The prayer for this weekend points to what Jesus tells his disciples before Peter, James, and John head up the mountain with him. It is that passage that none of us really like to hear, "If anyone would follow me, let him deny himself and daily take up his cross and follow me."
We don't like denying ourselves and we really don't want to take up our crosses, so we put veils over top and try to make it all so easy. "We can't afford Speed Network, but that's my cross to bear." or "I'd love to find a good mate, but eHarmony moves slowly, that's my cross to bear." But that's all just too easy. Jesus' cross almost crushed him before it held him high in the air and suffocated him with excruciating pain. Our cross is not made of toothpicks, but is the full weight of God's great hope for his Creation. Our cross is the burden of sanctification, restoration, and hope. Our cross is turning the world upside down.
Peter, a youngish guy from my diocese, is studying at Sewanee where he sat in on an emerging church seminar yesterday. This being one of my favorite topics, I began a conversation with him on facebook, where he posted this video, orginally created for an AARP video contest that shows better than most, what it means to hope and to carry the weight of the cross meant to turn the world upside down.
No comments:
Post a Comment