Pick up your cross

XXII Sunday “A” Matthew 16, 21-27 Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do." Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay all according to his conduct.” In last week’s gospel Jesus gave Simon a new name: Peter! Jesus said that on Peter, this rock he would build his church. This week Simon gets another new name. One very different from last week. This week Simon is called Satan! How does he go from being called the “Rock” the foundation of the Church to being called Satan and Jesus telling him to get away from him? Jesus himself gives us the answer. He says that Peter is thinking not as God thinks but rather as human beings do. Since Peter is a human being and not God, can we really blame him for thinking the way that he does? Afterall Peter was just thinking about Jesus, he wanted to save him for the terrible suffering and death upon the cross. It isn’t all that different from the comfort we try to give one another when they are facing something terrible. “you’ll come out of surgery fine.” “You’re strong.” “you’ll get another job, don’t worry.” Today’s Gospel is the logical continuation of last Sundays. Last Sunday Peter made his profession of faith. He proclaimed that Jesus was his Lord and Messiah, and now Jesus is explaining to Peter what exactly that means to be Lord and Messiah. To be Messiah means to be willing to suffer greatly, to be willing to die and only then rise again. There is no other way to be Messiah for Jesus. In today’s gospel Jesus is proclaiming what it means to really love your disciples. To love your disciples means that you will have to suffer and even be willing to die for them. But Jesus doesn’t stop there, he continues to say that if you want to be his disciple you too must be willing to pick up your cross and follow him. You have to be willing to sacrifice your life if you want to be a disciple of Jesus. What is the cross that Jesus is inviting you to pick up? What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? Now we shouldn’t be too harsh on Peter for we know that Peter did learn his lesson, Peter did pick up his cross and followed Jesus and died on his cross. But what about you? What about me? There are some folks who I think are overly ascetic. They think that picking up your cross means that you have to suffer. They might put glass in their shoes, so it is uncomfortable to walk. They might put vinegar in their food so that it doesn’t taste good. I really don’t think that that is the kind of cross Jesus is asking us to take up. As Jesus himself says in the Gospel, the cross leads to Redemption, “On the third day be raised.” So, the cross that we pick up, the suffering we do in this life must lead be Redemptive. It must lead to new life. In other words, Jesus isn’t inviting us to suffering for sufferings sake. One example for me is parents. No matter what you say to have children is a sacrifice. I know that not all couples are able to have children, and many don’t opt for marriage. But I remember listening to a pod cast of Fr. James Allison a while ago where he encouraged all couples and all individuals to do something that brings them outside of themselves. Some kind of sacrifice or giving or something where you are brought outside of yourself, and you give to your family, community, or world. We are disciples of Jesus. We are called to proclaim him as a Lord and Messiah but we are also called to follow him. Which means that we must pick up a cross and follow him. Let us pray for one another that we have the strength to be true followers of Jesus. That we will pick up our crosses and follow him.