"Like Sherry wondered that day in my office, like I have wondered throughout my own journey of discipleship, those first disciples probably wondered what Jesus’ invitation to take up the cross was even supposed to mean. The cross was the tool of the empire....
Rev. Kershner continues: "But perhaps this Jesus, this one whom they loved, this Jesus was trying to redefine the cross for them. I wonder if by inviting them to take up their cross, he was telling them to stop giving the fear of the cross so much power. To stop letting death determine their every move. To stop allowing the empire’s threat to have the last word on whose they were and under whose reign they lived. “Take up your cross,” Jesus said, “and stop worshiping fear and death as your gods. Take up your cross and follow me. Take up that horrible cross as a sign that you believe in the life-giving power of God more than you believe in death-dealing power of fear.”
Then Rev. Kershner lifts her voice in a brave and visionary way, imagining what "taking up the cross" could come to mean in our lives and in our life together: "Take up that cross and see for yourselves the empty threat it represents. For God is the one who holds your life, not the empire. God is the one who will walk with you through death, not the empire. God is the one who will give you new life, not the empire. God is the one under whose reign and under whose power you live and move and have your being, not the empire—not an abusive partner, not the economy, not your addiction, not your wealth, not your poverty, not your security, not your status, and not even your family. God alone is the one to whom you belong. And that means you matter, regardless of what other kinds of things you are told based on your gender or your race or your sexual orientation or the amount you have in the bank. Take up your cross as a sign of your protest against those voices and follow Jesus."
She next explores the possible implications of such a challenging and liberating view: "I have wondered what might have happened in my office all those years ago if Sherry and I had talked about this passage in this different way. What if Jesus’ call to take up our cross is actually meant to empower his disciples, to give us courage to take a stand against the empire, against violence, against any voice of fear that tries to define us and lock us down? What might have been if Sherry and I had redefined bearing the cross as a way of proclaiming her freedom in God, her freedom that could lend her courage to live a more abundant life, a life where she would not have to wonder if he was going to snap that night, a life where she and her children were able to break free from that kind of domination?
"Because the more I pray and study over this passage, the more I am convinced that part of the reason Jesus calls us to take up our cross and follow is so that we can show those slithering voices of death and fear, once and for all, who and whose we truly are. But make no mistake about it, when we do, just like Sherry, just like the disciples did eventually, we must make sure our eyes are wide open. For carrying that cross even as protest and being a disciple will not be easy, and the road will not be smooth.
"As a matter of fact, taking up the cross and following Jesus might slowly burn away who we have been, and it must just kill any delusion we have of being the center of all things. But if we can summon up our courage to take up that cross and follow, one foot in front of another, Jesus promises us we will slowly find our life, not lose it. A life that begins, ends, and begins again in the light of God’s care and reign and not in the captive shadow of empire. Certainly not in the captivity of abuse or violence or fear.
Rev. Kershner concludes: "You are probably wondering what happened to Sherry. She and the kids eventually left her home (after a long time) and went into a shelter, getting their life back on track. Apparently her husband sought counseling and they reconciled. She used to call me about once a year around Christmas, even after I left that church, just to check in, just to tell me she was OK, just to let me know that she finally knew to whom she truly belonged and trusted that as her truth. She always called me because she wanted me to know she finally felt free and that she was continuing to follow Jesus, bit by bit, day by day, into her future. And she wanted to preach to the preacher that she knew that nothing and no one would ever have the power to destroy her again. For Sherry, beloved daughter of God, that cross became not only a symbol of her protest, but also of her liberation. Amen."
Thank you, Rev. Shannon Kershner, for being so loving and courageous. Thank you for hearing your own voice to speech, as Presbyterian prophet Nelle Morton shows us how to do in her book, The Journey is Home. Thank you for revealing so profoundly how all our voices count--the voice of Jesus, the voice of Sherry, the voice of Peter, the voices of the gospel writers Mark and Matthew, the voice of Dr. Delores Williams, the voice of Barbara Brown Taylor, the voice of Walter Wink, the voice of Walter Brueggemann, the voice of Ched Meyers, and the voices of each and every one of us who seeks to practice the love that Jesus sets in motion for all, no one left out.
Thank you, everybody, for reading! Thank you for "hearing yourself to speech" (Nelle Morton) and for lifting your voice.
From Rev. Kershner: I am indebted to different sources for this sermon: My own theological wrestling match with the doctrine of atonement and feminist/womanist contributions to that dialogue; Walter Wink’s theology of the principalities and powers, as well as his helpful articulation of the myth of redemptive violence; Walter Brueggemann’s language of countertestimony; Ched Myers’ excellent book on the Gospel of Mark titled Binding the Strong Man. Rev. Kershner's sermon can be found at: www.fourthchurch.org/sermons/2014/083114_8am_930am.html She is now the Pastor of Central Presbyterian Church in Atlanta.