At yesterday’s liturgy we began reading the great first letter of Paul to the Corinthians. We will remain with it at the daily liturgies until the middle of next month. Today, Paul speaks of one of the most central mysteries of our faith, the cross of Christ. Paul goes on to tell the Corinthians that when he came to them, in much humility and meekness, he came preaching only Christ crucified. For Paul, there can be no resurrection without the cross. Paul tells them that the cross is not what any wisdom of this world can understand.
That is as true for our age as it was for the age of the Apostle Paul. For our world seems basically divided into two main groups, consisting largely of those who have and those who do not. The only difference between now and then is that in the ancient world, very, very few were among those who had. And for those (many more) today who have, so many seem to strive as mightily as they can to avoid ever becoming one of those who have not. Through education, employment, the favor and influence of any they know who have or have more, hard work and diligence in seeking all opportunity, they strive to remain among those who have and to see that their children will be among them also. Towards those who have not, they often display a curious mix of guilt (which is accompanied by a certain amount of care that is also, unfortunately, often rooted in that guilt) and blame. It is all also usually accompanied by a not insignificant fear of falling (because it is very much seen as a fall, a failure, a loss) into the company of those who have not.
Of course, I am not saying that everyone who has been blessed with a certain prosperity is like this or that it is so cut and dry. Many who have are very conscious of the obligation they also have to help and aid in any way those who do not have. Many are very generous and many are indeed helped by their generosity. But nevertheless, what I said is still quite often the case. And to people such as that, the cross of Christ is utterly incomprehensible and perhaps even ridiculous. Who in their right mind would ever choose what such a choice like that implies? Rather, it becomes something to be avoided at all costs. It becomes quite literally the worst thing that could happen.
That is certainly how it seemed to Jesus’ Apostles immediately afterwards. We can only imagine what terrors of guilt and shame raced through them that Friday night and all day Saturday. And the worst terror was that it was all for nothing, that it had all ended in horror, failure and death. It literally took them years to become fully aware of what had really happened.
To embrace the cross with Christ is to abandon all ideas that we know what is best for us. It is to completely and willingly put ourselves entirely in God’s loving hands. It is to seek to cease labeling everything as good or bad, desirable or undesirable and simply accept everything and everyone as somehow God’s loving gift to us though we may not see it now. We stop attempting to “figure it out” or really understand it. We simply let it be. To embrace the cross is to become willing to face our fears, realizing that they are all based in our not getting what we want because what we want is usually opposed to God’s will for us which we falsely believe will cost us terribly. In reality, it would simply set us free, it would completely unburden us if we would only believe that!
To embrace the cross is to learn that we can love one another as Jesus loved us. That we can forgive everyone, including ourselves. That there is nothing to be afraid of, nothing we can lose that really matters. To embrace the cross is to become aware that there is only one thing necessary and everything else can actually just come and go without any worries. To embrace the cross is to realize that everything, every single thing, is simply given to us, that all is God’s gift if we would only become willing to see it that way. We have earned nothing, it was all just given to us but not meant just for us. Finally, it is to cease putting our hope and trust in anything other than God. No prosperity, no achievement, no security, no contentment, no comfort, no good times, nothing will ever bring us true peace and joy except to embrace the cross and finally receive the true freedom won for us in Christ Jesus to become fully aware of the love of God and love of neighbor that casts out all fear.