12th Sunday in
Ordinary Time
Fathers’ Day
The question that Jesus
asked the disciples is an important one, not only just to the disciples but He
asks it if each and everyone of us here this morning. “Who do you say that I am?” Because our response, our answer is going to
determine our level of commitment, our loyalty, our willingness to follow
Jesus. If we say that Jesus is our
Redeemer, is He my brother, is He the God-man, is He just a good friend, is He
my Savior? What do all those titles mean
to us?
The response of the
others—well maybe You’re one of the prophets.
And then finally Peter says, “You’re the Christ, the Anointed One, the
Messiah.” And in their mind the messiah
was somebody who was going to come, take off the Roman yoke and give them their
freedom again as a people.
And Jesus says, “Uh,
uh. That’s not the kind of messiah
because I am going to suffer, die and then be raised from the dead.” So if Jesus is the messiah for you and for
me, that Christ figure who comes into our human nature, into our very
humanness, teaches us how to handle suffering, but then knows that He leads us
to the glory of the resurrection. That’s
why then the last line of the gospel, Jesus says, “Unless you’re willing to
take up your cross daily and follow Me, you will not have life.”
Now probably for many of us
we think of the cross, some heavy burden.
We think perhaps many times of the cross as a terrible sickness, a
death, a tragedy, something unbearable, something that rips us apart. And that might very well be true. Those definitely are crosses, physically,
emotionally, spiritually.
But I wonder if we look at
it from a different perspective. If we
say that Jesus is my Messiah, that suffering is going to be a part of my lot in
life all the things that Jesus came to preach and to give to you and to me, not
turning our back on our own, loving our enemies, forgiving, loving our neighbor
as we love ourselves. What was He doing? He was calling us to a higher standard of living
and being.
Beyond what the scribes and
Pharisees preached, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. You give me something good I’ll give you the
same thing back, no more, no less. If you
give me hatred, I’ll give you hatred back, no more, no less. And Jesus saw that and said, “No. I’m calling you to a higher standard of
living and being.” That’s I think the
cross that Jesus is talking about.
Perhaps what it means would
be our daily living. Putting up with
each others’ idiosyncrasies every day.
Going through the drudgery every day.
Putting up with all the jerks and drivers every day. All the meals that you fix month after month,
year after year. All the loads of
laundry. All the days driving to work,
punching the clock, going through the routine, being faithful, holding a sick
child, comforting somebody, listening to their hurts, their pains, their
bitterness, their anxieties, their doubts, their fears. Just being there day in and day out. All the things that you and I would do every
day. And Jesus says, “Can you do those
things without bitterness? Without
trying to get something back for yourself?
Without making the other one pay the price for your kindness?” “I told you so. Didn’t I tell you? All that I have done for you and this is how
you repay me?”
Have you not heard that at
times? Spoken those kinds of words? And Jesus says, “Can you carry one another’s
burdens? One another’s crosses without
bitterness? Without resentment? Without trying to get something back for yourself?”
Isn’t that the same as
carrying the cross? To be able to be
there for one another, day in and day out and doing all those things with a
sense of gratitude. Just that deep down feeling
that that is where God wants me to be here at this moment. If it’s recognized—fine. If it’s not recognized—fine. There’s the higher calling.
That I think for many of us
is the cross to bear.
Maybe another simple way
would be just a little story. A ship was
caught in a storm and there were only two survivors that were left. The two men and they found their way to an
island, small little island. And so they
decided that they would cut the island in half.
And the two survivors, one stayed on the one side, the other on the
other side. And they said, “Well we have
nothing to do. The only thing we have left to do, we can pray. We can pray to God for the help and the
deliverance, whatever it might be. And
we will find out who’s prayers are more powerful.”
So the first man prayed for
food. The next day there was a tree with
fruit on it growing on his side of the island.
And the other side of the island, barren. The man on the first side, he was a little
lonely, so the third or fourth day began to pray that he would get a wife. Three days later another ship was wrecked,
the only survivor was a woman, crawled up in his side of the island and he had
his companion. On the other side of the
island, nobody, all alone.
The man on the first side of
the island kept praying. He’d pray,
“Lord I need deliverance. Send another
ship that I and my wife would be able to get free from here and get back to
civilization.” A week later there was a
ship on his side of the island. He and
his wife got ready to embark on the ship and leave the island.
All of a sudden a voice
booms from the heavens, “Why are you leaving your companion on the
island?” The first man says, “My
blessings are mine alone. Since I was
the one who prayed for them I get them. This other guy, his prayers weren’t
powerful enough so he doesn’t deserve anything.” And the voice boomed again and said, “Oh
you’re mistaken. He had only one
prayer.” The first man said, “Well what? What did he pray for? He didn’t get it obviously.” And the voice said, “He prayed that all your
prayers would be answered.”
Something to pray
about.