Thurs, June 22, 2023
Take up your cross
The Rev. anne williamson
Matthew 10:34–42
Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
For I have come to set a man against his father,
and a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.
Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”
This is a hard Gospel reading! How can the Prince of Peace be speaking about bringing a sword rather than peace? What is the purpose of the family discord Jesus warns us of? What does it mean to take up our cross and follow Jesus?
Today we celebrate the earliest named Christian in Britain, and the first British Christian martyr, St. Alban. I am sometimes bemused by the readings selected by the ‘lectionary pickers’ but not in this case. Alban was someone who took up his cross and lost his life for the sake of faith in Jesus.
Alban was a soldier in the Roman army, a pagan who gave shelter to a Christian priest who was fleeing from Roman persecution and was converted (this was in the time before Emperor Constantine and the birth of ‘Christendom’.) Alban switched clothes with the priest and surrendered to the pursuers and was tortured and killed, even though the priest tried to intervene to save him…the priest died too.
There have been martyrs since the earliest days of our faith, and there continue to be martyrs today, those whose earthy lives are cut short in service of their faith in Jesus. That is how they have been called to take up their cross and for many their journey causes family discord and disruption. I imagine Zebedee wasn’t well pleased with James and John as they left him with the family business as they dashed off to follow Jesus. James would become one of the earliest Christian martyrs.
But what about us? What about those who gather week by week, on Chapel Street and/or online? How do we carry the cross in our daily lives? The theologian Alan Culpepper writes: "The language of cross bearing has been corrupted by overuse. Bearing a cross has nothing to do with chronic illness, painful physical conditions, or trying family relationships. It is instead what we do voluntarily as a consequence of our commitment to Jesus Christ."
Most cross bearing happens out there in the world: it is in our daily lives that we are called to carry the cross. For some, that will be giving their earthly lives literally and for many others, we are giving our lives in many different ways.
So I would say that when you go visit the person in the hospital, or drive someone to an appointment, or call someone who is lonely, when you show compassion for those in need, you are taking up your cross; when you look after your children at home or other people’s children at school, to the best of your ability, you are taking up your cross, when you do the numbers as a bookkeeper or accountant or advise clients as a lawyer or an architect or serve customers at a restaurant or a supermarket and you do those things with honesty and integrity, you are carrying your cross. When you volunteer at Common Table, or cook for Crossroads you are carrying your cross.
The invitation is not to disown our family relationships or create discord, but rather to make Jesus the primary focus of all that we do and think and say, which can sometimes result in fractures and fault lines when that focus is not shared by those around us.
Carrying our cross is going to be different for each one of us at different times of our lives. The invitation is to place our focus on Jesus, and walk in His Way, to the glory of His name. May it be so.
Collect for the Feast of St. Alban
Almighty God, by whose grace and power your holy martyr Alban triumphed over suffering and was faithful even unto death: Grant us, who now remember him in thanksgiving, to be so faithful in our witness to you in this world that we may receive with him the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.