“Love One Another”

A homily by The Rev. Alice Marcrum

June 24^th, 2007

In the gospel reading from Luke today, Jesus tells His disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” These are not exactly very encouraging words to hear, especially for those going through times of adversity. Yet, it is when we are already under great stress and pressure in our lives that we need to hear these very words.

Please bear with me, because if we just take these words of Jesus out of context; they can sound rather oppressive.  I mean who wants to chose to follow someone who tells you to pick up your burdens in life and deny your own desires. Such commands are against our human nature.

To better understand what Jesus means by these words, we need to dig deeper. Please turn in your pew Bibles to page 1158.  We will be looking at verses 28 through 30 in chapter 11. Jesus is preaching to the crowds. These are His words as written down by Matthew, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Although the cross or burdens that we are carrying in our lives may seem heavy, if we give them to Jesus, then the weight of them is lifted from us. This is the cross that Jesus wants us to carry. The cross in Jesus’ time was used for capital punishment by the Romans for non-Roman citizens. Roman citizens were given the more painless form of death by being beheaded.

We who are Christians are no longer citizens of this world, but have become citizens of the Kingdom of God. This is why we are told by Christ to take up our crosses, because we are no longer citizens of this world. The cross is our witness to the world of Christ’s gift of salvation. When Jesus tells us to pick up our crosses and carry them, we are being called to live a life that conforms to the life that Christ lived when He walked this earth in human form. It is a life of humility and servant hood that is full of compassion for others. This is contrary to the standards that the world wants us to live.

The burdens in this life that are sent our way can either become stumbling blocks for us or they can be used to draw us closer to Christ.  It is God’s hope for us that we will be brought closer to Him through the Son of God, Jesus the Christ. Such burdens as ill health, financial crisis, loss of loved ones, broken relationships and other heartaches can overcome us or can become ways in which God is glorified. 

God is not glorified through just our suffering rather as to how we choose to suffer. If we give our concerns and sorrows to Christ, He has promised to help us carry them.  Under the yoke or teachings of Christ, we learn that our burdens can become light when we give Him our sorrows. In choosing to suffer for Christ’s sake, we are no longer having a pity party for ourselves.  Instead, our sufferings become a witness of Christ in our lives, because we do not suffer alone. Christ shares in our sufferings. It is this sharing of our sufferings that transforms these burdens into triumphs for Christ. For even though our Adversary wants us to become defeated, through Christ we become over-comers.

How is this possible? When we pick up our cross and follow Jesus, we live our lives by walking in our Master’s foot prints. Having already suffered all for our sakes, yet remained sinless, Christ has become the firstborn of the resurrection. It is His example that we are called to follow.

The way of the cross is a life of spiritual, mental and physical discipline. It means abstaining from anything that distracts or draws us away from becoming Christlike. The lives led by the saints of old and even the more present such as Mother Theresa give us hope that this way of life can be lived by us.

Not only do we have those who have been set aside by the Church as lives of encouragement for us, we also have one another. In St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he writes, “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

The law of Christ is this, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  This is our witness to the world in that we have love for one another.

The disciples and the early Christians did not always agree with one another, but it was their unconditional love for one another that drew the unbelievers to Christ. This same unconditional love is what we are called as followers of Christ to have for one another. It is this love for one another that the world cannot overcome as long as we are willing to walk in Christ’s footprints. This is the love that will win the world to Christ.

Life on earth in our mortal bodies is not easy. In fact, without Christ and the love of fellow Christians, it can become overwhelming. The cross of Christ that we carry in this world witnesses to others of Christ’s love for all humanity. When we are willing to live our lives for Christ, then we become beacons of hope for others who are suffering, especially those who do not know Christ. Although we who are believers are afflicted with the same hardships and adversities as unbelievers; we carry within us the way of escape.

By laying our burdens at the cross of Christ and sharing one another’s burdens our suffering is not in vain. Our lives with all of its sorrows and adversities become witnesses to the world that through Christ we are more than conquerors. For the world no longer sees us, but Christ in us. In the words of St. Paul’s to the Galatians, “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”

When we carry our crosses, because we are clothed in Christ, the Father God sees Christ in us. It is the suffering Christ within us that brings glory to God. So we now have hope in knowing that we do not suffer in vain, but for Christ’s sake and for the glory of God. May our sufferings be as sweet incense to God Almighty and may our lives be filled with His love for all peoples beginning with one another.