Jesus calls us to new life
Mark 8:34-38
On this third Advent week, that we call “angels and shepherds week”, I have been thinking about a man who had to believe God without having an angelic visitor. His fiancé, Mary, had an angel visit her to prepare her for the fact that she was going to be pregnant without ever having had relations with a man. But, when Joseph first heard about Mary’s pregnancy, he had not yet received a visit from an angel. At first, all he had was Mary’s word. In his book, Christmas Joy, Mel Lawrenz helps us imagine what that meeting might have been like when Mary told Joseph the big news:
What was that first conversation like? No, she hadn’t slept with another man. Yes, she was pregnant. And yes, a spiritual being had told her she would conceive by a unique act of God. And, as if that were not enough – the child in her would be the Savior of the world.
Would you have believed her? Most of us would probably say no. But, what if this young woman saying such things had always told you the truth? Then what? Envision a person you know well telling you something that seems unbelievable. You would have to ask if that person is trustworthy. If she is a truthful person, then you might have to re-think your preconceptions about what is believable and what is not. She’s either 1) lying to you (which, from your experience with her, is unlikely) or 2) she is a lunatic (and she may seem to be completely sane) or she is telling the truth!
That brings us today to the promise in the Bible that God will eventually make all things right. God will reconcile all things in creation to himself in Jesus Christ (Col. 1:19-23). The claim that Jesus makes personally in today’s text is related to that divine promise to make all things right – and Jesus’ words are extraordinary. Jesus claims that he and he alone is the person who can give eternal life – and that’s to to anyone. He says in v.38 that the future destiny of all the people in the world depends on how we respond to him. As we know, millions and millions of people have responded in faith to Jesus’ call over the centuries.
How did Jesus go about getting a hearing for this message? Why have so many people (including your pastor) come to the conclusion that he is to be believed when he makes such claims? How should we respond to Jesus’ call in our day? And how should our own witness to the world be shaped by the example of Jesus? I want to think about those questions today.
Question #1: How did Jesus go about his work?
I have often reflected on the fact that Jesus waited a long time in his ministry before he called people to follow him in the clear way he does in Mark 8:34-38. The way the story is told in Mark is that for almost 8 chapters, Jesus makes his identity known. He shows that he has the power to do anything in the world, to do what only God can do. There is nothing – no evil powers, no natural disasters, no disease, and not even death -- that falls outside Jesus’ power and authority.
And, in addition to his power, Jesus demonstrated to the world his goodness and love for all people. He offered hope to all who came to him in faith. Jesus’ life is so beautiful that when people read about the way Jesus entered into the lives of people – especially hurting people or marginalized people – they are almost always drawn to him. This fact has struck me in a new way in recent years since I’ve had grandchildren and I watch how they react when I read the stories about Jesus to them. They love him. (And I do too!)
So, Jesus took a lot of time to demonstrate that 1) he has the strength to do anything and 2) he is good and is willing to use his strength to bless the lives of people who trust him. Jesus is exactly what David said God is in Psalm 62:11-12:
One thing God has spoken; two have I heard:
That you, O God, are strong, and that to you, O Lord, are good.
What Jesus did was first to enter into the world and who what he is like. By doing so, he established the kind of credibility that evoked trust. Then, with that trust established, he called people to follow him and thereby to have their lives transformed by him. In today’s text, Mark 8:34-38, Jesus made huge claims, claims that forced hearers to ask, “Is this man a liar? He doesn’t seem like it. Is he crazy? No, he isn’t that either. Then, many eventually said we should we trust him when he calls us to follow him in faith? And, as we know, many eventually did – and many more have done so over the past two millennia. How did Jesus do his work? He entered into lives and proved himself to be trustworthy. Then, one day, he called all people to trust him by surrendering their lives to them. If you had been one of them, would you have trusted Jesus?
#2: How should this affect you?
It’s very clear in the Bible that the same call that Jesus made to people that day reported in Mark 8:34-38 is be passed on through those who believe in him to all people in our world. We who experience him by faith are to be his witnesses. And our message still is: “Anyone who follows Jesus by faith will find life…” So, life begins when you and I respond to the call of Jesus in the same way the people he spoke to that day in Galilee were called to respond. Your personal response starts when you acknowledge candidly that the problem with our broken world is not simply that something out in the world is broken. No, there is something in your own life that is broken too. You need to be forgiven of past sins, healed of what is broken in your life and restored in your relationship to God. Do you accept that?
One of the greatest text about reconciliation in the Bible – based on what Jesus claims in Mark 8 -- is found in Colossians 1:19-23. We find the Bible’s analysis of our condition in v. 21: You were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. Ooh – that’s exactly what we don’t want to talk about in our day. This is the very problem we don’t want to identify and own up to. But honest people know the Bible is telling the truth here. Jesus loves you and came into this world to rescue you from your own sins. When Joseph finally did get a visit from an angel, he received this directive, “Joseph, you are to call the boy Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins (Mt 1:21).”
Christmas is all about God’s solution to the real problems that we human beings have. For you to live – really live – you must have God at the center your life. Life begins when you are reconciled to God. In that same powerful text in Colossians, God’s Word says, “God has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Col 1:13-14).
And, this need of rescue and forgiveness and reconciliation is true of anyone. As I think of the Christmas stories, Ebenezer Scrooge needed it – but so did Bob Cratchet. The Grinch needed it but so did Mary Lou Who. And, your reconciliation begins when you acknowledge your problem and own it – saying, “It’s true of me. I need to be forgiven of my sins and reconciled to God.”
That brings us to the specific call that Jesus made. Jesus doesn’t forgive us from sin and send us back into a life of sinning. No, he calls us to have a new life in him. As Paul put it in Romans 1:5 & 16:26: Faith in Jesus leads to obedience. Notice the directives Jesus gave when he called you to entrust your life to him:
- Deny yourself – As I sought to make clear last week, deny yourself means no longer to put those things that you think you simply must have at the center of your life. He calls you to surrender what you might crave deep inside to seek whatever God wants. If those things that you once thought you simply have to have are taken away, then Jesus promises you will still have life when you trust him. Personally, I find this is a daily activity. Sometimes it feels like a death to what I usually want to dream of. Indeed, that’s what it is – a death to self. But, as John Calvin wrote, “The human heart is an idol factory.” Every day, we humans wake up longing to put something first in our lives other than God. So, let me ask you right now: What competes with Jesus in your heart for first place? What would be the hardest thing to surrender to him if he called for it?
- Take up a cross – Do you remember that when Jesus went to the die for our sins on a cross, he had to carry his cross through the crowds who misunderstood him and who scorned him? A man who carries a cross does not seem to be heading toward life – but toward death. But, as you know, it was in his death that Jesus fulfilled his Father’s calling life. When you follow Jesus, you too may make decisions that, to a watching world, seem to be anything but life-giving. But Jesus says here that when you follow him, you may pass up a lot of things that our consumerist world cannot fathom a person giving up. But, Jesus promises, you will find life. Do you believe him? Do you believe that Jesus is trustworthy when he makes such a promise?
- Follow Jesus– This is the phrase that Jesus used when he called people to faith, "Follow me." This particular call in Mk 8:35 came just after Jesus said that the destination of his own journey would be death. You shouldn’t be surprised to discover that those closest to him were shocked by this. In my home, I’ve sometimes shouted out, “I’m headed out. Anyone want to go with me?” Almost always, the family has yelled back, “Maybe. Where are you going?” What would they say if I answered, “I’m probably going to be killed and if you go, the same might happen to you. But, it’s OK. Death won’t be the end. Trust me on this. Want to come?” They might go because they love their Dad. But, they would think about it carefully.
Last week, I posed a question on social media and asked for response. Here was the question: What stops us from surrendering the broken areas of our life to Jesus? Let me show you a few of the rather profound responses that were given:
- Fear of the unknown. We know our own brokenness and have adapted to it.
- Fear that we will be judged and condemned for the exposure. And the point was that, even though the church is meant to be a people among whom we can share brokenness and find grace, it often is not.
- Embarrassment, shame, guilt. Fear of what people will think of us.
- Fear of failure again.
- The fact that the “enemy” does not want us to expose our sin. He knows that the first step in healing is that things in our lives come out into the light.
I am going to pause for a moment right now to give you a chance to make a new commitment to Jesus. Is there anything you are finding it hard to surrender to him? Maybe it’s a sexual practice or relationship that is so engrained in you that you cannot imagine life without it. It could be anything. It’s often a sin that you’ve grown callous about its seriousness. Maybe it’s something good that has become what I called last week an “epithumia” – an over-desire. Something good that you have made into an idol. Jesus says, “Deny yourself, take up a cross and follow me wherever I lead you. I promise you, you will find life.” Do you believe him? Do you believe Jesus is believable? Will you trust him?
Question #3: How should we go about our callings to be Jesus’ ambassadors of reconciliation?
Do you think we might learn something from Jesus’ approach as we seek to be his ambassadors of reconciliation in this world? We’ve looked at two steps so far this Advent season:
First -- enter in. When you see brokenness, first enter in to the lives of people with respect and with a longing for their lives to be better. That’s what Jesus did. He entered into people’s lives, loved and respected people and established trust. It seems to me that there will be no reconciliation of any of our broken relationships without doing this.
And, make note of this: This is not what we see modeled in our world today. Whether it’s in the media or in online discussions, people do not listen – except to those we already agree with. We do not find many people speaking to one another – but only at one another. What happens is that the divisions become ever more deeply entrenched. Anger and hatred proliferate.
When I was a young pastor, I would have a husband or wife come and talk with me about marriage problems. When I would hear the husband describing the problem, I would be convinced of how problematic his wife was. It all was crystal clear. It all made so much sense. Then, when the wife would come in, it was like a wholly different world was opened up to me. It wasn’t always that the husband had tried to deceive me. It was just that my information and perspectives were limited. When we enter in and listen to what people have experienced, then we begin to see a little bit more like the only One who has ever had a complete perspective on human struggle, i.e., Jesus, sees.
I’ve been trying to apply this to my own calling to be your pastor in our country that is so divided in responses to the shooting of unarmed black men like Eric Garner in New York, Michael Brown in Ferguson and 12 Year old Tamir Rice in Cleveland. I decided I couldn’t preach this sermon without calling some pastor friends of color in our city and around the country – and asking them to help me understand more than I understand. Should I tell you some of what I heard? (I won’t use names.)
#1: Fallenness -- That things are messed up in our world. The kingdoms that war against the kingdom of God are alive and ready to battle the Church of Jesus Christ. We all agreed that it’s wrong for unarmed black people to be killed all across our country and often, it seems, for the matter not even to be able to get to trial. And, we agreed on the flip side that it’s wrong for protestors to rob and destroy their own neighborhoods simply for their own gain in the name of justice. Sin is so messy. And, my brothers said they are praying that the churches committed to Jesus in local neighborhoods will prove to be the places where we can come together and one person will say, “This is what I think and what I’ve experienced” – and be heard. And another will say, “But what about this. My convictions are different.” And she’ll be heard too. And we’ll seek Scripture together and find reconciliation and perspective that we can carry to the world.
#2: Vicarious trauma -- They tried to help me understand something one pastor called “vicarious trauma”. By that, they meant that, when the stories come out as they have about shooting in our country, that all the pastors had experienced something like that in their families, their churches and often in their own lives. One pastor, who had been one of the best students at the seminary I once served, drove off campus on his last day in school and, with an MDiv in his hand, was pulled aside, held at gunpoint until two other squad cars arrived, and then cuffed and taken to jail all because of a perceived registration violation with his car. He said, “Doc, when I heard of the young men who were accused and dealt with forcefully with in our country, all those feelings of that experience rose up within me. I felt what I knew they must have felt. And this has gone on a long time. So, I’ve asked myself, “Do I who have never experienced that believe my brothers? Can I truly “mourn with those who mourn (Rom 12:15) and look to “their interests and concerns as greater than my own (Phil 2:3-4)??? I know this is what the Bible commands me to do.
#3: Empathy -- I asked them what they would want an old white pastor like me to say to the church people I love. They said, “It would be beautiful if there would be more empathy and compassion coming from our non-black brothers and sisters in Christ. We think our only hope in our world is the church of Jesus Christ. We’ve all humbled ourselves before the same Lord. We would love to have more or our brothers and sisters engage with us so that we can walk together toward righteousness and justice. We feel that if that would happen more, the world would see the reconciling power of God through the love and unity of his people.”
I think that I need to do more of that kind of “entering in” to the various kinds of brokenness of families, ad friendships and work relationships. This is where Jesus always started. So should we.
Second – call to. You must find the right time and the courage to call people to make Jesus the Lord of their lives. When we truly know people’s needs and love people, we will know that the time will come for us as it came for Jesus. When it does, we will need not only to enter in and build trust but also to call people to make Jesus the Lord of their lives. Some will have to be called to change the way they do business. Some will have to make a commitment to get off their addictions to drugs or to gambling. Some will have to surrender their sexual preferences and practices to the Lord. In Jesus’ dealing with people, he constantly came to a time in which he had to say, “If you will live, you must deny yourself, take up a cross and follow me. I do not condemn you, but if you will truly live, you must go and sin no more.” I urge you to pray that God will give you the wisdom, the love for people, the humility, and the courage to do the same.
And now, very personally, I ask you: Are you a follower of Jesus? If you want to be a follower of Jesus, you dare not minimize the cost that decision may bring with it. Following Jesus is not safe for your comfort zones. In the light of Jesus’ call to follow him anywhere, any rational person would have to ask, “Why would any person commit himself to such a call?” There is so much in terms of what most people in our world value that might be lost if you become a fully committed Jesus-follower. Jesus never pretended otherwise. But there is everything to gain -- everything that really matters. Whoever holds onto his “life” will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it (v. 35).
This is a paradox, of course. And yet, isn't it true? Life isn't worth living unless you have something worth living for. And, ironically, you can't be sure you've found something worth living for, until you have something worth dying for. And in Jesus you will meet Someone worth living and dying for.
To His glory,
Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor
Greg Waybright • Copyright 2014, Lake Avenue Church