Lay It All Down
Mark 8:34-35[1]
We all have burdens we carry through our lives. All of us
have obligations that we have to meet, responsibilities to attend to, tasks
that we need to look after. That’s just a normal part of life. But many of us
have other burdens we carry as well. We may carry the burden of expectations
that were placed on us at a young age. Those expectations may have taken the
form of a “script” or a “plan” for our lives that our loved ones hoped, or
perhaps even demanded, that we fulfill. They may have seen us as the ones to
carry on the family legacy, and they may have had very specific ideas about
what that should look like. We may carry other burdens, like the shame or guilt
for mistakes we’ve made for which we just can’t seem to forgive ourselves. We
may carry the burden of thinking “if they really knew me, they wouldn’t accept
me.” I think that one is more common than we may know.
We have other burdens that we carry as well. We enter our
lives with our own hopes and dreams about the path life will take and what life
will or will not bring our way. Those of us who have been around the block more
than a few times know that life has a way of frustrating our “plans.” Rather than
a straight line from beginning to end, the course of our lives usually includes
all kinds of detours, missed turns, wrong turns, backtracking, and just plain
getting stuck. That can be a problem for us if we’re desperately clinging to
our plans. More than that, when life takes us down roads we never dreamed of,
or perhaps we could only imagine in our worst nightmares, if we cling to our
plans as if that’s the way our lives “have” to unfold, we will likely find ourselves
discouraged and perhaps even embittered. When we close ourselves to the
possibility that good things may come from paths we didn’t expect, our hopes
and dreams can become shackles that bind us.
This may seem like a strange way to introduce our Gospel
lesson for today. After all, in our lesson today Jesus not only announces that
his path of obedience to God would lead him to die on a cross. He also tells
all who would follow him that they must “deny themselves and take up their
cross” (Mk 8:34). Just as we discussed with Jesus’ call to repentance last
week, I’m not sure we even understand what Jesus is asking of us when he calls
us to follow him. In our culture, “being a Christian” can simply be part of our
identity as Americans. Some of us view faith as a means of getting all that we
want out of our lives: comfort, happiness, status, and security. In a setting
where people “select” churches like they are picking out a new car, and where
they selectively participate only to get what they want out of it, I seriously
doubt that we can even hear what Jesus is saying when he calls us to “deny
ourselves and take up our cross.”
Our problem starts with “denying ourselves.” That call goes
completely against the dominant message of our culture. In our consumer-driven
culture, we’re told we “deserve” the best, and that we “owe it to ourselves” to
make sure we get it. That’s pretty much the basic message behind the whole
advertising industry, from Superbowl ads to local business appeals on the
evening news. The basic premise is that “you’re worth it,” so you “deserve” to
“treat yourself” with everything you want. And we’ve made it easy for you to
get it—no payments until 2030! So when Jesus calls us to “deny ourselves,” it
just doesn’t compute. As a child of this culture, I must confess I’ve wrestled
with how to communicate what this means to us. The best answer I can come up
with is that Jesus calls us to let go of our own aspirations, our own hopes and
dreams for our lives, or even the very notion that life is “supposed” to bring
us all that we could want or ask for. More than that, I think Jesus is calling
us to lay down our preoccupation with our own welfare, to let go of the basic
orientation that makes ourselves the focus of our lives.
Now, I’m aware that this is difficult for us to even hear,
let alone comprehend or actually embrace as a way of living. It just seems
wrong not to make “self” the center of our lives. But I wonder if in fact Jesus
may be onto something that eludes us. I wonder if perhaps our very preoccupation
with “self” isn’t one of those things we cling to that become shackles that
burden us. Think about it; we like to hear Jesus calling us to “Come to me, all
you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you
rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble
in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and
my burden is light” (Mt 11:28-30). That invitation sounds a lot more appealing
than the one in our lesson from the Gospel of Mark for today to “deny yourself
and take up your cross.”
But I wonder whether they may be more alike than we think. Jesus
goes on to say in our lesson for today that “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” (Mk 8:35). I’m not sure Jesus would say it this way,
but in our day and time I think “losing your life” can mean laying down the
burdens we carry when we box ourselves into the trap of making “me, myself, and
mine” the center of our universe. When we get trapped in the prison of our own
interests, our own wants, or what “I” deserve, it becomes a place that robs us
of the very life we’re clinging to so desperately. I think what Jesus was
trying to say is that in fact the only way “save your life,” the only way to
truly live, is to give yourself away for the sake of others. I think he may be
calling us to lay down all the things we cling to so tightly in that small
place of “I” and open ourselves to the people around us in compassion,
understanding, and love. Of course, there is a balance to be struck here
between a healthy sense of self and giving ourselves away for others. We can go
too far in both directions.
Giving ourselves away for the sake of others brings us to
the part about “taking up your cross.” Again, I’m not sure we can hear how
shocking that must have been to Jesus’ disciples at that time. They had seen
many of their people brutally executed on crosses. In their ears, “take up your
cross” must have been even more difficult for them to hear than “denying
yourself” is for us. It might have been like calling us to “take up your
hangman’s noose.” But he was pointing them to his own example. He had just told
them that his path of obedience to God was going to lead him to his death. And
he proceeded to call them to follow him on that path. And, in fact, there have
been many who have followed Jesus to the point of giving up their lives.
Most of us don’t live in a situation where we literally have
to give up our lives to follow Jesus. But I think we can still learn something
about what it means to “take up our cross.” On the cross, Jesus set the prime
example of what it means to love others enough to lay down your life for them
(cf. Jn 15:13). It’s not likely we’ll be called on to do that by literally dying.
But laying down our own interests, our own wants, our own hopes and dreams for
the sake of others is a path that we can all take. Just as with repentance,
“denying yourself and taking up your cross” is not easy. I don’t think it’s a
way of living that comes easily to any of us. In fact, I would say that it will
take us a lifetime to learn what it means to truly lay down your “life” and
give yourself away for the sake of others. And even then we won’t have it all
down.
As we continue observing the season of Lent, I hope we
realize that the kind of sacrifice Jesus calls us to make for the sake of our
faith has nothing to do giving up meat or chocolate for 6 weeks. If we would
follow Jesus on the path to the cross during this time, he’s going to call us
to go far beyond that. He’s going to call us to lay down our very lives for the
sake of others. But the “good news” in this seemingly demanding call is that it
is precisely as we “lay down” our lives that we truly find life. As we let go all
our expectations and plans, as we let go all our hopes and dreams, we may discover
that they were the very things keeping us from the life we were looking for. As
we lay it all down and follow Jesus on the path of giving ourselves away for
the sake of others, we truly “find” our lives.
[1] ©2024 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm PhD on 2/25/2024 for Hickman
Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
