‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me

How might this apply to us, on a wet Sunday morning in February?

First of all, let’s deal with the rinse out, the softening of this expression as we use it:

How many times I wonder have we heard this said in colloquial English? This is my cross that I have to bear? Or his or hers? 

Maybe it's uncle Albert, who everyone tries to avoid at extended family gatherings, but you can't, because you’re too polite to ignore him?

Maybe it's a difficult boss at work that makes your life a misery.

As the years advance, maybe it's a long term illness or an injury. Or those that happen to family and friends.

Are those our crosses to bear? 

Whilst I am not underestimating those difficulties, that’s the watered down version of the expression. It's not really what Jesus is talking about.

He is talking about the road to Calvary, that will involve ultimate sacrifice of all might have been: career, family, a future: a sacrifice of life itself, a sacrifice of hope, a sacrifice of all worldly possessions.

And that's a really tough ask to expect his disciples to do the same. But in one sense he does. 

So, in some ways this is not a very cheerful subject for a sermon. And you might say well it doesn't really agree with so many other Christian themes.

Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. That might be difficult to do when you're carrying your cross to execution.

What about come on to me ye who are heavy laden and I will give you rest? The road to Calvary doesn't sound very restful.

What about the parable of the lost sheep, where Jesus comes to redeem us and save us at great personal cost? Because of His great love for each one of us?

Well yes he does, but surely, He also expects us to do the same for everyone else, at some personal cost, so actually, that parable is two sided: freely we have received, freely we are asked to give.

Nevertheless, the concern about us having to take up the cross is still surely valid.

How on earth can we reconcile a life of difficulty and personal cost, to a life of faith in Christ, a life of redemption and hope, a life of forgiveness and salvation and joy? 

You will probably notice in life that there's far too many Christians that go around with a long face. Surely, we don't need a few more carrying even heavier crosses?

So, how do we resolve this, and follow Christ joyfully, as he asks us to do?

I think the first thing to say is that we should not rinse this out. There must be at least in one sense that Jesus means this literally. He himself takes the road to Calvary and dies on the cross. Many of his immediate listeners, that is the disciples, suffered the same, or at least a similar fate, by claiming allegiance to him. Many early Christians were imprisoned, killed or thrown to the lions. 

But you might say, well, things were different in those days.

Yes, they were, but Jesus also reminds us in the passage, that if anyone is ashamed to name Christ in their lives, ashamed to declare allegiance to Him among those we meet, then He is ashamed of us. 

In other words, we may not be asked by God to face the lions in the Roman arena, but we are asked to face down the lions of secularism and unbelief in the society in which we live, starting with our personal relationships.

But you might say well sorry, but all this still sounds like hard work. Can’t you just preach on a different passage?

(No, I can’t, by the way!) 

Because we can solve this huge tension, between a Christian life of sacrifice and service, and difficulty, and a life of purpose, and rejoicing.

How can both be true at the same time? Well, they can: 

Choices, choices, choices. 

Has your friend got a better house, or car, or lifestyle, or better friendships than you?

The next time we envy somebody else’s possessions or lifestyle or car, or clothes, or relationships, they next time we stray anywhere close to the 10th Commandment, just remember, it’s all about choices. 

We spend our money on this, and not on that. 

And when we all realise that, we can all be an awful lot happier. 

And that I think is exactly what Jesus is saying. He saying life is about choices.

Forget the new car, says Jesus. I am the best thing that could’ve ever happened to you in your life, says Jesus. 

I promise you forgiveness, salvation, eternal life.

I promise you new resurrection life, powerful life, transcendent life, both now in this world, and in the next.

It is the ultimate goal of existence.

I promise you myself.

However, you have to choose.

You either choose this ultimate prize or you don’t. 

And now we come to a further difficulty.

Jesus also says: “I know what you folks are like.

Most people won’t choose this big prize. They won’t choose the tough, narrow gate.

They’ll take the wide, easy gate that leads to a destruction of godlessness and selfishness.

Because it’s easy, and because everybody else is taking it.

And because it seems like we’re getting what we want. Until, of course, our selfish choices start to come home to roost.

Christ says choose me or don’t choose me. It is black-and-white as that. That’s not God being mean or difficult to wanting to give us a hard time. That’s just an acknowledgement of the reality of the key choice we all have to make in life.

Those who choose Christ get the ultimate prize. Those who do not choose Christ do not. 

But the road to get to the ultimate prize is a tough one. It means you have to give up other stuff, stuff that would get in the way, stuff that give short-term pleasure, but no lasting joy.

But my goodness, it’s worth it. 

I’ve just spent 2 1/2 years Dunsfold and Hascombe, trying to tide them over until they can appoint a more permanent local minister. And I tell you this next anecdote to my shame. 

Many Sunday mornings, on the long drive to those churches, and it takes me half an hour, I usually end up driving down small country lanes, with my path blocked  by middle-aged, mid-life crisis, Lycra-clad men on bicycles. They are out for their Sunday morning jolly, and they are in my way. They sometimes ride two abreast so they can discuss stamina, and related manly issues.

The roads are so narrow, you can’t easily get past them. And I think, well, I would like to be out there, enjoying the fresh air, getting some exercise, having a good lifestyle on this sunny Sunday morning. But unfortunately, I have something more important to do. That’s my daily Sunday choice, and sometimes it’s a hard one. 

I’m not telling you all this to show how noble I am.

I’m telling you all this to confess that I sometimes have bad thoughts even on the way to Church! But the point is the same. 

Choices, choices choices. 

Daily, we have to choose the way of the cross: do we spend the time today on our desires and pleasures and pursuits, or do we live to service others? We can’t have it both ways. 

Well, may God forgive me for my Sunday morning grumbling, and unkind cyclist judgements, and help me to make right choices, choices that extend myself for others, and help me not to live self selfishly. And I pray that for you also. 

I know many of you already do this. Many of you fill up your working week and your weekends, looking out for others, visiting others, messaging others, serving others at work, at home, and in many other ways. I know you do this. Please be encouraged.

The gate might be narrow, the path might be steep, but it does lead to joy and salvation. 

The next time we make the right choice, at our own cost, to serve others, and not ourselves, we need to remember that we do it for Christ.

And with Christ.

And in Christ.

That’s the bit that’s not a slog, or a difficulty, or a bridge too far.

That’s the bit that makes everything worthwhile, and meaningful, and glorious, and joyful.

Christ journeys the hard road with us, as a living reality. He is with us, and that makes all the difference in the world.

Amen