No Cross, No Christian

Second Sunday in Lent

March 1, 2015

Mark 8:34

No Cross, No Christian

†

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

Amen.

There is only one cross that saves you, forgives you. It is the cross of Christ, and by "the cross of Christ" we mean that unique work that Jesus alone finished on that cross outside of Jerusalem a long time ago. His work was to die, to give up His life as a ransom for many, for you. Luther wrote about Jesus' cross work in the Catechism:

He has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature,

purchased and won me from all sins,

from death and from the power of the devil,

not with gold or silver,

but with His holy, precious blood

and with His innocent suffering and death.

And His saving cross has led you into a life of following Him. You began to follow Jesus when He baptized with His pastor and through Word and water were forgiven in the Personal names of one true God: Father, Son, Spirit. Baptized babies, kids, and grown-ups follow Jesus through Sacrament-channeled Spirit-given faith.

But Jesus adds another aspect to following Him. And it really isn't an addition, but a deeper understanding of what it means to be His disciples, that is, baptized souls that follow Him.

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." (Mark 8:34)

First of all, the crosses that Jesus sends to those who follow Him are results of His unique carrying of His cross, the only cross that saves. Our crosses don't save us. But it right and true to say the following: no Christian, no cross; no cross, no Christian. It is like saying, "No faith, no believer." Both our crosses and our faith are things that are given to us, because of the cross of Christ.

So we receive our crosses as a necessary consequence of our walk with Jesus. It is the cross that marks the Christian as a Christian. So Jesus said:

"If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His Father's glory with the holy angels." (Mark 8:38)

Those who are ashamed of Christ and the cross in this life, will see Jesus ashamed of them at the last judgment. As it has been well said:

"Not a single soul who follows Him should ever think that he will be able to hide cross-less in the crowd of cross-bearers and so escape its weight and pain. Not one Christian should imagine that he could meet Jesus on the Last Day without the sign of the cross." (Deutschlander, The Theology of the Cross, Milwaukee: Northwestern, 2008, page 3)

Our crosses are heavy and painful. If they weren't, they wouldn't be crosses. But crosses are just bad things that happen to you; unbelievers have rude kids and get diabetes and slide off the road into the ditch, too.

No, crosses come from the pain of denying our wants and needs and desires and putting ourselves under the will of Christ. What is His will: To receive Him and deny yourself.

And that's where the pain comes in. Ever had to take an Olaf away from a little kid? Ever have to ask your spouse to forgive you? Ever have to admit that your mom was right and you were wrong? It hurts. We want to get our own; Jesus says do it My way, the way of the cross. And His way is putting others first. His way is sacrificing for the needs of your family. Another definition for family is a bunch of people who don't deserve anything from you. (And that defintion is also true from everyone else in your family, too.) This is painful. Your crosses are painful. Yet this is exactly what Jesus calls you to do. He calls you to embrace your cross and to embrace it willingly. This is why St. Paul could write:

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings. (Romans 5:1-3a)

Rejoice in your sufferings under the cross because this marks you as one who follows Jesus. When you suffer today, this isn't a sign that Jesus doesn't love you, but instead is a reminder of who you are. You follow Him who willingly embraced His painful cross for you. And He calls you to follow Him, not to save yourself, but because He already has.

Christ Jesus came into the world

to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.

Alleluia! Amen.