“Take up your cross, daily” Lk 9:23-27
Covenant service WBC 4/1/4pm
A Martyr’s Measure of Commitment
"I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit’s power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure.
I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, smooth knees, colourless dreams, chained visions, worldly talking, cheap living and warped goals.
I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognised, praised, regarded or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean in His presence, walk by patience, am uplifted by prayer, and I labour with power.
My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven, my read is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the enemy, pander at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
I won’t give up, shut up or let up until I have prayed up and paid up for the cause of Jesus Christ.
I must go till he comes, give till I drop, preach till everyone knows, work till he stops me. And when He comes for His own, He will have no trouble recognizing me because my banner will have been clear!"
A note found in the office of a young Pastor in Zimbabwe, Africa, following his martyrdom for his faith in Jesus Christ. Found in ’the signature of Jesus’ by Brennan Manning
CONTRADICTIONS
The spiritual life is one of contradictions. …as is tonight’s passage
- Peter has just made a spiritual step forward
o ‘you are the Christ!’’. “well done, peter!”
- then Jesus explains how God’s plans will be achieved (Mt 16:21)
o death. The cross.
o Peter reacts as WE’D expect… we do. Humanly. Naturally
“No! Never, Lord! This isn’t the way for the Messiah. The way to greatness!”
But he gets a rebuke
- that’s not how service… power… fruit… God’s will is achieved in ‘the Kingdom’
o though it is in THIS world
No- in the Kingdom of God
- greatness is achieved by becoming like a little child
- power is found… seen in weakness
- less is more. Less of me means more of God
Following Jesus is found in denying yourself
- life is found in losing your own
- security with God is found in making yourself vulnerable to others by owning up to Him
- comfort IS found in complete commitment
It’s a complete contradiction. But you must grasp this if you want to find
-freedom. God’s way
CHOICE
In V23 Jesus says ‘if anyone WOULD come after me…’
The implication, here, is that not everybody does
- some think they do.
- But they’re actually not choosing Christ. It’s some other way.
o And what’s the point of that! Either choose the real McCoy… or forget it.
- This is the kind of thing they’re choosing:
I would like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please. Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don’t want enough of Him to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please.
Wilbur Rees, from When I Relax I Feel Guilty by Tim Hansel
Contributed by: Joel Smith on www.sermoncentral.com
I don’t want $3.00 of God. I want His fullness, don’t you?
Here’s the challenge of this passage… Christ… this contradictory Kingdom
- none of this comes naturally! Seems a pleasure! Is done lightly, easily… in one sense because we ‘want to’!
o Brenda Goodine shares a story her friend who decided to talk about to her bright four-year-old son, Benji, about receiving Christ. “Benji,” she asked quietly, “would you like to have Jesus in your heart?” Benji thought for a few minutes and then rolling his blue eyes answered, “No. I don’t think I want the responsibility.” Contributed by: R. Darrel Davis on www.sermoncentral.com
- it’s done as an act of the will. A CHOICE that we must make to live for Jesus, and His way. It’s done because of commitment and the cost He paid for us on the cross
o it’s done because it’s RIGHT. Because of what He’s worth
o A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing, and suffers nothing, is worth nothing. Martin Luther
o it’s done in utter weakness. It’s done knowing that we really CAN’T do it. It’s only possible as He strengthens us.
And then the compensation comes
COMPENSATION
Truly- there is a reward. That’s not why we do it… but that’s what we get when we give to God.
- God is not fooled!
MK 10:29 "I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields--and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first."
Compensation is a poor word (just begins with ‘C’, that’s all!)
- there is the reward of His presence, intimacy with Him… a ‘found’ life… satisfaction
o and eternal life
CROSS
What does Jesus say we must do?-> Take up our cross
There’s tremendous power in this language, here. We, of course, are familiar… maybe over familiar… with the cross
- we read all this post-passion, post good-Friday
- but for Jesus’ hearers this is almost a bit anachronistic
o they’re familiar with crosses
o but Jesus hasn’t revealed, yet, that he’s to die on one
o he tells them- “pick up a cross and die on it- because that’s following ME.”
There’s the double shock- “YOU must die… die to self… because I am going to.”
What is this? What is picking up your cross?
- it has to do, mainly, with what comes your way specifically because you are a Christian. (Because you have given CONTROL of your life to Jesus)
o the rejection. Derision. Laughter. Inconvenience. Prejudice. Lack of promotion. Lack of boyfriend. Persecution.
that’s why, in v26, Jesus tells His disciples not to be ashamed of Hi, publicly- because if they are
• they are not carrying their cross
• he will be ashamed of them
When they pass over you at work because you’re not a backstabber like the rest of them- Jesus says ‘carry your cross with me’
- when you’re 21, full of hormones, and you know it’s not right to sleep with your girlfriend.. when everyone else is (not with HER!)
o Jesus says- ‘carry your cross’
- When your friends start to ditch you saying ‘you’re weird, Jesus freak!’. Jesus says ‘carry your cross’.
o Do you see- it’s something you have a choice about. You can choose to live Jesus’ way… or deny Him… blend in
o Jesus says ‘pick it up. Stand up and own me. I won’t deny YOU’.
This is very real for some of you. We have a friend who’s life has been so touch since they committed. Would be made simple by denying Him- but they’ll never do that as they know it’s not right
It also means choosing to give up CONTROL of your life
“What about my weakness… illness… pain? “
- folks sometimes say of that ‘it’s a cross to bear’
o technically I don’t think it is in THIS sense- but it is in another
Jesus showed us the redemptive… spiritual value of suffering… pain… the cross- when it’s handed over to God.
• It’s a vehicle by which we can be drawn closer to God (‘nearer to thee’)
• It’s a sacrifice which can be offered to God on behalf of others
o Great power in it. Saints of old have seen it as such
So- the sufferings of this life can be turned INTO a cross by the Christian who let’s ‘all things work together for good’… and offers it to God.
- God brings purpose and power into it. Even though He has not sent it.
But tonight is about the CHOICE to stand out for Him… count the cost… and lift the cross.
CONSISTENCY
And here’s why I’ve chosen Luke’s reading of this rather than Mt 16:24
There’s this little word about picking up the cross DAILY
- it’s not talking about daily devotions. They’re not a cross!
o They’re your daily food! Essential!
It’s talking about the thought and priority of following Jesus being FIRST on your mind when you get up each day
- seeking to follow Him, choose Him, carry the cross with him ALL the time… rather than just selectively
It’s about being consistent for Him.
"We have to be continually reminded of what we believe. Neither the belief in Christ nor any other will automatically remain alive in the mind. It must be fed, and as a matter of fact, if you examined a hundred people who had lost their faith in Christianity, I wonder how many of them would turn out to have been reasoned out of it by an honest argument. Do not most people simply drift away?" C. S. Lewis on Faith
It’s about ensuring that you are as diligent… serious… about following Him now as you were 5 years ago… as you will be in 20 years time.
- it means a life in dependency on Him… letting Him control…
- a life of carrying the cross
Floyd Mclung says this in ‘The Father Heart of God’ .Ninety per cent of success is finishing! . . .Endurance has two aspects: on the one side it means the commitment on our part not to give up, a determination to go all the way through; on the other side it has to do with God’s enablement. What God calls us to do, he gives us the grace to accomplish. His commands are at the same time his promise of victory.
