ME
Good News/Bad News…
Begin with Good News/Bad News joke about the two old men who loved baseball… “you’re pitching on Tuesday.”
Often Good news comes with the bad… Especially if you’re a pastor…
Good News/Bad News pastor jokes
Good News: You baptized seven people today in the river.
Bad News: You lost two of them in the swift current.
Good News: The Women’s Ministry voted to send you a get-well card.
Bad News: The vote passed by 31-30.
Good News: The Church Board the job description you wrote.
Bad News: They were so inspired by it, they also formed a search committee to find somebody capable of filling the position.
Good News: Mrs. Jones is wild about your sermons.
Bad News: Mrs. Jones is also wild about the "Gong Show," "Beavis and Butthead" and "Texas Chain Saw Massacre."
Good News: Your women’s softball team finally won a game.
Bad News: They beat your men’s softball team.
Good News: Church attendance rose dramatically the last three weeks.
Bad News: You were on vacation.
.
Good News: The youth in your church came to your house for a surprise visit.
Bad News: It’s in the middle of the night and they are armed with toilet paper and shaving cream.
Often in life the good news comes with the bad news… and it’s not always humorous.
Mary experienced this.
GOOD NEWS: You will give birth to the Messiah… the Son of God, Savior of the world.
BAD NEWS: Your life will be marked with grief and pain.
BUT!!! Because she chose to obey… “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be with me as you have said.”
• Prophecy was FULFILLED
• Her “calling” was FULFILLED
• God’s Plan/Story of Redemption was FULFILLED
Mary could have chosen the easy path, but the easy path leaves so much UNfulfilled.
It’s an interesting and often painful paradox…
UNfulfilled is easy!
Fulfilled is hard!
Mary chose the hard path, the path that would involve pain beyond what she could ever imagine… but in so doing God’s plan was FULFILLED! In choosing to die to herself, she became a part of GOD’s plan… she became a part of something bigger than she was.
[video clip]
WE
So Mary had the joy and the privilege of being the mother of the Messiah… but she also had the pain and the grief of being the mother of the Messiah.
She could have chosen the easy path… but then so much would have been UNfulfilled…
We’re there too, aren’t we? Jesus calls us to walk a hard path. He calls us to lay down our lives. Jesus calls us to die to ourselves. We can choose the easy path but then so much will be UNfulfilled.
God – the Father – through Jesus the Son has called us to so much more than we are… Jesus has called us to experience the life that TRULY IS LIFE… He has called us into his story of redemption. He has called us to ABUNDANT LIFE…
But, sadly, most of us never see that life fulfilled. For most of us the “Abundant Life” is simply an UNfulfilled promise.
Not because God doesn’t keep his promises, but because we are unwilling to lay down what we have in order to take hold of that promise!
That’s the paradox of Jesus… If we want to be fulfilled we have to make ourselves empty… We have to lay down what we have so that we can take up what he offers.
And I guess that’s the point. That’s the ONE THING I want you to walk out of here with today.
When I lay down my life and take up my cross…THEN, my life is fulfilled!
Open your Bibles to the book of Luke chapter 2. If you don’t have a bible, raise your hand and our ushers will make sure you get one.
[Ushers hand out Bibles]
We’re going to explore Mary’s story as the mother of Jesus… It’s a story marked by grief and pain and yet it is also a story of a life fulfilled. Mary didn’t choose the easy road and so live a life UNfulfilled… she chose to obey and that made all the difference.
Luke chapter 2:21-35
GOD
21On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived.
22When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23(as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord"), 24and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: "a pair of doves or two young pigeons."
25Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
29"Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you now dismiss your servant in peace.
30For my eyes have seen your salvation,
31which you have prepared in the sight of all people,
32a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel."
(THAT’S THE GOOD NEWS)
33The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too." (THAT’S THE BAD NEWS)
Luke 2:21-35 (NIV)
GOOD NEWS: You will give birth to the Messiah… the Son of God, Savior of the world.
BAD NEWS: Your life will be marked with grief and pain.
In order for Mary to be used by God and to experience true fulfillment, she had to be willing to die to herself.
• She would experience the joy of giving birth to the Son of God and he would experience the sorrow of knowing that he was never truly hers.
• She would experience the joy of watching the Messiah grow into a man and she would experience the sorrow of watching him suffer and die on a cross.
Somehow, Mary knew that when I lay down my life and take up my cross…THEN, my life is fulfilled!
And we TALK about that all the time, don’t we. We talk about surrendering to Jesus. We talk about “laying down our lives.” We talk about “taking up our cross.” But do we really KNOW, do we really UNDERSTAND what that means?
The Cross is ALWAYS… ALWAYS an instrument of death. When we LAY DOWN OUR LIVES and when we TAKE UP OUR CROSS it means that something must die…
Jesus himself put it this way later in his ministry…
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.
Luke 9:23-24 (NIV)
Daily taking up the cross. Daily being put to death so that I can be of use to the Kingdom… so that I can be a part of the story of redemption.
This doesn’t necessarily mean a LITERAL death – although for some it may. But what Jesus is saying here is that EVERY DAY WE MUST BE WILLING TO DIE TO WHO WE ARE, WHAT WE WANT, OUR DESIRES, OUR PLANS, OUR COMFORT, OUR SELFISHNESS so that we can take up the life he has for us.
When we live for ourselves, ultimately we will find life to be utterly unfulfilling.
But when we choose to live for Jesus… when we choose to lay down our lives and die to ourselves… when we choose to let go of all that we love and know then we will be able to take up the life that is TRULY LIFE… the ABUNDANT LIFE and experience the promise of God. THEN we’ll be able to life a life FULFILLED!
When I lay down my life and take up my cross…THEN, my life is fulfilled!
THIS HAS HUGE IMPLICATIONS FOR OUR LIVES…
There are so many things that we MUST lay down…
• My STUFF
• My RIGHTS
• My DREAMS
• My FAMILY
• My “LIFESTYLE”
• My COMFORT
I can go on and on… we must lay down EVERYTHING in order to take hold of the promise of ABUNDANT LIFE…
But this is so painful to us, it is do difficult, it is so OVERWHELMING…
IT’S SO BIG THAT OFTEN GOD WORKS ON IT SLOWLY, OVER TIME KILLING US “GENTLY”
Examples from the life of Mary…
1. Luke 2:41-50
41Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. 42When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom. 43After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. 44Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. 45When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. 46After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you."
49"Why were you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?" 50But they did not understand what he was saying to them.
Luke 2:41-50 (NIV)
On top of the worry and confusion Mary must have experienced in this episode of life, there must have been some of the pain of realizing that this boy wasn’t truly hers. He had another mission, another purpose. Just a little bit, Mary had to lay down her life to take up the call of God…
2. John 2:1-11
1On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, "They have no more wine."
4"Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied, "My time has not yet come."
5His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."
John 2:1-5 (NIV)
Here, Jesus reveals to his mother that he is operating on his own timetable and not hers. He’s loyalty is to his father in heaven and not his family on earth… And Mary had to lay down a small piece of her life…
3. Mark 3:31-35
31Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, "Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you."
33"Who are my mother and my brothers?" he asked.
34Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 35Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother."
Mark 3:31-35 (NIV)
Here we see what looks like outright rejection. Jesus very clearly indicates that it is not his earthly family but his spiritual family that must take first priority. Mary’s heart must have been breaking… she wanted to be with her son, she loved him, cared for him, she wanted him to rest – he was working so hard. But he had no time for such things, he was focused on the CROSS… moving towards Calvary. And a part of Mary must have died…
4. John 19:25-27
25Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," 27and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
John 19:25-27 (NIV)
His mother stood at the foot of his cross. She watched him suffer and die. Her little boy… the special child that God said would save the world… this Messiah and here he hangs on a criminal’s cross… How Mary’s heart must have been crushed as once again a piece of her died…
30 plus years before this she had said, “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me as you have said…” and now she stands at the foot of the cross watching her oldest son die as a hated criminal – and inside she died to her dreams, her plans, her desires for this boy…
So that GOD’S plan could be carried out.
Three days later, EVERYTHING would change… Three days later, things would make sense… Three days later the FULFILLMENT of GOD’s plan sees the light of day and Mary would live again – but this time she would live a life fulfilled and abundant.
But to get there, she had to die to herself. Without death – there is NO resurrection.
In Mary’s story we see this amazing truth… When I lay down my life and take up my cross…THEN, my life is fulfilled!
SO WHAT?
YOU
So what does it look like to lay down your life and pick up your cross? I don’t know anyone who wants to live life UNfulfilled. I don’t know anyone who wants to come up short of what God intends them to be, but we won’t be what Jesus desires until we lay down our life and take up our cross. When I lay down my life and take up my cross…THEN, my life is fulfilled!
So what does that look like? What does it mean for me to lay down my life and to take up my cross…?
I met a man this week who answered that question this way… “It means what you know it means but hope it doesn’t.”
It means that I must LAY DOWN MY LIFE… I must set aside the life I live and I must die to myself… I must take up the cross of Jesus to join him in this redemption story. It means sacrifice. It means suffering. It means being misunderstood. It means giving up what I desire most – what is GOOD, so that I can be and do what Jesus desires most… what is BEST!
Laying down my life and taking up the cross always involves death… the cross has always been and always will be an instrument of death. And so when I lay down my life and take up the cross – something must die. I must die. What I was, what I am must die so that in Christ I may live and may have the life that is TRULY LIFE… so that I may have ABUNDANT LIFE.
Dying is not what we want to hear about is it… especially here at Christmas. But that’s really what Christmas is all about… Jesus became a man (we celebrate this at Christmas) for the express purpose of dying so that we might live, so that we might have abundant life, so that we might have that life that is TRULY LIFE…
…but to have that life we must die to ourselves…
So – back to the question at hand – what does that look like? And I would say that for each of us it might look at little different. We’re all self focused in different ways and we have to be willing to kill that part of who we are.
-- Kill consumerism
HOW: don’t buy
-- Kill greed
HOW: give
-- Kill control
HOW: surrender
-- Kill the need to be right
HOW: apologize
-- Kill the idea that I’m the center of the universe
HOW: make it about someone else
I could go ON and ON and ON… But I think you get the point. We have to be willing to die to those things that we love, to those things that KEEP US FROM BEING ALL THAT JESUS INTENDS…
He has so much more for us but we don’t take it because we won’t let go of what we have…
And in case you’re thinking – what I have is OK, I can do without ABUNDANT LIFE… let me just say that it’s more than that… It’s about ETERNAL LIFE… It’s about being like and being with JESUS in this redemption story.
And until we are willing to die to who and what we are… until we are willing to lay down our life and take up our cross… we will never even be WORTHY of Jesus…
Jesus said it like this…
37"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Matthew 10:37-39 (NIV)
WOW! That hard to swallow isn’t it? It’s one of those things that I wish Jesus hadn’t said… but he did.
So now I have to ask myself, “Do I love Jesus more than my family, more than my job, more than my house, more than my reputation, more than my comfort? Do I love Jesus more than my cherished ideas of what the Kingdom should be… more than my dreams?”
If I don’t love him MORE than all these things, then I’m not even worthy of him. Loving him is hard but that’s where my life will be fulfilled.
I can do life the easy way, but the easy path leads to life UNFULFILLED and ultimately to death.
When I lay down my life and take up my cross…THEN, my life is fulfilled!
[Have the Band Come to the Stage]
WE
To enter into the Kingdom – to join God in this story of redemption, we must be willing to die to ourselves. We must be willing to sacrifice all that we are and all that we have grown to love… we must lay it down so that we can take hold of the life that is truly life…
We can choose to take the easy path… the path that costs so little, but we will find ourselves UNfulfilled. But when I lay down my life and take up my cross…THEN, my life is fulfilled!
We started today with some GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS… but that’s not really accurate.
The fact is, when I lay down my life there is only GOOD NEWS… it will be costly, it will be painful… it will be hard to do,
But it’s good news. The old sinful me is dead and Jesus lives in me. My life BECOMES the Gospel…
And the GOSPEL IS ALWAYS GOOD NEWS!
When I lay down my life and take up the cross I walk in the steps of the Master, Jesus. I enter into the Kingdom with him and join him in the story of redemption. I follow his example… HE TOOK UP HIS CROSS so that I may have life – real life.
CLOSE WITH PRAYER & COMMUNION
