Genuine Love/Taking Up Your Cross

 Matthew 16:21-28, Romans 12:9-21

 In Matthew 16, Peter who was praised for knowing Christ was the Messiah is now being rebuked by Christ. When Jesus tells the disciples he must suffer and be killed, Peter’s reaction is very human, “May it never be.” To this Jesus replies, “Get behind me Satan – you are setting your mind on human things not divine things.” We are surprised at this rebuke thinking Peter said this out of his love for Christ – that no harm would come to him. Yet Jesus talks about a genuine love of sacrifice – of Christ needing to carry out his mission of salvation and Jesus talks about taking up one’s cross and following him.

In Romans, Paul talks about genuine love that holds fast to what is good and hates evil. We are to love each other with mutual affection, rejoice in hope and be patient in affliction. We are to persevere in prayer and contribute to those in need and pursue hospitality to strangers.

But in verse 14 comes the “carrying your cross” requests. We are to bless the people who curse us – like Christ did to those who ridiculed him as he carried his cross to crucifixion. “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”

We are to rejoice with those who rejoice – no place for envy here, and weep with those who weep. We are to be humble, living in harmony with the lowly and not arrogant in our claims of wisdom. Paul tells us to live peaceably with all not repaying evil for evil – an unfortunate human tendency. Taking up our cross here means we give up our need to seek vengeance and give it over to the Lord in faith that God will repay.

I wish I could tell you that when the boss who made my life miserable was put into forced retirement I didn’t jump up on my desk and sing, “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead.” The Lord had already repaid her by taking away her job.

Paul then tells how genuine love truly acts. To many this is another taking up of their cross. It is by feeding our enemies and offering them drink – by serving them out of love. In this way it will be like heaping burning coals on their head. This is how we overcome evil with good. Though in human terms it makes no sense, but in living this genuine love to all we are following Christ our example, by setting our minds on divine things. Amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Join Me on a Lenten Journey

For those of you not familiar with Lent, it is a season of forty days, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday. Lent comes from the Anglo Saxon word lencten, which means "spring." The forty days represents the time Jesus spent in the wilderness, enduring the temptation of Satan and preparing to begin his ministry. Lent is a time of repentance, fasting and preparation for the coming of Easter. It is a time of self-examination and reflection. Today, Christians focus on their relationship with God, often choosing to give up something or to volunteer and give of themselves for others. Easter comes early this year. Many of us not brought up in this tradition can still embrace its emphasis of focusing on the gifts Christ has brought into your lives and finding ways to share the love of Christ to others. This emphasis of love goes along well with the beginning of Lent this year, Ash Wednesday, falling on all days – Valentine’s Day. So whether or not you plan
Read more

Setting Your Hope in God

 Disclaimer: Paul talks about the Rapture in this passage a concept I still struggle with. I believe that once you die you go direct to the Lord, so bodies awaiting till the rapture to rise is hard for me to grasp. I can see how Paul was comforting the Thessalonians here but was his concept correct? Add any comments you wish to this bafflement of mine. That said, I wrote this per the text. What do you all think? Psalms 78:1-7; I Thessalonians 4:13-18   The psalmist in Psalms 78 is not only telling his current audience to listen to his teaching but to pass it on from one generation to the next. Just like he has heard it from his ancestors, he asks the Israelites to teach them to the coming generations. They are to teach them to the children yet unborn so that these children will teach their children. Why? So, they should set their hope in God, not forgetting God’s works. Fast forward to the New Testament where Paul is passing on this hope to the Thessalonians. The question these bel
Read more

Do What they Teach, Not What they Do

  Matthew 23: 1-12; I Thessalonians 2:9-13   Jesus when he talks about the scribes and the Pharisees in Matthew 23 basically says: “Do what they teach but not what they do.” What he questions most is their motivation. They do what they do to be seen by others. They wear fancy robes and love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues. They love to be greeted with respect. All this Jesus sums up in the word pride or not being humble. He states then that those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted. Years later Paul writes to the Thessalonians telling how he did what Christ had instructed. That he was humble leading a life worthy of God, his motivation being for God’s glory not his own. He tells that not only are the Thessalonians his witnesses of this but God also. They have seen how pure, upright, and blameless his conduct has been. He encourages the Thessalonians to do the same. To live a life worthy of
Read more