Living Beyond the Cross

 Whose idea was the cross, anyway? John 3:16 hangs on banners in sporting events; waved by enthusiasts with rainbow colored afros; a right of passage, so it seems, to faith and hope, “¹⁶“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life…” – a description of salvation history that should not be punctuated with a period, but invited into the stories of our lives. Does this mean that God had an epiphany? Was the cross the perfect plan – a tortured Jesus screaming, “My God, and my God, why have you forsaken me?” If so, what does that mean for me and my suffering?

This Stole Made By a Community of HIV/Aides Victims in Naledi, South Africa

It seems like suffering is not optional in this life.  Jesus helps his followers and closest sojourners in life understand this fact in his journey as he showed them, “…He must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and the chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised (Matt 16:21).” If the revelation of God tells us that even divine human experience cannot avoid suffering, what is suffering all about? I’ve done enough suffering to know that this is something that I would avoid if I could. Some would say, “that it’s God’s plan, we all have a cross to bear, God’s will is a mystery, only God knows why this suffering is important in our lives.”

The image of God, the author of suffering, causes me to suffer spiritually. I can’t embrace the thought that God requires crosses; that God depends upon the death of children; that God relies on addiction and abuse; that God sees hunger and cancer and dementia as necessary ingredients for our faithful lives. These are OUR crosses and if you are telling me that the cross was God’s idea, aren’t you also saying that MY cross is God’s idea?

Peter was no more eager to embrace the cross as God’s plan than I am. Imagine Peter’s emotional response to the proclaimed inevitable end – “Suffer greatly?!, who says you must suffer greatly? Elder’s Priests, Scribes?! – I call you Messiah! Isn’t Messiah, God’s anointed, above all those that would do such harm? Be killed?!!! – That sounds more like defeat than deliverance!”

 Sometimes the fears welling up overwhelm us and shut us down. Sometimes the fears that grow exponentially in our moments of realizing that we aren’t in control after all block out the Son and all of the hope that would be proclaimed in our continued hearing.

Sculpted by Artist Lynn Morrison, a testimony to life beyond the suffering

I was exploring this passage with a group of accomplished men in our congregation when one of them said something that really hit home. “I have spent 69 years promoting myself in life…my greatest fear is that the advantages that I have earned could be taken from me; or worse, be no advantage at all.” Yes Peter; that is exactly how we feel. Peter saw advantage in his relationship with Jesus, advantage in his dropping his nets and following God’s anointed, advantage living hand to mouth – a nomad, a charity case. So, when Jesus reveals that suffering cannot be avoided, I hear bubbles bursting both his and mine. (Maybe yours too) We think we should be “self-reliant” when the good news has nothing to do with self-reliance. It is about God-Reliance.

What if fear did not prevent us from hearing the rest of the story? Jesus says, “…and on the third day be raised.” The Good news, the God News, is not the suffering.  God is the author of victory not the author of defeat. God is the author of hope and love, not the author of pain and punishment. The cross is not God’s idea, it is ours! The cross was the absolute worst that man had to offer in the time of the Christ event. It represents the pinnacle of suffering in his day. God declares that suffering may not be avoidable, but it will not have the last word. There is life beyond suffering! There is resurrection! There is Being Raised! There is third day living, life eternal, the life that God has always intended for each and every one of us. 

Christ suffered, died, and was buried, and on the third day was raised again. Christ got beyond the suffering and lived; that is what I get from the words “take up your cross and follow me.” Have you not suffered in the past? Have you not experienced a new path and a new hope, a life beyond the suffering? This is the life God has for all of us – eternal life, the life God always intended. Resurrection is easy to believe after you have experienced a few. Don’t wait ‘till you’re dead to live eternally. Hear the words of God that uses all things for good, “take up your cross and follow me.” The cross was not God’s idea, but living beyond the cross is. Let’s do it.

Jim Glidden artistically fabricates metal; A therapeutic response as his wife, Diane, suffers dementia

See how Christ is revealed in the stories of our lives. Come to church at 9:30 on Sunday and find God empowering each of us to live beyond the suffering.

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