Each year, a Christian organization called “Open Doors” publishes a list of the top 50 countries where Christians are most intensely persecuted for their faith. Physical violence, death threats, execution, imprisonment, rape, neglect, burning of homes, bombing of churches, abandoned by family, loss of jobs and homes, public humiliation and torture are the stories of Christians living in those countries. According to the statistics, there are 245 million Christians in the world that experience a high level of persecution. During the last year, within just those 50 countries on the “watch list” over 4,000 Christians were killed for their faith, that’s 11 Christians every day, and nearly 1,300 buildings associated with Christianity were destroyed. The list and the stories of those Christians who live in these countries is a sobering reminder of the number of Christians around the world that are daily threatened for no other reason than that the are a follower of Christ Jesus.
As I looked at the list and heard the stories, I couldn’t help but appreciate what I so often take for granted – the relative peace that we experience when it comes to living as Christians. Thank God for that unique blessing – that at this time we can come to worship, own a Bible, talk to others about what we believe about Jesus without the fear of being arrested, imprisoned or executed. When we look at those things, we might say that for us, being a follower of Christ is rather comfortable. But is comfortable what Jesus told Christians to expect? Does comfortable ever really describe the Christian’s life in this world? This morning, Jesus gives us a big dose of reality when it comes to what we should expect as his followers. You heard it in the conversation that Jesus had with his 12 disciples.
Jesus asked his disciples who they thought he was. Peter spoke on behalf of the disciples and simply says, “God’s Messiah” (Luke 9:20). Peter rightly identified Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ, God’s promised and chosen one sent into the world to make people right with God. Jesus then expands on that thought. Certainly, those who believe that Jesus is the Messiah will want to follow him, right? But then Jesus explains what being the Messiah would mean for him and for his followers. Jesus says, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law and must be killed and on the third be raised to life” (Luke 9:22). And for those who follow Jesus, what should they expect? Nothing different than the one they follow. Jesus explains, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). With those words Jesus pretty much bursts the bubble of anyone who thinks that being a follower of Jesus is going to be comfortable or easy. And there are two words that I want you to focus on this morning as we talk about the struggles that come from being a disciple and follower of Jesus. They are the words “daily” and “deny.”
That word “daily” is a hard one to swallow, isn’t it? The struggles that Jesus says are going to accompany being one of his followers are gong to be “daily.” There is no time off or vacations from the struggles that come from being an active follower of Christ. Yes, the struggles may come in all different shapes and sizes, sometimes they are more intense and visible, and other times might go completely unnoticed by those around you. The reason that the struggle is daily is because of the source of that struggle. The struggle comes from “denying” yourself.
Jesus says, “Whoever wants to be my disciples must deny themselves…” Maybe the first question to ask is, “What’s so bad or dangerous about ourselves that it needs to be denied?” After all, the world around us continually tells us that we need to BE ourselves, that we should follow our hearts, that if it FEELS good that it IS good. “Don’t deny yourself, satisfy yourself!” is the mantra of our society. But the Bible paints a vastly different picture of ourselves by nature, a picture that more accurately and honestly reflects the world we live in. the Bible says, “The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so” (Romans 8:7). The sinful flesh that every person is born with and will possess until the day that we die wants to silence God, push him to the back and say, “I’m the one in charge. I can’t trust you. I know what’s best for me, and I’ll do what I want.” The sinful flesh only leads a person down the road of selfishness, exploitation, hopelessness, destruction of self and others.
And that my friends is the source of our struggle as followers of Christ. As Christians who by the Holy Spirit’s power know and believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the one God sent into the world to rescue us from sin’s punishment and promises eternal life in heaven, we want to follow Jesus. We know that we can trust him! He has revealed the truth about our sinful nature with its empty promises and lies. But our sinful flesh clings to us and daily tries to convince us that it is the better leader. This is the daily struggle between our sinful flesh and our faith in Christ which the Apostle Paul so accurately described in Romans 7 when he wrote, “For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do… Although I want to do good, evil is right there beside me.” (Romans 7:15,21). There it is! The uncomfortable struggle that we daily face as Christians with a sinful nature who want to follow Christ. It is a struggle that we know all too well. It’s the struggle of making time to read our Bibles when there are so many other things to do. It is the struggle of, “I don’t want to have to put up with the kids complaining about coming to church. It’s easier just not to go.” It’s the struggle against reserving sex for marriage, of working at a difficult marriage when everyone seems to be saying isn’t worth the effort, of fighting the battle against same sex attraction, of working hard even when you feel that you’re being undercompensated, of boldly stating the truth when it would be easier to remain silent, of keeping your mouth shut when tempted to gossip and tear others down, to question God’s ways instead of trusting God. Denying yourself is battle. It is uncomfortable. It is a constant struggle. And there is a very easy way to avoid it. Throw off the cross. Give up on following Jesus! Give in to self! Wouldn’t that be easier? Why not?
Why not? Jesus has already told us why not. It is because of the peace the Jesus has given us. “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law and must be killed and on the third be raised to life” (Luke 9:22). If you ever think that Jesus just can’t possibly understand your struggles remember what he is called, “The Son of Man.” That’s not just a nickname that his friends gave him. This is a title that tells us something very important about Jesus. Although being true God from all eternity, Jesus was a human being just like any one of us. The temptations that he daily faced were as real and difficult as any temptation that we face. And if you want to talk about pressure, remember that Jesus knew that the salvation of all people hinged on him making the right decision at all times. Why would Jesus put himself under such immense pressure? It’s pretty simple. It’s because of you and me. Jesus didn’t want you to have to live in this world of selfishness and sin, of sadness and hatred, violence and abuse forever. And so Jesus daily struggled in your place and did so perfectly. When betrayed and abandoned by his disciples he would not blame, when arrested he would not respond in anger, when nailed to a cross he prayed for those pounding in the nails. While dying, he would suffer the wrath of God for all the times we have given into our sinful nature and thought it was better to momentarily satisfy ourselves. Jesus perfectly struggled and daily suffered so that you could live with him. To assure you of that life that awaits you, away from this sinful world and the struggles of our sinful nature, Jesus rose from the dead. For all those who trust in Jesus and follow him in faith, a life free from the struggles of this world awaits you.
There is the motivation to daily deny ourselves, to be uncomfortable and to struggle. It is NOT a motivation that comes from looking at the crosses that we have carried, or keeping track of how many or how heavy they have been or how much we have suffered. No, our motivation to, as Jesus says, “Deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23) comes from the cross of Jesus. His is the cross that assures us that we are at peace with God, forever free from the guilt and punishment of sin. His is the cross that announces life eternal through death. His is the cross that leads us to pray for our fellow Christians who are being actively persecuted for their faith, and for those who are persecuting them that they might learn of and believe in the one who died for them. His is the cross that empowers us to daily keep on battling sin, denying ourselves and following Christ in fait. His is the cross that promises that one day, when the Lord decides that our time of struggle is over, he will replace our cross with the crown of heavenly glory. May the Lord bless is in our struggles until that glorious day. Amen.
