Homily for September 14, 2014 - Feast of the Triumph of the Cross

Homily for September 14, 2014

Feast of the Triumph of the Cross

Be Not Afraid

 

            The old story goes that a man one night was burdened with many sufferings: health problems, financial problems, family problems. Before going to bed, he complains to God about all of his crosses: “Lord, why have you given me so many difficulties and sufferings in life? It isn’t fair!” So that night as he sleeps, he has a dream and Jesus comes up to him and says, “Come with me. You say your cross is too heavy – let us pick out another one.” So Jesus leads the man into a huge room, as big as a warehouse. The Lord says, “You can lay down your cross here and pick up another one. Your choice.”

            The man begins to wander the room, and he is stunned by how big many of the crosses are. Some are ten feet tall, others look like they weigh two hundred pounds. Finally, there in the corner, the man finds a small cross that looks manageable. “Lord, I’ll take that one,” he says.

            Jesus picks it up and lays it on his shoulders and tells him, “This is the cross you laid down when you came in here.”

            Human beings almost always think that the grass is greener on the other side, because we don’t like the Cross. We don’t like to suffer. We don’t like sickness, and failure, and all of the other unpleasant things that come with life. Nobody does. And many times, we try everything possible to avoid the Cross – we try to get a new job, we try to use anti-aging products to help us feel younger, we do anything to avoid the Cross.

            And it is certainly legitimate to avoid some suffering. But we can never avoid it all. A friend of mine is in the military and a while back we were having a conversation. His wife had just conceived their third child, and he found out that he was heading out to a nine-month tour of duty in Iraq. I told him how sorry I was that he wouldn’t be around to witness the birth of his child, and how much stress that must be on his marriage. He just shrugged and said, “Yes, I suppose it’s tough, but everyone has their crosses to bear.”

            He had accepted that with his choice of life, there would be certain crosses that were unavoidable. Instead, he chose to grind through them, knowing that by bearing the Cross he is drawing closer to Jesus.

            Every choice, every commitment, every goal we pursue involves crosses. In order to live out our commitments, in order to become the best version of ourselves, we’ve got to grind through the Crosses. For example, in order to be a good husband or wife, we have to sacrifice for our spouse, put their needs first, and learn to compromise. If we desire to be a good student, we have to endure the cross of studying. To live out our commitment to being a parent, that requires embracing lots of crosses, like patience with our teenage kids, or taking care of a child who is sick. If we are committed to succeeding in our jobs, we have to make the sacrifice of working late sometimes. If we are committed to good health, we have to deny ourselves the third helping of pie and actually exercise once in a while.

            These crosses aren’t easy, but they help us to become the best version of ourselves. I love what the Protestant pastor Rick Warren had to say: “God cares more about your character than your comfort.” So true! God is interested in helping you become a man or woman who loves like Christ loves – and how did He love? By embracing the Cross. You see, when we embrace our crosses, and we don’t try to cut corners or take the easy road out, then we become stronger – more courageous, more compassionate, more kind, more patient, more giving – in a word, more like Christ. So do not be afraid of the Cross!

            This is especially true of our biggest commitment, the commitment to being a disciple of Jesus Christ. He did not promise that it would be easy to follow His commandments – instead, He promised the exact opposite, when He said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” Following Christ isn’t easy. It takes the sacrifice of our time – making time to seek His heart in the Scriptures and daily prayer. It takes the sacrifice of our reputation – some people may think us simple-minded for being followers of Christ, and often we have to take unpopular stands when we follow Christ. It takes the sacrifice of the daily struggle to avoid sin – it’s tough to follow the commands of Christ.

            But this feast is about the TRIUMPH of the cross – because through the Cross, Jesus conquered death and opened Heaven for us. He showed us that the Cross comes before the Resurrection. This is true, not just for Him, but for us as well. If we want to be a great husband or wife, a great parent, a great employee, a great student, a great athlete, a great person, we need to embrace the Cross. Don’t be afraid to embrace the crosses. It’s what helps us to become the best version of ourselves – which is another way of saying, it helps us become saints.