Reflection – Sunday 28^th February 2021 Second Sunday of Lent

 

Hanging in the window of my study I have three pieces of stained glass. One depicts a Celtic knot, symbolising the Trinity. The other two are crosses. A large, blue coloured Celtic cross bought on Iona. The other is a circular one. Red with a plain glass cross in the middle (the Methodist orb – though I’ve heard it called the hot cross bun!)  Last summer, when Anne was working in the front garden, a lady stopped and said that she thought these three things were very pretty and that she looked at them every time she walked by our home.

I’ve no idea what the lady thinks of when she looks at these three symbols. But does she think of what the cross really means I wonder? For that matter, do I? Do any of us?

In his book The Victory of the Cross, Erskine White relates the following story:

“In the rolling hills of northern New Jersey stands a small church with a large, stone cross, cut into an inside wall. Now, it happened that one of the church’s wealthier members didn’t like the cross there and said it was an eyesore. He offered to give a huge donation to the church to take the cross out of the wall and replace it with a stained-glass window.

But when he presented his idea to the church’s leaders, they said to him, ‘We cannot do what you ask. The architect designed the church to have this cross; it gives strength to the wall. If you take away the cross, you will destroy the church.’”

This story is a perfect illustration for our faith. If we remove the cross – and it’s real meaning – from our faith, then everything collapses. God the architect of our salvation designed the Church to have the cross. The cross gives strength to the Church. Take away the cross and you do not have a Church.

We are thinking about the Bible passage in Mark today Mark 8: 31 – 38. But we need to go back a few verses to set the scene. In Mark 8: 27 – 30, Jesus asks the disciples who people said he was. And Peter says, “You are the Messiah” (v29)

Peter was correct. Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ. (Christ being the Greek word for Messiah.) But Peter, the disciples and most if not all of Jesus’ followers, had a different understanding of what this meant. For Peter & co the Messiah meant a revolutionary leader who would overthrow Israel’s enemies. Someone like King David of old perhaps. Therefore, when Jesus in Mark 8: 31 – 38 explains what it will mean for him to be Messiah, Peter is horrified. And Jesus famously says to Peter “Get behind me Satan” v33.

Jesus knows even then, months, years, before the events of Good Friday that he will die and rise again. Jesus knows that this must happen for the sin of humankind to be atoned for. This is all part of God’s plan for saving humankind from sin and death. If Jesus’ hadn’t died on the cross, death would be final for us.

It has been said that Methodists sing our theology. In other words, the hymns we sing reflect our understanding of our faith. And certainly, none other than Charles Wesley, recognised that Jesus’ death and resurrection were the methods by which we are saved:

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Saviour’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

The stained-glass crosses hanging in my window are symptomatic of how it is easy to overlook the true meaning and significance of the cross. They are symptomatic of how we don’t like to dwell on what truly happened on Good Friday and all it means. To prettify the cross, to remove the cross, or to obscure the cross, is to remove the very foundation work of God in His Church, as well as removing the primary source of salvation and healing to people in need.

Mark wanted the Roman Christians (the first readers of his Gospel) to know that. Therefore, he related to them the story we are thinking about today. It is the story of how Peter tried to remove the cross from the Church – even before the event happened. But it is also the story of how Jesus said, “No. Nothing must remove the cross. In fact, the cross is the way of life for Me and My disciples.”

There are many things I could go on to say. Keeping to two sides of papers means I can’t do so. But it’s worth thinking about those words of Jesus:

‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Mark 8:34

This is not a call to persecution, suffering or martyrdom (though for some it may be.) But it is a reminder to all who seek to follow Jesus Christ for us to practice self-sacrifice. To deny self. We do not have to invent some form of persecution complex. There are many ways in which the gospel calls us to deny self to be more like Christ.  You may remember the film Chariots of Fire telling the story of Eric Liddell. Liddell refused to run in 100m at the 1924 Paris Olympics as the race was being run on a Sunday. Liddell probably would have won the race, but his faith meant he refused to take part. An act of self-sacrifice. An act of carrying the cross. Liddell said:

“As Christians I challenge you. Have a great aim, have a high standard, make Jesus our ideal. Not merely an ideal to be admired but also to be followed.”

An American businessman travelled to Europe to see the famous Oberammergau Passion Play. Following the performance, the businessman had the opportunity to meet and talk with Anton Lang who portrayed Christ in the play that year. Seeing the cross that was used in the play, the businessman wanted his wife to take his picture holding it. He attempted to lift the cross to his shoulder. To his surprise he could hardly budge it from the floor.

He said to Mr. Lang, "I don't understand. I figured the cross would be hollow. Why do you carry such a heavy cross?" Mr. Lang replied, "If I did not feel the weight of His cross, I could not play the part."

And neither can we.