In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
‘Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?’
I wonder what this really means to us sitting here in church today? Is it just a nice sentiment that we can just idly put aside, does it mean that we try to live our lives as best we can but when it gets too hard to show our faith we simply put it neatly to the side and forget about it, or does it mean that we will go as far as we are called to show the love that we have for Christ?
As Christians living in the UK we enjoy a safety and ease, that is not enjoyed by our brothers and sisters in other places. We know historically that North Korea and China were two places where we heard most about persecution against those who had faith, but since the rise of Daesh, Syria and the surrounding areas, continue to be become places of dangers.
Since the caliphates rise to power, which I hasten to add is not recognised as a legitimate power even by many Muslims groups and their leaders around the world, has committed numerous acts of violence, which included:
The Exile of all Christians \ Assyrians from Mosul.
The destruction of Christian and other religious buildings
The martyrdom of countless thousands of all ages.
Six years on from the rise of Daesh, the situation has slightly improved, but even now over 11 million are in need within Syria, and another 5.5 million are still living as displaced refugees in neighbouring countries. In the midst of all of this violence and death, we remember the hundreds of thousands of Christians who have paid the price of martyrdom for their faith, or are now living as exiled people because they stood for what they believe in and remain true to Christ regardless of how much it has and is continuing to cost them.
These men, women and children are just some of the latest in a long line of people, who have chosen to follow Christ to the end, and put their absolute belief in Him.
This may all seem extreme, and unpalatable to think about, but it raises a question that each of us should ask ourselves. How far would we follow Christ? What value do we place upon our faith?
Sat here today in safety, it’s difficult to see a time when we would be called to pay this ultimate price, but hopefully it gets us all thinking about the value that we place upon the relationship that we have with Christ.
As many of you will know Mikki and I have three huskies, and the two boys, Dax and Loki were adopted from the Dog’s trust, and the three are companions for each other. But I wonder if you know one of their taglines, it says – a dog is for life, not just for Christmas, and it got me thinking about what we could have as our tagline and I came up with – Christianity is for every hour, not just one or two hours each week.
As Christians, regardless of whether we are called to be martyrs for our faith, the commitment we make to Christ is a lifelong one, it means that if we are going to receive the forgiveness of the cross, then we have to be ready and willing to carry the cross for ourselves, to follow where Christ leads us.
We need to be prepared to give our very best through our gifts and talents to him and his church so that we may be known as his disciples. Now I’m sure that there may be some, who are now saying, I don’t have any gifts, or I have given in the past, it’s time for someone else to do things now, but regardless of whatever reason could be given, we must remember that Christ didn’t get to Golgotha and say, o.k. I’ve changed my mind, I don’t want to save humanity.
After he climbed onto that cross for each of us, he came back to the disciples to prepare them for what lay ahead, and to give them the great commission, the disciples had no idea what to expect.
A few years ago a letter was written by someone to highlight the problems in the early church, how bad a shape it was in and I’d like to share it with you.
To: Jesus, Son of Joseph
Woodcrafter’s Carpenter Shop
Nazareth
Dear Sir:
Thank you for submitting the CV’s of the twelve men you have picked for managerial positions in your new organisation. All of them have now taken our tests; and we have not only run the results through our computer, but also arranged personal interviews for each of them with our psychologist and vocational aptitude consultant.
The profiles of all tests are included, and you will want to study each of them carefully.
As part of our service, we make some general comments for your guidance. This additional insight is given as a result of staff consultation, and comes without any additional fee.
It is our opinion that most of your nominees are lacking in background, education and vocational aptitude for the type of enterprise you are undertaking. They do not understand the concept of working together, and we would strongly recommend that you continue your search for persons of experience in managerial ability and proven capability.
Simon Peter is emotionally unstable and given to fits of temper. Andrew has absolutely no qualities of leadership. The two brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, place personal interest above company loyalty. Thomas demonstrates a questioning attitude that would tend to undermine morale. We feel that it is our duty to tell you that Matthew has been blacklisted by the Greater Jerusalem Better Business Bureau; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus definitely have radical leanings, and they both registered a high score on the manic-depressive scale.
One of the candidates, however, shows great potential. He is a man of ability and resourcefulness, meets people well, has a keen business mind, and has contacts in high places. He is highly motivated, ambitious, and responsible. We recommend Judas Iscariot as your controller and right-hand man. All of the other profiles are self-explanatory.
We wish you every success in your new venture.
Sincerely,
Jordan Management Consultants
In many ways this is meant as a little bit of fun, but it emphasises something important, it doesn’t matter who any of us are, because if we are committed to following Christ, then he will give us everything we need to fulfil what he asks of us.
But all of this is just one side of the coin, and we have to look to our reading from Romans to help us to understand the other side of following Christ.
It speaks of how we should act in the face of situations such as the one we spoke about earlier, or indeed the continuing hostilities in Gaza, and although we could pick much out of Paul’s letter, I wanted to just mention one small piece - . Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.
As Christians we never have to live in the darkness of this world, because we can always keep our eyes fixed upon the light of Christ that burns brightly in this and countless churches across the world every day.
As part of our daily Christian walk we are encouraged to pray, to intercede on behalf of any and all in need. This means those stuck in places that they don’t want to be, those who are being persecuted, and even for those who persecute others, because whether we like it or not Christ taught us to help ALL in need, and to give forgiveness, just as we receive forgiveness in our own lives, and if we ever need to be reminded of this, then all we have to do is read The Lord’s Prayer, because when we pray it in earnest we are saying: God we trust that you will resolve these issues that are too huge for mankind to sort out on its own, Let your will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven.
Today, I invite and encourage each of us to grasp our cross with both hands and embrace its full significance as a reminder that as Christians it is our duty and obligation to carry it into the world and be willing and prepared to serve the one who paid the full cost on Calvary so that we may live, and be witnesses to the love that can only come from Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
