“Bearing Our Cross”
Everyone wants their children to have it better than they had it don’t they?
We live in a society that is devoted to the concept of making life as simple and easy as we possibly can.
The computer age has taken over basically every aspect of the world.
Almost everything we used to do by hand is now done by a computer, isn’t it?
Illustration: Talents are obsolete. The ability to play an instrument and form a band has been placed by DJ's who play music from a computer. The ability to create art has been replaced by vinyl made by a computer.
Everything we do we want to do as easy as we can so when people read out text Scripture they sort of cringe or shy away.
Mark 8: 34-35 "Then Jesus called the crowd to Him along with His disciples & said: ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself & take up his cross & follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me & for the gospel will save it.’"
I know we have all heard this Scripture before but have you ever taken the time to consider what Jesus is saying?
When he talks about us denying ourselves, & taking up a cross & following Him – what does that mean?
Well, we’re going to talk about that in just a few moments. But before we do, I believe that we ought to realize two things about Jesus.
First of all, Jesus never tries to bribe us by the offer of an easy life.
Nowhere in God’s Word do we read how Jesus tries to buy your decision by offering elaborate things.
Jesus never sought to lure people to Him by the offer of an easy way. He came not to make life easy, but to make people great.
Secondly, Jesus never calls upon us to do anything that He was not prepared to do Himself.
What He asks us to face, He has already faced. And when He calls upon us to take up a cross, He, Himself, has already borne one for us.
That goes against the grain of what the world teaches, for the world teaches that success is measured by how much wealth we hold, by how convenient & easy our lives are.
And anything that bothers us or becomes difficult, we should avoid.
Sadly, some churches seem to have adopted that attitude.
Some churches are advertised as places offering all kinds of fringe benefits to their members.
And many people go shopping for the church that seems to offer them the most.
That’s the way the world has conditioned us to think - everybody ought to cater to us, & all our wants & desires ought to be met.
And when that doesn’t happen, we become unhappy.
And yet, the words of Jesus are still there, "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself & take up his cross & follow me."
What did He mean? What does it mean to "take up" or "bear a cross”? What does it mean when someone says, "I want to take up my cross & follow Jesus?" What does the Bible teach about "cross-bearing?"
I. CROSS-BEARING IS ALWAYS VOLUNTARY
First of all, the Bible tells us that "taking up a cross" is voluntary. Jesus calls us, & challenges us, but it is our decision. Taking up a cross & following Jesus is voluntary.
I’m afraid that generally we’re pretty careless in the way we talk about our “cross-bearing.”
For example, suppose that after extensive testing the doctor tells me, "I’m sorry, but you have diabetes, & you’ll have to deal with it for the rest of your life." Now that may be a burden that I must bear, but it is not a cross I have taken up for Jesus. So I can’t then tell others, "Well, that’s my cross to bear," because I didn’t volunteer for it.
Or if a tornado sweeps through Vincennes & destroys my home, I can’t call it "a cross I have to bear," because I didn’t volunteer for that either. It is not something that I chose to do for Jesus.
Or if I loose a loved on and suffer grief, that is not a cross. It may be a heavy burden, but it is not a cross that I am bearing for Jesus.
You see, if I talk about bearing a cross, that means I am voluntarily taking it up for Jesus. I’m going to enlist, to offer myself in some way to serve Jesus.
II. CROSS-BEARING IS AN ACT OF LOVE
So, cross-bearing is not an accident that happens to us, or something unavoidable that we must face.
Cross-bearing is an act of love that we freely choose. It is a task that we undertake, a price that we pay, out of love.
For Jesus it meant going to a cross to die because He loved us so much He could do nothing else.
It means reaching out to people who are unloved and who may never return the love. And yet we are to keep on loving because that’s what Jesus did.
It means not just loving people who love you back. I love my wife & she loves me back. She understands me and puts up with my bad habits, not that I have any, and for some reason she keeps on loving me. I love my children & they love me back, too.
But it is hard to love people who don’t love you back. It’s hard to love people who hate us. And yet cross-bearing means just that.
A perfect description of what it means to bear a cross can be found in:
I Corinthians 13:4-7
Listen as I begin reading in vs. 4, & I want to change the word "love" & put the word "cross-bearer" in its place.
"A cross-bearer is patient. A cross-bearer is kind. A cross-bearer does not envy. A cross-bearer does not boast. A cross-bearer is not arrogant or rude. A cross-bearer is not self-seeking. A cross-bearer is not easily angered, nor keeps records of wrongs. He does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. A cross-bearer always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
That is what cross-bearing means. It means taking the love of God to the very ends of the world.
To touch the lives of people who are unlovable. It means denying & sacrificing.
It means paying the price regardless of the hardships we must endure.
III. CROSS-BEARING IS HARD
Now it is not hard to understand that people have always had trouble with that.
Whenever the message of the cross has been preached people have always objected to it. "Wait a minute. That is hard. I can’t do that."
Jesus talked about His impending death on a cross & His apostles balked at that. They tried to keep Him from going to Jerusalem. They said, "We don’t want you to die."
When He did die on the cross they hid behind locked doors, fearful of what might happen next.
Take a look at what Paul wrote to the church at Corinth concerning the cross.
I Corinthians 1:22-24 "Jews demand miraculous signs & Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews & foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews & Greeks, Christ the power of God & the wisdom of God."
That hasn’t changed much, has it? We can understand the Jews stumbling over the idea of their Messiah hanging on a cross.
They were an oppressed people. They had been oppressed by Assyrians & Babylonians & Greeks, & now by the Romans.
But one thing kept them going through it all. Every night they came together in their family circles & read again God’s promise of the Messiah.
Fathers would tell their children, "One day the Messiah will come & set us free. He will ride on a prancing stallion.
He will be a magnificent king with legions of soldiers behind him, wearing uniforms & holding weapons of war. They will defeat our enemies & make them bow down before us. And God’s people will be in control."
Then the Messiah came, but not as they expected. He came as a preacher from Nazareth. Some called Him a madman. His army was made up of twelve men. And instead of great military victories, there was a crucifixion.
So the cross was a stumbling block to the Jews. It wasn’t what they expected. It wasn’t what they wanted to hear. And neither do we.
Jesus’ talk about bearing a cross bothers us, too, doesn’t it?
As we lean back in our easy chair, hot coffee in our cup & a loving companion by our side, rejoicing in our success, we hear Him say, "Take up your cross & follow me."
God says, “I need you to go and spread My Word to the lost. But we say, "Lord, I don’t want to bear that kind of a cross. I’ve worked hard & I really need more time for myself."
Sunday morning comes & He says, "I have a classroom of children who need to hear the good news about Jesus." But we say, "Not me Lord. I don’t want to carry that kind of a cross."
You see, Jesus is putting crosses all around us, just waiting for us to pick one up.
The idea of carrying a cross is a stumbling block & we keep falling over it.
We can’t call it our cross to bear just because we have burdens in our lives.
We’re running around frantically piecing together our lives, trying to build homes & stockpile possessions.
But one day, poof, it’s all going to be gone and the only thing that’s going to last is the cross that we have borne for Jesus.
This morning we offer you a cross. Not a life of ease, or a church that is perfect with all the solutions to your problems.
We can’t guarantee you success on your job. We can’t promise that your marriage won’t fail. We can’t promise that you’ll stop having problems at home.
All we really have to offer is Jesus Christ & his cross.
Will you come as we stand & as we sing?
