Bearing the Cross

Gospel: Mark 8: 34- 9: 1

It has been said that there are as many Christianities as there are people, that we all seek to make God in our own image and likeness.  No doubt this statement is true, especially in light of today's Gospel wherein Jesus makes it clear that one cannot be a follower of his without taking up the cross for themselves and bearing its burden in their own lives.

Crosses are an ever present symbol.  They are in churches, homes, and on our person as jewelry.  But we see the cross as something for Jesus, something he did so that we did not have to endure it.  This idea gives us license to create a Christianity of our own making, one that caters to our self-interest, that endorses our biases, preferences, political beliefs, and need to have all things our way.  

But the Lord Jesus took the form of a slave and endured the death of a slave upon a cross likely built by a slave.  He calls us to be slaves and to endure the cross of slavery as well - to be servants of mercy in the world.  To accept the cross is to accept the mercy of God for our sins, and to become the mercy of God extended outward to others in a life of selfless service and love.