Mark 4:35-41 Fear or Faith: Facing the Storms of Life

Lord, please speak through my words, and touch our hearts and minds to transform us into the people you wish us to be. Amen

As a child growing up in Cumbria, I used to do a lot of sailing, particularly on Derwentwater. Most of the time, sailing was wonderful hobby, but if you got caught in a strong wind it could be utterly terrifying. So I identify with what the disciples must have felt when they got caught in a storm on the sea of Galilee.

I want to think about how we respond to the storms in our own lives, the times when we feel we are drifting in the sea, and being battered by the waves that live throws at us. How do we respond to such situations in our own personal lives?

The sea of Galilee lies 680 feet below sea level, and is surrounded on all sides by mountains. Because of its situation the sea of Galilee is subject to sudden and severe storms. Whilst Jesus and the disciples are crossing the lake, a sudden and very violent storm develops. A number of the disciples were experienced fishermen and sailors, so they knew of the dangers that the sea of Galilee could pose. Yet even they were caught by surprise by the suddenness of the storm and were terrified. The waves started swamping the boat, and they go over to Jesus who was sleeping in the stern, the most sheltered part of the boat, and they shake him so he will wake him up. And they cry out, "Master, master, we’re going to drown! " Then Jesus, gets up, rebukes the wind, and commands the waves to be still, and suddenly the storm stops. The wind and the waves obey Jesus. Then Jesus turns to the disciples and rebukes them saying, "Where is your faith?".

In the story we have just heard there were two responses to the crisis that faced Jesus and his disciples. The first was fear, the second was faith.
The disciples responded with Fear. When the storm hit them they panicked, and in Mark’s version of this story, the disciples rebuke Jesus for sleeping. Teacher, are we to drown for all you care? (v.38) It is easy for us to respond to a crisis with fear, to feel that we are being overwhelmed by circumstances. The disciples panicked because Jesus seemed to be unaware and unconcerned about the storm, and sometimes when we are going through similar times of turmoil it can feel that God is distant, and not aware of what is taking place in our lives. There is a healthy fear that keeps us alive and well - that moves us into action and that sends us in prayer to God. That is a fear that goes hand-in-hand with faith. But often fear keeps us from trusting in God, just as it kept the disciples from trusting in Jesus.

Compare now how Jesus responded to the storm. Whereas the disciples responded in fear, Jesus responded through faith, and challenged the disciples to do likewise. The very fact that Jesus was able to sleep in the midst of the storm, showed that Jesus not only placed his trust in the abilities of his disciples but he also placed his trust in God the Father. Jesus rebuked the disciples lack of faith in him (v.24), and challenged the disciples to place their trust in him. He challenged them to put their trust in the true sovereign Lord, who has power over all things. The disciples are left asking the question "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him."

The one who created the sea, is the one who controls it. We see this in the Old Testament where all creation must submit to the will of God. The God who parted the Red Sea, is the one who commanded the sea and the wind to be still in Matthew 8:22-25. Jesus challenged the disciples to turn from their fear, and place their faith in him. Stanley Jones writes that 'Faith is not merely you holding onto God, it is God holding on to you. He will not let you go.' Jesus did not abandon the disciples to the storm, he remained with them in the boat, and he endured the storm with them. Likewise when we go through the storms of life, God remains with us, we are never abandoned. However sometimes it is hard to let go of our fear, and to place our trust in God, this is why it takes a step of faith. So often we are like the man who fell off a cliff, but managed to grab a tree limb on the way down. And as he hung there he shouted out: "Is anyone up there?" "I am here. I am the Lord. Do you believe me?" "Yes, Lord, I believe. I really believe, but I can't hang on much longer." "That's all right, if you really believe you have nothing to worry about. I will save you. Just let go of the branch." A moment of pause, then: "Is anyone else up there?"
We need to let go of the fear which keeps us from faith, and to trust that God will care for us.

What can we learn from the stilling of the storm. First of all we must recognise that in our Christian lives there we will have to face storms. Yet for the Christian to be with the Lord, whether life's seas are running smoothly or not, should be enough. Being Christians does not guard us against problems in life, in fact Jesus said that by following him we would suffer more. There will be times when we will be battered by the storms of life, but what is important is that Christ goes with us on our journey. We are not alone. Jesus said "I am with you always, even unto the end of the world."

8 years ago, I worked for the Mission to Seafarers as a chaplain’s assistant, and one of my jobs was to visit the ships that came into port. On the ships I would often see a picture of a sailor clinging to the ships wheel in the middle of the storm, and behind the sailor would stand Jesus, holding the wheel, and guiding the ship through the storm to a safe port. Jesus does care for us, and guides us through the storms of life. We must not judge his care for us, or the state of our discipleship by the roughness of the seas over which we sail. When Jesus replied 'Do you still have no faith' to the fear of the disciples, what he wanted them to do was to trust him, to have faith in him. His very presence amongst them was all that was needed for them to survive. And the storm was eventually calmed, and as Christians we have that promise that one day the storms of life will be over for us, and we will find ourselves safe in the arms of Jesus. So when we feel like you are being swamped by worries, and fears, we have two choices, either to surrender to God and place our faith in him, or to surrender to fear.

To conclude, I want to read you the following words, which I have personally found encouraging.

Trust Him when dark doubts assail you,
Trust Him when your strength is small,
Trust Him when to simply trust Him
Seems the hardest thing of all.
Trust Him, He is ever faithful,
Trust Him, for his will is best,
Trust Him, for the heart of Jesus
Is the only place of rest.
Amen.

Let us pray: Lord God, when we face lives storms, and when you seem distant, may we know your presence with us, guiding, sustaining and supporting, and help us to put our faith in you. Our loving, and faithful God.
Amen

Mark 7:31-37 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

This year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity brings together two themes, two invitations extended to Christian churches and people: to pray and strive together for Christian unity, and to join together in responding to human suffering. These two responsibilities are deeply intertwined. Both relate to healing the body of Christ, hence the text chosen for this year’s week of prayer is a story of healing.

Our gospel reading this evening relates how Jesus healed a man who was deaf and could not speak properly. Jesus led the man away from the crowd, in order to attend to him in private. He put his fingers into the man’s ears, and touched the man’s tongue, and “said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘be opened’.

In this story of healing we hear of the Lord’s compassionate response to suffering and need; it is an eloquent testimony to the mercy of God. In restoring the man’s hearing and his ability to speak, Jesus manifests God’s power and desire to bring human beings to wholeness, fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy” (35:5-6). The restoration of the man’s hearing allowed him to hear the good news proclaimed by Jesus; the restoration of his speech allowed him to proclaim what he had seen and heard to others. All of these dimensions are reflected in the response of those who witnessed the healing and were “astounded beyond measure”: “he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak” (v.37).

During this week of prayer for Christian Unity, we are reminded that as Christ’s body, we are called to be united in carrying out his mission. A part of that mission is to attend to those who are suffering and in need. As God heard the cry and knew the sufferings of his people in Egypt, as Jesus responded with compassion to those who cried out to him, so too we as the church are called to hear the voice of all who suffer, to respond with compassion, and to give voice to the voiceless.

There is an essential connection between efforts to pray for and seek unity among Christians and initiatives to respond to human need and suffering. Here in Walsall we have seen a number of joint initiatives that have crossed the denominational divides, which have helped draw churches closer together. For example the Walsall Drinkers Ministry, which reaches out to clubbers in the centre of Walsall every Friday night. There is also the Vine Project, and the Glebe Centre, which are supported by different churches, in order to meet the needs of some of the most vulnerable people in our community. The same Spirit which makes us brothers and sisters in Christ also empowers us to reach out to every human being in need. The same Spirit which is at work in all efforts to make visible the unity of Christians also gives strength to every movement towards renewing the face of the earth. Every easing of human suffering makes our oneness more visible; every step towards unity strengthens the whole body of Christ.

In a Peanuts cartoon Lucy demanded that Linus change TV channels, threatening him with her fist if he didn't. "What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?" asks Linus. "These five fingers," says Lucy. "Individually they're nothing but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold." "Which channel do you want?" asks Linus. Turning away, he looks at his fingers and says, "Why can't you guys get organized like that?" The simple truth is that when we work together as Christians we are so much stronger, and able to achieve so much more, than if we try to do things on our own.
The Origins of this year’s Week of Prayer Material: Umlazi

This year’s theme for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity has its origins in the experience of Christian communities in the South African region of Umlazi, near Durban. Our service tonight reflect the concerns and experience of a people who have undergone great suffering.

Umlazi was originally established under the apartheid regime as a ‘township’ for the majority black population. A legacy of racism, unemployment and poverty continues to raise formidable challenges for its people, where there is still a shortage of schools, medical clinics and adequate housing. This context of poverty and unemployment gives rise to a high crime rate and problems of abuse within families and communities. But the biggest current challenge faced by people in the informal settlements and townships is that of HIV/AIDS. It is estimated that 50% of the residents of Umlazi are infected with the virus.

One of the big challenges they face, which aggravates the problem facing people in the Umlazi area, is the stigma which keeps people who are suffering abuse, victims of rape, or infected with HIV/AIDS, from speaking openly about their problems. These are taboo subjects. As a result, many people hesitate to seek the assistance available.

In light of the challenges facing this community, the local church leaders in Umlazi designed an ecumenical service which had as its central theme ‘breaking the silence’. Special services were organised, during which the young people were invited to speak about that which was ‘unspeakable’ and to seek assistance, mindful that keeping silence can mean death.

What Christians in South Africa have learnt is that the HIV/AIDS pandemic, is too great a challenge for a divided church, and that it is only by working together that they can do something to break the silence around this devastating disease.

Unity is not the same as uniformity, there can be diversity of expressions of faith, but there can also be unity within that diversity. We are many different parts, but there is only one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all. It is certainly true that we are beginning to see much greater unity amongst Christians, but we still have a long way to go. Just as the blind man in Mark’s Gospel had his eyes and ears opened, maybe we need our eyes and ears further opened to realise the possibilities of what we could do to serve and transform our community by working more closely together, particularly when we seek to ‘break the silence’ on those things that oppress and isolate people in their suffering here in our community.

Breaking the Silence

Jesus’ instructions to his followers was for them to continue the work he had begun. The question we should consider is what does it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ, who makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak? How best can we proclaim the good news and be instruments of Christ’s healing presence, listening and giving voice to those who have been silenced or have not been able to relate their experience? And how can we increase the unity that already exists between us?

One of the challenges we have to face up to is breaking our own silence. There have been times when Christians and Christian churches have remained silent when we should have spoken out, times when we have not empowered the voiceless to speak. There are times when the divisions of the churches have kept us from hearing the pain of others, or have left our response muffled, conflicted, ineffective and unconsoling, and for this we need to repent. Now is the time for us to break our own silence. What has been interesting to see, is how religion has been brought back to centre stage in public life, and how despite falling church attendance, the religious voice is once again being listened too, and been shown to be powerful. Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God to save.” We must not be ashamed or afraid of speaking out, we have a duty to speak for those who have no voice, or whose voice is not being heard. Failure to do so, is failure to fulfil our calling.

The church has been given a voice and a message to proclaim, a mission to carry out; and it is not a divided message, a conflictive mission. Enlivened by the Holy Spirit, it is to be a single coherent utterance, the good news given to us by and in Christ himself. Through Christ, we have the grace to break the silence. In Christ, we are the community called to say ‘be opened’ to the deaf and the dumb. The path to faithfulness and integrity requires that we strive and pray for that unity for which Christ prayed, and that even amidst our divisions, we learn to speak with a single voice, to reach out as a single body with compassion, giving flesh to the good news which we proclaim.

Mark 10:35-45 Looking to the Future

It is now almost a year since I arrived at St Martin’s, and I felt that this marks a good time for us to look back at where we have come from as a church, and to look forward to what God has prepared for us in the future.

But before we look more specifically at St Martin’s, I want us to look at changes in church attendance nationally. Last year an in depth study was conducted of 17 thousand churches across England (these are churches from all denominations). The results of this survey have just been published, and shed some very interesting light on the state of the Christian church in England today.

The survey revealed that 6.3% of the English population attend church on an average Sunday, when this survey was last conducted in 1998 the figure of 7.5%.

But the survey did provide some good news

• Ethnically diverse churches are growing
• There are more growing churches (34% of churches recorded growth between 1998-2005, up from 21% during the 1990s), and fewer churches are declining (drop from 65% to 50%)
• Larger churches are growing (they also have younger congregations)

Church decline is not as bad as originally thought

So what is the bad news?

• The average age of those going to church has increased to 45 against a population average of 40
• 29% of churchgoers are 65 or over (12% are 75 or over) against almost half that percentage (16%) in the population generally
• People aged 65 to 74 make up one-sixth of all who attend church
• We are loosing 80,000 people a year from church

So that is the challenge facing the church nationally. But what about us here at St Martin’s? In many ways, we seem to mirror what is happening nationally, St Martin’s has been going through a long period of decline.

So what do these figures reveal?

First of all the bad news:

• Usual Sunday Attendance (USA) has halved since 1990
• USA for adults reached a high in 1997, since then we seen a decline of 39% in our adult USA
• Since 1990 we have lost 89% of our young people

So what about the good news?

• 2006 was the first year when adult USA has not gone down since 1990 (an indication that our numbers are stabilising)
• The Net (http://walsallstmartins.2day.ws/walsallstmartins/section/TheNet/)is beginning to attract a number of new families to church
• Decline is not inevitable, BUT growth will only come if we are open to what God wants (through prayer and openness to the Holy Spirit), and are prepared to face the cost of change.

Of course these statistics don’t show the whole picture. Although we have seen numerical decline, there has undoubtedly been growth in other areas of the church’s life over the past 16 years. For example, in the place of prayer life of the church, a greater openness to the Holy Spirit, more lay involvement in the life of the church, the creation of the ministry team, and seeing individuals grow in faith.

But bearing all of this in mind, we need to face up to the reality that although I believe we are beginning to see signs of pulling out of this decline, it is possible numbers will drop further, and that the challenges we face are great. Doing nothing at all is not an option, it is clear that we cannot be complacent.

So what does the future hold for St Martin’s? In one of the first sermons I preached at St Martin’s I shared with you some of my vision for the future of St Martin’s, and that was of a growing church, a church that is confident of what it believes, a church that is open to the Holy Spirit, and a church that is growing numerically, as we take the good news of Jesus Christ out into our community. This is still my vision. But if we are going to see growth what sort of church must we be like?

In our Gospel reading today we are reminded that as Christians we are called to serve others. Jesus says, “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.” And Jesus himself sets the example of what this means. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." As I reflected upon this passage, and what it means for us as a church, the word that came to mind was ‘Sacrifice’. If the church is to grow, we will need to be prepared to sacrifice our time, our effort, our money, and our talents, for the sake of God’s kingdom. Not only that, but we may be called to sacrifice those things that we hold dear, and to be prepared to face the cost of change, if we are to be faithfully to serving God in whatever way he calls us. This is not easy, but it is about following the example Jesus set for us. As the writer of Hebrews puts it, “Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered.”

So as a church we are called to serve and be obedient, just as Christ was. First and foremost we are to serve God, and secondly we are called to serve our neighbours, the community of which we are part. God wants to transform our whole society, our focus as a church isn’t primarily about filling the pews, as a Christian community, we are called to be agents of transformation and change for the whole area, seeing people being healed, relationships restored, God’s love proclaimed in word and deed, seeing God’s Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. We could sum up this calling in the word ‘Love’, loving God and loving our neighbour, and all that this entails. We at St Martin’s are called to be a sign, symbol and foretaste of God’s Kingdom.

This raises a very important question, how well are we at doing this? If we do not take seriously our calling as Christians and as a church to serve God and his people, then there will be no future for the church. A church that lives to itself will die by itself. To give you an example of this I would like to tell you a story.

On a dangerous sea coast where shipwrecks often occur, there was once a crude little life-boat station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat, but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea, and with no thought for themselves, went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost. Some of those who were saved and various others in the surrounding area wanted to become associated with the station and gave of their time and money and effort for the support of its work. New boats were bought and new crews trained. The little life-saving station grew. Some of the members of the life-boat station were unhappy that the building was so crude and poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those saved from the sea. They replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in the enlarged building. Now the life-boat station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they decorated it beautifully because they used it as a sort of club. Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on life-saving missions, so they hired lifeboat crews to do this work. The life-saving motif still prevailed in the club’s decorations, and there was a liturgical life-boat in the room where the club’s initiations were held. About this time a large ship sank off the coast, and the hired crews brought in boat loads of cold, wet and half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick. The beautiful new club was in chaos. So the property committee immediately had a shower house build outside the club where victims of shipwrecks could be cleaned up before coming inside.At the next meeting, there was a split among the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club’s life-saving activities as being unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club. Some members insisted upon life-saving as their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a life-boat station. But they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save lives of all the various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own life-saving station. So they did.

They built a small hut, and brought a boat, and without any thought for themselves, would day and night go out on the treacherous sea searching for the lost. After a while, others wanted to become associated with the station, and give time and money to support its work. And then people thought that what was needed, to improve the work was a bigger life boat station…. And so history repeated itself. Shipwrecks are still frequent in those waters, but now adays, most of the people drown.

So what is the challenge facing St Martin’s? We need to make sure that we do not loose sight of why we exist. Jesus said that we are to be a servant of all. The job of a servant is follow the instructions of his master, no matter how costly that may be. That means devoting time, and trouble to those we are seeking to support.

What I feel is one of the main priorities for the coming year, is for us as a church to put prayer much higher on our agenda, so that we hear what God is calling us to do, and that TOGETHER, as a church we may faithfully serve God and our community. Yesterday I attended Diocesan Synod, and one of the items that we debated was the Diocesan Going for Growth Strategy, and in the report there was this quote. “The growth of the kingdom and the growth of the Church depends on the Holy Spirit, not on human striving. Prayer MUST be our first priority. Church members have a vital part to play, praying daily for the growth of the church and of the kingdom.”

As we look to the future, it is clear that we face many challenges as a church, but we must not be despondent, because with God all things are possible.

The Going for Growth report that was debated yesterday went on to say, “As we listen to God in prayer we can develop our vision for our own personal outreach and for the life of the church. We can also share what we think God might be saying, so that we can inspire each other.”

Mark 8:31-38 What does it mean to be a Christian?

The Choices we make

Every day of our lives we make choices. When you got up this morning, you made a choice about what you would wear today, you made a choice about what to eat for breakfast, and you made a choice to come to church. Some of the choices we make are very small. The decision to wear white socks instead of black socks, is not likely to change your life! But we also make very important decisions in life. Decisions about relationships, marriage, children, where to live, what we want to do with our lives. Every moment we are faced with choices. Some of the choices we make may determine the what happens over the next 24 hours of our life, some may determine the next 40 or 50 years of our lives. There is only one choice however, which we all must make, which will determine what happens to us, not only in this life, but in the life to come. This is the decision about whether we choose to give our lives to God, or reject him. William James said, “When you have to make a choice and don’t make it, that is in itself a choice.” Many people choose to reject God, without even being aware of it, because they live their lives as if God does not exist. They may say they believe in God, but that is quite often as far as it gets. What does it mean to be a Christian? I have heard a variety of explanations of what it means to be a Christian over the years. Sometimes people have said to be a Christian means to be a nice person. But based on this description most people could be described as Christians. I can think of lots of nice people who I know, who are not Christians. Some people believe that because you are born in a Christian country that makes you a Christian. But it doeesn’t, anymore than being born in a MacDonalds makes you a hamburger. Others say, I believe I God, does that make me a Christian. But the answer is No. The Bible tells us that even the Devil believes in God. Others might say, a Christian is someone who goes to church. But the answer to this is that going to church in itself does not make you a Christian. I go into school regularly, but it doesn’t make me a teacher. A Christian is someone who follows Jesus Christ, and who has a relationship with God through Jesus.
In our Gospel reading Jesus said that “If you want to follow me, you must deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me.” There are two things Jesus tells us that we need to do:

1) Deny ourselves
2) Take up our cross

But what does this actually mean?

Denying Ourselves

By denying ourselves, Jesus is saying we need to renounce self. In other words, we need to put God, and not ourselves at the centre of our lives. It is about letting God be the one who is in charge of our lives. It is about putting God in the number one spot, rather than ourselves.
What Jesus asks of us, is in actual fact incredibly counter cultural. As a rock star Alice Cooper, is very famous. What is probably less well known, is that he recently became a Christian. And in an interview about becoming a Christian this is what he said. “People think it’s ironic that Alice Cooper, this rock ‘n’ roll rebel, is a Christian. But it’s the most rebellious thing I’ve ever done. Drinking beer is easy. Trashing our hotel room is easy. But being a Christian – that’s a tough call. That’s real rebellion.”

To put God first in our lives is not easy, especially living in Britain today. Martin Luther said “Here is what Christian living entails: wishing in all things whatever God wishes; desiring his glory, seeking nothing for oneself, either now or in the hereafter.” Many people find this difficult. This is why many people find it easier to live their lives their way rather than God’s. C.K Chesterton said “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it’s been found difficult and not tried.” Being a Christian is not easy, in fact it can be quite tough at times, but the rewards are even greater. There is a hunger deep within the human heart. Jesus said, ‘I am the bread of life’ (John 6:35). In other words, ‘If you want your hunger satisfied, come to me.’ Many people are walking in darkness, depression, disillusionment, and despair. They are looking for direction. Jesus said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life’ (John 8:12). Many are fearful of death. Jesus said, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die’ (John 11:25-26). So many are burdened by worries, anxieties, fears and guilt. Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11:28). They are not sure how to run their lives or who they should follow. Jesus said, ‘Follow me’ (Mark 1:17).

Take up your cross

The other instruction Jesus gives is to ‘Take up your cross’. Mark was writing this gospel for Christians living in Rome, who were undergoing persecution. It would have been a familiar site to see a condemned man carrying his cross to the place of execution. This theme of having to suffer for your faith would have been very relevant for the Christians in Rome. And today many Christians around the world face real persecution for their faith. But living in this country, we do not have to face the same hardships. So what does Jesus actually mean by ‘taking up our cross’? It means being prepared to surrender everything to God, giving our whole life over to him, submitting our lives to him. Just as Jesus submitted himself to the will of his Father. There is actually a great paradox in what Jesus is saying, because it is when we surrender our lives to God, that we discover true freedom.

The challenge facing the Christians in Rome was that facing persecution they had two choices. They could deny Jesus, and save their lives, or confess their faith in Jesus, and face the consequences of such an action. They had a choice that we all have, to either reject or accept Jesus. But the choice we make will have eternal consequences. Jesus warns “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” CS Lewis put it like this. “When the author walks onto the stage, the play is over. God is going to invade; but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else comes crashing in? This time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. That will not be the time for choosing; It will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realized it before or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side.” We all have a choice to make, we either choose to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus. Or we choose to reject him. Which will it be?