Internetmonk, a blog I rather enjoy, posed a good question recently on this verse. Essentially - what does this mean? What does it mean to take up your cross daily?
Matthew 19:16-26 recounts the parable of the rich young ruler... a parable I have always struggled with because I see myself in the young man...
'Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”
“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”
“Which ones?” he inquired.
Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’[a] and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”
“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.'
“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”
“Which ones?” he inquired.
Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’[a] and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”
“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.'
This is a tough one for me. A young man who is genuinely trying to follow Christ is unable to follow Him in the end because he would not give up his wealth. I look at him and then I look at my own life and I get more than a little nervous - I'm supposed to just sell everything I have?? That makes no sense! But that is what I am supposed to do isn't it?
Well the question on internet monk got me thinking about something C.S.Lewis said:
“A man who is eating or lying with his wife or preparing to go to sleep in humility, thankfulness and temperance, is, by Christian standards, in an infinitely higher state than one who is listening to Bach or reading Plato in a state of pride.”
“A man who is eating or lying with his wife or preparing to go to sleep in humility, thankfulness and temperance, is, by Christian standards, in an infinitely higher state than one who is listening to Bach or reading Plato in a state of pride.”
From this I have come to realize the following. Not all Christians are called to sell all they have and become priests, monks, missionaries, etc. Not all Christians are these things. Some are called to live their own lives with God at the center and that can be a much more difficult task. Humility comes easily when the Creator has told you a direction. But being humble is difficult when you have to trust that God is using you in your everyday life. Taking up your cross may simply be working every day to make and keep God as your foundation and praying that your life will be of use. We may never see that our lives are useful to the Lord, but if we keep moving toward Him we have to trust we will be.
But this is not an excuse either and we cannot ignore a call and we cannot be selfish in our blessings. Corinthians 8:13-15 says "Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”
We need to be like Abraham when he was called to sacrifice his son Isaac when dealing with all parts of our lives - especially those parts we care for most (I discussed this story at length in an earlier post titled "Abraham's Knife"). We have to place all we have on an altar and allow God to take and use what He will as He wishes. The rich young ruler turned away because he valued his wealth more than God. God asks us to be willing to give Him everything and allow all we have and all we are to be used by Him. We may put our money and lives on the table and not get that great calling to be a missionary or a monk. But by placing it on the altar, by making it available to God to use we are just as useful to the Lord as those whose direction is more clear.
God may or may not use what we offer Him. If we put our lives and money on the altar for His use he may take it from us for His purpose. It is a risk. But it is a necessary one to let God use us for His glory. And aside from placing what we have on the altar to be used by Him, we have to live our lives with temperance, humility, and faith as C.S. Lewis said so well. That is probably the toughest task of them all.
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