Sermonhelp.Com
| Full Text Sermon | Discussion and Reflection on the Texts | Worship Helps |
Sunday August 29,
1999 ~ Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Sermon Text: Selected
from all the Lectionary Readings for Today
Matthew 16:21-28 *
Jeremiah 15:15-21 * Romans 12:9-21 * Psalm 26:1-8
"The Total Absurdity Of Following Christ"
The Easy Gospel
I was reading an ad this last week for another one of those books on how to grow an absolutely enormous, mega-church. This church, the ad says, "...may be the fastest growing church in America today..."
I resisted ordering the book to add to an already significant collection of books on church growth. Thus, I do not have any details about this particular church, but many of the booming churches and ministries in our culture make a lot of promises to people who attend.
One advertisement I saw for an itinerant evangelist's crusade read, "Come and find peace of mind, physical healing and freedom from financial difficulty!" And indeed there are some biblical sayings used by some which would seem to support the promises.
"Come to me... and I will give you rest." [Matt. 11:28]
"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." [Malachi 3:10]
"And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them." [Luke 6:19]
"You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." [John 14:14]
Rest... A flood of blessings... Healing... Anything I ask for? Count me in. It would be absurd not to be a follower of Jesus Christ!
Many have raised questions about this version of the gospel. Rest without requirements, blessing without burdens, or healing without heartache -- to get anything without giving anything -- are these not distortions of what it means to follow Christ? This is Christ without a cross -- Christianity without commitment. Can this possibly be what Jesus came to bring?
Our generation is not the first to raise these questions. One of the most powerful statements about what it means to follow Christ was the publication in english of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's, "Cost of Discipleship" originally published in 1937 in German as Nachfolge. ("follow") In the book, Bonhoeffer coins the phrase, "cheap grace."
"Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church. We are fighting today for costly grace... Cheap grace is the grace we bestow upon ourselves... Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline... Cheap grace is a grace without discipleship, grace without the cross... Costly grace is the treasure hidden in a field... the pearl of great price... it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him." ¹
The authenticity of Bonhoeffer's writing on discipleship is demonstrated in his prematurely shortened life. He was executed by special order of Himmler at Flossenburg eight days after Easter Sunday 1945... just a few days before the concentration camp at Flossenburg was liberated by the Allies. He was 39 when he died because he had joined the underground, believing it was his duty as a Christian to work against the regime of Adolf Hitler.
The Hard Gospel
Jesus' call to come to him was not just about "resting." Indeed, it included resting -- but there was more. And that's the difficulty. Far too many presentations of what Christianity is all about tell you about the "rest" Jesus offers -- but, they don't tell you what Paul Harvey likes to call, "the rest of the story!"
Today's gospel reading brings us face to face with the reality that as well as "rest" -- Jesus offers a "cross." Specifically, what Jesus says is, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." Jesus says, "Following me is a costly thing. It could cost you your life! But if you lose your life for my sake, you will find genuine life."
The one who decides to become a follower of Jesus Christ does not ask, "What's in it for me?" But rather asks, "What do you want from me?"
Going Against the Grain
Jesus goes against the grain when he speaks to his would-be disciples about the values of the kingdom. Greatness is measured by how much a person serves, not how many servants they have -- by how much we give, not how much we get. Real living is not about how much we can gather in the way of material things. Gaining things is not gaining life. He who dies with the most toys does not win! Jesus told a parable about a man who spent his life filling up his ever expanding barns, but died with an empty soul. [Lk.12:18] Then there was the wealthy, prominent, religious young man -- a leader in his community who wanted to follow Jesus. Amazingly, Jesus tells this rich young man that he lacks something. The guy was the envy of his peers. The kind of person about whom you would probably say, "What do you buy for the man who has everything?" Jesus, however, says he's lacking something.
He lacks freedom from his possessions! He is in bondage to his material possessions. "Get rid of your belongings and give to the poor -- then come and follow me." [Lk. 18:22] Even the disciples were baffled by Jesus' inversion of the culture's values. Everything that was counted as success is turned upside down. There is honor in humility -- gain in giving -- liberty in losing -- and success in surrender!
Jesus' followers had difficulty understanding these things because the concept of success as prosperity and accumulation as fulfillment is deeply embedded in our nature. If we are not consciously examining our notions of success and fulfillment, we are prone to accepting the world's standards. An analysis of the top ten selling books on congregational will quickly reveal just how vulnerable we are to the definition of success as, "bigger is better and more is magnificent!"
There are, however, examples here and there of how the soul has a longing to commit to something that will bring about a just and peaceful world. In his inaugural address of January 20, 1961, President John F. Kennedy said, "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." Within five years, the Peace Corps had swelled to over 15,000 volunteers serving all over the world.
Almost two thousand years ago, Jesus said, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." Within a generation, though the Roman landscape was littered with crosses and followers of Christ were buried in the catacombs -- the message of God's redeeming love had spread all over the world.
Counting the Cost
Imagine a newspaper ad that read something like this:
Wanted: Enthusiastic, committed people to join a life-changing and world -changing program. The ideal candidates will work well with others, be willing to travel and work hard in serving others. They will agree to put others first and to love even those who oppose them. Although there is no monetary compensation and the candidates are likely to encounter hostility, rejection and sometimes even death -- there is great personal satisfaction in commitment to the leader of this program and fulfillment in seeing his objectives attained.
Raise your hand if you want the job!
In terms of the values of our culture where, as the late football Coach Vince Lombardi said, "Winning isn't everything... it's the only thing!" -- Where "might makes right" and "money talks," -- following Jesus Christ on his terms looks absurd.
Take up a cross? You've got to be kidding!
A friend took his two daughters to Wrigley Field in Chicago to watch the Cubs. He remarked, "It must be a sign of the times. They had the Dow Jones industrial averages rolling across the bottom of the scoreboard. The crowd cheered when it closed up 90 points." (Of course there are those who would say that Cubs fans are glad to have anything to cheer about.)
Denying self and cross-bearing are not welcome messages in a culture where even our recreation has been invaded by our economic concerns. The words of Jesus in our Gospel reading can hold up a mirror to our notion of what it means to follow Christ. Have we changed the terms? Do we follow on His terms -- or have we modified the call of Christ to more closely match our own desires?
No New Thing
The cost of putting God first is not a new theme. Each of our readings today points to the personal cost a person who loves God will pay.
Jeremiah was saying, "God must come first," 2600 years ago to people who rejected and persecuted him. He went so far as to accuse God of being deceitful. "Truly you are to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail." [Jer. 15:18] "I honor and serve you, Lord -- and what do I get for it?"
Jesus tells his disciples that he is going to be executed at the hands of the religious authorities and then invites them to "take up their cross" and take the same journey.
Paul suggests to the followers of Christ that they should be kind even to their enemies and try to live peaceably with everyone. They should put others first and live in humility.
Why would anyone want to follow Christ and put God first when the personal cost can be so high?
When All is Said and Done
Why would anybody make the choice to pay the price and follow Christ?
Because God has made a promise. When all is said and done, that which is right will prevail!
To Jeremiah, God promises, "Continue to speak the truth for me ... and I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless."
To the Christians of Rome, Paul encourages them not to take vengeance for themselves and reminds them, "Vengeance is mine says the Lord -- I will repay." They should not let evil get them down, but instead they should overcome evil with good -- because the good will win out at last.
To his followers, Jesus says, "Those who lose their life for my sake will find it... the Son of Man is to come ... and then he will repay everyone for what has been done."
A Christian makes what seems to be a totally absurd decision to follow Christ because she or he lives with an eye on eternity. This is not simply living with the "long term" in view -- it is living with "forever" in view. It is believing the promises of God and developing the spiritual substance to see past the lie of temporary gratification.
When all is said and done --
Truthfulness... Faithfulness... Humility... Service... Integrity... Honor... Commitment...
These are the things that matter! These are values that will endure forever.
There are 100 billion stars in our galaxy and billions of galaxies in our known universe. It takes 226 millions years for our sun to orbit our Milky Way galaxy. [Associated Press: June 2, 1999] Long after the sun has made its last orbit of the galaxy and after our 100 billion stars have burned out, the Lord God will still be reigning in the hearts of those who made the absurd decision to follow Christ.
Yes, there are some things that stand the test of time and eternity.
Truthfulness... Faithfulness... Humility... Service... Integrity... Honor... Commitment...
These things will last. All else -- especially the things that seemed so good in the short term - will fly forgotten as a dream!
***
¹ The Cost of Discipleship: MacMillan, N.Y., 1961- pp.45-47 -- We strongly suggest this book if you do not have it in your library. Visit our bookstore link and use the search engine. Simply put "Bonhoeffer" in the search box and this work as well as several other good Bonhoeffer works are listed.
Discussion and Reflection on the Texts
Connections in the Text
The one thing that binds our these lectionary readings together is that serving the Lord is definitely not a quick trip to gain and glory! These texts can provide a strong "reality check" for the authenticity of our message about the Christian life. To be sure there is great gain -- peace, love and joy, that comes with commitment to Christ. BUT... there is more and these texts point out that there can be great pain as well as gain when we put God first. Jeremiah, who finds himself in great pain because he is serving God, goes so far as to suggest that God has deceived him. "Truly you are to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail." [Jer. 15:18] Jeremiah's pain is all the greater because he has served God faithfully.
Matthew includes Jesus' call to those who would be his followers -- to take up a cross and turn away from life itself. Paul asks Christians to be patient in suffering, refrain from repaying evil with evil and to leave vengeance to God. Even the Psalmist cries out to God for vindication -- he has walked in integrity and his trust in the Lord has been unwavering -- now, he expects, God should come through for him.
The lessons for today point to the reality of the fact that Christian living is not simply a walk in the park. Though there are green pastures and still waters -- there is also the selfless embracing of the cross and confrontation with a world that does not welcome the sovereignty of God in all things. From the perspective of the world, following Christ is a counter-cultural, absurd thing to do. This provides the theme for our full text sermon.
Matthew 16:21-28
The confession of Peter, our current text and the transfiguration at the beginning of Matt. 17 represent the pivotal point of the ministry of Christ. Conflict will increase exponentially and the cross will loom larger with every passing day. The disciples need to know that following Christ will come at great cost. The understanding will dawn on them only gradually and indeed will not be complete until after the resurrection.
Two important issues for disciples (followers) of Christ are "confession" and "cross bearing". Strength to follow completely ("bear the cross") is gained from "confessing" who Jesus is. This is not just another great leader. This is the "Christ of God." The second issue of "cross bearing" is not good news -- but it is God's news. The cross is not going to be an unfortunate end, but is rather God's design for redemption. Indeed, Peter finds out in a tough way, opposition to this plan comes out of the "enemy camp." The good news for followers of every age is that Jesus invites us to follow knowing full well that we will falter and fail along the way. When the cross becomes a bit heavy to bear, the grace of God will come along as a kind of Simon of Cyrene [Mt.27:32] to help us along.
It is important to note a difference between the "self denial" Jesus calls his followers to and "self denigration" which is a misunderstanding and debasement of discipleship. One of the hallmarks of genuine discipleship is joy -- not austerity. Nowhere is there a more significant blending of the cost and joy of discipleship than in the Upper Room discourse in John 14-16. One of my favorite expressions on this issue is to note that if Jesus were to come and speak from our pulpits today, two of the things he would be most certain to say would be: "Lighten up!" and "Tighten up!"
Just a note on verse 28. "...the Son of Man coming in his kingdom." M Eugene Boring [New Interpreter's Bible, Matthew, p.351] suggests, "The most likely explanation is that Matthew refers to the parousia, when he expected to take place soon... the chief problem with this apparently obvious meaning is that the parousia did not occur." Boring notes, however that there are several other views in church history. Several of the Early Church Fathers including Augustine took this to refer to the transfiguration which immediately follows. Luther and Calvin understood the text to refer to the resurrection while others including Gregory the Great, see this as referring to Pentecost and the power of Christ at work in the church.
Verses 27 and 28 do suggest parousia, yet Jesus himself notes later in Matthew that the timing of the parousia is known only to the Father (Mt. 24:36). The glory of Christ in the transfiguration, the power and judgment of God are present in the cross and resurrection and the power of the kingdom in present in Pentecost. Jesus is correct in terms of evidences of kingdom manifestation while the Father is nevertheless in charge of the "details" of eschatalogical fulfillment.
Jeremiah 15:15-21
This text strikes me foremost as as the most powerful invitation to an absolutely vital and honest prayer life! Jeremiah, in one of the worst moments in his life, charges God with unfaithfulness. He is a faithful servant. He has embraced and given himself to proclamation of God's word. He has turned away from the shallow rewards of his contemporaries. Yet -- he is persecuted and rejected. His commitment to God, it seems, goes unrewarded.
And he expresses his pain and anguish without holding back. He's reached his limit and now pours out a broken and disappointed heart. "You are like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail..." Wow! This is no small charge. Water is a central symbol in Israel's life. Without God's provision of water in the wilderness, there would be no Israel. A deceitful brook is the promise of a water supply that fails. It is like the well a weary traveler approaches with devastating thirst -- only to find the well has run dry. "This is what you are like God! That's Jeremiah's prayer here. Pretty strong stuff!
I can recall some years ago having an experience something like this. It was the night before Father's day and I was trying to write a sermon which just would not come. (There was no Sermonhelp.Com then :-) The sermon would not come because my seventeen year old Son was missing. A runaway who had gotten himself addicted to drugs. I had not heard from him in three our four months. I simply had nothing in my heart for a Father's Day sermon. Just tears. At least a part of my heartbreak was that I thought I had served the Lord faithfully for twenty years and in desperation wondered, "And this is what I get?"
Truth is stranger than fiction! That very Saturday night, I get this phone call from my son which included the words, "Dad, can I come home?" Was this God's gracious answer in the face of my complaining? Jeremiah also got an answer which included the words, "...I am with you to save you and deliver you...!"
Relating to our overall theme, Jeremiah does pay the price for following the Lord. And it can lead to times of temporary failure. We crash. So did Peter the rock, and Moses the leader, and Abraham the father of a great nation. This brief passage in Jeremiah encourages us to be honest with God and to stop repressing our deepest disappointments or castigating ourselves for experiencing what every committed follower of the Lord has -- throughout biblical history and down to our own times -- disappointment, discouragement and even devastation. We need to get to know the God who accepts our failures as well as our faith.
Romans 12:9-21
There is enough challenge in the first four words of our reading from Romans to build a complete sermon.
Let love be genuine!
There is almost a danger in the flood of "love talk" in the church. Every child learns to quote a portion of John 13:34 ["Love one another...] I John 4:20 gives a startling admonition. If we say we love God and hate someone in the fellowship of Christians -- we are a liar! Even more severe is the idea that hating a brother (someone in the fellowship) is equivalent to being a murderer. [I John 3:15]
If you do pursue this topic... Suggest the question to your congregation. In light of these rather serious admonitions from the letter of John -- as you let your mind (better not look around) go over the membership of this congregation... " Is there a name or two that jump out in your mind? Someone you would really like God to give you an exemption of loving?"
These verses on the character of the Christian's lifestyle are in some ways as difficult as Jesus injunction to take up the cross." What kind of persons are we to become? We are to be loving, gracious, humble, patient and persevering in prayer. And hardest of all? Do good to our enemies and leave the issue of recompense for wrong done to God. In other words, we so trust God for the final triumph of righteousness that we can patiently, prayerfully endure the temporary trial. We overcome evil with good and thereby cast our vote of confidence in the victory of God's kingdom.
A Call To Worship (Adapted from Psalm 26)
Leader: O Lord, we come to declare that we
place our trust in you,
People: We are ever aware of your love and grace in our lives.
Leader: O Divine Master, keep us on the path of faithfulness,
People: That leads to fullness of life and everlasting joy.
Leader: We come to praise you for all your wonderful deeds,
People: We are filled with the joy of the Lord as we worship
you
in this place!
A Prayer of Dedication
As we stand before you today O Lord, we offer
our hearts to be filled
with your love... our wills to be filled with your desires... our souls to
be filled with your Spirit... and our gifts to be used for your work. O
make
us true and faithful servants of the cross. Amen.
A Pastoral Prayer
The words of scripture hit hard today Lord.
It is so very clear that we
can not possibly be the followers Jesus calls us to be apart from the
intervention of your Holy Spirit in our lives.
Self is so strong is us. Denying ourselves
in this world doesn't work very
well when it comes to being successful. We are no more anxious to
take up a cross than we would be to take up an electric chair or a lethal
injection. The call of Jesus to follow him -- even if it means we must follow
all the way to death is just so out of sync with the values and goals of this
culture.
And yet, there are times when we have a sense
that something is missing
in our lives and our spiritual fuel gage hovers near empty. Our spirits
hunger
for substance and we sometimes come close to recognizing our vulnerability
to cheap imitations of our faith.
O save us Lord, from all that diminishes the
call of Christ or lessens the claim
of Christ in our lives. Help us to lift our eyes from the passing glamour of
this
world and gain a vision of the kingdom that will endure forever. Give us
grace
to grow up tall in Christ and courage to grow through the trials that will
certainly
come our way.
Shape us and form us by the loving power of your
Holy Spirit, so that one hundred
years from this day, we shall have gained the prize that lies beyond the pain...
the honor that lies beyond the humility and the crown that lies beyond the cross!
Amen.