Palm Sunday/Sunday of the Passion --- 29 March 2015

(Today we read the Passion according to Mark. John Frey and I shared the reading, each of us reading alternate paragraphs, so as not to have one voice droning on. All the palms were given out, many people taking extras for shut-ins and people who could not be present... and that's how it should be.)

Mark 14:1-15:47

1 As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. 2 Pilate asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" He answered him, "You say so." 3 Then the chief priests accused him of many things. 4 Pilate asked him again, "Have you no answer? See how many charges they bring against you." 5 But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed. 

6 Now at the festival he used to release a prisoner for them, anyone for whom they asked. 7 Now a man called Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder during the insurrection. 8 So the crowd came and began to ask Pilate to do for them according to his custom. 9 Then he answered them, "Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?" 10 For he realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed him over. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. 12 Pilate spoke to them again, "Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?" 13 They shouted back, "Crucify him!" 14 Pilate asked them, "Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted all the more, "Crucify him!" 15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified. 

16 Then the soldiers led him into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor's headquarters ); and they called together the whole cohort. 17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him. 18 And they began saluting him, "Hail, King of the Jews!" 19 They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him. 20 After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. 

Then they led him out to crucify him. 21 They compelled a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross; it was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. 22 Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). 23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take. 25 It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified him. 26 The inscription of the charge against him read, "The King of the Jews." 27 And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left. 28 29 Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, "Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!" 31 In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32 Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe." Those who were crucified with him also taunted him. 

33 When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 At three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" 35 When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, "Listen, he is calling for Elijah." 36 And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, "Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down." 37 Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, "Truly this man was God's Son!" 

40 There were also women looking on from a distance; among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41 These used to follow him and provided for him when he was in Galilee; and there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem. 

42 When evening had come, and since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Then Pilate wondered if he were already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he had been dead for some time. 45 When he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the body to Joseph. 46 Then Joseph bought a linen cloth, and taking down the body, wrapped it in the linen cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where the body was laid.

• Some of the best times we have are the times we tell stories. Whether it is around a campfire, over a family meal in the dining room, or even at a tavern with some friends. Even at the luncheon after a funeral, those story times are meaningful to everyone involved.
• Such stories can entertain and amuse and educate. They can bring everyone involved together by sharing the experience, even if only a little bit. Shared stories make community. When told well, stories can make you feel like you were there. You become part of the experience and somehow, you share the history. That's one of the reasons I'm happy to listen to people's stories.
• Stories can also tell us who we are. They tell us where we've come from, what we've been through, what we've learned, and what it cost us. In that way, stories can help us move into the future with some past history and, probably more importantly, integrity.
• This is why we hear the same stories year after year in our worship services. This is why preaching is best based on the Scripture's stories, to explain, to illuminate, and even to apply the story the Scriptures tell.
• This is why I'm not going to say much as a sermon today. I want the Scriptures to speak for themselves.
• The story we heard is one we've heard many times before. It may be one of those stories we might not like because the subject is rather gruesome and frightening. Yet, it is the story that defines who we are as disciples of Christ because it defines Jesus Christ for us.
• I know I need to hear this particular story. Without it, I might eventually forget all that Jesus went through for me and what that means to me. I might even mistake something else for the story of salvation and redemption.
• There's one more thing about stories. History in books may seem dry and dead; History told as stories is as alive as the person telling it.
• The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a living story. It gives life and it takes on life in each of us. The Gospel story changes us.
• Whatever else we might say, the story we heard here today is alive. May it be our living story as well.

The Fifth Sunday in Lent --- 22 March 2015

John 12:20-33

20 Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." 22 Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor. 27 "Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say--"Father, save me from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." 29 The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." 30 Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." 33 He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

"The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

• Words have great meanings and weighted meanings. What means one thing to one person might mean something entirely the opposite to another or it might have no meaning at all.
• Not long after I moved to this area, I was speaking to a few of my friends. These fellows said something like this: “Well, that was done and then everything was tickety-boo.”
• I don't need to tell you that I was confused. That was an expression I had never heard before, and I'd heard some truly weird sayings and expressions.
• It ends up that the phrase “tickety-boo” means “everything is fine” or “everything is in proper order.” My friends could not tell me where this expression came from, but that didn't matter. It's what they said and it made sense to them.
• Believe or not, it is the same way with the Scriptures and in particular with John's Gospel. John makes a lot of what might be called 'code words', words that have a particular meaning to him and to his original readers. John's words often mean the same thing as entirely other words used in the other three Gospels. It's just hard to translate from one to the other.
• In this day's Gospel reading, Jesus declares that The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. He goes on to say Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. For John, hour is not a 60 minute time period, but a pivotal moment, the point in time where something is going to happen. Jesus' hour of glorification is longer than 60 minutes and reaches its highpoint when he is lifted up on the cross.
• Another word particular to John is “glory.” For John, this word means nothing less than the Passion of Christ and his crucifixion. This may not seem like glory to us, but for John and for may others in the history of the Church, the crucifixion of Jesus is his most glorious action and the most glorious point in his life.
• This may come clearer to us if we realize that for John the crucifixion of Jesus and the resurrection of Jesus are not two events, but one event that cannot be pulled apart. They are one event that must be considered as such. If we separate them, they lose their value and become things that happened to Jesus, things that we can watch from afar.
• The crucifixion without the resurrection is a senseless thing that leads to despair and defeat; all that Jesus did and said is lost in death. Further, the resurrection without the crucifixion is meaningless to us in regard to our salvation and our justification; it's just Jesus' escape hatch. If we consider one without the other, they are just historical events that happened in the past and are events do not include us.
• Together, the crucifixion/resurrection event has so much meaning and so much power, lives are changed and people are moved to things that would usually be impossible.
• Jesus goes on to use the farming analogy of the seed dying in the ground: Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. This statement has been taken and interpreted in so many ways that it would be hard to bring up all of them and bringing them all up would not help us here today.
• One of the interpretations takes us to Jesus' first statement, that this was the hour of his glorification. The analogy of the grain of wheat applies to him. It is a statement of how he ultimately sees his own death. Jesus is the seed that ultimately gives up its existence as a seed to become something more, that is, to bear fruit for greater good.
• As the passage goes on, other code words are uttered. The word, “world” is far beyond the created reality that we call this world. For John, the world is everything that opposes Jesus and his reign. He says the world is under judgement and the “prince of this world” is being driven out. The world and all that opposes Jesus and eternal life (which is John's way of saying “the kingdom of God”, the equivalent term used in the other Gospels.)
• Finally Jesus speaks of the nature of his own death in saying this: And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. Being “lifted up” reminds us of the bronze serpent raised up in the desert by Moses to heal those bitten by the serpents. Being “lifted up” is an apt demonstration of the figure of the crucifixion. Odd to hear, but it is this horrendous figure of the crucifixion rather than the teachings or the utterances of Jesus that will draw all people to him. This is his glorification. In fact, one commentator has said that in John's Gospel, Jesus goes to the cross like a king going to his throne in a coronation processional.
• Why did John use these words? It seems that the words used had meaning and power among the people he was writing for. Just like any set of words, they take their meaning from their situation. This is the reason why our scriptures are re-translated every so many years; for them to have real meaning and power, they have to speak to the people of that time and place.
• As we get close to Holy Week and the celebration of our salvation through the cross and resurrection of Christ, we will hear all sorts of words. Lets let them sink in and become part of us again and again. As Paul wrote to the Colossians: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly... for in those words, we know Christ lifted from the earth, drawing all people to himself.

The Fourth Sunday in Lent --- 15 March 2015

John 3:14-21

14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17 "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20 For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21 But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God."

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

• Years ago, when I was in seminary, I had a professor named Augustine Donnigan. He told us stories of how he and one of the seminarians would go to the International House of Pancakes at the turnpike interchange in Bedford, PA, to have pancakes and sausage with the Queen of the Netherlands every so often.
• That story and a few others aside, he was an excellent teacher and was very passionate for the Gospel and for living it out. One day in class, he told us this: “Jesus doesn't save souls; he saves people!”
• This may be obvious to everyone else here, but it impressed me... and it made sense. It still does.
• This passage from John's Gospel, a favourite of so many people, gives the same message and takes it further. Jesus not only saves people, but he saves all the world, every bit of it, from the greatest minds and the holiest people to the smallest dirt crawler and even the grasses and herbs. There is nothing that is beyond God's concern or exempt from salvation in Jesus.
• If we believe that Jesus' salvation is only spiritual, that he only saves souls, we're missing a big chunk of the story. John does not say that Jesus came to save the holy, the honourable, and the deserving. Jesus came that the entire world – all of God's creation and all that makes it up – would be saved, simply because his Father (and he) loves the world and all that makes it up. Salvation in Jesus is very unspiritual and quite earthly. In effect, all that God has made is saved in Jesus.
• There is an odd paradox here. Jesus make reference to the bronze serpent Moses raised up in the desert wanderings of the Hebrews in order to heal those bitten by the snakes sent as a punishment. He says he will be lifted up as the bronze serpent was lifted up. The paradox is that the Hebrews were heal of the snake bites by looking upon a snake. We are healed of our sins by looking upon one who was made sin for us, lifted up before our eyes on the cross.
• This salvation is given to us apart from our worthiness, apart from our earning it, apart from our readiness for it. That's why it's called “grace.” The grace of God is based on nothing less than the fact that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son. This love is not a generalized love as when someone says “I love soup” or “I love the Spring.” This love is quite personal, as in “I love you.”
• In this love, the entire person -body and soul- is given salvation. It is for the entire person, not just a part.
• This saving love goes even further because for our salvation and the salvation of the entire world, God didn't send a committee or a legion of angels or puzzle to be figured out. God gave his only Son. John continues: Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
• Jesus came among us as one of us; he didn't come as a super-man or a king among kings or a huge loud voice demanding obedience. He came as a human being and went even beyond that to the ultimate mystery of human life – death. He even endured a humiliating death, one he never deserved, because God so loved the world.
• This passage from John's Gospel has become a slogan for some, a simple, easy statement. The truth is the statement is far from simple and it carries more power than we could ever imagine.
• You may have heard the story about the man who is walking down the street and suddenly falls into a deep hole he did not see. The hole is deep, the walls are steep.
• A psychiatrist happens by and the man calls out, “Hey, Doc, can you help me here?” The doctor writes a prescription for a powerful antidepressant and throws it into the hole.
• A minister comes by and the man calls out, “Hey, Pastor, can you help me out here?” The minister writes out a prayer and tosses it down into the hole.
• Then the man’s best friend comes by, sees his friend down in the hole, and immediately jumps in. “What did you do that for?” the man says, “Now we’re both stuck!” “Not really.”, the friend says, “I’ve been down here before and I know the way out.”
• In this world as we know it, there are so many pits we might fall into – pits of bad health, of despair, of sadness, and even pits of sin. There is also the final hole of death. The difference here is that Jesus has been in each and every hole we might find ourselves in, even the final one that is death. He's been there and he knows the way out.
• In this world of sin and evil, there are so many dark and deep pits into which we fall. And for each of us there is finally a six-foot deep hole in the ground waiting for us at some cemetery somewhere. Thanks be to God that Jesus has been down in that hole himself and he knows the way out. That way out is called Easter.
• It may seem strange to hear me say that the Resurrection is for all creation. Just like God's salvation, because God doesn't save souls; he saves people... and all else that touches them.

Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

The Third Sunday of Lent ---- 8 March 2015

John 2:13-22

13 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15 Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 He told those who were selling the doves, "Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!" 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me." 18 The Jews then said to him, "What sign can you show us for doing this?" 19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." 20 The Jews then said, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?" 21 But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

• What is it that makes the difference for Christians? Are we somehow morally superior to all other people? Do we have secret knowledge or a secret understanding of the mysteries of the universe? Do we have special powers unavailable to the average person?
• Well, you know the answers to those questions. We are not of ourselves morally superior to those who do not follow Christ. We have no secret knowledge or understanding that gives us special insight into the world around us. Beyond pot-luck suppers, we have no special powers.
• Still Christians are different. What makes the difference for us is simply this – the proclamation of Christ crucified. This has become the centre of our lives, even if we don't understand it fully. I'm not sure we can ever understand it fully, but for us, Christ crucified reveals to us the power and the wisdom of God, to use Paul's words.
• Note well that Paul uses the word “power” saying that the message of the cross is the power of God, not simply the wisdom of God. Wisdom implies a way of thinking and then a way of acting. God can grant us the wisdom to take care of some situation but it would then be up to us to apply that wisdom to how we act.
• Power is different. If the cross is the power of God, then the cross is something that God has done for us, something that is and remains beyond our own power and ability. Paul writes: For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
• This message is quite simple to say and harder to swallow: We are not saved by our own actions but by the power of God in Jesus Christ... and him crucified.
• We can take Jesus as a great moral teacher and an enlightened person in the ways of God... and we would be right to do so. There are many who do so all around the world today. There are those who lament the crucifixion and death of Jesus and wonder what he might have taught had his ministry continued. For Christians, who no doubt accept Jesus' moral teachings, there is still more. For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
• For us “who are being saved”, the cross is nothing less than God's salvation made manifest is a supremely graphic way. We need not meditate on the gruesomeness of what Jesus did for us; that might be too much and it just might be a distraction.
• Knowing why Jesus went to the cross and thinking and praying on that would be sufficient for a lifetime.
• When Paul says that Christ crucified is a “stumbling block” for Jews and “foolishness” for Gentiles, he is speaking of course about groups of people of his own time. Those people still exist today although often under different names.
• Do you know what a “stumbling block” is? The closest thing we have today is that concrete block that stands at the end of a parking space in some parking lots. If you've ever tripped over one, you now what I mean. Now the original word Paul used is skandalon, the root of our English word, “scandal.” For many, the crucified Christ is a shocking scandal. They're prefer a clean and tidy savior god of power and strength rather than the image of a man strung up on a gibbet. They want thunder and lightening and a smashing defeat of enemies. The weakness of God is a scandal to them.
• To others, the image of Christ crucified is foolish and ridiculous. There must have been a better way, they say and then they ask why such a god didn't take it. The idea of dying, as inevitable as it might be, is the ultimate defeat, the final end, and the height of meaninglessness. There is no wisdom to be found here, only the futility of a teaching cut off before coming to fruition.
• So it seems that for the high priest and for the philosopher, none of this makes sense.
• A religion that says we must strive to save ourselves cannot see the worth of the cross since there is no glory or personal striving in it. A philosophy that seeks wisdom will not see any wisdom in the cross since such a death is foolish in that philosophy's light.
• Here is where Christians are different. We know we cannot do it ourselves. We know that the wisdom of God looks foolish in the eyes of many. We know that our salvation is accomplished for us by the power of God rather than any work or decision of our own. We know our weakness and we know that what appears to be God's weakness is for us grace, strength, power, and salvation. We know our own foolishness and we know that what seems to be God's folly is for us the way of true wisdom and hidden power.
• In truth, to answer that first question asked at the beginning of this talk – that is, what makes the difference for Christians – we hold to this: it is the grace of God that has made any difference in us and that grace is available to all.

we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

A Simple Reminder

Please remember...

At least in most parts of North America

The Second Sunday in Lent ---- 1 March 2015

Mark 8:31-38

31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things." 34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36 For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37 Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38 Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."

"Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."

• Does this seem to you to be a very serious criticism of Peter by Jesus? He calls him “Satan.” That's taking it pretty far to call someone the devil.
• I think we all know that Peter and Jesus were pretty close. Peter and the two brothers, James and John were usually the ones singled out to accompany Jesus on very special occasions. Those three were the ones present on the mountain of the Transfiguration. Those there were the ones Jesus asked to go with him in the garden of Gesthemene. It is Peter who is the first to confess that Jesus is the Messiah when the disciples are asked “Who do you say that I am?”
• And here he is called “Satan.” Now this is not because Peter has turned evil and it is not a foreshadowing of his denial of Jesus during Jesus trial. Peter's arguement with Jesus is part of Jesus' on-going temptation. It was Satan who tempted Jesus in the wilderness and it is Satan who is sometimes called “the Adversary.”
• It seems that Jesus was tempted on one way or another throughout his entire life. Some of his followers wanted to make him a king. Some looked for him to overthrow the Roman occupation of Judea. Some wished him to be the great healer of all diseases and the giver of unlimited bread.
• In truth, Jesus could have been any of these things. And he struggled with these expectations. More than once, he had to run and hide to avoid being made a king or some sort of earthly leader. In the garden on the night of the Last Supper, he asked his Father to take the coming suffering and death from him.
• Yet, in the end, he said “Not my will, but your's be done.”
• In this passage, Peter is really the mouthpiece for a often-occuring attitude. Peter was not alone in this, but since he talks alot in the Gospels, he voices the concern that was probably found in many of the disciples if not all of them. It is also an attitude that is still with us today.
• Jesus is often called upon to solve problems, give riches, heal problems, even to intervene with great power and majesty. When he doesn't do those things in the expected ways, he's called false or fake.
• As with Peter in today's Gospel, this is the earthly way of thinking, and Jesus would still respond and say “...you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."
• Divine and human things are very often opposites. What are priorities for us might not be priorities for God. What seems right and proper for humans might go totally against what is right with God... things like revenge, refusal to forgive, or the persuit of advancement or power or riches. To set the mind on divine things requires a chage of mind and heart, a true reform of a person's life. In other words, repentance.
• It might then be no surprise that Jesus then goes on to say that living requires dying and losing one's life leads to keeping it. His disciples must take up the cross and follow him. The cross was a brutal and shameful and humiliating means of execution in those days, reserved for traitors, rebels, and those whom the Romans wanted to make a special example of. The taking up of the cross by each disciple is troubling and humiliating... and it is the emulation and imitation of Christ.
• Those who follow Jesus in the carrying of the cross are behind him in their following. They only know the way by following. Those who refuse to follow Jesus are also behind him, but they are behind him in the sense of being left behind and moved away from. Both are behind Jesus, but in two very different ways; some follow behind and some are left behind.
• For Jesus, death leads to life. For his disciples, the same is true. Following Jesus is a dying to self and a surrender of life to “divine things.” These divine things may look very earthly in some ways. Sometimes the divine is seen and expressed in how human things are done. Often our very human lives are woven through with the divine.
• Many of our fellow Christians have known the cost of discipleship and there are those who know it quite intimately today.
• Better thinkers than I have said this before. Here are the words of the German theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: 'Ye were bought at a price', and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.” 
  
  ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship
  
  
• It is a very different path we are called to walk.

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