In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
“Ours is an intellectual faith,” I say to myself, “I have heard the Gospel, and it agrees with me.” And I reduce Christianity to opinions—this is right, that is wrong—and I give the accepted pronouncement for each situation. From my ivory tower I can look down on the poor unfortunates around me, “thank God I am not like them.” And on the Last Day I will stand before my Maker and say,
‘Lord, Lord, have I not prophesied in Your Name, cast out demons in Your Name, and done many wonders in Your Name?’ And then He will declare to me, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
— Matthew 7:22–23
Because I have turned our Faith into words rather than actions, opinions rather than service, managing death rather than Life. And well do the words of Christ apply to me,
Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven.
— v. 21
The words of today’s Gospel are directed at you and are directed at me.
If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.
This is not the words of opinion but of action since our Faith is not shown by thinking that God exists—even the Devil would qualify as a Christian by that standard!—but that we do something: it is not that “I have faith,” as some intangible concept but that “I am faithful,” that my inward faith is demonstrated by my outward actions.
“If anyone wishes to come after Me,” tells us this is a gift freely given by us, we are under no compulsion save that of our own convictions, but if we want to truly follow Him it can only be by way of the Cross, by the way of sacrifice, of suffering and of ridicule. A Christianity which is not willing to offer anything for the sake of another is not worthy of the name. And if I want to walk the path of Christ the first step is to deny myself, humble myself, place others before me. I do not reach humility by repeating to myself, “I must be humble, I must be humble,” but by placing others above me in importance—my family and my friends of course, but the truly humble person places before himself his enemies too, both those who love him and those who hate him.
And having freely chosen to follow Christ, having humbled ourselves we are inclined to think that God will not give us more than we can handle since we remember the words of the Apostle,
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
— First Corinthians 10:13
But this is given specifically for temptations—it does not deny hardships nor trials. The Apostle himself writes elsewhere,
For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life.
— Second Corinthians 1:8
Because the Lord offers to each one of us a cross. The Lord makes no promises of wealth, health nor worldly gain and even tells us we will be hated for following Him.
If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.
If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. …
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.
— John 15:18–19, 16:33
And yet if we take up this cross with joy, one which is impossible for us to carry except by the power of God in us, then the Apostle gives us our consolation.
Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead,
who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us,
you also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many.
— Second Corinthians 1:9–11
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we have the free choice to follow Christ, but if we are to do this truly we must deny ourselves—humble ourselves—and take up our cross in service to others. And this is not just challenging, it is impossible by our own strength. And yet this is the path to freedom, to reality, to Truth. In our world where many struggle for access to reality, where authenticity is prized as a virtue, the Church shows us the path which gets us there is by the cross.
Let us then, dear brothers and sisters, not merely think the Gospel but do it, let us choose the way of Christ, humble ourselves and take up our own crosses, “For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it.”
That we may walk in the path which leads to Life which has been revealed to us by our God and Saviour Jesus Christ, and offer to Him true glory and worship, together with His unoriginate Father and the All-holy, Good and Life-giving Spirit. Amen.
Brethren, since we have a high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. Because of this he is bound to offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people. And one does not take the honor upon himself, but he is called by God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, ‘Thou art my Son, today I have begotten thee’; as he says also in another place, ‘Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek.’
— Hebrews 4:14–16, 5:1–6
The Lord said: “If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man give in return for his life? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of man also be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.
— Mark 8:34–38, 9:1