In literature, repetition is often used to indicate significance. Meaning, if something is said more than once, it is worth repeating, i.e. it is important. This is no less true with the Bible. Jesus is reported as saying this in three separate gospels. All three author's of these books deemed it important enough to include in their account of Jesus. Why? Because here, Jesus himself is telling us what it takes to be his disciple. We must think of others above ourselves and "take up [our] cross daily." In my mind, I imagine Jesus lumbering up the hill of Calvary with the horizontal cross beam on his back and he calls us, "Get your's too. And come on, follow me." What I hear is Do as I do. In a country of Religious freedom, not many of us will be challenged to die for our faith, at least not literally. So what could this mean to us today? What I see Christ doing in taking the cross upon his back, is picking up the burden of all of us. It made me think of another verse.
In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus says, "Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." A yoke is the beam that goes across the oxen's back for them to pull an old fashioned plow. In this passage, Jesus is calling us to go to work for him, to take up this large, heavy beam and work... yet at the same time tells us he will give us rest for our souls...? Did I miss something? How is working easy?
Both this yoke and the cross we are called to take up are heavy and burdensome, but not in the way the world burdens us. For both, we will have to make sacrifices. And I suspect this is why Jesus says, "Take up your cross" and only after this, adds follow me. He's asking us to commit to making sacrifices, before we try to walk with him. If we try to follow him and think we'll still be able to enjoy all that the world has to offer, we're dead wrong.
A lot of what the world promises us is the exact opposite of what God wants for us. Our need for immediate gratification through any one of a number of sources (drugs, alcohol, porn, ex.) has created a culture where we are only satisfied with immediate results and the less we have to work for it, the better. The problem is many of these things do not ultimately satisfy and we're left with an ever-widening desire for more that only continues to worsen over time, until we cram anything we can into the giant chasms we have made in our souls for a few piddly moments of peace. This is the burden the world thrusts on our shoulders. Jesus calls us out from under this weight and says, "Come with me, rest here awhile. Why are you doing this to yourself? What I have for you is easy compared to the meaningless, empty torture you are putting yourself through. Let me fulfill you."
In doing His work, we have the guarantee that He will not only continually renew us, but He will also go with us, empowering us to do the work He created us to do. We can do all things through Christ who strengthened us, right? But if we go a different way, we take a path that God has not laid out for us, then we're attempting to go it alone and continuing down that road will only draw us further into the muck and mire of the world until we're so empty and so lost that we finally cry out to God and desperately search for Him in the darkness.
In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus says, "Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." A yoke is the beam that goes across the oxen's back for them to pull an old fashioned plow. In this passage, Jesus is calling us to go to work for him, to take up this large, heavy beam and work... yet at the same time tells us he will give us rest for our souls...? Did I miss something? How is working easy?
Both this yoke and the cross we are called to take up are heavy and burdensome, but not in the way the world burdens us. For both, we will have to make sacrifices. And I suspect this is why Jesus says, "Take up your cross" and only after this, adds follow me. He's asking us to commit to making sacrifices, before we try to walk with him. If we try to follow him and think we'll still be able to enjoy all that the world has to offer, we're dead wrong.
A lot of what the world promises us is the exact opposite of what God wants for us. Our need for immediate gratification through any one of a number of sources (drugs, alcohol, porn, ex.) has created a culture where we are only satisfied with immediate results and the less we have to work for it, the better. The problem is many of these things do not ultimately satisfy and we're left with an ever-widening desire for more that only continues to worsen over time, until we cram anything we can into the giant chasms we have made in our souls for a few piddly moments of peace. This is the burden the world thrusts on our shoulders. Jesus calls us out from under this weight and says, "Come with me, rest here awhile. Why are you doing this to yourself? What I have for you is easy compared to the meaningless, empty torture you are putting yourself through. Let me fulfill you."
In doing His work, we have the guarantee that He will not only continually renew us, but He will also go with us, empowering us to do the work He created us to do. We can do all things through Christ who strengthened us, right? But if we go a different way, we take a path that God has not laid out for us, then we're attempting to go it alone and continuing down that road will only draw us further into the muck and mire of the world until we're so empty and so lost that we finally cry out to God and desperately search for Him in the darkness.
Which sounds like the greater burden to you?
My experience says that when the burden seems heaviest is when I'm trying to do something out of my own strength or pursuing a worldly gain. When I'm in step with God's will, I seem to have all the strength I need and a lasting satisfaction when the goal is met. Agree with Tiff that Christ's way is far easier and far more rewarding. --Pastor Doug
ReplyDeleteHmm... I would argue the experience of most people is the exact opposite of what you're saying. As Christians, we so often forget how EASY sin is. Why else would we be constantly pulled into it? Why else would the world be what it is? It is easy to slip into a pattern of doing what we want... the point I was making though is that in the long run, this will not satisfy. It is a burden, because we are "chasing the wind," and it's meaningless. Ideally, what you argue Pastor Doug, would be true... but sadly, this is not an ideal world and too often, falling into sin is no burden at all. We often experience no immediate consequences as we slowly bit by bit sell our souls. Thus why sin is often called a trap... We are lied to and fall prey to the poisonous thinking that our sources of immediate gratification will satisfy for good.
DeleteI think there is a difference between having the strength you need to accomplish what God is calling you to do and following that calling being easy. I have rarely found that God's way is the easy way at all. Many times God calls us to do extremely challenging things that we can only accomplish with his help. Jesus himself felt the weight of what God was calling him to do when he asked "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me." Jesus knew how difficult it was going to be to follow the will of His Father, but he did it anyway. Following God is not always the "easy" route, but it is the most rewarding. In my experience, if following God becomes too easy, then maybe He is calling us to something greater and we haven't realized it yet.
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