Following Jesus Mark 8 Series

Following Jesus (9)

Scott Bayles, pastor

Scripture: Mark 8:34-37

Blooming Grove Christian Church: 2/26/2017

Good morning and welcome to church. During church one Sunday, the pastor announced, “There will be a meeting of the Board immediately after church.” After the close of the service, the Church Board gathered at the back of the auditorium for the meeting. But there was a stranger in their midst—a visitor who had never attended their church before. "My friend," said the pastor, "Didn't you understand that this is a meeting of the Board?" "Yes," said the visitor, "and after today's sermon, I’ve never been more bored in my life." I hope you’re not bored by today’s message; rather, I’m glad you’re here and I hope you are too.

Today, we are half way through our sixteen-week journey through the Gospel of Mark. The first half of this journey has taken us from the banks of the Jordan River to a humble house in Capernaum with a newly installed skylight, from a seaside cemetery where Jesus cast out a legion of demons to a hillside picnic where he fed a legion of people.

In Mark 7, we listened as Jesus explained to the Pharisees as well as his followers that what goes into your body doesn’t defile you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart. While legalistic law-enforcers focus on having clean hands, Jesus focuses on giving us clean hearts.

After this latest skirmish with the scribes, Jesus casts another demon out of a gentile woman then heals a deaf man with a speech impediment. As Mark 8 begins, Jesus feeds a crowd of 4,000 people and heals a blind man from Bethsaida. Loveable Peter makes his famous confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. But then immediately makes the mistake of chastising Jesus for predicting his own death. That brings us to the last paragraph of Mark 8. If you have a Bible or an app on your phone please open it up to Mark 8:34-37.

At this point, Jesus still had thousands of enthusiastic fans that followed him everywhere he went—from town to town, from shore to shore. Jesus had achieved rockstar status. And Jesus loved them. He showed them compassion and kindness. But every so often Jesus would say or do something to thin the herd a little, to separate the tire-kickers from the car buyers.

And this is one such moment. Mark writes:

Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? (Mark 8:34-37 NLT)

Jesus wanted to separate the fence-sitters from the followers. The question is: which one are you? To find out, I want you to measure your commitment level against this statement. In this challenging verse, Jesus gives us three marks or signs of a fully sold out follower. The first one is denial.

• DENIAL

If we focus on just the first part of this challenge, Jesus says, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves…” (Mark 8:34 NIV). Another translation says, “you must turn from your selfish ways” (NLT). Many of us are not genuinely following Christ because we’re too busy looking out for ourselves. The truth is—each of us have a natural bent toward putting ourselves—our own wants and wishes—first.

Jesus challenges us to deny ourselves, to realize it’s not about me. It’s not about you. It’s all about him! Pastor Rick Warren agrees. In the opening line of his best-selling book, The Purpose-Driven Life, Warren writes, “It’s not about you.” He continues, “The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It’s far greater than your family, your career, or even your dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose.”

Many of us fall into the trap of selfishness. We’re me-focused. Self-centered. Self-absorbed. Self-serving. Self-involved. Me. Me. Me. Too many of us feel as though “the world revolves around me.” If we want to follow Jesus, we need to deny ourselves. MercyMe illustrates this idea quite comically in their song So Long Self. The song paints a picture of a man breaking up with himself.

Well if I come across a little bit distant, It's just because I am