Sermon, Holy Cross

Num 21.4b-9; Ps 98.1-5; 1Cor 1.18-24; Jn 3.13-17

Today we celebrate Holy Cross Day – transferred from the 14^th.  It’s a very important day, with a very important message for us. 

And what an simple and wonderful message it is: “LOOK TO THE CROSS!”

However, we know that just looking to the cross, in faith, is not always easy. 

Let’s look to the reading from Numbers. Moses has his people out and about, and they are grumbling. Unhappy. What used to be considered good is now gross; what used to be considered helpful is now horrid. It's like a petulant child at dinner: "Manna? AGAIN? Ugh." We want more – we want better. 

So these people recognize their unfaithfulness, and ask Moses for help. They ask him to pray to God to take away the serpents (who can blame them?!) Yet - that's not what God does. No, the serpents remain - pain and suffering remains. Yet God provides a means, in the midst of devastation, to bring healing to the faithful people. And this is done in a weird way – a serpent. The very thing which causes them pain and suffering and death, when they look upon it in faith, will bring them health and life. 

It’s odd, and counter-intuitive, and the type of thing that God does to remind us that God’s ways are not limited to our earthly logic.

The letter that Paul sends to the Corinthians is similar. That which means death, will in fact bring life. Hmm. The way of the cross is foolish – it’s unwise. It’s illogical, it’s strange, it’s unexpected – and it’s Godly. It’s a call to faith.

Paul continues that what we as Christians do is equally illogical to the world - we proclaim Christ Crucified.

Let’s pause there for a moment and realize what that actually means. Christ, the Son of God, brought through torture and pain and suffering and death. This is what we proclaim.

But… Do we? or do we try to avoid the painful realities of suffering? In our lives, do we acknowledge the difficulties of this life., the challenges of being people of faith? Do we truly proclaim them in all we say and do?  Or do we try to avoid that part of it?

Do we actually look to the source of pain as the redemption of pain - or are we too busy looking for the easy answers. the pain-free route.

For many of us, we would prefer the easy road – but that is not the way of the Cross. 

The Gospel passage this morning reiterates this. Jesus reminds all of his people that just as Moses lifted up that manner of death in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man - God's OWN SON! – will be lifted up through pain and suffering, for the eternal benefit of others. It sounds terrible, it sounds macabre, it sounds devastating. And it sounds like something God will do. 

This was not as condemnation but as route toward salvation – again, very strange, very counter-cultural, very different from what we expect. And an invitation from God to take the journey of faith. 

What a gift – being invited on a faith journey, knowing that this is the way of the cross.

So - the gift given - is a journey. We are invited to go traveling in a spiritual way. Yet, we’re always to remember not to take it for granted (as the Corinthians were starting to do), and not to grumble about what we’ve been given (as the Israelites did). The way of the cross, Jesus tells us, is not an easy road. It’s not a destination. It's not an end but a beginning

The way of the cross is the way of the spiritual journey: you get to decide how you want to travel that road.

My professor for this term gave me some food for thought this week about the spiritual journey – and how we, as the journeying people, traverse it. And it juxtaposed perfectly with this week’s lessons and focus on the way of the Holy Cross.

So there are 3 possible ways that we can be journeyers: (expand extemporaneously)

1. TOURIST: make a plan, go, live it, take photos, come home, go back to 'normal life'. Nothing has really changed, but you have a nice potential photo album and some dinner party stories.

Tourist has known start, duration, end.

2. PILGRIM: make plan, but have a deeper intentionality about what sites you intend... sites can be location (labyrinth at Chartres) or temporal (Xmas w/ family). Still come home, but be influenced by the experience and integrate it into 'normal life' for a time

Pilgrimage has known start, duration lingers, end is delayed

3. EXPLORER: this is to go. No destination preplanned, but with expectation for something. Expectations evolve and change en route, based on experience and new learnings, encourages a deeper realty and truth than expected at departure.

Explorer has already started, duration will evolve and extend, if chosen the end never happens (even into next life)

And so we have some questions for personal reflection. 

What type of journeyer do you want to be, in the spiritual sense, when you are looking at the Cross?

Do you want to be a spiritual tourist, pilgrim, or explorer?

Is the cross for you something to see, something to engage with, or something live with?

Knowing the truth and weight of the cross will enhance the truth and weight of the journey

So I pray that we will all live the faith of the Cross - the cross that brings health and life despite being an instrument of death…

the cross that is held up as a constant invitation - and re-invitation - for all to believe…

the cross that reminds us that the spiritual journey is not without difficulty, even for Jesus himself…

the cross that is not condemnation, but salvation.

May we find our spiritual journeys to be led by the Holy Cross; may it be for us not just an historic symbol of our faith but the constant assurance of a present truth.

Sermon, Pentecost +13

Ex 3.1-15; Rom 12.9-21; Mt 16.21-28

I'm one of those people that reads the fine print. Especially before I'm signing on to something, I tend to ask: What's the catch?

The reason for this is I *hate* those moments where something unexpected - though likely preventable - blindsides me. Those moments of "Wait, WHAT?!" are not fun for me.

And yet, that's exactly what our scriptures are full of today. Those moments where there's some unexpected condition, some shocking reality, that our people should have known about, and yet were surprised by.

Let's start with Moses: at this point in his story he's enjoying the quiet, simple life of being a happily married shepherd in a delightfully welcoming community.

And then there's a bush. Burning, but not being consumed.

Wait, WHAT?

Now, Moses has 2 options: one is to pretend that this isn't happening, that he doesn't see it, or that he's just going to reject what his senses are telling him, and walk away. That lost sheep must be in the opposite direction.

But instead, he chooses to move toward this anomaly - a good choice, as God will not be avoided, and I can almost guarantee that God would have found countless other bushes to enflame until Moses paid attention. God's like that.

So - Moses does as he's told, full of respect and amazement and trust, in the presence of God, removes his sandals and averts his eyes. And God conveys the desire to be as close to Moses as is possible on earth; so that he can touch the very dirt that God has created, and through which God created all life.

And then comes the call to ministry. The overwhelming, terrifying, full-of-fine-print call to ministry.

And, God bless him, Moses - our friend Moses, our biblical hero, says:

"Wait, WHAT?"

Well, actually what he says is a whole series of excuses why he shouldn't have to sign on the dotted line. And God is patient with him, but firm.

This isn't just about YOU, God says. It's about all my people. And you're going to be part of the solution to our current problem of injustice and pain and violence.

That's quite the fine print.

But what's also in the fine print, as always, is that as Moses focuses on God's divine mission, he will not be alone in his earthly ministry. God promises him a companion for the immediate journey, and the assurance of heavenly accompaniment even in this realm.

That's the fine print we all want.

That message is continued in our reading of Paul's letter to the church in Rome. He's highlighting for them how easy it is to get caught up in the earthly day-to-day stuff that can bring us down, and distract us from our call to be God's people. And Paul could be writing to any church at any time, couldn't he? We all make judgments and decisions based on what is easy or popular, rather than what is faithful and right.

Paul articulates how we as Christ followers ought to act, rather than how we often do act. And he challenges us all to do better, to re-focus our hearts and minds on the holy, because it's the right thing to do.

It's this invitation that can have some people saying "Wait, WHAT?"

because we get comfortable. We enjoy our earthly creature comforts. We like having our stuff, and justifying keeping it all to ourselves. We don't want to have to share - why should we?

          Ah, fine print again. What a reminder that Paul offers to force us to recall that as Christ followers, it's not about us as individuals; but that it's about us with shared responsibility for the spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being of the whole community.

And, as the fine print always shares - God is with us in that living out of God's mission. God is with us when we faithfully exercise our ministry.

          Our Gospel passage repeats this. Peter is having one of his delightfully delusional moments - I love Peter's humanness! - where he thinks that everything is going to be just hunky-dory and rainbows and butterflies. And Jesus reminds him of the fine print.

          Jesus says - not for the first time - that he will suffer and die. And, as though that isn't horrible enough, he tells his disciples that if they really want to be his followers, that they too will have to suffer for the sake of the Good News of God.

Take up YOUR cross, he says, not just helping me to carry mine.

Wait, WHAT?

At this point Peter's kinda wondering if this was really what he signed up for... if he's heard this correctly... this was NOT what he had intended when he left his business and started the grand adventure with his friend.

So Jesus reminds him of the fine print. Being his follower means sacrifice. It can mean suffering It means facing burdens and challenges.

It means that the focus needs to change away from the comforts of this life and losing the earthly trap, in order to gain a perspective on the coming of the Kingdom. And beyond that: it means sharing that perspective with people who may not really want to hear it or embrace it.

And: more fine print: that we're in this journey together. All Christ-followers, those who truly wish to embrace the reality of being Christians, will journey side by side, offering assistance to one another as we together carry our many crosses. It's time for Peter to decide if he's in or out, in this passage. And we delight in knowing the way that he chose.

          There's lots to think about from our scriptures today, isn't there? A lot of meaning and nuance and - if you will - fine print. Our lessons today are quite substantial; a very clear reminder of what we are meant to do as a response to the world.

But sometimes - like our scriptural examples - we can miss the point. We don't fully engage with what it actually means when we agree to this.

When we 'sign on' to be Christians, we are not making a one-day agreement. This is not something we do when we feel like it and ignore when we don't. Christianity is an every-day and life-long commitment - and one that will have bad days - that will challenge us - that will force us beyond our comfort zones. It's one that insists that we are changed by the experience, and by extension that we change the world around us. For the love of God, we are called to change the world.

For the love of God, we agreed to do just that.

And by the grace of God, we are equipped with all that we need in order to do that.

So let us do just that - let's use the readings today to be reminded of our call to ministry; the directive to keep our eyes (and ears, and hearts, and actions) focused on eternal divine things, not caught up on temporary earthly things. Let us live out Christian life and witness fully, entirely, and intentionally; let our lives reflect our informed commitment to this lifestyle, demonstrating our trust in God's fine print of journeying with us always.