Then Jesus said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. —Luke 9:23 (NIV)
As I have previously stated, my intention, prayers, and hopes for this blog are to provide a forum where Christians can talk about issues of faith and/or real problems they face, identifying resources they use/draw upon to help them overcome these problems or deal with issues. Today’s reflection continues yesterday’s thoughts on answering a call in difficult circumstances, i.e., about walking in the wilderness faithfully.
In Luke’s passage above Jesus makes four things clear: (1) we must submit to his will for our lives even if (or especially when?) he calls us to suffer, instead of pursuing our own desires; (2) carrying our cross daily implies continued action, consistent with MacDonald’s reading—discipleship is not a part time, casual thing that can be pursued; (3) carrying our cross implies a one-way destination, i.e., the condemned who carried their crosses were going to their place of execution—they could not turn back; and (4) carrying our cross means suffering.
Clearly, our Lord intends us to make him our first priority over everything else, even if it means suffering for his Name and Sake. At first blush, this sounds crazy! Who in their right mind would want to deny himself and embark on a one-way journey where he is called to suffer? Indeed, this WOULD be crazy if we were not assured of Jesus’ presence with us and his power to help us endure suffering. Yet it is to the glory of God that the consistent witness of Scripture and countless Christians over time and across cultures testifies to the reality of this sustaining presence of Christ. Hence, we can embark on this journey as men and women of courage and hope.
Yesterday I wrote about answering my call to ordained ministry during a time of great upheaval in our church, reflecting on this in light of de Foucauld’s writing, i.e., I wrote about embarking on a journey through the wilderness, and mused that I was prepared to suffer for Christ to bring him honor and glory if that is what he called me to do. Since I wrote my reflection, this theme of walking in the wilderness has been brought to my attention from two other sources and so I must pay attention here. I wrote to a friend this morning that I would much rather walk in the wilderness with Christ than to live in a palace of luxury without him. Easy words, of course, because I am not suffering at the moment. But what will I do if/when the time comes?
Given the human condition and my own foibles, I cannot be certain of the answer. What I DO know, however, is that if I rely on my own strength, my own resources, I will surely fail. If I lose faith that Christ is with me and sustains me in any and all circumstances, if I forget my call has been validated in many ways and from multiple sources so that I am convinced this IS God’s will for me, then I will surely lose hope and heart and attempt to put down my cross and walk away. But if I go to Christ in prayer, if I feed myself daily on his Word and partake of the sacraments regularly, if I count on his abiding presence and power to sustain me, if I enlist the help of my Christian friends, I will be able to continue to walk through the wilderness with hope and courage.
Suffering manifests itself in multiple ways and it seems to me that wondering in the wilderness can be a form of suffering because we don’t know for sure where we will end up or if we will ever get there in the first place. At the same time, wondering in the wilderness demands faith and putting our whole hope and trust in Christ, not ourselves; hence, God can use our wonderings to help us become more faithful souls, to deepen our trust in him, and to become more dependent on his power to help us live faithful lives.
And so as I embark on this path toward ordained ministry in the midst of very uncertain and troubling times, I do so with an uncharacteristic calm and confidence that is surely not my own. I want this to be perfectly clear to the reader because to think otherwise misses the point of today’s reflection. To read this without understanding that I have finally reached a point where I am trying (and not always successfully) to put my whole hope and trust in Christ—no easy matter for someone like me—is to miss the point that Christ is the source of my confidence, not my own abilities or resources. I have no illusions that this journey will be particularly easy but I put my hope in the One who loves me and gave himself for me and draw strength for living from him, even in the most difficult or tenuous circumstances.
THAT’S Good News for anyone.
It’s your turn now. What do you think? How does Luke 9:23 speak to you and your life’s circumstances? What does discipleship demand of you and how do you draw on Christ to help sustain you? Tell us your stories so that we might “watch over each other in love.”