Lenten Service: "What do you do when..you're asked to carry his cross?"

Pastor Meyer’s Sermon

 Lenten Service, Wednesday, March 21, 2007

“Let’s go.” “Keep moving. Let’s go.” “Why are you dragging your feet? Let’s go. Keep going.” “Move.” “Come on, now. Keep moving.”

“Come on, Sir. Can I have a break? My shoulder hurts and my legs are sore. Can you let me take a break?”

“Make it quick.”

I didn’t ask to do this. No, I was forced to do this. The Romans try to make it sound nice and sacrificial by saying that we were pressed in the service of the Roman empire for me to carry this cross. But I tell you I had no choice. You see, I’m Simon of Cyrene and I was forced to carry Jesus’ cross through the streets of Jerusalem all the way outside the city walls to the place where they were going to kill Him. And you Christians talk about carrying His cross but you don’t even know what a cross is. Your crosses are polished and gleaming and smooth and shining. You wear them like jewelry around your neck and a lapel on your jacket.

But the cross was big. The cross was ugly. It was an instrument of death with the upright part of the cross standing at least 9 feet in the air in a hole in the ground, permanent to be used over and over again. And the cross beam was 6-7 feet long and was heavy and it was expected that the victim, the one who was going to be executed, would have to carry that to the place of his execution.

And that victim, that Jesus, He was half dead already. He was bleeding and He had been beaten mercilessly and He was exhausted. It must have been like torture physically and emotionally that He was almost to the point where He couldn’t bear it and He was trying to carry the cross beam through the streets and He kept falling down. He kept falling into the dirt and into the animal dung in the streets. And finally the centurion, the one in charge of the crucifixion detail, he was getting impatient. He had a schedule to keep and he was getting frustrated and so he started looking in the crowds. He started looking around and his eyes started darting in all different places. And I knew he was going to pick me and I tried to hide. I tried to step back in the crowd and tried to hide behind someone. But no, I saw his eyes focus right on me and he said, “You. You there, carry the cross.” And as I was going over to the cross to pick it up, I couldn’t help but think, “Why me? Why did it have to be me? Why couldn’t it be the big guy that’s standing over there?” I just wanted to watch. I didn’t want to participate. I was just here to see what was going on, what all the commotion was about. I didn’t want to participate but yet, he said, “You. You there, pick up the cross.” I didn’t want to be a part of it. I just wanted to watch. I just wanted to observe. I didn’t want to participate. I didn’t want to get involved.

Have you ever said words like that? Have you ever just wanted to be a part of the crowd? Because it’s easy being a part of the crowd, isn’t it? There are no eyes watching you. There are no eyes looking at you and realizing, “Hey, he’s a little different than us. He follows different values. He follows a different path in life.” No, you just want to be a part of the crowd and not stand out, not really get involved.

But suddenly, I went from being an observer, someone who was just watching to that of a participant. And that weight was on my shoulders. I know each and every one of you here tonight knows what a cross is and the cross I’m talking about are the ones you find around your necks and the lapels, the ones that are hanging up on the walls, the ones that are on top of buildings and towers. But I wonder if you know about the cross Jesus talks about. When He says, “Whoever comes after me must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Pick up his cross and follow me.

You know, when you become a follower of Jesus, suddenly you become like me, Simon of Cyrene, and you take up the cross of Jesus on your shoulders. You will be called out of the crowd to become a participant in this world to represent Jesus in this world, to be His body in this world. And when opportunities come, when the Holy Spirit provides opportunities, opportunities to witness about what Jesus has done for us, we won’t sidestep that, when opportunities come for us to serve Jesus by helping those who are hurting, who might be hungry, without a home or struggling. I don’t even know who Jesus is. We won’t close our eyes to it because when we take on the cross of Jesus, we identify ourselves with Jesus, not just because of our faith but because of our service, because of what we do, that is, love each other.

And so it is because of Jesus that we come out of the crowd. It’s because of Jesus that we participate. Yes, I carried Jesus’ cross on that day and it was painful. It was heavy. It was tiring but I was called and I couldn’t say no. And my question for you, each one of you tonight, is what will you do? What will you do when you’re called to carry His cross?

“Break time’s over. Pick up the cross.”

Think about it.

“Let’s go.” “Get moving. Come on.” “Come on, pick it up.” “Move on.” “Come on. Faster.” “Let’s go.”

Copyright 2007 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church