eyes, no matter what you were trying to look at or which direction you were looking, all you saw directly in front of you was a mirror, reflecting yourself back to you. While there isn\u2019t literally a mirror right in front of you 24\/7, that really is the problem each one of us has – it\u2019s completely natural for us to see ourselves before we see anyone or anything else. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trace that reality all the way back to Eden. Adam and Eve believed Satan\u2019s lie that God was trying to hide their true reflection, that he didn\u2019t want them to see how god-like they really were, convincing them that they\u2019d see what they actually looked like if they just ate the fruit. The reality was, they had a perfect view – the wonderful image of a gracious, caring, loving God who designed an amazing world for them! But they traded it in to be able to replace that image with a picture of themselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They got it, but it wasn\u2019t what they had hoped. The mirror with their reflection was completely cracked. It has been ever since, and sin\u2019s curse has carried with it the desire to see only self and nothing else. So what does it mean to deny self? It means shattering the mirror so we can see beyond the reflection of self, so we can put up a fight against our selfish, self-absorbed worldview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then we\u2019re ready to pick up a cross, right? We might think so, but we\u2019re not done just yet denying self. There are two other obstacles that we often need to address. We need to slow down and put down. We think the more efficiently\/faster we get things done, the sooner we\u2019ll have time for God\u2026 but that only speeds up the treadmill; it doesn\u2019t actually ever free us from it. We end up running ourselves ragged because we never slow down.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And we need to put down. When we finally arrive at the cross we are to take up, we won\u2019t be able to pick it up if we insist on having our hands full with the other things we are carrying! What do you insist on hanging on to that won\u2019t free your hands to pick up your cross? To what are you so attached that it\u2019s worth disqualifying you as a disciple, and possibly even resulting in a forfeit of eternal life? Jesus gave a very blunt warning and then followed it up with a very pointed question. \u201cFor whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.\u00a0What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?\u201d (v.24-25)<\/em><\/strong>. Hang on to your loves in this life, whatever they may be, and you run the risk of losing out on eternal life.\u00a0Put those things down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, assuming we have slowed down and put down enough stuff to finally free up our hands so we can take up our cross, we\u2019re ready to bear it, right? Just one problem: crosses aren\u2019t pleasant! We want to avoid them! We don\u2019t naturally gravitate toward them or ask the Lord for them, and when we see them in our lives, often our first reaction in prayer to the Lord is to ask him to remove them, to get rid of them. They get in the way of our best life now, of the life we\u2019ve been trying to design for ourselves. Crosses, by definition, are not convenient!\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So why do we ever bother bearing any cross at all??? Because bearing crosses bears blessings. It wouldn\u2019t seem like it, but each time you lift up that cross, to carry it, what you find on the other side are the blessings that God had hidden beneath it. Paul mentions many of those blessings in his letters, reminding us that suffering produces perseverance, character, and hope (Romans 5), patient endurance, and comfort (2 Corinthians). We also know that in cases of suffering that the world cannot solve or explain, we are compelled to lean more and more on the Lord, to anchor our trust in him, which ultimately brings us into a closer relationship with him. And each of these blessings from cross-bearing ready us for the next cross to bear, which may be even slightly larger than the previous cross. That\u2019s less daunting\u2026 when we realize that blessings are hidden beneath that cross – the larger the cross, the more blessings are hidden beneath it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take that imagery literally. Picture a small cross, one the size of an earring or a necklace. We naturally want to avoid it because remember, bearing a cross will involve hardship and trial; it will in include some measure of suffering. But eventually, when you pick up that small cross, you see the blessings that were hidden underneath it, blessings that would have remained hidden had you never picked up the cross to carry it. Then you come across a little bit bigger cross, one the size of your hand. You immediately remember the difficulty that resulted the last time you picked up the smaller cross. But then you also remember the blessings hidden beneath it. So you pick up this cross, too, and sure enough, beneath the larger cross are hidden even more blessings. And so it goes throughout life – God allows one cross after another to come into your life, sometimes bigger than the previous. Our natural inclination is to avoid the cross, to leave it where it is. But each time we have picked up that cross, an abundance of rich blessings were hidden beneath it, blessings we could not have experienced without the trial or hardship that preceded them. So it is – we bear our cross, and God blesses our cross-bearing.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve denied, we\u2019re picking up the cross. Now we follow Jesus. \u201cThere\u2019s more?!? Weren\u2019t the first two enough?!? What about when Jesus goes a direction I\u2019d rather not, when he veers this way and I\u2019d rather go that way?\u201d Recently I met someone for coffee. It was a place I hadn\u2019t been to yet, so I did what we all do and punched in the address to my navigational app and off we went. It worked just like it was supposed to\u2026 until I arrived at the address and there was no coffee place. It wasn\u2019t hidden or tucked away somewhere that I couldn\u2019t see; it was just gone, not at the destination I had punched in. A little looking around online revealed that it had recently moved – very close by, thankfully – but at a different address altogether. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isn\u2019t that often how our lives work? We punch in where we want to go or where we think we need to go and then we arrive and there\u2019s nothing there, or at least not what we expected. Our own navigation system just isn\u2019t trustworthy, is it? But you know what will never steer us wrong? Following Jesus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now following Jesus doesn\u2019t mean that he will provide little signs along the way throughout our lives on every little decision we make. Following him doesn\u2019t mean waiting for him to reveal which menu choice he wants you to make when you go out for breakfast. Neither does it mean he\u2019ll reveal to you whether you should date this person or accept that job. But following him does<\/em> mean that we look to God\u2019s Word for guidance in our decision making. It does<\/em> mean that we follow his guidance toward paths that help us avoid sin rather than paths that bring us closer to it. Following Jesus does <\/em>mean that our relationship with the Bible ought to better resemble our relationship with our phone than it does our relationship with the unused treadmill or exercise bike sitting in the garage.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I know it seems like a tall order to follow in the footsteps of perfect Jesus! It IS a tall order! It is impossible. But think of it the way a small child follows in dad\u2019s footsteps after piles of freshly fallen snow. He\u2019d never be able to get through on his own without getting stuck in the snow. But what an easier time is made of it when he simply traces dad\u2019s footsteps ahead of him, each step having packed down the snow in a clear path that makes it much easier to follow. That child will go his own direction at his own risk, but he can\u2019t fail when he follows in his father\u2019s footsteps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is that the case when it comes to following in Jesus\u2019 footsteps? Because we know that the value of following him is not in making it possible for us to perfectly keep in step with him; no, the value is in seeing where those footsteps led: to the cross. Ah, and we have come back to it again, haven\u2019t we? The cross. But this time not to bear it ourselves, but rather in faith to gaze on the One who bore it willingly for us. For if we do not follow his steps to his cross daily in our lives, we will struggle mightily to ever see the point in bearing our own crosses.\u00a0But to see his cross is to see the price Jesus paid to forgive self-absorbed, imperfect disciples, who prefer to go their own way and avoid any cross placed before them. To follow Jesus to his cross is to see that my forgiveness means freedom for cross-bearing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before calling his disciples to pick up their cross and follow him, Jesus reminded them that he had<\/em> to be rejected, had<\/em> to suffer, had<\/em> to be put to death, and had<\/em> to rise from the dead. All this had<\/em> to happen so that we could call ourselves his disciples, bought and paid for with his own blood. All this had <\/em>to happen so that we can now bear our crosses and follow him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is any of this easy? Will any one of us ever attain the status of perfect cross-bearers this side of heaven? Never. So God addressed that problem by sending the perfect cross-bearer. Literally. Jesus bore the cross for those who couldn\u2019t as well as those who wouldn\u2019t – he bore it for everyone. He bore his cross so that we can bear ours. We do so because cross-bearing brings blessings. THAT is our calling. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Luke 9:21-26) If you want to tune out for a bit, this might be the sermon to do so, because Jesus isn\u2019t speaking these words to everyone. How do we know that? Because he\u2019s only addressing \u201cwhoever wants to be [his] disciple\u201d (v.23). That\u2019s not everyone. That\u2019s rather obvious when it comes to unbelievers. But… Continue reading God Calls Me to Bear My Cross<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[128,65],"tags":[143,144,145,146,5,109,36,108],"class_list":["post-766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-summer-vocation-series","category-sermons","tag-cross","tag-crossbearing","tag-disciple","tag-discipline","tag-jesus","tag-preaching","tag-sermon","tag-teaching"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p842FN-cm","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=766"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":770,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766\/revisions\/770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}