The Baptismal Covenant in the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer offers a road map for living a Christian life as we try to serve Christ in each other and share the love of God. Jesus told his disciples, A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13:34-35)
Last week we looked at the first of the promises or vows we
make at our baptism. If we are really young our godparents make these responses
for us. Older children and adults make their own vows. We (the congregation and
family) hear them and respond every time there is a baptism. We promise to
remain in the “apostles teaching and fellowship, and the prayers.”
The next question might, and should, bring you up short. “Will
you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and
return to the Lord?”
Last Sunday we heard the story of Jesus’ baptism and
temptation in the wilderness. Perhaps you were reminded that we are all tempted
by power and prestige and applause. These can be subtle ways that we slip into
sin. This Sunday we hear that Jesus’ followers must deny themselves and take
up their cross and follow me…[because] what will it profit them to gain the
whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return
for their life? (Mark 8:31-38) Like Jesus in the wilderness, we are to
refuse the temptations to be like everyone else or to be in control or to know
it all or to have the most or… whatever it is for you.
That’s not easy in a culture that prizes ‘winning’ and
‘having the most toys’ above nearly everything else. And so, we return to our
baptismal vow to resist evil. When we fail, and sin, then we are to repent and
return to the Lord.
Repentance means a turning around to a new way of life. It’s
turning away from whatever pulled us away from God’s love. What is that for
you? It might be snarky responses on Facebook that are hurtful. It could be
refusing to share what we have. It looks different for each of us. Maybe it’s being
unkind to our family or ignoring a need right in front of us.
Once you have identified the evil or sin you want to repent
of and turn from, then the hard work of making that happen, begins. Jesus point
to the paradox of living into the Good News. It is in what seems like loss that
we gain. It is in the loss of our insistence on ‘my way’ that we draw closer to
God and God’s way of love.
In this season of Lent, the image of the cross is in the forefront because we know that what Jesus says in the beginning of the Sunday Gospel is true. The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. It is our call to accept our own cross of giving up our life for the Gospel.
What is the temptation to evil (sin) in my life?
How can I resist evil and truly repent.
In what way am I taking up my cross?
