TAKE UP YOUR CROSS AND FOLLOW!
Rev. Mark F. Bartels
Epistle Lesson;
Romans 5:1-11
Old Testament Lesson;
Genesis 28:10-17
Gospel Lesson;
Mark 8:31-38
Sermon Text;
Mark 8:31-38
Once, when I was probably about 7 years old, we were at a church potluck, which was out in the country. As the meal was getting over, a bunch of us younger kids went outside to play in this big churchyard.
We decided to play ‘cowboys and Indians.’ Since we had our church shoes on, we all decided next that we should take our church shoes off, so we could run a little faster.
It was a mystical time of the evening, as the sun began to set, when we kids began to play. So, there we were, barefoot ‘cowboys and Indians,’ running around the church grounds. I was an ‘Indian,’ who was chasing after a ‘cowboy.’ All of a sudden, as the evening set in and the sky began to glow, the spirit of the moment overtook me, and I was no longer Mark Bartels. I was an Indian. And, I was catching the cowboy that was up ahead. The stick in my hand was no longer a stick. It was a spear.
The ‘Indian’ had to stop the ‘cowboy.’ So, when the ‘Indian’ caught up to the ‘cowboy’, the ‘Indian’ drove the ‘spear’ into his bare foot, and the ‘cowboy’ began to bleed. And then the ‘cowboy’ began to scream.
The other ‘cowboys’ and ‘Indians’, who were running around, began to run down into the church basement to get the ‘cowboy’s mom’ and to get the ‘Indian’s mom.’ The ‘cowboy’s mom’ came out first, followed by the ‘Indian’s mom.’ When the ‘cowboy’s mom’ got there, the ‘cowboy’ was pointing at the ‘Indian’ and making accusations at the ‘Indian.’ As the ‘Indian’s mom’ approached, the ‘Indian’ knew he was in big trouble.
And then my mother said something to me that cut me to the core. She looked at me and said, "Shame on you. Shame on you."
I was ashamed. I was ashamed.
"Shame on you."
I was disgraced. I had disgraced myself. I had disgraced myself in front of my friends. I had been caught up in the moment. I had lost my good sense of judgment. I had hurt and harmed somebody in front of everybody else. My sin was open, obvious, and public. I felt ashamed.
What about you and me? Do we feel a sense of shame?
It is a good exercise to think, for example, what it would be like if right now, today, all of a sudden, I was able to pull down a screen from the ceiling, point to you, (you personally, while everyone else is sitting here), and say, "For the past week we have been following you, with a hidden camera. We have video taped every single thing you have done, this past week. And, we are going to show it to everybody right now. Not only that, but we have recorded every single word that you have said, this past week. And not only that, but we have been able to record every single thought that you have had, this past week." How do you think you would feel if we began to show that on a screen, up here, publicly, in front of everybody else? I can guarantee with my own life, my face would be in my hands and there would be a sense of real shame. I would be disgraced in front of all of you. I would be disgraced, because, all of my sins from this past week would have been publicly exposed before you.
What we need to realize, (while it does not happen in a setting like this), God, the One who is the most important in the world, God sees each and every moment of your life. God does not need a video camera, a tape recorder, and somebody to be recording all of your thoughts.
He has seen every single thing you have done, this past week.
He has heard every single word you have said.
He knows every single thought you have had.
All of us should have our face in our hands, with a sense of real shame, and I mean real shame, disgrace, disgrace before God. Our sins are publicly exposed to Him. He sees them. He knows them. And, He knows the depth of our guilt.
We deserve rejection by God. Which is why the cross of Jesus Christ is so absolutely dear to every single person in this whole room. The cross of Jesus Christ is the one thing and the only thing that we can pin our hope on. The cross of Jesus Christ is about suffering. It is about shame. It is about rejection. And, it is about God, Himself, God’s own dear Son, taking to Himself, to Himself, all the shame that you deserve, because of your sin.
There on the cross Jesus took your shame.
There on the cross Jesus was accused before the world and before God of being a terrible, terrible sinner.
There on the cross, before the world and before God, the world rejected Him because of the shame and disgrace He had taken upon Himself.
There on the cross the Father rejected Him.
Jesus said, "My God, my God. Why have you forsaken me?"
It was because of the shame He took upon Himself. On the cross, Jesus bore my shame. On the cross, those sins that I committed, He took. They were His, at that point. The disgrace that went along with them, and the rejection that went along with them, was all poured out on Him. And my sins, (because of Jesus Christ and what He suffered on the cross), are forgiven!
Now by grace, (this is an awesome, awesome thing to think about), now by grace you and I can stand before God, unashamed! You can stand before God unashamed. Why? You can stand before God unashamed, because now as a believer in Christ, you are clothed with Jesus Christ. His blood covers up all your shame, all your sin, and all your guilt. And when the Father looks at us, through Jesus, all He sees is Jesus.
All He sees are sins forgiven.
All He sees is the holy perfect live that Jesus lived.
You and I can stand before God, (and do stand before God, even though we don’t deserve it), unashamed, unashamed in Jesus our Savior.
We are unashamed
in Jesus.
Therefore, Brothers and Sisters, because we are unashamed in Jesus, we ought to be unashamed of Jesus.
We ought to be unashamed of Jesus.
You know it is our natural, sinful nature, (and all of us have one), our natural sinful nature’s reaction is to be ashamed of Jesus. That is an astounding thing to think about. It is astounding to think that my sinful nature naturally wants to be ashamed of Jesus. We all have that sinful nature, in our heart.
Maybe you have been asked to pray on some occasion, and you have been ashamed, ashamed to pray - ashamed of Jesus.
Maybe you have had the opportunity to read the Word of God to somebody, or speak the Word of God to somebody, but your sinful nature has been ashamed, ashamed of the One who took away your shame.
Maybe you have had the opportunity to stand up for the Word of God, in a setting where you knew the Word of God was being spoken against, but your sinful nature was ashamed, ashamed, and said nothing about the One who took away your shame.
Maybe you have had the opportunity to stand up in a situation where you knew that somebody was doing something morally wrong and was inviting you to do something morally wrong. And, your sinful nature was ashamed of Jesus.
And, so Jesus says,
"If anyone would come after me,
(whoever would come after me)
he must deny himself,
(deny himself)
and take up his cross and follow me."
There, Jesus calls us, knowing that we have been redeemed by His blood, knowing that the only way we stand unashamed before God, is through Jesus. He is our salvation.
There, Jesus calls us to deny ourselves.
That means to deny our sinful nature.
It means to crucify our sinful nature.
It means to repent of that sinful nature that wants to be ashamed of the most important thing in the world - Jesus. Repent of that and cling unashamedly, unashamedly before the whole world, cling to Jesus, and be willing to take up our cross and follow.
What does it mean to take up a cross? The cross that Jesus took up, looks beautiful up here, in the front of our church, doesn’t it? But a cross was a place of rejection, suffering, and shame. Jesus says, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross."
Be unashamed of Jesus.
And though you will be rejected by the world, (which is a cross), you stand unashamed.
Though you suffer for Jesus’ sake, you be unashamed.
And though the world may try to heap shame on you, because you stand up for Jesus, you are unashamed.
"If anyone would come after me,
he must deny himself
and take up his cross
and follow me."
And so, Bothers and Sisters in Jesus, who are unashamed, unashamed before God because of Jesus, let us go forth today, unashamed of Jesus.
Let us be unashamed, unashamed to fold our hands in prayer, no matter what the world thinks or what our sinful nature thinks.
Let us be unashamed to use the Word of God in our lives, no matter what the world thinks or what our sinful nature thinks.
Let us go forward, unashamed of Jesus. Let us be unashamed to speak of Him, to our neighbors, no matter what the rejection, no matter what shame they may try to heap upon us.
Let us be willing to take up our cross and follow, because we stand unashamed of Jesus, because He was unashamed to die for us.
Let us go forward unashamed, you young people. The world is going to try to heap shame upon you, when you stand up for Jesus. The world is going to try to pressure you into
watching movies that you know go against your Savior, or
listening to songs that you know go against your Savior, or
being involved in conversations that you know go against your Savior, or
being involved in activities that you know go against your Savior.
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me."
Be unashamed. Be unashamed of Jesus and unashamed to bear a cross for Him. Don’t be ashamed to stand up for what is right, in the face of pressure to do what is wrong. Don’t be ashamed of Jesus. Don’t be ashamed to live a pure life, a chaste life, and a decent life. Don’t be ashamed of Jesus.
You grown ups, don’t be ashamed of Jesus.
Oh, the world and the work place may try to pressure you into doing things that are ethically against God’s Word. There may be all kinds of unethical behavior and unethical talk in the work place. Don’t be ashamed of Jesus.
And, don’t be ashamed to take up the cross and to suffer rejection, as the world tries to heap shame on you for doing what is right for your Savior, whom you are unashamed of. Don’t be ashamed.
Don’t be ashamed to talk to your family members. If you have a family member who is living in sin, or a family member who has strayed away from Christ, don’t be ashamed of Jesus. Don’t be ashamed to talk to them about matters of eternal salvation, and be willing to take up the cross. And if it means they reject you, don’t be ashamed of Jesus.
"If anyone would come after me,
he must deny himself,
take up his cross and follow me."
The other day I heard about one of our high schoolers, who went to school, here at Holy Cross, and now goes to a public high school. In the public high school class the teacher was talking about evolution. This student, from here at Holy Cross, stood up and said, "I don’t believe in evolution. I believe God created the world."
The teacher, (in front of the whole class) said, "That’s stupid. That’s stupid."
The student responded, "Well, that’s what I believe. That’s what I believe. I know the answers you will want on the test, so that is what I will put down, but that is not what I believe. I believe that God created the world."
There is somebody who is unashamed of Jesus, unashamed! Unashamed to bear a cross. Unashamed to suffer. Unashamed to be rejected, for the sake of Jesus, His Word and His Gospel.
Why are we unashamed? We are unashamed, because Jesus has taken away our shame before God. Jesus bore a cross for us. Let us bear our cross, gladly, for Jesus!
Amen.
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