Matthew 16.21-28
+ Invariably, if you happen
to come to a Wednesday night Eucharist here at St. Stephen’s, you’ll find that
we will have the red paraments up. There will be a red frontal on the altar,
red hangings on the ambo and kneelers, and I’ll be wearing the red chasuble. On those occasions, take note:
That
red symbolizes something not so pleasant.
It symbolizes blood. More specifically blood that was shed for Jesus.
In
other words, the saint we are commemorating that night probably died a violent
death as a follower of Jesus. A martyr.
Martyrs
are truly a unique lot among us Christians now days. In the early Church they
were viewed as heroes, similar in many ways to sports stars or movie stars in
our own day. The word martyr actually
means “witness” and they really were true witnesses to Christ, witnessing to
Christ by their very deaths, by the actual blood they shed for Christ.
Martyrs
also challenge the rest of us Christians, as well. They challenge us, by their deaths, to ask
ourselves that very important question: would we, under similar circumstances,
be willing to give up our lives for our Christian faith? Would we be willing to die for Christ? If, for some reason, we were forced to either
give up our faith in Christ and live or profess our faith in the face of danger
and certain death, would we? Or, just as
importantly, would we be able to stand up to the forces in the world that are
in such direct opposition to our Christian faith, even if standing up in such a
way would mean death? Would we be able
to take to heart the words of today’s Gospel, when Jesus says, “those who lose
their life for my sake will gain it.”
It might be easier to
answer if we are talking only about our own deaths. But would we be so ready if the deaths
involved our children or other loved ones?
I
think it’s occasionally a good thing to ask ourselves these questions, because
the fact is martyrs are not just fabled personages from the far past. There are
martyrs even in our own day and age. In
fact just this past week, Pope Francis called the murder of American
journalist, James Foley, by ISIS a martyrdom. Among Anglicans and Episcopalians we have lost
some great modern people to martyrdom, people such as Jonathan Myrick Daniels,
who in August of 1965, was shot and killed in Mississippi by a white shop owner
for defending a young black girl during the darkest days of Integration. Or
Archbishop Junani Luwum, the Anglican Archbishop of Uganda, who was brutally
murdered by dictator Idi Amin in 1977 for standing up against oppression.
And some of us no doubt see
martyrs even in someone who didn’t necessarily die for sake their faith, but
simply died for being who they are, such as Matthew Shepeherd, a young, gay
Episcopalian. There are people dying for their faith, even right now, this
morning, in places like Iraq and Syria and in Africa. So, there are, no doubt, people dying for
Christ and Christ’s message of love in our world even as we gather together
this morning. There are people today in
this world who are dying for Christ or are watching their loved ones die for
Christ.
And suffering for Christ
doesn’t just mean dying for Christ either. There are many people who are living with
persecution and other forms of abuse for their faith.
So,
it is important to remember the martyrs of our faith. It is important to heed their witness to us. Our
Church has truly found its identity and spirit with those who, throughout two
thousand years of Christianity, have suffered and died for their faith.
Hopefully,
though, few of us here this morning are being called to die as martyrs. For us who are maybe not led to die for
Christ, we still have our own burdens to bear. And that burden, of course, is the Cross.
In today’s Gospel, we find
Jesus saying
“If any want to become my
followers, let them take up their cross and follow me.”
While we might understand
losing our lives for Jesus’ sake might be easier for us to grasp, picking up
our cross might seem like a vague idea for us. In all of this, Jesus is saying to us is that,
being a Christian, as wonderful as it is, isn’t a rose garden.
Being
a Christian means facing bravely the ugly things that life sometimes throws at
us. I don’t think I have to tell anyone
here what those ugly things in life are. Each of us has had to deal with our own
personal forms of the world’s ugliness. As
we look around at those who are with us this morning, most of us here this
morning have carried our share of crosses in this life. Most of us have shouldered the difficult and
ugly things of this life—whether it be illness, death, loss, despair,
disappointment, frustration—you name it.
The
fact is: these things are going to happen to us whether we are Christians or
not. Though I do have to wonder if I would still have these issues if I wasn’t
a priest. It’s simply our lot as human
beings that life is going to be difficult at times. It is a simple fact of life that we are going
to have feasts in this life, as well as famines. There will be gloriously wonderful days and
horribly, nightmarish days. We, as human
beings, cannot escape this fact.
But, we, as Christians, are being told this
morning by Jesus that we cannot deal with those things like everyone else does.
When the bad things of this life happen,
our first reaction is often to run away from them. Our first reaction is numb our emotions, to
curl up into a defensive ball and protect ourselves and our emotions. But Jesus
is telling us that, as Christians, what we must do in those moments is to
embrace those things—to embrace the crosses of this life—to shoulder them and
to continue on in our following of Jesus. By facing our crosses, by bearing them, by
taking them and following Jesus, we was able to realize that what wins out in
the end is Jesus, not the cross. What
triumphs in the end is not any of the other ugly things this life throws at us.
Rather, what triumphs is the integrity and the strength we gain from being a
Christian. What triumphs is Jesus’
promise that a life unending awaits us. What
triumphs is Jesus’ triumph over death and the ugly things of this life.
What
we judge to be the way we think it should be is sometimes judged differently by
God. We don’t see this world from the
same perspective God does. And as a
result, we are often disappointed.
Yes, our burdens are just
another form of martyrdom—another albeit bloodless form of witnessing to
Christ. And, like a martyr, in the midst
of our toil, in the midst of shouldering our burden and plodding along toward
Jesus, we are able to say, “Blessed be the name of God!”
That
is what it means to be a martyr. That is
what it means to deny one’s self, to take up one’s cross and to follow Jesus. That
is what it means to find one’s life, even when everyone else in the world
thinks you’ve lost your life.
So, let us take up whatever
cross we’re bearing and carry it with strength and purpose. Let us take it up and follow Jesus. And, in doing so, we will gain for ourselves
the glory of God that Jesus promises to those who do so.
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