WELCOME & INTRODUCTION
THROUGH THE GATES OF SPLENDOR
It was the summer of 1950 when Jim Elliot learned of the Auca Indians and many of the Quichua tribes living throughout the jungles of Ecuador. He was asked to consider a calling to preach the Gospel to these people. After learning their language, he also learned about the especially difficult Auca Indians, a tribe of violent and dangerous people who had killed Shell oil workers as they were searching for places to drill.
Jim’s family wanted him to work in youth ministry here in the United States but Jim, as a wise young man considered the church here too “well-fed” and complacent. He wanted to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
In 1952, after finalizing plans, Jim, along with Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming, Ed McCully, and their pilot Nate Saint, moved to Ecuador. They began with the peaceful tribes, learning all they could in order to reach out to the Auca.
In 1955, the group made first contact with the Auca from their Piper PA-14 airplane using a loudspeaker and a basket to pass down gifts using parachutes. These people had no technology because they were closed off to the outside world and would attack anyone who came near them. The Auca were a stone-age people living in the 20th century. Finally, they were able to land their plane on a small beach and met with 3 of the Auca with gifts of peanut butter, insect repellant, and the story of Jesus.
On January 8th 1956, Nate Saint missed his check-in for the first time ever with the wives. A search party was sent out and their stripped plane was spotted from the sky. On January 14th, all 5 men were confirmed dead—speared to death and left in the river to be eaten by fish and turtles.
These men had taken up their cross to follow Jesus. And that is the title of our sermon this morning. The Cross We Take Up.
READ PASSAGE: LUKE 9:23-25
23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?
When Jesus said this, the cross was seen as a terrifying object of torture, suffering, and execution. If you were carrying a cross, you were on your way to be crucified. When Jesus makes this statement, the disciples must have been terrified.
“Jesus, is this really what you want from us?” These men have been ripped away from their work and career, some have left behind large families to follow Jesus and now he tells them, get ready for death on a cross.
Jesus previously asked them who he is. At first, he asks who the crowd says he is. They give Jesus a few answers: John the Baptist, Elijah, one of the risen prophets…then he changes the question. “But, who do you say that I am?” Jesus was telling them the crowd hasn’t seen what you have seen. You know better. Who am I? Peter jumps in right away, “The Christ of God.” “God’s Messiah.” (Luke 9:20).
With that, Jesus proceeds to tell them what that now means. He tells them what his destiny is. “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” (Luke 9:22)
These Twelve have seen the miracles Jesus has done. How he has healed the sick, lepers, paralyzed, deformities, raised people from the dead. Jesus has had authority over wind and waves and calmed the stormy seas. He has driven demons out of men. He had just fed 5000 men and their families with just a small lunch and had leftovers.
Now this same man will be killed and rejected? Who would do such a thing? Why would they do this? Do they not believe? And now we must also be rejected and killed? It is no wonder later in the passage they ask to go home. My father died, can I go bury him first? Another asked if he could go say goodbye to his family. If they are going to take up a cross and die, then they want to let someone know they aren’t coming back. (Luke 9:57-62; 14:25-33 not on screen)
Jesus teaches the disciples that following him as their Christ has a cost. Being a disciple comes with a requirement, a reason, and a reward.
DISCIPLESHIP’S REQUIREMENT
To be a disciple of Jesus, it requires a cross. Don’t let social media fool us. They define “following” as merely pressing a button. If that were it, then everyone would do it. Click the button—out of sight, out of mind.
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (v. 23). Jesus goes to a cross, so we who follow him must go to a cross too. Not because we are seeking to earn on our merit our salvation. But, He dies for us, and in our baptism, we die with him. We submit to his leadership and guidance. The cross of suffering and death comes first in the Christian life.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, “When Christ bids a man to follow him, he bids that man to come and die.” That’s the requirement for discipleship.
This cross is necessary. As John Henry Sammis, the hymn writer puts it, “There is no other way than to trust and obey.” We cannot follow a crucified Savior without a cross of our own. Some people say, “Yes, Christ is up front carrying the cross, and we are to follow.” But they think Jesus is up front carrying his cross while we are in a parade behind him, riding floats, smiling and waving at the crowds like the homecoming queen. We are in a parade, but it’s a long parade of men and women, walking—not floating—each hunched over carrying the tool of their own death. This cross-carrying is necessary.
This cross-carrying is humbling too. “Let him deny himself.” We cannot follow Jesus and at the same time come first. We have to deny ourselves: say no to our desires so we can say yes to Jesus. He is King; we are servants—slaves to Christ. What are you denying yourself? It is humbling to give things up others enjoy while we watch from a distance.
This cross-carrying is daily. “Let him…take up his cross daily…” No vacation. No holidays. No cheat days. No sick days. No summer breaks. Every morning we wake, we must say, “Good morning, how may I serve you in this day. Let me bear my cross.” Every morning we are blessed to wake, we wake to die to self and the world so we can follow Jesus.
Because the reality is every day is our service of worship to God. Not just Sunday.
ROMANS 12:1 “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
We present our bodies. Be a living sacrifice! Be holy and acceptable. Our lives are now daily worship. That is the worship God is looking for.
What does this daily cross-carrying look like? The Apostle Paul wrote about this some more in his letter to the Galatians:
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Gal. 2:20)
And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Gal. 5:24)
But as for me, I will never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The world has been crucified to me through the cross, and I to the world. (Gal. 6:14 CSB)
DISCIPLESHIP’S REASON
We know the requirement, then what is the reason we carry our cross? We are required to carry our cross because there is life on the other side of it (v. 24). The death in discipleship is the door to eternal life. Broad is the way that leads to destruction; narrow is the way that leads to life. Nothing in the world—not even the entire world itself—is worth our souls (v. 25). The world is a soulless and soul-destroying system, so we are required to abandon the world to save our souls.
Many want to live for the here and now. I get that. I understand that. We have family members we love and who we actually enjoy spending time with. We love the adventures of life in marriage, watching our children and other people’s children grow up, to go to movies, eat tasty food, listening to our favorite music, reading books and learning new things. What’s not to like about now? God has made such a wonderful place for us to live with neat things to do and see.
But there are many who think this world is too good and don’t want what is coming. That better life that is waiting for us. Being a disciple and carrying a cross and following Jesus for many people means no more fun, no doing what I want to do anymore. Many are unwilling to surrender their lives for the life to come.
The world sees God not as He is but as a distorted, exaggerated, monster. There is a book that I loved growing up. Now it is one of my nephew’s favorite books. It’s called “The Monster at the End of This Book.” It stars Grover, the loveable blue monster from Sesame Street. How many of you love this book? Let me ask our kids…how many of you love this book? Have you read it? In this book, Grover hears about this Monster that is at the end of the book and does everything he can to not get to the end because he is scared of this monster that was mentioned in the title. He frets with every page turn. At first, he asks nicely not to move forward, then he starts tying the pages with rope. When that doesn’t work, he nails the pages together, then he builds a wall of bricks. He doesn’t realize how incredibly strong the reader is at turning the pages. Finally, he pleads. But when you get to the end of the book, it turns out it was just referring to him. He was the loveable monster at the end.
Today, I fear we are our own monster at the end. Not God. God is the one who wants us to gain that eternal reward and be with Him at the end and we are doing everything we can to never arrive there.
DISCIPLESHIP’S REWARD
What then is the reward for accepting the cross? In the Christian life, first comes the cross, then comes the crown. The reward is a crown, a kingdom. This kingdom is a share in God’s glory (v. 26). The kingdom of God is a kingdom of glory. Our blessed hope is the glorious appearing of our Savior from heaven. When that happens, we will see his glory and be transformed into his glory. For all the self-denial and suffering of the cross in this life, those who follow Jesus will receive unending glory and joy in the life to come. Don’t be ashamed; look to his glorious coming. This is what makes it wise to die daily in order to live forever. This is why it makes sense to forsake the world now. This is the cross we take up.
When these 5 men died in Ecuador, that was not the end of their work. Their example and sacrifice just inspired more cross carrying.
Elizabeth Elliot, Jim’s wife and Rachel Saint, Nate’s sister decided to continue the mission to bring the Gospel of Jesus to the Auca even with what they did to their husband and brother and friends. They worked on translating the Bible into their language – written copies for the Auca. Elizabeth met a girl who had escaped the Auca. She taught her the Gospel and she wanted to have this good news taught to the new tribe she had joined. Then 3 Auca women came and she taught them the Gospel. One by one, men from the Auca tribe came to hear this new story and the truth of Jesus. Steve Saint, and his sister Kathy, children of Elizabeth and Jim Elliot were both baptized as teenagers by members of this new Auca tribe.
Now, the Auca were learning about Jesus and how to live lives for him. So much so that like in the Bible when God would change people’s names, they changed their tribe’s name to no longer reflect this savage and violent reputation. They would now be called the Waodoni “the people”.
Mincaye – a former killer of these missionaries became a follower of Jesus. He invited Steve as an adult to move and live with them. He adopted Steve as his own son because he killed his father. When he would take his own sons to learn to hunt and track, he would take Steve too. Steve’s children have grown up living there. They live here in the states but spent many years in Ecuador with the Waodani and call Mincaye grandfather. Mincaye is now a church elder for the Waodoni.
Mincaye said of his former life, (roughly translated) “We acted badly, badly, until they brought us God’s carvings (the Bible). Then, seeing His carvings and following his good trail, now we live happily and in peace.
Many of the other killers: Dyuwi, Dabo, Kimo, Guikita…all follow Jesus. They now use a powered parachute to travel through the jungle to reach others who are tucked away so they can bring them the Gospel of Jesus.
Jim Elliot wrote, “Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be in the will of God.” And that these people did. Jim Elliot took up his cross to follow Jesus. They lived lives worthy of the calling.
Some more quotes from these missionaries:
Nate Saint: “Every time I take off, I am ready to deliver up the life I owe to God.” Nate Saint took up his cross daily to follow Jesus.
Roger Youderian: “I want to be a witness for Him, following Him every day of my life.” Roger took up his cross daily to follow Jesus.
Ed McCully: “I pray that God will spare the lives of these Indians.” Ed took up his cross daily to follow Jesus.
Pete Fleming: “I would gladly give my life for that tribe.” Wow! Pete Fleming took up his cross daily to follow Jesus.
Because of these men and Elizabeth, Rachel, and others, the Auca became the Waodoni. The savages became people of God…people of peace. People of the Gospel. The disciples of Jesus realized that their call to follow Jesus came with a cost. This would now be their life. Not a temporary time to do a few good acts of service, but to change the way they viewed their lives.
May we all be willing to take up our cross. May we all be willing to reach our enemies and neighbors for the Kingdom of Heaven. May we all sacrifice our selfish desires to reach one more for Jesus.
INVITATION
My hope is that this lesson challenged you this morning. Maybe it reached into your hearts to soften them. To see other people not as terrible heathens who are on a quick road to fire. But as children of the Almighty King who need a Savior. How can we help you to reach them? What can we do to help a stony heart soften for the lost?
How can we help you see that there is a cross you need to take up and carry in your life? What can we do to walk with you as we all carry our crosses? It’s something we can do together. We must take up our cross but we aren’t alone in doing it. We definitely want to pray with you…(conclude)
