Good Morning! We finally have some rain in central Minnesota, and it’s mostly a gentle rain, continuing for hours. It’s what my Irish cousins might call a mist!
The Gospel lesson for this day starts: “Once when Jesus was praying alone…. [Luke 9:18]” Why did Jesus need to pray? What would he have prayed about? Did he pray the Psalms, or were his prayers even more personal, reflecting his own struggles and doubts? Why does it say so often in scripture that he went off to be alone while he prayed?
We say that Jesus was just like us only without sin. If that is true then doubt and fear are not sins. He showed both in the prayers that we know about from scripture. This passage doesn’t actually tell us what he was praying. Did he question whether or not he really was God’s anointed one? The passage tells us that right after he had prayed he turned to the disciples and asked them: “Who do the crowds say that I am?” Did he need others to affirm his identity, his mission? He immediately followed that up with a direct question to his disciples: “‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered, ‘The Messiah of God.’ He sternly ordered and commanded them not to tell anyone, saying, ‘The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.’[Luke 9:20-22]”
It sounds like he was coming to terms with who he was and what would be demanded of him. He wants the disciples to understand what it means to call him “the Messiah.” There will be a price to pay. Perhaps he also needs to repeat it out loud for himself. He will undergo great suffering and rejection and be killed! And then he utters a very stern warning to the disciples: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.[Luke 9:23-24]” The demand (and it is a requirement!) is also found in Matthew 16 and in Mark 8. It actually appears a second time in Luke: “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. [Luke 14:27]” It’s only here in Luke 9 that the word “daily” is included.
On the chancel wall of First Presbyterian Church of Willmar it is expressed in large letters this way: “Take up your cross and follow me.” Placed in the context in which Jesus is making this demand, it takes on a very serious tone. Jesus himself had doubts and fears about what it meant, and so he prayed to make certain that he stayed in contact with God, whom he called “Father.” If you can look at those words either on the wall or in the scriptures and not suffer some anxiety, then perhaps you don’t fully understand the nature of the commitment we are being called to make. Only prayer can bring us the strength and certainty that we will need – every day.
One of the Psalm readings for today says:
“I love you, O Lord, my strength.
“I love you, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,
my God, my rock in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;
so I shall be saved from my enemies.”
Let us pray: Eternal Father, we call Your Son “the Messiah,” Your anointed one. We know that through Him we have the path that will take us back to You. This world will place a cross on our shoulders as we walk that path seeking to return to Your presence. Hear us, O God, as we cry out to You for strength and determination. At Your throne of grace let our cries be heard. Silence the noise of our fears with the sounds of Your love for us. In the confidence of Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Today’s readings are Jonah 3:1-4:11; Acts 27:27-44; Luke 9:18-27; Psalm 18:1-50.
Blessings.
Pastor Jim
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