Ash Wednesday 2008  

“The Cross Carrier”       Luke 23:25b

Zumbro Lutheran Church, Rochester, Minnesota

Pastor Gary E. Benson

 

Call it familiarity, tradition, whatever you will, but throughout the years the message and the music of Lent has always been that which feeds my soul both in a comforting and a challenging manner.  How did such evolve?  For one thing, I never remember a time NOT attending Lenten worship; from those early years as a youth it was expected and accepted.  Furthermore, the music, those which became the old familiar hymns like “The Old Rugged Cross” or “In the Cross of Christ I Glory” have done some serious “spiritual business” within me throughout the years. Without question, the message of Lent, the Cross of Christ is so much more than I can comprehend. But that was and is part of the attraction, be it the mystery, be it the miracle of the Word.

 

During this 2008 season of Lent, with the theme, “Watcher’s on the Hill,” once again we will focus not simply on our personal spiritual journey, but God’s story for us in Jesus Christ.  We will focus on the events of 2,000 years ago at a place called Mt. Calvary.  And could it be in returning to that both tragic and sacred scene through message and music we will be reminded of why we have reason to believe, to celebrate, and to be a people of hope?

 

Even though we are centuries removed, the significance of the Lenten story is not distant from our mind, soul and spirit. In the context of history, life and times were not bright and cheery. Rather the condition of humankind was one of darkness and gloom. Defeat and darkness were spreading like waves of the sea sweeping over everyone.  Yet, in the midst of wallowing in the darkness of sin and doubt, the prophet Joel proclaimed the word of the Lord. A word not concluding in dread and condemnation but of invitation (words of our liturgy): “Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”

 

This evening you have returned, called by the Holy Spirit, you have returned.  Why have you returned?  Have you, have I, returned because we, like Simon of Cyrene, have been called to bear a cross?  Or do we gather to affirm and celebrate “the one Jesus Christ” who would carry “our cross,” be it the cross, the “sins of human kind.”

 

Let’s be mindful from our text that even though Simon of Cyrene ended up in the middle of the action carrying the cross of Christ, it wasn’t by his design or desire.  It is thought he was simply in town on business. He gathered with the rest of the crowd watching the procession. Suddenly a soldier, he didn’t ask but announced to Simon, “You will carry this cross.”  Imagine getting thrown into the center of that action and not even understanding what was going on.  Simon would carry the cross as an obligation, in respond to a command.

 

That said, often times we carry a cross not as an obligation but as a condition, don’t we?  How many times have you heard it said, “Well, that is your/my “cross to bear”?”   And indeed our cross is not that of wooden beams. Yet “our cross” weighs us down with uncertainty and fear just as the old rugged cross would drop Jesus to the ground in exhaustion.

 

We are all familiar with “crosses to bear;” it would seem such are part of our human condition.  Everything in our life from economics, to relationships, to health issues, to fear, doubt, and addictions, whatever causes the darkness of the soul to overshadow our life, and most certainly “sin.” Such are the crosses that weigh us down.

 

The Good News this night is not that we have crosses to bear, but rather to celebrate that we wear, we bear a cross, but not our cross, rather the cross of Christ for us.

 

Recall those words from baptism, “You have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever.”  Thanks be to God we don’t have the last word regarding “the multitudes of crosses we bear that weigh us down.”  Rather Jesus says to us, amidst the crosses you bear, “Just as I walked with Simon, as he bore the heavy wooden beams of my cross, I did not leave his side. I walked with him; and I walk with you.” 

 

So this night, in the placement of ashes and the sign of the cross on our forehead, and through the sacrament, the body and blood of Christ for us, we are assured of the forgiveness of sins and the power of God’s presence in our life, and namely the certainty that he/Jesus walks with us.

 

As Simon of Cyrene, we are not only watchers, but through Word and Sacrament we are engaged, we are participants and recipients of God’s truth and promise meeting us in the here and now.  Yes, the honest truth is that there are “crosses to bear” (and we can name if not confess them), but also this night we affirm the promise that the God who created, claimed, and died on the old rugged cross proclaims, “Regardless of the cross you bear, I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end; and I will never let YOU go. I am with you and for you.”    

 

That’s the word, the promise I recall as a youth. That is why, “I will cherish the old rugged cross!”  Let us journey to such cross together.