Second Sunday in Lent, Year B

​“If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
~Mark 8:34
 
This is tricky—an invitation spoiling for misuse. Slippery ground. An abusive relationship, a medical affliction, racial and economic inequity, unnecessary suffering of any kind. Could any of these ever be described as a cross a disciple, or anyone, should bear? We pray not. The scriptures insist not.
 
Suffering due to abuse of power is never redemptive and is antithetical to the character of God. Indeed, to bear one’s cross is first about the elimination of suffering by following the trail Jesus blazed. We resist evil as he did, rather than accept it. We join in solidarity with the crucified; even when it unsettles and inflames the status quo. To do these things, to follow in this way is to go the way of mutual blessing, the way of Abraham and Sarah, a promised way to flourishing for humanity and creation alike.
 
This is, simply, the way to life from the one who calls all creation beloved. The Lenten way: new life comes through the denial of our worst selves, of what destroys us. In his very next breath Jesus says, “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.”
 
What are we to make of this in this season of strife and inequality and the unavoidable truth that suffering, and denial seems to be borne by some far more than others? What are we to make of this call for the healing not only of this heartbroken and luminous world, but for our own selves...for we who would dare be disciples? Are these not one and the same question?
 
Enter into worship.
 
Readings: Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 † Psalm 22:23-31 † Romans 4:13-25 † Mark 8:31-9:1
 
About the Art: Bergner, Joel. Global Refugee Mural, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56930 [retrieved February 20, 2024]. Original source: https://joelartista.com/about/.
 
About the artist:
Joel Bergner is an artist, educator and organizer of community art initiatives with youth in conflict-affected and marginalized communities around the world, from Syrian refugee camps to American prisons; the favelas of Brazil to an orphanage in South Africa. His elaborate, large-scale murals weave smoothly between realism with an urban art sensibility and the honest expressions of children and community members.
 
In each project, he guides participants through the process of exploring issues that are important to them, designing their own composition and then collaboratively painting a public mural in their community. Joel travels the globe with his wife, CJ Thomas, who leads dance and theatre workshops, and their two young daughters.
 
Based on actual interviews, the Global Refugee Mural tells the story of three refugees who live in Maryland. Donation by photographer Anne Richardson.

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