February 25, 2024, The Vocabulary of Jesus: The Cross, Mark 8:31-38 – Mtr. Kathryn Boswell

saintphilipsnorwood ♦ February 25, 2024 ♦ Leave a comment

To listen to the sermon, click the link above. An outline of the text is below.

The Consecration of Bishop Jeremiah – talk about the service – vesting – coming upstairs – full church, crucifer and torch bearers, St. Patrick’s breastplate – “I bind unto myself this day…” in hundreds of voices – then awaiting the second procession

A very different from today – But the service is exactly the same in one central thing – everyone follows the cross

“Cross” is our word this week in the Vocabulary of Jesus (“Temptation” last week)

Following the cross is not just for church, it is a way of living

And there’s a reason Jesus warns us not to be ashamed of the cross – because to the world the cross just looks like foolishness

The way of the cross that Jesus walks before us leads us:

towards loss (not gain, not success, not safety) – Phil 2 – he poured himself out – Jesus became poor for our sakes – when a man wanted to follow Jesus he told him “Foxes have holes, birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head

towards suffering (not security, not comfort, not necessarily happiness – which is not the same as joy) Jesus is the “man of sorrows, acquainted with grief” – one reason people didn’t recognize him – they expected victory and success, a conquering hero, not a Lamb facing slaughter (Is 53)

towards death (not life) – towards death willingly – the Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep – no one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord Jn. 10,

And he calls us to walk in his footprints – “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

And who would choose that?

Theologies out there that want to leave out the embarrassing cross part – they just want to sell us prosperity and success and happiness – but they are bankrupt – they are deceitful – and they are dead

Because unlike Peter in the reading today, we have seen the cross by the rising light of Easter – we know where it leads. We know that what looked like loss was our gain; what looked like – and was – suffering led to joy, which is so much more than happiness; and what looked like – and indeed was – death led to abundant life – and not just in the “sweet by and by” but right now, abundant life that is ours to share in the midst of a dying world.

At the consecration, as today, when we follow the cross it leads us to the altar – where we share the fruits of Christ’s death – forgiveness and healing – where we experience the Presence of Christ in the company of angels and archangels and of the people of God in every time and every place. The way of the cross is truly the way to life, and the only way to life +