{"id":10924,"date":"2025-09-02T13:39:20","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T20:39:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=10924"},"modified":"2025-09-02T13:40:53","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T20:40:53","slug":"take-up-your-cross-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=10924","title":{"rendered":"\u201cTake Up Your Cross\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Select here for a pdf version.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A sermon for the Thirteenth Sunday of Pentecost<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luke 14:25-33<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Gospel text for today it says: \u201cWhoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple\u201d (Luke 14:27).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This mandate, expressed one way or another, is found in the Gospels sixteen times. In other words, this is not a minor item in a long list but is said again and again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notice that it doesn\u2019t say: \u201cWhat matters is that your good intentions.\u201d Nor does it say: \u201cTry the best you can.\u201d It also doesn\u2019t allow for us to say: \u201cI\u2019m not perfect, but I\u2019m sure better than so-and-so over there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This command: \u201cTake up your cross,\u201d is put in specific terms. For example, in the Book of James 1:27 it says: \u201cReligion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Matt 7:13-14 there is the famous saying that one way is wide and the other way, narrow and hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 Cor 6:14-15 states: \u201cBe not mismatched with unbelievers. . . . For what has Christ to do with the powers of evil? And what have believers to do with unbelievers?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 John 3:15: \u201cWhoever hates his brother is a murderer.\u201d But in our text for today it says: \u201cIf anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple\u201d (Luke 14:26).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout Christian history there have been those who said: \u201cWe have to take this seriously.\u201d Already in the Second Century not only do we have the martyrs, but martyrs who said: \u201cHe said if you deny me before men, I will deny you before heaven, so I\u2019m going to speak out even if it costs me my life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were also those in the Second Century who said: \u201cI\u2019m going to live this life of radical discipleship,\u201d and they withdrew to live apart from the world. Out of that movement, monastic communities developed, built on the ideas of poverty, chastity, and obedience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today Christian monastic communities are found mainly in the Orthodox, Catholic, and Anglican communions. Notice how it is built on a ranked, two-level Christianity. There are those who really live it, the real Christian life, and there are the rest of us who live below them, so to speak, in a broken way and we are forgiven, but we\u2019re lesser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What about Protestants? We are different, but it is also true that we have a similar mindset among us. Someone will say of a particular good work: \u201cThat was a Christian thing to do.\u201d Or at a funeral someone will say: \u201cShe was a real saint.\u201d What we are doing when we say that is setting up certain levels of living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are a few communes and monastic-type Lutheran communities in Sweden, Germany, and even in the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some newer Lutheran hymnals include a list of saints who can be remembered. This fosters the idea that there are certain works which are more Christian than others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us grew up in a time when if you were really going to be a Christian, you needed to be a missionary, a preacher, or social worker. These were the saintly professions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protestants have not been immune from thinking of levels of living that are considered holier and more Christian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are several things that should bring us up short when we are inclined to such views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, in all religions there are the holy ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is even true in Judaism. We can see in the Old Testament they have their holy ones and saints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Islam in the Sufi tradition and in other parts of it there are the saints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Buddhism there are the sages and bodhisattvas who are known for their compassion and holiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Hinduism there are Ashrams, which are like monasteries. We have records of people who were ascetic and separated themselves from the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also true that Christianity can become established and dominant as it has in the West. When the Edict of Toleration was issued in 313 A.D., Christianity was no longer persecuted and it became the established religion. Gradually Christianity and Western culture sort of folded into each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is important to realize that both of these situations (Christianity withdrawing from the world or being folded into the dominant culture) are problems because in fact, Christianity is neither counter-cultural nor conforming to the culture. In both ways we get caught in spiritual pride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In both ways, the Evil One tricks us into thinking that doing certain good works contribute to our salvation. In both cases we end up in spiritual pride. Both are guilty of thinking: This is the way the Christian life has to look and has to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is spelled out neatly by the Apostle Paul in 1 Cor 4:3-5: \u201cI am not even to judge myself. God alone judges.\u201d We think we\u2019re not supposed to judge others, but the big thing is that we\u2019re not supposed to judge ourselves. We are not the ones who can judge our situation; God alone judges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is quite a bit said in Scripture about this. In Luke 18:19 Jesus says: \u201cWhy do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.\u201d Jeremiah 17:9 states: \u201cThe heart is deceitful above all things and desperately corrupt.\u201d Romans 3:10: \u201cNo one is righteous, no, not one. . . no one does good, not even one,\u201d and Paul goes on like that for ten more verses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since we are to be neither counter-cultural nor absorbed into the culture, it\u2019s important to get back to the Gospel. This is the theme of the Book of Romans. Romans 1:16-17 states: \u201cThe Gospel is the power of God for salvation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And what is that? In the next verse, which was Luther\u2019s famous rediscovery of Paul, it says: \u201cThe righteousness of God which he gives us.\u201d It is not a righteousness which the Lord demands of us and which he expects us to match up to in some way or another. Luther says that when he read this verse, it was as if a light went on: \u201cThe righteousness God gives us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elsewhere Luther says: \u201cThe law says, \u2018Do this,\u2019 and it is never done. Grace says: \u2018Believe in this,\u2019 and everything is already done\u201d (Heidelburg Disputation #26).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The command: \u201cTake up your cross!\u201d is the voice of the law: \u201cDo this.\u201d The cross becomes something we do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the cross is God\u2019s doing, God solving the problem of sin and death. As John 19:30 says: \u201cIt is finished.\u201d Luther: \u201cGrace says, \u2018believe in this,\u2019 and everything is already done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul puts it like this: \u201cThe wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord\u201d (Romans 6:23).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why he took up the cross. That\u2019s why we\u2019re baptized into his death. Through the cross, through Baptism, we are given the free gift of God, eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It makes a difference here and now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, because of him, there is more to life than whatever is here, \u201chere and now.\u201d There is his kingdom to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, because of him, we are free \u201chere and now\u201d to live \u201cin his image,\u201d that is, to take up the task of caring for this world with the best wisdom we can muster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Luther said, we are perfectly free lords of all, subject to none, and perfectly dutiful servants of all, subject to all, as Luther said (LW 31:344).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We do this by asking: What works? What habits and laws in this time and place make life work? If everyone can steal and have everybody else\u2019s things, I can\u2019t have my own toothbrush. Because of greed and sloth, we need private property, rules, and boundaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knowing we live by forgiveness and because we are totally his, our salvation is taken care of; it is not by our good works. At the same time, we are called to take care of life now, knowing he takes care of life forever. Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A sermon for the Thirteenth Sunday of Pentecost<\/p>\n

Luke 14:25-33<\/p>\n

In the Gospel text for today it says: \u201cWhoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple\u201d (Luke 14:27). <\/p>\n

This mandate, expressed one way or another, is found in the Gospels sixteen times. In other words, this is not a minor item in a long list but is said again and again. <\/p>\n

Notice that it doesn\u2019t say: \u201cWhat matters is that your good intentions.\u201d Nor does it say: \u201cTry the best you can.\u201d It also doesn\u2019t allow for us to say: \u201cI\u2019m not perfect, but I\u2019m sure better than so-and-so over there.\u201d <\/p>\n

Select here<\/a> to read more or select here<\/a> for a pdf version.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10924"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10931,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10924\/revisions\/10931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}