Day 8: Take Up Your Cross–What it Means to Us

My father-in-law, a life-long devoted Christian, asked me a question I could tell he'd wrestled with for some time: "What does it mean for me to take up my cross?" Here was a phrase which he and I had both heard our entire lives as Christians, but which–when we're honest–is difficult for most of us to attach any practical meaning to in the way we live our day-to-day lives. I gave my best stumbling attempt to answer him, though I didn't feel like my attempt to do so was very helpful. It was a great question and is worth wrestling with.

The large majority of people who will ever read this face no immediate danger to their lives as a result of calling themselves followers of Jesus. There are millions of Christians around the world for whom that is not the case and to whom this statement of Jesus has a much more straightforward meaning: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it."

But what about the rest of us? How, really, are North American Christians in the 21st century supposed to take up our crosses and follow an ancient Jewish rabbi?

The things we commonly identify as our "cross to bear" are almost comical when held up next to what Jesus' statement would have meant to its original audience. Jesus meant he was going toward his death and anyone who wanted to follow him would likely be facing theirs as well; we mean things like someone in our office annoys us or that we don't get our way about something. The Free Dictionary (though perhaps not the most authoritative source in the world) defines the phrase, "cross to bear/cross to carry" as, "an unpleasant situation or responsibility that you must accept because you cannot change it." That's a huge reduction from the journey that Jesus intentionally took toward his death in Jerusalem. The gospels make it pretty clear that Jesus was trying to use stronger language than saying, "If anyone wants to be my disciple, they might have to accept something that's unpleasant."

But if that isn't the meaning of the phrase for us today, what is?

Perhaps there are two levels on which we can think about this:

First, one closest to the meaning which the disciples would have understood when they were with him on that night: Regardless of our time and culture, truly following Jesus involves risk. The call to take up our cross and follow the crucified and risen Messiah is more risky than dealing with an unpleasant situation or making a few minor adjustments to our ordinary lives. No, this is an invitation to a risky life in God's kingdom, which–until Jesus' reign is the only one left–will always have its points of costly conflict with the powers and ways of the world. As one of my modern-day heroes, Gary Haugen (president and CEO of International Justice Mission), says,

"Here is one choice that our Father wants us to understand as Christians–and I believe this is the choice of our age: Do we want to be brave or be safe? Gently, lovingly, our heavenly Father wants us to know that we simply can't be both."**

If we are in any way to let the original meaning of Jesus' statement shape its meaning for us today, we have to recognize that "Jesus is not leading us on a pleasant afternoon hike, but on a walk into danger and risk."*** Perhaps your risk includes becoming involved with work like that of International Justice Mission. Perhaps it means standing up against wrongdoing in your own community. Or perhaps you already have another idea of how your own following of Jesus could lead you into things that are not always safe and comfortable, but still important extensions of his kingdom on earth.

The second level is a bit more metaphorical, but still consistent with the message of the scriptures. As in Jesus' crucifixion, Paul describes sin being condemned in Jesus' flesh, when we follow him to our own crosses, sin will be dealt with in our bodies as well. This is a big subject, and an essential one for us to understand if we are to make sense of how the things we do each and every day relate to our participation in Christ's kingdom right now, but we must begin with the understanding that everything we do in our spiritual lives is done in our bodies, and that any habits–whether holy or sinful–are always embodied habits. Therefore, in the traditional readings for Ash Wednesday, when Jesus says, "When you give... When you pray... When you fast...," these are all things we do in our bodies in order to replace (actually the Bible says, to kill off) sinful habits by putting in place those more conducive to God's life in us. When we deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow him, we resubmit any part of us that is unlike Jesus to be killed off so that his grace can continue its life-giving work in us.

A Prayer for the Day:

Heavenly Father, in you we live and move and have our being: We humbly pray you so to guide and govern us by your Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of our life we may not forget you, but may remember that we are ever walking in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.*

A Prayer for the Week:

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.*

Click here for this week's scripture readings.

*From The Book of Common Prayer **See Haugen's book, Just Courage ***NT Wright, Mark for Everyone

[This is part of 40 Days of Prayer: Daily Emails for Lent]

Day 7: Take Up Your Cross–What it Meant to Them

Once there was a popular political figure who, when it seemed like his reputation with the public was at an amazingly high level, gathered his closest group of associates in order to gauge their thoughts on his future. He asked them, "What is the public's opinion of my abilities?" These people he trusted responded by naming other successful political figures from history to whom he was often being compared in the press. This was a good sign. It meant the hopes and trust of the public in him were high. So, looking at the faces of his deeply trusted coworkers and friends, he asked the question he'd been waiting to ask them ever since they entered the political arena together: "And what about you? What do you think of my chances?"

The most powerful among them immediately spoke up and said, "You are destined to be the next leader of this nation."

"Let's do it," the esteemed leader responded decisively. "But keep it to yourselves for now. I already have our strategy planned: I will do things that will cause everyone currently in power to reject me. I will be humiliated in the worst ways possible. I will challenge their power so fundamentally that charges of treason likely await me–and the death penalty would be sure to follow."

The one who–just minutes before–had affirmed the leader's destiny now cried out, "You're out of your mind!"

"You, get out of my way, along with your accusations," the leader responded sharply. "You're only seeing things for your own very limited perspective."

Then he said loudly to his associates and anyone else within earshot,

Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for?**^

–––

I hope this story rings some bells for you. Perhaps you are able to recognize it as an adaptation of a conversation between Jesus and his disciples (see Mark 8:27-38), though–if you're like me–you may have heard those passages for years without ever having been able to see the political (kingdom) aspects of what Jesus said and did.

When we read Peter saying, "You are the Messiah," we often interpret that as Peter recognizing Jesus as the second person of the Trinity, but that isn't what Peter meant by it, nor how the other disciples would have understood what he said. He was saying, in effect, "You are the one, anointed by God and foretold by the prophets, who will be able to lead us out of this mess."

The disciples were beginning to understand a small part of what Jesus' work was about, then seizing on that degree of understanding, Jesus tells them what was about to happen: that he would suffer, die, and rise again. To his disciples, this was inconceivable if he really was who Peter had just described. As NT Wright points out, this is like a captain of a football team telling his team that in the second half of the game he intended to let the opposing team score ten consecutive touchdowns. "Jesus seemed to be saying he was going to lose. Worse, he was inviting them to come and lose alongside him."^

None of the spiritual meaning we usually attach today to "deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me" existed for Peter and the other disciples that night. Those were dangerous, incomprehensible, impossible to swallow words. Now that they recognized Jesus as the Messiah, every idea they had of what the Messiah should do was about to be shattered. And he was asking them to take the same path.

Does he ask anything different of you?

A Prayer for the Day:

Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought us in safety to this new day: Preserve us with your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.*

A Prayer for the Week:

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.*

Click here for this week's scripture readings.

*From The Book of Common Prayer **Mark 8:34-37, The Message ^Based upon comments from NT Wright's commentary, Mark for Everyone.

[This is part of 40 Days of Prayer: Daily Emails for Lent]

Day 6: Deny Yourself (But Not Like This)

Christians have done some well-intentioned but very silly things through the centuries in our efforts to do what Jesus said. Particularly in trying to apply Jesus' statement that anyone who wants to be his disciple must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow him, some percentage of our track record could be categorized as well-meaning adventures in missing the point. While my wife and I lived as missionaries in Guatemala, we visited a cathedral which was hundreds of years old, part of which was dedicated as a shrine to a local saint, Hermano Pedro. It appears that Pedro was certainly a good guy who did a lot of good things, but one of the relics in the museum dedicated to his memory stood out as a classic misguided example of self-denial in the name of Jesus: there, preserved since the mid 1600's, was a pair of Hermano Pedro's burlap underwear which he would wore as a method of self-denial.

I grew up on a pecan farm, where I sometimes had the job of moving 100 pound burlap sacks of pecans, and that limited experience with burlap was enough to convince me that Pedro's method wasn't for me. Plus, all due respect to Pedro, I'm pretty confident that burlap undies weren't what Jesus had in mind when he issued his call to discipleship.

However, even if some through Christian history have erred on the burlap underwear side of things, perhaps it's much more common for us today to make the opposite mistake and not take self-denial seriously enough in our lives with God. In fact, the founder of our Methodist tradition, John Wesley, claimed that whenever any of us is not growing in God's grace, whenever we are anything less than Christ's fully-devoted disciples, it is always due to a lack of self-denial.

As we follow Jesus, the crucified and risen Messiah, we will inevitably find–once we've decided to deny ourselves–eventually a cross awaits us. Over the next couple of days, we'll explore what "take up your cross" meant to Jesus' original disciples when he said it, then what it might mean to us as his disciples today.

But to help us take some steps along this road of self-denial throughout this year's season of Lent, perhaps questions like this might begin to point us in a helpful direction:

• How do I handle it when I don't get my way?
• Do I spend much mental effort on my own reputation?
• Which do I tend to value more: being right or being Christlike?
• Do I have any habits which help me intentionally practice self-control?

A Prayer for the Day:

O God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries; through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.*

A Prayer for the Week:

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.*

Click here for this week's scripture readings.

*From The Book of Common Prayer

[This is part of 40 Days of Prayer: Daily Emails for Lent]

Day 5: Jesus' Most Repeated Instruction

It's surprising how many of the famous things Jesus said don't appear in all four of the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). For example, statements such as "do not judge" and the Golden Rule are only in Matthew and Luke. "Seek first the kingdom of God" is unique to Matthew. "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" is only found in Luke. John's story is the only place where Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." An important part of letting the message of the scriptures sink in deeply to us is to learn to pay attention to the distinct ways in which each writer of scripture told their part of of the story, particularly in the gospels. The flip side of that method, though, is that the things that do appear in all four of the gospels really deserve our attention. For example, the only miracle that Jesus performed which is recounted by all four gospel writers is Jesus' feeding of the five thousand. Apparently they all saw that event as central enough to Jesus' story that each of them had to include it.

Along these lines, there is one of Jesus' teachings that is included in the gospels more often than any other. Each of the gospel writers makes it part of their narrative, and Matthew and Luke each include it twice. So what is the statement of Jesus which Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John saw as important enough to repeat to their readers a total of six times?

Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.

Apparently, this is a phrase that sank deeply into virtually early follower of Jesus in those first generations of disciples. They saw him give up his own life, both in the way that he lived for others and ultimately in his death. When they became his followers and took on his way of life, this was one of the key ways of describing what that life meant for them.

In this week's readings we'll explore this teaching of Jesus and its importance for us this Lent. In doing so, we will look at the statement often connected with it in those gospel stories: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me."

A Prayer for the Day:

O God, the King eternal, whose light divides the day from the night and turns the shadow of death into the morning: Drive far from us all wrong desires, incline our hearts to keep your law, and guide our feet into the way of peace; that, having done your will with cheerfulness while it was day, we may, when night comes, rejoice to give you thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.*

A Prayer for the Week:

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.*

Click here for this week's scripture readings.

*From The Book of Common Prayer

[This is part of 40 Days of Prayer: Daily Emails for Lent]

Living Prayerfully Together in Marriage

One paragraph continues to bounce around in my head (in the best possible way) from what I've written in Live Prayerfully:

I said in the Introduction that a prayerful life is meant for everyone. Here in the Conclusion, I want to add to that statement and say: a prayerful life is meant for everyone, and none of us becomes prayerful by ourselves. Perhaps the synergy that surpasses that of putting together practices of praying with other people’s words, praying without words, and praying with your own words is that of putting these practices together with others. It might be on a retreat, in a small group, or with your family, but the only way we are meant to live prayerfully is to live prayerfully together.

Part of the reason this paragraph continues to simmer in me is that, when I wrote it, I knew it was true–yet had experienced it only in the smallest degrees. I still think I've only experienced a bit of the goodness of living prayerfully together with others, but one of the really enjoyable byproducts of my experiment this year is that, for the sake of being able to keep the commitments I've made for this year, I've been able to get others to jump in at points with me and we get a taste of living our lives together in these ways.

It started at home. Even though my wife and I, for our entire marriage, have both been people committed to serving God and honoring God in our home, we had a very unimpressive track record when it came to living prayerfully together. Sure, we both prayed, but for the most part, her praying was hers and mine was mine. We wanted prayer to be more central in our relationship, but whatever sporadic attempts we sometimes made at praying together were usually less meaningful than we'd hoped for and it never stuck.

(In light of what I've written in the book, I can look at that and now realize that this was largely due to only ever trying to pray together in one of the three ways–praying with our own words–rather than ever incorporating the other two. I remember one time, years ago, when my wife expressed a desire that we pray together more often. I was hesitant, because during that period I had just begun learning about and practicing prayer without words and was finding it to be very life-giving. When I described that to her and explained that I was in a stretch of mostly praying without words... she let me know that sitting together in silence wasn't what she was hoping for. Now, thankfully, we've given ourselves a fuller range of tools to use when we try to pray together.)

In the first couple of weeks of this year's experiment, we had to make a road trip from Missouri back to Texas, and I knew that I would need her help if I was going to be able to stick to my commitments while driving 1,100 miles. During the trip, she read morning, midday, and evening prayers to me while we drove, and we read the night prayers together before going to bed. I don't recall a point when we ever talked about it or specifically decided to do so, but the habit of the night prayers has stuck for us. The unintended but really good result is that we have prayed together more during the three months since I began this experiment than we had in the eleven previous years of our marriage combined. It's mostly praying with others' words as they're printed in the night prayers of the book, and sometimes also including small amounts of praying with our own words and/or without words.

It is never anything spectacular–I don't think any of these times of prayer together have ever been particularly eventful or noteworthy for either of us–but it's still very good. We've gotten to the point where going to bed without praying together would feel very strange to us, as if we'd left our day incomplete.

If I hadn't taken on this somewhat silly experiment, we wouldn't have read those prayers together during that road trip, so we wouldn't have continued the practice of praying night prayers together (and occasionally the others as well), and the level at which we live prayerfully together would still be the same as it had been for the first decade+ of our marriage. But thanks be to God for a wife who's made this experiment possible and who, when we feel like it and when we don't, sits next to me as we end each day prayerfully together.

–––

Something I've prayed this week:

Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan; Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Prayer for the First Sunday of Lent from The Book of Common Prayer)

[This is the 22nd post from A Year of Living Prayerfully]

First Sunday of Lent

Readings for the First Sunday of Lent:

Deuteronomy 26:1-11 Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16 Romans 10:8b-13 Luke 4:1-13

A Prayer for the Day:

O God, you make us glad with the weekly remembrance of the glorious resurrection of your Son our Lord: Give us this day such blessing through our worship of you, that the week to come may be spent in your favor; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.*

A Prayer for the Week:

Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan; Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.*

*From The Book of Common Prayer

[This is part of 40 Days of Prayer: Daily Emails for Lent]

Day 4: What You Might Need Most

Throughout this first week of Lent, I have tried to help us set the context for practices that can help us return to God with all our hearts in the coming weeks. In this final reflection for the week, I want to propose a type of practice which may seem unusual, but of which I believe many of us are in desperate need. What if, this Lent, you set a spiritual goal of getting enough rest? Many of us have become accustomed to being so tired that we've forgotten what it feels like to be fully rested. This is often tied to a misconception, thinking that our bodies are disconnected from our spiritual lives. That idea is very prevalent among Christians, but–wherever it comes from–it doesn't come from the Bible.

Throughout the Old and New Testaments, God continually emphasized the importance of rest in the lives of his people. Rest is a concrete way that we learn to trust God and to express our dependence upon him. This has primarily been practiced through the centuries as God's people have observed a sabbath day each week to rest from our work, worship God for his steadfast love toward us, and engage in activities that delight and refresh us. As one of my favorite authors, James Bryan Smith, says, we can't do anything worthwhile spiritually if we're exhausted.

So, here is a brief list of things you might consider if setting a goal of getting enough rest seems inviting to you this Lent:

• If you tend to stay up too late, set three bedtimes for yourself: an ideal bedtime, an okay bedtime, and an "anything later than this is unacceptable" bedtime. Then, as you go to rest each night, think of it as a spiritual practice, helping you to express your trust in God that he can take care of the things that were not accomplished in the day.
• Determine that, for this Lent, you won't stay late at work.
• Set aside a 24-hour period each week this Lent during which your goal is not to be distracted, but to pay attention to those who are with you. You might start this 24 hours in the evening, as you share a slow meal with family or friends. You'll probably find it very helpful (though difficult) turn off your cell phone. Take a break from e-mail and internet, even all media if possible. Go to bed at a good time that evening, being free of the usual distractions. Either verbally or through writing, affirm to someone else their importance in your life.
• Another way we can rest is to intentionally take a break from thinking about things we don't have and, instead, give thanks to God for all of the ways that he has provided for us so faithfully. This might mean cutting back on shopping and increasing your generosity. Or perhaps you would simply want to choose to live with the mindset this Lent: "I have enough." As we do so over time, we find that our gratitude and our ability to trust God with our needs increases.
• If you're interested in reading more of my thoughts about ways we can enjoy a practice of making a sabbath, see these two articles: "Something I Really Want but Haven't Learned Yet" and "Sabbath's Good, Slow Work in Us".

A Prayer for the Day:

Almighty God, who after the creation of the world rested from all your works and sanctified a day of rest for all your creatures: Grant that we, putting away all earthly anxieties, may be duly prepared for the service of your sanctuary, and that our rest here upon earth may be a preparation for the eternal rest promised to your people in heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.*

A Prayer for the Week:

Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan; Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.*

Click here for this week's scripture readings.

*From The Book of Common Prayer

[This is part of 40 Days of Prayer: Daily Emails for Lent]