One of the finest movies I believe ever made is Dead Poets Society where painfully shy Todd Anderson has been sent to the school where his popular older brother was valedictorian. His room-mate, Neil, although exceedingly bright and popular, is very much under the thumb of his overbearing father. The two, along with their other friends, meet Professor Keating, their new English teacher, who tells them of the Dead Poets Society, and encourages them to go against the status quo. Each, in their own way, does this, and are changed for life.
Anyway, it's a pretty long movie, but a fairly significant- and for me striking- quote was made by Professor John Keating from Robert Frost who said, "Two roads diverged in the woods and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."
One of the things I look forward to each Monday morning is to listen to the sermon preached from the pulpit of a New York City Upper East Side church. I listen to a number of ministers from a variety of denominations from some of New York City's finest churches- Steve Bauman, Tim Keller, David Epstein, James Cooper. As I listen to these witty and sincere ministers of the Word, varied their theological stances may be, I can't help but realize that I, with them and all Christians all over the world stand among the ranks of the cross bearers- people who have chosen to pick up their crosses to follow Christ! People who are both loved and hated, respected and scorned, influential and ignored! People who have chosen to walk the road less traveled.
Matthew records the story of Jesus who said these disturbing words: “Do not think I that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother…Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” When Jesus said that, Israel was in a very fragile political state, so with talk like that it's no wonder the local authorities found him offensive.
In Matthew, Jesus is said to be a sword who will set family members against themselves as he calls all comers to take up a cross in following the way he maps out. That's why Christianity is not that popular for a number of people- people who have made themselves secure in the world. When we speak this teaching of Christ to such people, we may very well find ourselves on the receiving end of the darkest side of human nature. The Cross is not popular! Nobody wishes to suffer. No one wants to be without a family. No one wants to be denied some of the great things in life! No one wants to walk a narrow, unpaved, thornbush-bordered road when one can drive on a wide freeway!
Steve Bauman of Christ Church NYC (from whose sermon this reflection is based) said that for many it is paradoxical and challenging [to note] that Christians build their lives in honor of a famous criminal who died a cruel death, whose very criminality has become for us a provision for the Way to Life, even Life Eternal.
Will you join the ranks of cross bearers!
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