Lenten Series: The Crosses of Lent
Series Key Verse: I want to know Christ and experience the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His suffering, becoming like Him in His death, and so somehow, to attain the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:10-11
Title: The Cross of Suffering… See Through It!
(As a bit of a disclaimer from the onset I want to acknowledge that sometimes carrying one’s cross and following Christ means trials and suffering… but I also want to emphasize that Jesus, “For the joy set before him endured the cross.” And God’s word reminds us that there is joy in suffering if we can but “see through it” to what will be. , “So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while. These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold – and your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So if you faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” I
Text: Mark 8:31-38
Thesis: We are invited to willingly take up our crosses and follow Christ completely, fully aware that eternal gains far outweigh earthly suffering and loss.
Introduction
On November 8th of last year I had a full left-hip replacement. The two or three years leading up to that surgery were not pleasant and eventually I became so miserable I absolutely had to do something. Bonnie and I were very pleased with my surgeon and felt I was in very competent hands. However, when I woke up after the surgery, while I was relieved of one kind of pain, I experienced a whole new level of post-surgery pain.
Bonnie and I had planned that my hospital stay would be very brief and I was able to leave the hospital early… and Bonnie became my primary care giver. In addition to being my caregiver, Bonnie was also my physical therapist.
Therapy was a prescribed series of exercises, one of which was leg lifts. I was to lift my leg off the bed approximately a foot to eighteen inches, hold it to the count of ten, and let it down slowly. All of the muscles on my left hip had been cut and repaired during the surgery. I absolutely could not lift my left leg off the bed so Bonnie would place one hand under my heel and the other under my calf and with her assistance I did the leg lifts. It hurt! I thought I would never be able to do ten leg lifts. But today I can rip off thirty leg lifts with little effort and no pain.
Surgery and rehab were a challenge but we went through it because we were making a deliberate effort to see through the suffering. Yes, it hurt. Yes, it took time. But we were looking through the pain and suffering to when I would walk a mile and climb steps and navigate uneven terrain.
We had read a study of hip-replacement patients comparing those who simply did their exercises and those who did their exercises and walked. And we found that those who did their exercises and walked could eventually walk the way they used to walk. So I walked with a walker back and forth in front of our house. They I walked down the street and then I walked around the athletic field on our street. And then I walked with a cane and then I walked without the cane. And now I can walk. Perfect? No! But I’m improving every day.
Getting through suffering is about seeing through is to what will be.
I. When facing suffering… see through it!
Jesus told them he would suffer many terrible things… He would be killed and three days later he would rise again. Mark 8:31
In the context of our bible story today Jesus had just had a conversation with his disciples as they were walking along. In Mark 8:27 Jesus asked them, “Who do people say I am?” In other words, what are people saying about me? And they replied, “Well, some say you are John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other prophets.” So then Jesus asked, “Who do you say I am?” And Peter said, “You are the Messiah.”
In recognizing Jesus as the Messiah they were grasping hold of their Messianic hope for the day when “the Messiah” would come in power, break the bonds of Roman oppression, and restore the fortunes of the people of Israel, their national pride and prominence in the world. They were thinking of the fulfillment of the prophecy we cite during the Seasons of Advent and Christmas from Isaiah 9:6-7, “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. And the government will rest on his shoulders. These will be his royal titles: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. His ever expanding, peaceful government will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David.”
So when Jesus, “The Messiah,” starts talking of his impending suffering and death, his friends did not take the news well. They did not take it well in part because they did not hear everything Jesus said. Jesus said that he, the Son of Man, would suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the leaders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law.” They heard him say that he would be killed… but they did not hear him say that three days later he would rise again.
Admittedly, Jesus was not at all enthusiastic about the suffering and dying stuff, but Jesus did see through it. Jesus could see through the suffering and pain and dying and being buried to his resurrection.
You know I enjoy some of the programs on the History Channel and you’ve heard me refer to the work of the American Restoration business in Las Vegas. I am amazed by the kinds of things people want to have restored and how much they are willing to spend on that restoration. Childhood Tricycles. Kiddie Peddle Cars. Motorcycles. Coke Machines. Telephones. Carnival Rides. Slot Machines. Pin Ball Machines. Antique Tire Changing Machines. Coin Changing Machines. Antique Fire Wagons. Juke Boxes. You name it… In every instance Rick Dale can readily see the pile of junk people bring to him but he can also see through to what will be when the project is fully restored.
Granted there will be a lot of heating up of fused bolts, pounding out dents, welding, sandblasting, sanding and refinishing… but in the end the project is a thing of beauty. God’s Word says, “So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while. These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold – and your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So if you faith remains strong after being tried by fiery
The disciples saw suffering and death. Jesus saw suffering and death and resurrection. He saw through it!
And we too may choose to see through the gloom and despair of any moment assured that “all things do indeed work together for the good of those who love God.” Maybe not immediately but when you see through it… it does.
Meanwhile there is something more we can learn from Jesus’ experience.
II. When facing suffering, well meaning people may want you to play it safe… see through it!
As he talked to his disciples they took him aside and told him he shouldn’t say things like that. Jesus turned and looked at them and said to Peter, “Get away from me, Satan! You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s. Mark 8:32-33
In our story the bible says that as Jesus talked with his disciples they pulled Jesus aside to caution him against saying things like that. No one wants to hear suffering and dying talk. Be positive, Jesus! You’re a winner, Jesus!
First of all, who says we aren’t supposed to struggle or suffer in life? Who says there is no inherent value in the challenges of life? Who says pain and suffering are supposed to be avoidable evils?
Remember Job’s comforters in the Book of Job? They heard about Job’s misfortunes and personal suffering and came to see him. They watched him for seven days and finally they could contain themselves no longer and the first friend blurted out, “Stop and think about it Job! Does the innocent person perish? When has the upright person been destroyed? My experience shows that those who plant trouble and cultivate evil will harvest the same. They perish by a breath from God.” Job 4:7-9
In other words, if you are suffering and experiencing pain and loss you must have done something wrong or God would not allow this to happen to you. However Job knew that was not the case. He had been a good guy and now his life was in shambles.
What about the teaching from James, “…whenever troubles come your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested your endurance has a chance to grow. So let grow, for when you endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.” James 1:2-4
In Romans we are taught, because of our faith Christ has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now stand and we can confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. We can rejoice too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us and help us learn to endure. And endurance develops strength of character in us and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation.” Romans 3:3-5
No one wants to see a friend or a loved one experience suffering and pain of any sort. Jesus’ friends were not bad people. They were his friends and apart from their Messianic hopes, they did not want to hear Jesus talking about suffering and dying. They really just wanted him to skip any hardship stuff and go straight to being the Messiah and Savior of the world.
However, Jesus expressly stated:
“I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do what I want.” John 6:38
Unfortunately for Jesus, but good for us, the will of God entailed a little detail along the way we know as the cross.
In Gareth and Lynette ,Tennyson tells the story of the youngest son of Lot and Bellicent. The young man has seen the vision and he wants to become one of King Arthur’s knights. But his mother, Bellicent, does not want him to go.
She argues, “Hast thou no pity on my loneliness?” She reminded him that his father is old and “lies like a log and all but smoldered out.”His two older brothers are already knights in Arthur’s court… “Stay my best son, you are yet more boy than man.” In the story she promises him everything including a princess to be his bride. She argued long and well but in the end Gareth responded:
“O Mother,
How can ye keep me tethered to you – shame?
Man am I grown, a man’s work must I do.
Follow the deer? Follow the Christ, the King –
Live pure, speak true, right wrong, follow the King –
Else, wherefore born?” (Wm. Barclay, Mark, Daily Bible Study Series, p. 200)
Why else was I born? I was born to follow Christ… don’t try to dissuade me or hold me back!
Well meaning people want the best for us but they may not know or understand that what is best looks a lot different to them than it does to God. And Jesus perceived what his disciples were saying as a satanic attempt to dissuade him from doing the will of God.
It isn’t just about becoming a ficticious knight in the King’s service… it’s about God’s call in each of our lives. It is about God’s providential and permissive will in each of our lives. Where you work is important to God. Your marriage is important to God. Your parenting is important to God. Your choice of educational tracks is important to God. Your health care decisions are important to God. Not all choices are equal. So when you have prayed and sought God’s will and have sought the counsel of wise and godly people and have weighed the pros and cons and have arrived at a peaceful place… see through it! See through what is and may be to what will be!
Sometimes following Christ can be life threatening.
III. When facing suffering, follow Christ… see through it.
If any of you wants to be my follower… shoulder your cross and follow me. If you lose your life for my sake, you will find true life. Mark 8:34-35
This week I read an amusing story about a little boy and his first day as a first grader. He had come up through pre-school and kindergarten and now he was in first grade. Accustomed to going home at noon in Kindergarten he was getting things ready to leave when he was supposed to be going to lunch with the rest of the class. The teacher noticed and asked, “Ryan, what are you doing?” Ryan replied, “I’m going home.” His teacher tried to explain that now that he was in first grade he had a longer school day. She said, “You’ll go to lunch with the class now and then you will come back to the room and we will do some more school work before you go home.” Ryan looked up at her in disbelief and then seeing that she was serious, he put his hands on his hips and demanded, “Who signed me up for this program?” (PreachingToday.com)
I wonder if we aren’t a bit like Ryan in our approach and understanding of what it means to be a Christian and even more so, what it means to be a devoted follower of Christ. After all… what about this turning the other cheek stuff and what about this business of forgiving people 70 times 70 times and what about this talk of shouldering a cross and following Christ even if it means you lose your life doing so?
Being a Christian is probably as easy in the United States as anywhere on the planet. A quick look at The Voice of the Martyrs web site is a sobering experience. Religious intolerance is the rule rather than the exception in much of the world.
Currently in the news there is an Iranian Christian pastor who converted from Islam sentenced to be hung if he does not renounce his faith. He is married and has two small sons. He [Youcef Nadarkhani] was arrested two years ago on charges of apostasy and an Iranian court ruling on February 23 reaffirmed his death sentence stating that he may be hanged “at any time without warning.” (Christian pastor sentenced to death, dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2105024/Christian-pastor-faces-execution-Iran-re, 2/28/2012)
We have a hard time grasping that kind of harsh, intolerance of differing religious convictions but becoming a Christian in an Islamic state is the kiss of death. Haddon Robinson tells of a conversation he had with a tour guide in Turkey about a young man who wished to consider becoming a Christian but did not… He said, “You do not know what it would happen to me if I did that. If I announced to anyone, my wife would leave me. My family would disown me. My boss would fire me. The government would not grant me a travel visa. I would give up everything.” (Haddon Robinson from the sermon “Love Keeps Going.”)
When I learn of the suffering of Christians around the world, I am a little embarrassed. Here in the United States there is a lot of talk about our 1st Amendment rights. As you know the 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution prohibits the passing or creation of any law which establishes a religious body and directly impedes an individual’s right to practice whichever religion they see fit. In other words the 1st Amendment guarantees freedom of religion. The freedom to practice a religion of choice is a constitutional right in this country. So there is always a great deal of concern about any and every threat to that freedom.
It is a curious thing to me that Jesus, while living under the boot of the Roman Empire never said anything about anything remotely having to do with the right of free expression of religious preferences. What he did say on several occasions is that if anyone who wished to follow him, he must take up his own cross and follow him.
In II Corinthians Paul wrote, “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don’t give up and quit. We are hunted down but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get back up again and keep going. Through suffering these bodies of ours constantly share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies… Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are quite small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever! We don’t look at the troubles we can see right now; rather we look forward to what is yet unseen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.” II Corinthians 4:8-18
Jesus was very upfront with those who chose to become his followers. On one occasion he told them, “When the world hates you, remember it hated me before it hated you. A servant is not greater than his master. Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you.” John 15:18-20
Jesus never sugar coats the Christian life. Jesus never pulled any kind of bait and switch on his followers. Jesus made no ifs, ands or buts about it… being a Christian is sometimes about taking up and carrying a cross of suffering. But Jesus also said, “If you lose your life for my sake, you will find true life.” Mark 8:34-35
This week, Time Magazine columnist Jon Meacham wrote in his Commentary, “Believers should remember that when he was on trial before Pontius Pilate, Jesus said his kingdom was not of this world. It still isn’t.” (Jon Meacham, Commentary, Time, March 5, 2012, p 14)
When you suffer you have to see through it! When you suffer you have to see through to the kingdom that is not of this world... follow Christ!
As we move on to unpack verses 36 and 37 we see that Jesus’ gets right at the heart of the matter…the destiny of the human soul.
IV. When facing suffering in this life there is no eternal profit in caving… see through it.
How do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process? Is anything worth more than your soul? Mark 8:36-37
By caving I mean to give in or surrender to the opposition, so to speak. When Jesus asked, what does it profit or benefit you if you go with the cultural flow, take the road of least resistance, avoid suffering at all costs, and make for yourself a little bit of heaven on earth if in the end you get nothing in eternity? Jesus juxtaposes ease in this life against eternal loss in the next. Jesus juxtaposes struggling and even suffering and death in this life with totally cashing in the next.
I remember my first auction experience. I was a high school student I read a farm auction sale bill that said that an 1897 Model Winchester rifle would be sold. It was a 22 caliber, 17 shot, pump with an octagon barrel. I wanted that rifle. So I went to the auction intent on buying it and I did… for $27. (I think I did okay though I am sure there were some old farmers standing around wondering why I would spend $27 on an old gun.
Now that I am older and more auction savvy, I understand that when you go into an auction you need to know the value of what you are bidding on and you need to know your cap or upper limit. You need to know how much you are willing to spend and then that’s it!
When a person decides to become a follower of Christ, Jesus wants that person to know that there is no cap or upper limit on how much you will spend before you cave. If the price of comfort and ease in this world gets too high Jesus says it is better to lose everything to save your eternal soul.
For most of us it will not mean being hanged at any moment because we refuse to renounce our faith. But we are all constantly barraged with instances where we have to decide if we will do the easy thing and get by or perhaps even gain or do the right thing regardless of the consequences.
My dad became a Christian in his early thirties. I think he was a principled person anyway but as a Christian he wanted to be the kind of person God wished for him to be. When I was in high school he was working as the head mechanic in a local dealership. His boss, always intent on making a profit began buying used parts from auto salvage yards for repairs in his garage. There is nothing wrong with that if the customer knows and it is a cost savings… but my dad learned that the used parts were being billed to the customers as new parts. After speaking with his boss he decided the best thing he could do was look for a different job.
He was working six days a week to support a wife and four sons. He had a mortgage and a car payment. I know at that time we were living from week to week… but he did the right thing. He was not going to cave or sell-out even if it meant losing his job.
There is no eternal profit in caving in on matters of faith in this life... What does it benefit you if you gain the whole world but lose your soul in the process? When suffering in this life… see through it!
Conclusion
I don’t have a lot of regrets but I do have some. One regret I have is that I never learned to play the piano or a stringed instrument like a guitar or a banjo. Of course there is a reason I never did… I do not know music and I never learned music and I think I am just too lazy to do what musicians have to do to be good at it.
In the1990’s there was a study conducted on randomly selected children as they picked out and learned a musical instrument. Some went on to become fine musicians and others did not. The traits that separated those who became proficient and those who did not was not I.Q. Aural sensitivity, math skills, socio-economic class or even a sense of rhythm were not determining factors.
The best predictor was a question asked the students before they even selected their instruments: How long do you wish to play? The students who wished to play a short time did not reach proficiency. The students who said they wished to play for a few years had modest success. But those who said in effect, “I want to become a musician and play my whole life,” soared.
Those who were willing to gut out all the lessons and practices and rehearsals and recitals and performances and who played for the sheer joy of it… those who saw through all of that – soared!
That’s what Jesus was talking about in this text.
Jesus said, “Anyone who wishes to be my follower must take up his own cross and follow me. And if you try to keep your life for yourself you will lose it. But if you give it up you life for my sake you will save it.”
If in this life you carry a cross of suffering, see through it… and you will soar!
