Sermon 164 Mar 31, 2019 Mk 8: 34-9:1; Heb 9:11-14; Si 28:2-12 Cross

As preached by Brother Luke
Holy Wisdom Church



In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!


Anchors Aweigh, my boys, Anchors Aweigh! Any navy types here? Not sure what that service song brings to mind for you but as I was thinking about today’s gospel and the Cross celebration, the symbol of the Anchor came to mind. Its shape is reminiscent of a cross. Its purpose, when it is lowered into the water, is to hold a ship in place.

Our faith is anchored in the cross. No matter what storms in life or in our faith we might have to endure, the cross is the reminder of our destiny if we are indeed to follow Christ. The traditional troparion for St. Herman of Alaska refers to the Cross of Christ being both planted firmly in the ground of this new world and also raised on high. Though mixed images, both are central to our faith, being firmly rooted in the reality of the cross, but also willing to carry it on high, in joyous celebration of the victory over death that its symbolizes.

In today’s gospel, we are challenged to take up our cross and follow Christ. Scripture scholars and commentators have devoted a lot of energy and spilled a lot of ink wrestling with this phrase. Just exactly what does that cross mean? Some argue that the cross refers to the many crosses we have to carry in our lives. Others say it means that we are to carry the cross that Jesus carried and be ready to die for him and for the Kingdom he promised. I tend to think that the second part of that phrase is the critical gloss that explains the meaning of the cross. “Follow me.” After all, Jesus used a similar image in other contexts.

Think of the paralytic who is healed and then told to “take up your mat and go on your way.” In this regard, Jesus is telling the paralytic not to be anchored any longer to the past, but rather to accept the liberation that Jesus has given him and then move on in life. However, in todays gospel Jesus adds “follow me.” Notice, Jesus does not say “take up my cross” rather, he says take up “your” cross. Each one of us will carry our own cross, unique to us and our circumstances. But as with the paralytic, Jesus did not say throw away your mat, but rather, take it up. Take up your mat, take up your cross. We are taking up the things that can hold us back. We accept them but do not let them trap us or keep us from doing what we are called to do.

What are we called to do? Jesus came into this world to do the will of the Father. And Jesus did not let any obstacle keep him from doing that work. Not rejection, opposition, ridicule, abuse, attacks, or even his death on the cross. So if we are to follow Christ, as he invites us to do, we can’t let our crosses hold us back. But we also cannot pretend that they have disappeared. We have to bear them even as we embark on the mission of following Christ, that is, doing the work of the Father here on earth.

After all, the ship at anchor is not going anywhere unless it lifts up its anchor, unless that sailor gives the shout, “anchors aweigh!” But it also does not toss the anchor overboard, they take it on board. They carry it with them. We too carry with us all our realities, all our burdens. We take them up. But then comes the second part of the word form Jesus: “follow me.” This is also the same idea as Jesus saying learn from me, my yoke is easy and my burden is light. And what are we to learn from Jesus? We are to learn to live and pass on the greatest message about God: that God is love and we are to live within that love and transmit it to others. By doing so we are also doing as Christ did, we are taking up the Cross of his mission and being the ones to carry it onward. We heard about many of the acts of mercy recommended to us this season in the pre-lenten hymnology.

“...let this be the way we live: let us feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty; let us clothe the naked and welcome the strangers, and let us visit those in prison as well as those who are ill. Let us treat everyone as we ourselves would like to be treated, that by our love for each other the world may recognize us as followers of Christ...”

Sticheron from Judgment Sunday

Engaging with these is learning from Christ to do the work of the Father here on earth.

What about the young man who questions Jesus about what he needs to do to enter the Kingdom of heaven, to be saved. At the end of that conversation Jesus told the young man he needed to sell all he had, give it to the poor and “follow me.” As a wealthy young man he could not bring himself to do that. He let his “burden”, his wealth and all that it meant to him, control his life and prevent him from attaining the goal he thought he wanted.

So, to take up our cross is to pull it up out of the ground and carry it, not use it as a tether to hold us in place. Lent is the opportune time to take up Christ’s challenge, to follow him on the path to that paschal celebration fully engaged in the charitable work of the father.



Christ is in our midst!