For Christ's Sake
This is my sermon text for
September 16, 2018. The text for my message was from the Gospel of St. Mark,
Mark 8:27-38. + pBRC
May God’s Grace through the Good News of Jesus Christ be
at the center of your lives forever.
AMEN.
Today’s Gospel lesson is said
to be the turning point in Mark’s story of Jesus Christ. Between last week’s
lesson and today’s, Jesus miraculously fed 5,000 people. Then he was challenged
to present a sign to the people of who he was. Between this lesson and next
Sunday’s, Jesus will take some of his disciples with him to the top of a
mountain, where he will be transfigured.
In the
midst of these miracles and signs of power, Jesus asks his disciples who the
people they encounter believe Jesus to be. Then, he turned the question to
them. "But who do you say that I am?" (Mark 8.29a)
‘Peter answered him, "You are the
Messiah."’ (Mark 8.29b) Then Jesus unpacks what being the Messiah
entails. “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the
elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days
rise again.” (Mark 8.30) While he had ordered them to secrecy about who
he was, he was open and clear about what was to happen to him.
It was not what they expected
and not what they wanted to hear. To them, the Messiah would come in glory and
power. How could the Messiah restore the Kingdom of Israel to power by
suffering, rejection and death? No one thought that the Messiah would be the
Suffering Servant referenced in today’s lesson from Isaiah, as well as other
passages from Isaiah.
Jesus knows the role of the
Messiah is to restore the world to a righteous relationship with God, and that
can only be done by the Messiah suffering and dying, and then being raised to
show we cannot do anything to lose God’s love.
As Jesus turned the question of
who he is to his followers, I turn it to you, here and now, who do WE say that
Jesus Christ is?
But
It’s not who do you say that he is
that is important, but how do you show
who he is is what matters. How do you live your life in response to the gifts
of grace and love and mercy given because He is who He is?
It
is not enough to talk the talk. Can you walk His walk?
It
is not enough to testify with your lips, but we need to testify with our
hearts, and with our hands, and with our whole selves.
It
is not enough to say Jesus is LORD. Can you live a life of love in faith?
That is what Jesus explains to his disciples. If you say
that I am the Messiah, and you claim to follow me, this is what that all means.
"If
any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their
cross and follow me. 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.” (Mark
8.34-35)
Any
discussion of who Jesus is leads to what it means to be one of his disciples.[i]
Jesus speaks plainly and clearly about what he expects.
Deny
yourself, or put you and your wants and desires behind doing the will of God.
Let THY will be done, and not my will.
Take
up your cross, or give yourself over totally. Surrender your life. Remember,
the journey to the cross is a one-way trip.
All
Jesus wants of those who would follow Him is all that you have; to give your
life in service of His mission.
“Those who
lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.” (Mark 8.35) Jesus isn’t saying
that losing one’s life, surrendering your life for his sake, earns you
salvation. But a life lived in response
to God’s gift of grace means you will live for
the sake of Jesus Christ and for the
sake of proclaiming and living out the
Good News.
One of assistants
to the Bishop from my time in Wisconsin[ii], who is
now their Bishop, would ask congregations, “For Christ’s sake, what are you
doing?” She would ask again, “For Christ’s sake, for the sake of the Gospel,
what are you doing?” Here, Jesus asks “For Christ’s sake, for the sake of the
Gospel, what are you willing to lose?”
Individually,
for the sake of Jesus Christ and for the sake of proclaiming the Gospel, what
are you willing to lose? Are you willing to give more to the church, and lose
some free time and some assets? Are you willing to give of your financial and
personal resources? Are you willing to give of your time and talents?
Collectively,
for the sake of Jesus Christ and for the sake of proclaiming the Gospel, what
are you willing to lose? As this church and this congregation and this
covenant, what are you willing to give up and not get back? What are you
willing to surrender?
Are you
willing to give up your identity? Are you willing to give up your voice? Are
you willing to give up worshipping how YOU want to, and to work WITH others?
Are you willing to give up your history? Are you willing to see what you and
others have built and defended and fought for and watch it close and die? Are
you willing to renew your efforts and fight to watch it bloom and grow?
Normally,
when I, and others pastors, preach on this lesson and the comparable texts from
the other Gospels, the question of For Christ’s
sake, what are you willing to lose? is a hypothetical question. It is asked
to prompt an examination of the individual and collective call to discipleship.
It is a call to reexamine and reflect upon what can be done for the sake of
Christ.
Here and
now, in the Covenant Churches of Oklahoma City, it is a question that needs to
be thought about and answered by every member and every church. For Christ’s sake, what are you willing to
lose? Doors aren’t on the verge of being closed and locked for good, but
resources are thin. But the decisions on what direction we are going need to be
made soon.
I guess
the ultimate question I’m asking is this, are you willing to trust God to call
all of us to do what is best for Christ’s sake, for the sake of the Gospel? Or
to use the words from our Hymn of the Day, The Summons:
Will you
come and follow me if I but call your name?
Will you go where you don’t know and never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown, Will you let my name be known,
Will you let my life be grown in you, and you in me?[iii]
Will you go where you don’t know and never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown, Will you let my name be known,
Will you let my life be grown in you, and you in me?[iii]
May God
send their love to guide us where we need to go for the sake of the Gospel.
AMEN.
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