An article from the Cathedral Times
bythe Very Reverend Samuel G. Candler,
Dean of the Cathedral ofSt. Philip
Jesus called the crowd with his disciples, and saidto them,
"If any want to become my followers, let them denythemselves
and take up their cross and follow me."(Mark 8:34)
We hear the phrase, "Take up your crossand follow me," over and over again in Christianity. "Take up yourcross," the Savior said. We nod our heads in agreement, as if we allunderstand perfectly.
OK. But what does it actuallymean to "take up your cross?"
Are we supposed tofollow Jesus so literally that we give up our lives, willingly, to thereligious and political authorities of our day, who will then put us todeath by execution? That's what Jesus did. Are we supposed to carry aninstrument of torture on our backs to the place of our suffering? Again,that's what Jesus did. After all, the cross was not just a piece ofnice jewelry back in those days; it had about the same culturalconnotation as an electric chair might in our own time. It was a form ofdegrading execution.
What was Jesus doing, then,during his last days, that we might be called to follow? One way toconsider "the cross" is as a sign of weakness. When Jesus took up hiscross, he was acknowledging vulnerability. He was admitting weakness,submitting to power that would take away his life. The cross, for Jesus,represented his exposure to pain and suffering. The cross was hisvulnerability.
If so, I suggest that "taking up ourcross" means picking up and acknowledging our vulnerability. Most of usspend our lives doing just the opposite. We prepare to go out into theworld by building up our strengths. We train and go to school and makemoney and surround ourselves with good company. We even do good andgreat things in the world with the strengths that we have workedat.
To "take up our cross," however, means to lay ourstrengths aside. It means to lay our "ego strength" aside. Taking upour cross means, instead, picking up those weaknesses that we so oftentry to run away from in life. Taking up our cross means carrying aroundthose places where we are vulnerable, places where we are maybe evenexposed to embarrassment and shame.
Those are notcomfortable places, are they? They are places where we hurt. They areplaces where we would rather not go. They are places where we wouldrather not be seen. Still, they are places that are a part of us. Ourweaknesses and losses are just as much a part of us as our strengthsare.
"Taking up our cross," means, then, coming toterms again with the vulnerable and weaker parts of ourselves, knowingour embarrassing features, acknowledging those places that hurt us. Bothour strengths and our weaknesses are part of us; but Jesus calls us todeny "our selves""”our ego power"”and to carry around our weakness.
Actually something quite powerful occurs when we dothis. Jesus said it like this: "those who want to save their life willlose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake ofthe gospel, will save it." (Mark 8:35).
