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March 1, 2015

Following Jesus: Denial

Preacher: Rev. Jack Meehan Series: Following Jesus Category: Biblical Scripture: Mark 8:27–8:38

The Second Sunday in Lent
February 28-March 1, 2015
Mark 8:27-38

“Following Jesus: Denial”

Think back to a couple of months ago when we celebrated the birth of Jesus at Christmas. For many people, this is their favorite time of year: family gatherings, special meals and celebrations, beautiful music, decorations, cards and gifts. Think of that beautiful image of the baby Jesus with his mother, watched over by his father, surrounded by shepherds and angels, bathed in the soft light of the manger. Now, fast forward some thirty years and that baby is now a man who announces to his stunned disciples that he, “the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31). The soft light of Christmas has given way to the harsh Lenten reality of why this Child was born – to suffer, die and rise again! In contrast to Christmas, how many people can honestly say that Lent is their favorite time of year? Not many! The wood of that crib in Bethlehem gives way to the wood of that cross outside of Jerusalem on which the Son of Man will give his life. Today’s Gospel lesson is the first of three Passion predictions that Jesus makes concerning his own death and resurrection (8:31-38; 9:31-32; 10:32-34). On this Second Sunday in Lent, we continue to follow Jesus. That is the theme for weekend sermons during Lent: “Following Jesus.” And following Jesus this day, we learn where his mission will take him: to the cross! But in following Jesus, he has this to say to us: “If anyone would after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34). And this becomes the theme for the message today: “Following Jesus: Denial.” May the Lord’s rich and abundant blessing rest upon the preaching, the hearing, and the living of his Word, for Jesus’ sake.

Today’s Gospel lesson takes place about 25 miles north of the Sea of Galilee at the base of Mt. Hermon, where snowmelt runs off into springs which feed the River Jordan. It was here that a grotto, or cave, was dedicated to the Greek god, Pan. People regularly came to worship Pan and offer sacrifices to him by throwing coins, food and other offerings into his grotto. It is here that Jesus asked his disciples those key questions – questions he asks us today as well: “What about you?... Who do you say I am?” Are we willing to confess Jesus as the Messiah not just here in the safety of these walls, but out there in the world? Jesus calls us to step out in faith, deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him. This stepping out in faith, this self-denial, this taking up of the cross and following Christ is called “discipleship.”

Jesus clearly outlines what awaits him: great suffering, rejection, death, and ultimately resurrection (8:31). We are told that Jesus didn’t say this secretly, but openly and plainly (8:32). This is more than Peter can bear. It was incomprehensible to him that Jesus who is the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One, should go through this. The promised Messiah was supposed to be a conquering hero, a warrior king, who would restore Israel to its former splendor. And so Peter rebukes Jesus, chastising him. But Jesus refuses to be the kind of Messiah Peter wanted him to be. We should take note: in what ways do we distort or compromise the way of the suffering Messiah? For many today, this is still a stumbling block to faith. The Savior who suffers and dies seems unjust and unfair. Denying ourselves, taking up our cross and following Jesus means turning over our preconceived notions and ideas about God and what we think he should be doing. Denying ourselves, taking up our cross and following Jesus means submitting our will to that of Jesus, so that God’s will may be done in us and through us. We forget that membership is not discipleship. Discipleship is costly, and if there is no cross there is no crown. Jesus did not engage his first disciples on false pretenses, promising them an easy, comfortable life. He did not conceal the sacrifices that would be theirs to bear. He doesn’t promise an easy life to anyone who wishes to follow him.

So what does it mean to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus? It is to act in a selfless way, and to give up our place as the center of things. Taking up our cross evokes in us, as it surely did in Mark’s first readers, thoughts about Jesus’ own crucifixion. Disciples of Jesus must be willing to share the way of Jesus the suffering Messiah. It is in Jesus that our own suffering is transformed, as Paul writes in today’s Epistle lesson (Romans 5:1-11): “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces character, and character produces endurance, and endurance produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Following Jesus is not a one-time thing, but on-going; it is a daily dying to the old sinful self, so that the baptized child of God – the new self – may daily come forth in us. The importance of persevering, not giving up in our following, is what is intended. This is what leads to life.

This whole discipleship thing of denying ourselves, taking up our cross and following Jesus is a pretty tall order. We may feel pretty small and inadequate for what Jesus is asking us to do. When it comes to forgetting self, carrying our cross and following Jesus, so often we find that the spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41). The good news is that Jesus does not ask anything of us that He himself has not already done. He denied himself. Though he was in the form of God, he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, and being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on the cross (Philippians 2:7-8). He took up the cross, not for his sake, but for ours, taking upon himself the punishment of our sins, dying the death we rightly deserved. He followed completely the will of his Father. His death leads to our life. We are baptized into his death and resurrection. We receive his forgiveness and strength in the Lord’s Supper. His Word of hope comes to us in the good news of the Gospel. Bit by bit, day by day, by the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us, we follow Jesus – confessing that he is the Messiah, denying ourselves, taking up our cross and following him. Through faith in Jesus, what shines forth is not our imperfect and flawed discipleship, but Jesus’ perfect and sinless life.

Denying ourselves and taking up our own cross means accepting the burdens of following Jesus, and that will probably look different for each one of us as our faith intersects with daily life. And that’s where mission happens: as our faith intersects with daily life. Jesus never said that following him would be easy, but he did promise that he himself would be with us always, even to the end of the world (Matthew 28:20). We’re never alone in mission. As we learned from reading the book Joining Jesus on His Mission, Jesus invites us see where he is already at work in our daily lives and the daily lives of the people around us – home, work, school, neighborhood. Joining Jesus on his mission means seeing life through the lens of his suffering and death – not just for us, but for the whole world. That’s our mission in following Jesus. Amen.

 

other sermons in this series

Mar 29

2015

Following Jesus: Suffering

Preacher: Rev. Jack Meehan Scripture: Mark 15:1–15:47 Series: Following Jesus

Mar 22

2015

Following Jesus: Serving

Preacher: Pastor Braun Campbell Scripture: Mark 10:35–10:45 Series: Following Jesus

Mar 15

2015

Following Jesus: Judgment

Preacher: Rev. Jack Meehan Scripture: John 3:14–3:21 Series: Following Jesus