THE MESSAGE OF THE CROSS
Text: Mark 8:31 - 38
Mark 8:31-38 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. (32) He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. (33) But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things." (34) He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. (35) For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. (36) For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? (37) Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? (38) Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."
Do you avoid things that make you uncomfortable? Satan tempted Jesus and offered Him the easy way when He was in the wilderness but Jesus chose the hard way. Satan tempted Jesus with easy routes to being a king but Jesus chose the cross. For Christians who follow in the footsteps of Jesus, we know that the cross comes before the crown.
How many of us follow Jesus knowing that our life and witness will provoke others? “When Hitler began interfering with the churches and humiliating the German Jews, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a loyal German himself, began to resist and protest. He refused to participate in the state church which bowed to the fuehrer’s demands. Several of his colleagues begged him to bend. They argued that they would lose the importunity to preach altogether if they followed Bonhoeffer’s example”. (Heb Miller. Actions Speak Louder than Verbs. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1989, p. 38). Was Bonhoeffer’s critics not offering a go along to get along ideal? Bonhoeffer who never wavered in his witness, later became a prisoner at a Nazi concentration camp. They executed by hanging not long before the end of WWII.
Borrowing from he words of Jesus, how can we give to Caesar what belongs to God? Do we resist our cross or embrace it? Are we ashamed of the Gospel or do we preach the Gospel in word and deed?
Today we want to talk about, the cross, and the challenges of carrying our crosses. .
THE CROWD
Who are the faces in the crowd? 1) Crowd: Much like today, the crowd was full of believers and unbelievers, haves and have nots, the saved and the lost.
2) Caste system: Caste systems are about social classes. If you were born poor or wealthy, then likely you would be poor or wealthy all of your life. 3) Gospel wrecking ball: There are no classes or castes systems for Christian disciples because we are all one in the Body of Christ. There are no divisions in the Body of Christ, only believers because the ground is level at the cross (Galatians 3:28).
David O. Dykes tells a true story about Ghandi. Gandhi was fascinated with truth and studied the Bible along with other religious texts. He loved the Sermon on the Mount and seriously considered becoming a Christian. One Sunday, he decided to visit a church in South Africa. Gandhi’s skin was light brown; as he entered the church, a South African man said with a belligerent tone, “Where do you think you’re going kaffir?” (Kaffir is a racial slur similar to the n word)
Gandhi replied, “I’d like to attend worship here.” The man said, “There’s no room for kaffirs here. Get out of here, or I’ll have some of my men throw you down the steps.” Gandhi never seriously considered becoming a Christian again. This incident might have been one reason he later would utter the famous quote: “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Sermon: The Ground Is Level at the Foot of the Cross - Sermons & Articles (preaching.com) I have heard two or three versions of this story all my life. Every version points to the same thing. What is that thing? That thing is that we are all sinners who cannot be saved except by the grace of God through Jesus Christ.
What about our crowd today? 1) Divisions: How many are divided today and why? People are divided over various things. Politics, religion and race, are at the top of the list.
2) Dividing idols: Nothing that divides us can save us! Did you hear that? I want to say it again. Nothing that divides us can save us! No government, person, party, leader, group, church membership roll or ideal can save us! Do we make idols of the things that divide us? Only Jesus saves! How can we focus on unity and the level ground of the cross if we focus on what divides us?
3) Grace and salvation: Neither governments, politics, politicians, leaders, religion, vocation or race can save us! Only Jesus saves us from ourselves, from our sins and from the wrath to come because He is the only Way, the only Truth and the only Way (John 14:6). Again, we are all sinners saved only by God’s grace through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8). Whether or not we own it, we are all sinners who will one day face judgement with or without grace! That is a decision that is made in this life. It is made in this life only! Life is not a dress rehearsal! As Mark 8:35 - 37 says… (35) For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. (36) For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? (37) Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?
4) Three books: There are three very important books. What are they you ask? There is the Lamb’s book of life, the Book of deeds and the Bible. Revelation 20:11-15 mentions two books. One book is the Book of deeds where everything we have done is and said recorded. Then there is the Book of Life. Every one who does not have an entry there cannot get into heaven! The third book is the Bible that gives to us God’s Word.
THE CROSS
What do you think of when you see a cross? 1) Meanings of the cross: Some wear a cross just as an ornamental piece of jewelry. Others, mock the cross by using the cross as an upside down symbol. For those in the first century, the cross was a sign of death.
2)An instrument of execution: It was used as an instrument of execution where they would have flogged, scourged or whipped (all different wordings of the same thing) the criminals before they were crucified which of of course means being nailed to a cross. They usually left the dead bodies on crosses to deteriorate.
3) A stumbling block: I Corinthians 1:18 says “For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (NRSV).
“When Mark Twain and his daughter traveled across Europe together, they were honored at every stop. Royalty and famous artists and famous scientists hosted them. Near the end of the trip, Twain’s daughter said, “Papa you know everybody but God don’t you?” (Herb Miller. Actions Speak Louder Than Verbs. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1989, p. 19). Again, Mark 8:35 -37.
Why did Peter rebuke Jesus? 1) Exemption?: There was a notion in the time of Jesus’s ministry among us as the Word of God made flesh (John 1:14 KJV) that the Messiah would be a leader who would be like a military hero---a militant Messiah.
2) The flaw of the militant Messiah notion: This militant Messiah notion seems to suggest that they were thinking in terms of military conquest. But, God’s ways are not our ways: “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9 NRSV). “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong” (1 Corinthians 1:27).
3) Carrying His own cross: Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again (Mark 1:38 NRSV). Peter’s words were an echo of the temptations that Satan had thrown at Jesus in the wilderness because Jesus addressed him the same way He addressed Satan who tempted Jesus in the wilderness (Mark 8:33, Matthew 4:10). As Oswald Chambers once said, “All heaven is interested in the cross of Christ, all hell is terribly afraid of it, while men are the only beings who more or less ignore its meaning”.”. http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/c/cross.htm
THE CHALLENGES
What are the challenges we face in carrying our crosses?
1)Conformity: How many are in the world today who are being told “conform” or suffer the consequences? How many are censored or demonized for dissenting points of view? How many are there in the world today who give ultimatums telling Christians that we must conform or pay the price? William Barclay once said, “There are certain things that are lost by being kept and saved by being used”. (William Barclay. The Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel of Mark. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975, p. 203). How many are losing their lives trying to save their lives instead of losing their lives for Jesus’s sake?
2) Chameleon Christianity: Someone once labeled Christians who try to blend in with the crowd as chameleon Christians. Christians are not called to blend but to bring changes. It that what it means to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world?
3) Provocative witness: Our witness can provoke people who disagree with us. We can be censored. We can even be called out as a dissenter when we won’t comply. Consider Romans 12:1 - 2: I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. How often will we be censored, boycotted, harassed, slighted, bullied and persecuted for not going along?
What is more important in God’s eyes to do what is right or what is popular? How many in our world today do what is popular to avoid standing out?
“A friend who lives in a forested area found his home overrun with mice--too many to exterminate with traps. So he bought a few boxes of D-Con and distributed them around the house, including one under his bed. That night he couldn't believe his ears; below him was a feeding frenzy. In the morning he checked the box and found it licked clean. Just to make sure the plan worked, he bought and placed another box. Again, the mice went for the flavored poison like piranha. But the tasty and popular nighttime snack did its deadly work. In the days that followed, all was quiet. Just because something is popular doesn't mean it's good for you. It can be deadly--like sin”. http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/p/popularity.htm How many think that they can escape the consequences of sin?
Can we avoid carrying our crosses? Jesus said that we could not avoid carrying our crosses. That is what Jesus told Peter. That is also what Jesus tells us. Carrying our crosses is about denying ourselves picking up our crosses and following Jesus.
1) Loving others: Jesus told us that others will know that we are disciples by the way we love (John 13:34 - 35). That means we love our neighbors in the same way the Samaritan loved a neighbor---a stranger in need who was different.
That means we love those just like us, those who are different from us, and even our enemies (Matthew 5:43-45).
That means we pray for them----our enemies, we turn the other cheek when they attack us (Matthew 5:39) and practice the Golden Rule by being loving to others even when they are not loving to us in return (Matthew 7:12).
2) Brothers keepers: We are the keepers of our brothers and sisters (Genesis 4:9). That means we don’t abandon our bothers and sisters if we disagree with them. We don’t kick them when they are down. Instead, we do what Jesus would do.
3) Fishers of people: We share the Gospel with the last, the least and the lost. We remember that we are the only Jesus that some will ever see.
4) Encouragement: We remember how important it is to meet together to build each other up. Hebrews 10:24 - 25: “And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (NRSV).
"Balcony people … are those who affirm others and lift them. Basement people on the other hand, drag people down, belittle them. There are many ways of dividing people in the world---good and bad, sheep and goats, givers and grabbers, have and have-nots. Balcony people and basement people is a new designation, and a helpful one. (Terms coined by Joyce Landorf in her book Balcony People). God has called us to be balcony people!
5) Expiration date: We are called to remember that we all have an expiration date. We are remnants chosen by grace (Romans 11:25 NRSV) to pick ups our crosses and share the Gospel like tomorrow will never come. "... He [Jesus] said to them all, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me (Luke 9:23). Recalling from our text today (Mark 8:31 -38) we must take to heart what Jesus said, (35) " For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. (36) For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? (37) Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? (38) Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels" (NRSV). Let us pick up our crosses and follow in the footsteps of Jesus!
In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
