Folly of the Cross

"For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."

One day, a monk named Anthony was sitting in his cave, weaving his baskets, pondering the state of the world. He was thinking about suffering, injustice, and poverty. He started to get bothered and a little bit angry. How can an all-powerful and loving God allow such suffering to stain His beautiful universe? In his righteous irritation, he prayed, "Lord why do some people die as babies, yet others live long lives. Why do some men starve on the street while others eat and drink their fill in palaces? Why does a good man work hard all his life and die penniless while a wicked man gets rich off the labor of his slaves?"

Anthony had a picture in his mind of how things in the world should be. He thought that good and righteous men should be rewarded with health, long life, and prosperity. Evil men, he thought, should be punished. They should not have the comfortable life they seem to have. The universe did not function according to Anthony’s picture of how things should be, and this disturbed him. He wanted to be chairman of the universe-running committee.

How often are we in the same situation? Sometimes watching the news is upsetting. We think, “How can he say that? Or “Congress did WHAT?” Other times, our own lives just are not going the way we think they should be. Maybe the driver in front of me is going a little too slow, or my kids just aren't obeying me as quickly as I think they should. We have a picture of how things ought to be, and the world just isn’t that way. So we despair, or get angry. Just like Anthony, we want to sit on the universe-running committee too!

When this happened to Anthony, he heard a voice answer him. "Anthony, keep your focus on yourself. All things are according to God's plan, and it will not help you to know the answers to your questions."

The Lord was telling him "The world is in my care. It runs according to my providence, not your will. It's not your job to run the universe, it's mine. Your job is to find peace within by surrendering to my will."

The voice did not answer Anthony's concerns directly. Anthony did not find out why suffering and injustice exists. There were no clichés or pat answers explaining suffering. But the voice suggested a solution for Anthony’s anger and despair: surrender to God’s will.

It suggested that Anthony should change where his attention was focused. In effect, the voice said "You will never know the answers to your questions, and even if you did, it would not help you. Instead of agonizing over the problems you see in the world, be vigilant over your own heart and mind to make sure that you do not become one of those wicked men you're complaining about. 'The good man out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure produces evil; for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.' (Luke 7.45) If you continue to focus on the evil of other men, you will fill your heart with anger, resentment, and despair. You risk becoming just like them."

St. Anthony would go on to find that peace within, and become one of the earliest and greatest monastic saints. He led his life in surrender to God’s will, and acquired holiness that has inspired generations of Christians.

When we give up our own idea of how things should be run, we resign from the universe-running committee in our mind. We begin to trust in God’s providence that runs the universe and guides our lives. We surrender to the will of God, and find relief from our desire to be in control of things.

When we surrender to the will of God, we fulfill the command of Christ, who said "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Letting go of our own idea of how things should be and trusting the Lord is bearing our cross daily. The cross is the power of our salvation.

Our egos want us to sit on that universe-running committee. To surrender to God’s will seems like folly. As we heard St. Paul say this morning, "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." But life trusting in the Lord's providence is better than a life of anxiety and anger at the state of the world.

If we pray the Lord's Prayer in the morning, and we "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." We can remember that today is the Lord's day, not ours to do with as we thing best. We can carry that prayer "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" with us for the rest of the day, and surrender to God's providence. We give up our seat on the universe-running committee, and let the Lord run the show. We trust Him of whom we heard it said in today’s gospel reading, “he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion on them.” We give up our idea of how things should have been yesterday, or how they should be tomorrow. We focus our attention on the tasks God has given right now, and surrender our anger, despair, and anxiety. By this cross, by surrender to God’s will, we begin to share in that inner peace that was given to St. Anthony found.

(Sermon given on the 8th Sunday after Pentecost)