A sermon for Proper 18: Year C (1979)
I have a confession to make. Or in other words, I have a dislike that I need to come out about and be very honest with this congregation here present. I do not like the genre of modern Christian music.
Sorry. But I just can’t connect with it and I’m not sure how to describe why. I love hearing our church choir and the beautiful hymns. I also love Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash’s gospel records.
But I really love it when a secular musician and their songs bring God into my life. Sometimes it can be expected for example when Bob Dylan made his trio of “Christian” albums in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. But most of the time it’s just a random one line from a song, or even better when it can be whole song like when the band U2 created a song from Psalm 40. Or when sampling became a thing in popular music and in the midst of some catchy rhythm, you hear a preacher yelling out, “It’s the big things, it’s the small things”. For decades, I’ve captured a trove of these melodies and they ping in and out of my head constantly.
Because it is the small things, not just the big things.
I also profess that I don’t like Social Media or internet chat boards very much. Over the years, I’ve watched the Internet go from a cool way to connect or see some silly meme or video, to something that is increasingly provoking an impulsiveness, an aggression, and a lack of concern for other human beings.
The other day, I was reading a sermon from someone I admire, and in this sermon about our human imperfections they noted they posted on their Social Media account a picture of themselves giving the middle finger in front of a business they don’t like.
Probably truly and self-admittedly, not their best moment. And just to be clear, this was not Father Matt.
But let’s face it, we have all probably been in a similar situation during our lifetimes. Doing something that was probably not our best moments. Though I’m not sure why this had to be one of those moments that needed to be recorded and posted on the Internet to live on and on for eternity.
How many times are we irritated about someone else’s driving or someone at work, and we go home and just say it into the ether either to ourselves, or to our partners and spouses, or to our faithful animal companions? And how important is that irritation that it needs to be recorded and live forever?
Because it does live forever on the Internet, and so it can continue to hurt and hurt and hurt, over and over and over.
When I read Luke 14, “Now large crowds were traveling with Jesus and he turned and said to them, ‘Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.’” It sounds like to me a description of Jesus on Facebook.
It’s hard to imagine if Jesus was on Facebook that he would promote us to act like the there is no other person on the other side of that electronic line, or that these aggressive impulsive actions have no consequences.
The next line in today’s Gospel is even more interesting to me in that Jesus foreshadows …” Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” At this point in scripture, and to his disciples, what could this mean to them to carry the cross?
As Christians today we know to carry the cross. You see it all the time. People carry it on their wrists, their ankles, and their necks. Sometimes people carry a Bible that has a cross on it. People get tattoos of all sorts of crosses and Christian imagery and words. We do this because Jesus carried the cross and he carried the cross for us.
So, when we carry the cross, not only are we trying to walk as Jesus and to show appreciate for His love for us. But we’re also walking as one who helps Jesus carry the cross, like Simon the Cyrene.
Added together, we’re carrying the cross for Heaven AND earth, God AND man, the Holy Spirit AND everyone around us.
And if we’re not holding the cross, what are we holding? What are we holding on to? What are the possessions we hold on to? When Jesus says, give up all your possessions in today’s Gospel, it’s not about the physical stuff.
It’s about the mental stuff. Give up the mental possessions. He knows the brain can only hold so much information. He says _ Give up the impulsiveness of building something without a foundation. Give up the impulsiveness of a creating a conflict even though you know you are wrong.
And if He was on Facebook today, He might be saying in the same breath, stop impulsively typing on your phone or your computer hateful words and pictures that reflect on you, as a person that wants that message to live eternally. “Give up the hate, and do and find something that reflects on God’s love instead” _ like letting little lines of song about His love ping around inside your head for example.
__ “It IS the big things. It IS also the small things.” __
Look we all have something we don’t like, and it’s OK to post your feelings on your Social Media page. I probably wouldn’t post what I said about modern Christian music online, even though this writing will probably make its way onto the Internet at some point, and conversely, I also said that I love hearing God sung about.
But my dislike is likely not to hurt anyone _ hopefully. But if does create a burden, just like what I have on my wrist and around my neck, I plan to carry that cross too. If I’m going to make these types of professions online, it’s the least I can do. I think it’s the least we should ALL do.
Referenced scriptures:
Wired For Faith 
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