Father, we ask that the Holy Spirit would fall with fresh power upon us this morning
as we now spend some time listening to what Jesus taught us.
And Father, everything in the world and everything in our flesh
and everything about the devil would say that what Jesus says is just wrong.
And Father, you know how hard it is for us to deny ourselves
and pick up our cross and follow you.
But we ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would do a wonderful work
in each of our lives,
that not only would we see the beauty and the wisdom of his words,
but that we move forward in doing them.
That today and every day we will be more deeply convinced of the gospel
and more deeply trusting and loving of Jesus,
that we would be willing to deny ourselves and to take up our cross and to follow him.
And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.
Please be seated.
So, if I was to say, I have some really good news.
You know, one of my nephews has been out of work for a while
and he just got a really, really great job.
And the commissions are through the roof
and his job is to sell Russian war bonds here in Ottawa.
Russian war bonds, if you didn't hear that.
So, if I said that, you'd all go,
George, have you been smoking some of those no longer controlled substances
that you can buy everywhere or doing some other type of thing?
That's just wrong.
It's just evil.
It's just wrong.
And, in fact, actually, now that you've said it on YouTube Live,
the police or CSIS will probably be checking up on this person
to see if we can throw them in jail.
Or maybe they'll let him sell the bonds for a while
so they can figure out who'd actually want to buy them
and throw everybody in jail.
But it would be something which is completely and utterly opposed
to what Canadians believe, what Canadians value.
It's almost definitely illegal.
And nobody would do it.
Now, we have the exact same problem today with the words of Jesus.
I don't know how many of you picked it up,
but if you get your Bibles and you turn to verses,
if you turn to verse 34,
those of you who don't have your Bibles will be on the screen,
but it's always good to follow along in your Bibles
and maybe potentially make notes or other types of things
that helps to bring the word more home to you.
But so remember the thing is about selling Russian war bonds,
completely wrong.
Nobody in Canada would like it.
And if they do like it, they're suspect.
They should probably be thrown in jail.
I mean, that's how most Canadians would say.
And just listen to what Jesus says in verse 34 again.
And by the way, if you're watching this online,
this is one of the problems that,
I mean, it's going to be very offensive,
what I'm about to read.
Sort of in an odd way,
not offensive when the Bible talks about some of the things
about money or sexuality,
but offensive at a...
See, here's the problem.
Often people just go,
oh yeah, yeah, it's religious stuff,
yada, yada, yada, yada, yada, yada,
and it doesn't really mean anything.
But no, no, no, no, no, no.
Jesus means this.
So Jesus means this.
And that's why it's in this ancient biography
recording the words of Jesus.
And listen to what it says in verse 34.
And calling the crowd to him with his disciples,
he said to them,
if anyone, if anyone would come after me,
let him deny himself
and take up his cross and follow me.
Let's say that again.
If anyone would come after me,
let him deny himself
and take up his cross and follow me.
For whoever would save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake
and the gospel's will save it.
Now, frankly,
to just about every Canadian,
this is just wrong.
In fact, actually,
I think if people had the courage
to say it to our eyes,
they'd say,
George, if you push this,
if you push this,
you need to deny yourself,
you need to die yourself,
you need to pick up your cross
and follow Jesus,
if you push this language
of denying yourself,
more trans people will commit suicide.
More wives and children will be abused.
The poor will be kept poor.
And the power will run roughshod
over those who do not have power.
Everything that Jesus just said is wrong.
Why is it wrong?
Well, because what do we know is wisdom?
You know what wisdom is?
You be you.
Not you deny you.
That's foolishness.
That will lead to trans people committing suicide.
What leads to wisdom is you be you.
Only you can and must be you and do you.
No one else can do you.
No one else can really speak into it.
Only you know who you really are
and you have to do you.
And on top of that,
mixed in with that is,
you know what,
when you're thinking of the holiday,
when you're thinking of some quiet time,
when you're thinking of your need to exercise,
when you're thinking of your need to buy that handbag
or that car or that boat,
you know what,
you deserve it.
You deserve it.
You've been working really, really hard
and you deserve,
you deserve that purse,
you deserve those shoes,
you deserve that car,
you deserve it.
You deserve that time off.
You deserve it.
In fact, the matter is, George,
that rather than telling people
that they have to deny themselves
and die to themselves,
that they have to pick up and cross
and follow me,
what you should really be saying
is not only you do you
and you deserve these good things in life,
you deserve those good things in life.
And since you deserve it,
you have to grab those good things in life
by your hands.
And if you're having problems doing that,
what you need to do
is you need to grow in self-esteem.
That's the way of wisdom.
More self-esteem.
More learning that you are worth it.
You're a good person.
You deserve these things.
You be you.
That's what people need to hear.
For not,
if anyone would come after me,
let him deny himself
and take up his cross and follow me.
For whoever would save his life will lose it.
Whoever loses his life for my sake
and the gospels will save it.
And then, George,
just listen to what he goes on to say.
For what does it profit a man,
verse 36,
to gain the whole world
and forfeit his soul?
For what can a man give
in return for his soul?
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
We want to teach
that you get both your soul and the world.
That's the way of wisdom.
You get your soul and the world.
You get your life
and you make your life.
And then in verse 38,
for whoever is ashamed of me
and of my words
in this adulterous and sinful generation,
like how dare him refer
to Canadian culture
as adulterous and sinful?
For whoever is ashamed of me
and of my words
in this adulterous and sinful generation,
of him will the Son of Man
be ashamed when he comes
in the glory of his Father
and the Holy Angels?
George, this is the big problem
with religious people.
This guy is a raging narcissist.
And somehow or another,
religion is all about
raging narcissists,
getting away with
their raging narcissism
and encouraging people
to deny themselves
and give up the good things.
Like, George,
you shouldn't be telling people
the wisdom of tithing.
Like, what sense does it make
to give away money?
You should be talking about
how to make more money,
how to build self-esteem.
Nothing in this text
makes sense
to most Canadians
and most Canadian Christians,
which is why we spiritualize it.
So what do we do?
Well, first of all,
we have to acknowledge,
we have to acknowledge
that the average Canadian way
of understanding these things,
that there's a lot to say for it
that's very good.
Like, I can speak
very personally about this.
I can tell you
that my parents
were very, very, very disappointed
when I chose
to become an Anglican minister.
They wanted me to be an engineer
and make good money.
I was good at math.
It might be hard
for some of you to believe,
but I can figure things out
occasionally and be practical
like engineers can.
And I had the aptitude for it.
I was good at school.
I'd have the marks
to get into an engineering school.
I was going that direction
when I changed
for a variety of things.
But they were very disappointed
when, first of all,
I wanted to become a minister.
And then to make matters worse,
it was an Anglican minister.
Because at least
if I'd become a Baptist minister
or an associated gospel minister,
at least those are Christians.
I mean, Anglicans
aren't even Christians
from their point of view
back then.
So it was just
a terrible decision
that I was making.
And just to top it off,
just one more example,
they would never have picked
Louise to be my wife.
They did not approve.
Now, just to be fair,
I was maybe close
to the bottom of the barrel.
Like Louise's parents
definitely did not approve of me.
They would never have picked
either me
or someone like me
for their daughter.
And Louise's status
in the family
dropped lots and lots
and lots of steps
by choosing to marry me.
So you know what?
There's something to be said
about the fact
that one of the problems
is that society
or family,
that people can be squeezing
you into their molds.
I mean, you know,
basically Louise,
my parents would never
have picked Louise
because at the time
Louise was a Roman Catholic.
And Louise's family
would never have picked me.
I mean,
they actually once said
we were overheard
for one of the family members
saying to Louise's parents
about the fact
that she was marrying me,
they said literally,
it could be worse,
he could be a Baptist.
So they definitely
wouldn't have picked me, right?
So sometimes,
and you know,
my parents desire,
and my parents are immigrants
and you know,
they want their,
they come to a country
for opportunity
and they want to see
their kids make more money
and all of that type of stuff.
But you know,
there is something
to what Canadians say
about the fact that,
you know,
family and culture
and society can,
people can want to live
their lives
through their children
and there's all these,
there's something
to what Canadians say
which we need
to take seriously.
And if in fact
what Jesus means
is something
which denies those things,
then there is some problem
with Jesus' teaching
if we're honest.
But what there is,
what Canadians
don't want to acknowledge
is it's as if
often in Canada
there's these two types
of conversations
that go on
and people never realize
that they're actually
working in conflict
with each other.
That to pursue one
means you won't get the other.
It somehow feels
as if they can get both
and often when there's
this particular thing
that they really want,
they double down,
Canadians double down
on this
to try to get this.
And what are the two things?
Well, most people,
what most people in Canada want
is they really would love,
they want love.
Like love is very important.
When you see the slogan
love is love,
that resonates very deeply
as it should
with Canadians.
And it doesn't,
they don't just want,
most Canadians,
most of us don't just want,
like it's,
romantic love of course
is good,
but a stable relationship
to find another person
that they could have
a stable relationship with,
to have a family
that's not broken
and divided
and severed,
to have friends
that last,
that these things
are very, very important
to Canadians.
I, you know,
I talked to some young people
and it's,
and probably some of you here
who don't just have one dad,
they have two or three dads.
And I'm not talking,
but a same-sex couple,
I just mean their mom
has been married
two or three times
and that's not counting boyfriends
and they have stepchildren
and stepbrothers and sisters
and they're all not together.
And you can tell in talking
that on one hand
they deeply long
that as they move forward
they will have a partnership,
a marriage that will last
and that their family will last
and that there will be
something enduring
because there is this
deep hunger and desire for love.
But think about it for a second.
You do you.
You deserve it.
self-esteem.
You do you
is in fact
the attitude and slogan
for entitlement.
Isn't it?
And you deserve it.
That's the language of entitlement.
Entitlement ruins romantic love.
Entitlement ruins marriages.
It ruins families.
It ruins workplaces.
It ruins friendships.
You do you
is the language of entitlement.
Listen,
you can't tell me
to come home
at a certain particular time
because
I gotta be me.
You can't tell me
who I am.
I know who I am.
I gotta do me.
I gotta develop me.
I deserve this.
It is the language
of entitlement
and it's also
the language of narcissism.
It's the language
of narcissism.
And this is what I mean.
Like if you look
even within Canadian literature
and if you wanted
I could find examples
in movies.
I could find things
in newspapers.
On one hand
the language is
you do you,
you do you.
Work on your self-esteem.
You deserve it.
At the same time
why do we have
all these problems
with narcissism?
This person,
this politician,
this leader,
this boss,
this, you know,
you're looking
at your marriage
and trying to give
your advice
to your friend
and you just realize
that the person
that your friend
is married to
is a raging narcissist
who feels
completely and utterly
and completely
and utterly entitled
and they're ruining
the marriage,
they're ruining
the family,
they're ruining
their workplace
and yet this person
that we're complaining
about when he's
getting counseling
they're saying
you do you.
And we wonder
why workplaces
and politics
and media
and family
and friendships
are so impermanent
and begin
so beautifully
and quickly
become so toxic.
We long for love
and are committed
to the belief
of you do you
which kills love.
and we are often
completely and utterly
blind to this.
Friends,
brothers and sisters,
only the gospel
can provide a way
that you can really
be yourself
in a way
which isn't entitled
and which isn't
narcissistic.
Only the gospel,
only the words
of Jesus.
So let's look again
at what Jesus says
and let's begin
by looking at the things
just before it
because if the things
before it weren't there
then I would agree
with Canadians
that you should disregard
what Jesus says.
But look what goes on
before it.
If you turn in your Bibles
to verse 27
and we looked at 27 to 30
last week,
I'm just going to give you
a very,
and if you're interested
more in understanding
27 to 30,
you can look at
last week's sermon.
But listen to what
Jesus says
just before this.
And Jesus went
with his disciples
to the villages
of Caesarea Philippi
and on the way
he asked his disciples
who do people
say that I am?
And they told him
John the Baptist,
Elijah,
one of the prophets.
And Jesus asked them
and this is the beginning
of the Christian life.
It's not the Christian life,
it's the beginning
of the Christian life.
The beginning
of the Christian life,
if you're here as a seeker,
if you're watching this
and you're curious,
the beginning of the Christian life
is when Christ asked you,
he's asking you right now,
but who do you say
that I am?
Who do you say
that I am?
Peter answered him,
you are the Christ.
And Jesus strictly charged them
to tell no one about him.
And as I sort of tried
to show in last week
and develop,
but basically what
we have here
is this moment
of Holy Spirit-driven,
birthed insight
that all of these
different threads
of what our Jewish friends
call the Tanakh
and we call the Old Testament,
all the Jewish threads
of prophet
and prophecy
of king
and dominion
and proper authority
of priests
and being connected
to God
and all of the longings
and the yearnings
for deliverance,
for redemption,
for freedom,
for being at one
with God
and at one with others
and at one
with the creation
and all of these
other mysteries
and riddles
that are posed
in the Old Testament,
that all of these
separate disparate threads,
in this one moment
of illumination,
Peter realized
that they all
actually point to
and are weaving
a picture
of the person
of Jesus
who is the Christ.
He is where
they all come
to.
And in this moment
of illumination,
Peter gets that.
And in the language
of it,
the disciples get it.
It's not Peter voices it
and as he voices it,
it's as if there's
this collective
illumination of yes.
You know,
we've seen him
raise the dead,
we've seen him
heal the sick,
we've seen him
make matter
out of nothing,
we've seen him
calm the storm,
we've seen him
stop the waves,
we've seen him
do all of these things,
we've heard his teaching
and yes,
all of these
different threads
which nobody
had ever put together
into one
is pointing to him,
this man,
right here,
this man,
Jesus,
the Christ.
And if
it just ended there,
we would be
in very comfortable
territory.
We would be fine.
The language of longing,
the language of yearning,
the language of mystery,
the language of riddle,
the language of illumination,
we'd be fine.
That's actually very good.
It's very Canadian,
it's very human,
we'd all be fine with it.
Ah,
a moment of illumination
for us to
contemplate
and meditate upon
in those quiet moments,
maybe with us
having that glass
of red wine
at the end of the day
or that cup of coffee
in the middle of the morning
or the cup of tea
in the afternoon
with the cookie
and those moments
of quiet illumination,
that's very good.
But then Jesus
does something
that shocks Peter
to the point
that he is going to use
the same language
when sometimes
in the Gospels
Jesus rebukes a demon.
The same language
of rebuke
is what comes on
Peter's lips
to speak to Jesus.
When Jesus says this,
look what he says
in verse 31,
immediately after this moment
of illumination.
For Peter,
he says in verse 31,
and he began
to teach them
that the Son of Man
must suffer many things
and be rejected
by the elders
and the chief priests
and the scribes.
And here,
the version that we're using,
some of you,
I know there's
some of you here
who speak two languages,
some three,
I know of at least
one person in the room
who speaks four languages.
And so you know
that sometimes
when you're translating
from one language
into another,
to make it,
the thing smooth,
you need to smooth off
some of the translation
and that's what's
being done here.
But there's a second must.
And so here's,
I'm going to read it again
as it is in the original language.
Verse 31,
and he began to teach them
that the Son of Man
must suffer many things
and be rejected
by the elders
and the chief priests
and the scribes
and must be killed
and after three days
rise again.
Must,
said twice,
to bring home
the emphasis.
He must die.
He must be rejected.
He must suffer.
He must rise.
This little sentence
is profoundly important.
And if we don't get
the full force
of the must,
then the language
that Jesus is going
to use in a moment,
if anyone would come
after me,
let him deny himself
and take up his cross
and follow me,
makes no sense.
But when you understand
the must,
you understand the beauty
and the wisdom
of what Jesus
is just inviting us to.
You see,
Christianity
is the religion
and the spirituality
and the philosophy
of love.
no other philosophy,
no other spirituality,
no other religion.
I don't mean
to offend
any Buddhist
or Hindu
or Muslim friends
who might be watching this.
I don't mean
to offend you.
But just think about it.
You need another
to love.
Whether it's romantic love
where you need
an other,
whether it's
familial love
where you need
another,
whether it's
friendship love
where you need
a friend.
A person who says
he loves his friends
but has no friends
isn't talking about
anything that makes
any sense.
In fact,
you'd think
they're delusional.
But you see,
all of the religions
and spiritualities
of the world,
they posit either
that everything
is God
in some type of way
but then where's
the other?
Or they posit
something like Allah
but Allah is all
by himself
so how can Allah
actually be a God
of love?
But only the Christian
faith teaches us
that before anything
was created,
before there was
anything at all
other than God
from all eternity
the Father has loved
the Son
and the Son
has loved the Father
and the Holy Spirit
has loved the Father
and the Son
has loved the Holy Spirit
and the Father
and there has been this
in a sense
eternal dance
of love,
of giving
and receiving,
of true love,
of all that is
implied with love,
of the desire
for the best
of the other,
of affection,
of delight,
of the delight
of giving
and the delight
of receiving
and from all eternity
there was love
and so when God
the Father,
the Son,
and the Holy Spirit
three persons
one God
when that God
when he creates
he does not create
out of any need
whatsoever
he has no
you see when you
and I love
we can't love
purely and utterly
I mean
here's the thing
if we're always
just loving our family
and we never get
anything out of it
at all
at some point in time
and I'm not just saying
it has to always be
a quid pro quo
that you know
for every
every you know
ten bits of love
that we get
we get ten bits back
but if we get
bit after bit
after bit
and there's never
any response
from the child
or from the friend
or from the husband
or the wife
or the beloved
at some point in time
we realize
they are too entitled
and too narcissistic
and this love
just isn't going to work
because we understand
that we still have
some type of a need love
but even at the same time
that we have a need love
for those who are
the best of us
the greatest of us
you have this sense
that probably the greatest
type of love
at all
that could possibly be
is a love
that has no need
that's pure gift
pure giving
that needs nothing
in return
and that only describes
God the Father
God the Son
God the Holy Spirit
three persons
one God
and so that
when God the Father
the Son
and the Holy Spirit
when God
creates human beings
it is pure gift
pure giving
pure grace
God has no need
of us
no need
to receive from us
it is pure gift
and it is this God
who acts
to create human beings
and to save us
and so the first must
is a must of love
love
must
bestow love
and deliverance
upon those
who are needy
and the love
that Jesus offers
that the Father
the Son
and the Holy Spirit
offers
is a love towards us
that has no need
that's pure
gift
and grace
and the love
that he
and his death
and his resurrection
which flows out of love
and actually just one more thing
sorry before I move on
to the next two things
right
and this is part of the mystery
I pointed out occasionally
as we've been going through
the Gospel of Mark
if you go back now
and you read the Gospel of Mark
and you just think about this
this is part of the reason
why it's such a shock
to Peter to hear this
and it's going to be a shock
that even when it comes time
for Jesus to get captured
they don't actually believe
that he's actually going to be captured
he's actually going to be rejected
he's actually going to die
why?
how can a man
who can heal a paralyzed man
die?
how can a person
who can create fish
and bread out of nothing
how can he die?
how can a person
who can stop the wind
by his mere word
or thought
how could he die?
how could a person
who could take
waves that are going
like this
higher than these posters
and all of a sudden
it goes flat
how could he die?
how could someone
who raises the dead
how could he die?
like how could he?
they could stick spears
up to a side of him
all day
he'll
steer in
he'll
steer in
he
nails pop out
wind to blow
the soldiers away
or just to levitate them away
or just to annihilate them
he can do all of that
only
pure love
can hold him
to the cross
only pure love
only
pure love
can hold him
to the cross
why else
must he die?
we human beings
the language
of entitlement
you know
you do you
you deserve this
work on your
self-esteem
there is something
bent in human
beings
that's out of shape
and that bent
is towards
pride
it's towards
being a god
or a goddess
and we can't
seem to fix
that bent
even
amongst the most
holiest of people
who
in the eastern
religions
who desire
who've lost
their desire
in a sense
they never really
lose their desires
because they still
desire
to get out
of the cycle
of birth
and rebirth
and to merge
with the one
like there's just
and so Jesus
lives the life
that we could
never live
and he
and it's
the whole story
of Jesus
is the opposite
of the bent
of our life
in the glory
of the father
and the holy
spirit
with his majesty
and with his love
and setting aside
everything that makes
him god
except his very
nature of god
but all of the
appearance
all of that
he sets it aside
and he takes into
himself our human
nature
and he's described
as Emmanuel
he walks amongst
us
he doesn't come
as a king
or as a brilliant
athlete
or a brilliant
philosopher
or a powerful
person
he comes
to a conquered
people
and he comes
to a lower
working class
existence
and he lives
a life
without owning
anything
or any property
and I can't
because I'm on a
mic I'm not
mic like this
I can't keep
going down
and down
but he goes
down further
to being
rejected
he goes
down further
to being killed
in the most
shameful
type of
embarrassing
way
and the bible
says he even
tastes all there
is to taste
of death
and it's as if
the thing
within us
human beings
which is
bending us
out of shape
and bends
us out of shape
and the only way
that we can begin
to be truly
reconciled to God
and reconciled
to each other
is to begin
to have that
bend fixed
and we can't
live that life
and so what we
see in Jesus
is the complete
opposite
to straighten us
to heal us
he lives the life
that we cannot
live ourselves
and when we put
our hands
in the hands
of Jesus
when we follow
him
we're receiving
from him
the life
that we
could not
live
that we
need to
live
to be
straight
and to be
free
and to live
with God
we receive
that from him
out of pure
gift love
and the fact
of the matter
is is that
forgiveness
always requires
that the person
to forgive
bears a cost
if in a
over the
next couple
of months
we invite
somebody over
to our
house
and somebody
comes to
our house
and they
do something
they cause
some damage
to the wall
maybe
or they break
something which
is expensive
they break
our TVs
we don't really
have any expensive
things but we'll
pretend that we
have something
expensive
an antique
lamp or something
like that
and it's broken
and the person
that we've
invited over
it's somebody
who has very
very little
money
and so
if we're
going to
forgive them
we're still
out that
broken thing
let's say
it's a
let's say
it's a
very expensive
sound system
five
five ten
thousand
dollars
I have to
be careful
somebody say
five thousand
dollars not
an expensive
sound system
like for me
probably two
hundred dollars
is expensive
because I'm
cheap about
that type
of stuff
you know
but you know
your ten
thousand dollar
sound system
is broken
well
who's going
to pay
well if I
forgive the
other person
I'm still
out a
ten thousand
dollar
sound system
like I
either have
to live
without it
which still
means the
loss
or I
have to
replace it
which means
I pay
the price
now the
opposite of
trying to
forgive them
is to
pursue them
to pursue
them and
pursue them
to get
that money
back
to require
them to
take a
loan
to get
mad at
them if
we don't
receive the
payments
or if
it's
something
else
if there's
something
that they've
done
that's not
just material
it's maybe
they've done
something to
hurt my
reputation
they've said
some lies
about me
or slandered
me or done
something which
has hurt me
maybe in the
congregation or
some other type
of place or in my
family or whatever
and I have to
either decide that
I'm going to
sort of just
swallow the cost
of this
that I'm in a
sense going to
pay the price
of this because
I want to be
free or
I need to try to
get it from
them and if I
can't maybe get
it from them
then maybe I
you know maybe
what I have to
do is I have to
start telling bad
things about them
and I have to do
bad things to them
so they're belittled
and they come down
to my level so
that we're equal
and I can feel
justified but the
problem is when I
do all of those
things I'm becoming
like them
how do I not
become like them
and how do I be
free and the only
way to do that is
often to absorb the
cost yourself
and that's what
forgiveness is
amongst other
things and so
that's what we see
here on the cross
that the debt
that we
justice properly
says that we
should pay
and God the
father God the
son God the
holy spirit
seen our
profound need
and knowing
that we could
never pay it
because they
are pure gift
love
the cost
of our
forgiveness
of our
offenses
is borne by
God himself
and so that
when we see
Jesus dying
upon the cross
for us
we see pure
gift love
in action
and we see
pure gift love
that lives the
life that we
cannot live
that is offered
to us as a
gift to clothe
us and to
stand for us
and we see
pure gift love
which we can
never pay
paying that
which we can
never pay
and not because
God needs
anything from
you or me
but just because
God is
love
I began by
saying about
the Russian
war bonds
in light of
all this
let's listen
again to what
Jesus says
in verse
34
in calling
the crowd
to him with
his disciples
that means
you know
what
he wants
people like
you and
me to
come to
him and
follow him
he summons
us
that's the
language
there's an
urgency in
the original
language
an urgency
he's summoning
you
he's summoning
me
if anyone
would come
to come
after me
because that's
what he
wants
let him
deny
himself
and take
up his
cross
and follow
me
whoever
would
save
his life
will lose
it
but whoever
loses his
life for my
sake in the
gospels will
save it
for what does it
profit a man
to gain the
whole world
and forfeit
his soul
for what can
a man give
in return
for his soul
for whoever
is ashamed
of me
and of my
words in this
adulterous and
sinful generation
of him
will the son of
man also be
ashamed when he
comes in the
glory of his
father with the
holy angels
but it doesn't
end with this
it ends with
and he said
to them truly
I say to you
there are some
standing here
who will not
taste death
until they see
the kingdom of
God after it
has come with
power and he's
not referring to
the second coming
he's referring to
his death upon
the cross and
his resurrection
they will see
this
they will see
the resurrected
Jesus
they will see
him
death does not
have the final
word
injustice
and rejection
and sin
does not
have the final
word
they will see
him
so what does
it mean to
deny himself
in this context
the best analogy
that I can give
is this
and I don't
think we have
a young enough
baby in the
room
but some of
us who are
parents
and maybe
you're not
like me
but this was
what my wife
and I were
like you get
these little
tiny toddlers
who can just
barely stand
you know
they can just
barely stand
like this
and you put
them on the
edge of a
stair
and they have
a very healthy
fear of
stairs
and you say
jump to me
and so at
first for the
little kids
the distance
you can't
see this
it might just
be this far
just this far
and the little
kid
you know
totters
and looks
down and
looks around
and everything
within them
says you
don't
get too
far from
vertical
and jump
they look
down
they look
at their
mom
or their
dad
they look
down
they look
at their
mom
and their
dad
they look
around
they look
at their
mom
and their
dad
and then
while they
look at
their mom
and dad
they do
this
and they
jump
and then
after
they've done
it a little
bit for
this distance
it can be
this distance
between
this distance
and before
you know
it
if you're
not careful
you're
going up
the stairs
and your
kid jumps
six feet
and you
hope you can
catch them
and they
don't knock
you down
the stairs, but that's good. But you see, you don't tell the kid, go to the top of the stairs and jump.
And that's what we hear when we hear these words of Jesus. Go to the top of stairs and jump. That's
killing yourself. That's just denying everything about you and it's talking about your
ruination. No, what is Jesus saying? Look at me. Pure love. Pure love. Live the life that you cannot live
so that you can live, that paid the price you cannot pay so that you can live in me with me.
I am here. It is love calling. Jump. You know what the world's going to tell you?
Yeah, don't give 10% of your money to the church and to the poor and to missions. That's foolishness.
Deny yourself, is Jesus saying, and trust me. Don't forgive. Fight. Jesus says, jump. Don't be generous.
Go into debt because you deserve it. Jesus says, don't listen to the world.
This is love calling and love speaking. I want you to jump and trust me that I'll catch you.
And you'll have the wonder of the jump, that feeling of flying, and it ends with being caught
in your father's arms.
And so when you learn to stop, to listen to everything the world says and keep your eyes
on Jesus and pick up your cross and follow him.
Contrary to the advice of the world, there is a thrill, there is a beauty, and it ends in far more.
And a kid jumping into the arms of his mom or his dad is not a kid demeaned, but a kid alive.
And secure and loved.
And brothers and sisters and friends, this is what Jesus is calling you and me for today.
Just want to end with a quote just to seal the whole deal.
If you could put the final quote up, it's famous words by Jim Elliott.
Here's the thing.
Hold on to money, you're going to lose all your money.
Hold on to your looks, you're going to lose all your looks.
Hold on to your life, you're going to lose all your life.
Hold on to your power, you're going to lose all your power.
How do I know this?
It is 100% guaranteed.
What does Jim Elliott say, who died a martyr's death?
He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep in order to gain what he cannot lose.
If you're watching this and you have not given your life to Jesus, there's no better time right now.
In a sense, the Christian life begins with this jump.
And it grows with learning to just being so trusting in the love and the eyes and the message of the gospel
that more and more and more you are willing to deny yourself and to jump.
And so if you have not given your life to Christ, there's no better time now.
He is calling you.
Jump into his arms.
I invite you to stand.
Just bow our heads in prayer.
Father, in times like this and days like this, we realize that there are two parts within us.
One part that says, I don't want to.
Father, it's scary and it's hard.
And another part that makes us realize that, in fact, this call of Jesus to himself, this call of love,
is in fact the longing and the yearning of our hearts.
And that in him, we can be fully ourselves.
And fulfilling that desire we have to be really and fully ourselves.
In the thrill of the flying, in the thrill of the landing, in the new arms, your arms of love.
The arms of our crucified Savior, who is love.
And so, Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit would move and work deeply within us.
In the context of our own lives.
Father, whatever the specific thing is today that we feel that we must have, that we have to have,
that we can't let go of, that, Father, that your Holy Spirit would bring before us those ways that,
right today and these days this week, that we need to deny ourselves and to pick up our cross
and to come following you.
And we give you thanks and praise, Father, that we follow Jesus because he's with us.
He's with us.
He doesn't go so far ahead to leave us behind.
He helps us to carry the cross as we follow him.
And that we only know, Father, help us to know that we only know that when we embark with Jesus to follow him.
And help us to keep our eyes on him, both as individuals and as a church.
And we ask all these things in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior.
And all God's people said, Amen.
Amen.