A Homily for Lent II
This morning we will continue our journey through the Gospel of Mark.
Mark’s Gospel is structured like a mountain. Last month, we began our journey, climbing the early events in the ministry of Jesus, his baptism, the calling of the disciples, the miracles, the healings, the feeding of thousands. At the top of this mountain is Peter’s declaration, “You are the Christ.” And now this morning, we begin the journey down the far side of the mountain toward the cross.
As our descent begins, we hear Jesus proclaim, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me”.
If each of us shared what denying ourselves and taking up our cross means to us in our own lives we would have a wealth of faithful responses because the specifics will look different in every life… at different times… and in different situations.
For me, when I hear Jesus calling me to deny myself and take up my cross and follow him, I hear a call to live my life in love. When asked what the greatest commandment was Jesus replied, “love God with all your being and your neighbor as yourself.”
This kind of love begins with self-denial. Being unselfish. Understanding that the rights and needs of others are just as important as our own. Self-denial is saying no to living selfishly. No to a “me first and too bad for everyone else” attitude. Self-denial doesn’t mean neglecting ourselves. It means caring about others and their needs as well as our own. It means finding a balance - an understanding that others are just as important as we are.
Jesus being born and living among us is founded in the incredible love that God has for the world. A love for everyone and everything in it. Martin Niemoller, a German Lutheran pastor was an outspoken opponent of the Nazi regime. I would like to share with you one of his observations: “It took me a long time to learn that God is not the enemy of my enemies. God is not even the enemy of God’s enemies…”
“God so loved the world,” says the Gospel of John.
Jesus embodied this love, and on the last night of his life on earth Jesus summed everything up for his disciples by telling them to love one another. They were gathered that night in a little room, somewhere in or near the great city of Jerusalem. A city that had been torn asunder by hatred and violence since the very day that it was founded. A city that for centuries had been inundated with religious teachings. But Jesus, instead of talking to them about religion, told them to love.
That was their responsibility now… to love.
And when he left that room and went out to the garden of Gethsemane, he went out to be charged with blasphemy and sedition. To take up his cross. To be put to death as a dangerous criminal.
He knew it… He was not unaware of the way things were going. Yet he did not speak of resistance, or of strength or courage, or holding out. He spoke of love. They were to love - to love as he loved.
It isn’t easy to love like that. Jesus knew it would cost him his life.
But love is the only answer that there is….
God is love, and so love is the most natural thing in the universe. The most powerful thing in this world.
When Jesus tells us to take up our crosses and follow him, he is saying: “Come, follow me. Watch how death is turned into life. See how hatred is overcome by love. Come and be transformed.”
He is inviting us to transform our lives with love… to live life to its very fullest. To live fully alive with the love of God filling us and flowing through us to others. This doesn’t happen overnight. Learning to live in love is a process of transformation. As we follow Christ, we will become less self-centered… more caring... more generous... more forgiving... more loving.
Come and follow me, Jesus says, and live your life in my love.
Let us pray:
Lord Jesus Christ,
you stretched out your arms of love
on the hard wood of the cross
that everyone might come within the reach
of your saving embrace:
So clothe us in your Spirit that we,
reaching forth our hands in love,
may bring those who do not know you
to the knowledge and love of you;
for the honor of your Name.
Amen.
+Brother Richard