Take Up Your Cross Daily

Loving God, Loving Others starts here.

We all have our crosses to bear, is a phrase we’ve all heard. It’s usually used in reference to somebody’s struggles or hardships. It’s a phrase that is used both in and out of the Christian community. It get’s its beginnings right here in the scriptures we read today.

Last Sunday we talked about loving God and loving others. Today we are going to wrestle with where that starts. It starts with denying yourself, taking up your cross daily and following in Christ footsteps. We cannot love God without denying ourselves, and we cannot love others without denying ourselves.

Today’s passage from Jesus is a challenge to anyone who wishes to follow him to count the cost. It’s a warning that the road is not going to be easy, but if you want to be his disciple you must deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow me. The life of Christ models for us what this looks like. May we leave here today knowing what it means to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow Christ.

Take up Your Cross Daily

Taking up your cross is an important lesson to learn. As Christ followers it is how we are called to live. Matthew, Mark and Luke all have this challenge from Christ to his disciples. It is so important to Luke that it is in here twice. Luke 14:27

Luke 14:27 NRSV

27 Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

Matthew’s gospel gives us a deeper understanding of why Jesus said what he said.

Matthew 16:21–28 NRSV

21 From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” 24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? 27 “For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. 28 Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

In verses 22 and 23 Jesus rebukes Peter because he is trying to impose his will on Jesus instead of yielding to God’s. This is why Jesus teaches everyone, including us here today, if you want to be Christ disciple you must deny yourself take up your cross daily and follow him.

Deny Your Self

Love starts here!

To love God and Love others starts with denying yourself. We cannot authentically love without denying ourselves something.

The level of love Christ calls us to is shown in the parable of the good samaritan. Though the Samaritan had someplace to be, much like the priest and levite, he denyed himself getting to where he was going to help the man in the ditch. He even denyed himself his donkey when he put the injured man on it. To love God and to love others starts with self denial.

Jesus displays what this looks like when he is praying in the garden in Luke 22:42

Luke 22:42 NRSV

42 “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.”

To deny ourselves means to let go of what we want, to embrace what God wants.

Take Up Your Cross Daily

The use of the cross in Jesus day showed would be followers the difficulty of being a disciple. It would have been the equivalent today of Jesus telling us to sit in our electric chair.

Taking up our cross is figuratively putting our humans wants and desires sinful nature on the cross and being crucified with Christ. That we may follow in his footsteps and walk in his new way of life.

Romans 6:1–4 NRSV

1 What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

Galatians 2:19 NRSV

19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ;

Follow Christ

To follow Christ means exactly what it says. Eugene Peterson’s the Message captures what this means best. To follow Christ means to go where he goes, to do what he does. To live life through him. To follow in his footsteps. It means to live like Christ.

Not my Will but Yours be Done.

Jesus modeled for us through his life death and resurrection what this looks like in action. Jesus taught us his disciples to pray; Our Father in heaven may your name be kept holy, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. As Jesus is praying with his disciples before going to the cross, he pleads with God to let this cup of suffering be taken from him. Jesus in a true act of self denial then says to his father not my will but yours be done.

This is where denying ourselves taking up our cross and following Christ begins. It is the daily decision to deny what we want to embrace what God wants. It’s embracing the hardships of the journey trusting God our father will get us through.

Today as we come to the table, the challenge for us is to deny our self, take up our cross daily and follow Christ. May these crosses and any cross we see remind us to pray this simple prayer daily. Not my will Father, but yours be done.