Good morning, everyone.
It is great to be back after some annual leave,
particularly great to be back with the full team compliment back as well
after annual leave, and the Freestones are back after long service leave
since sometime in December, a while ago now.
And also summer camp last week was fantastic.
So thanks, Ash, for the update on that.
It was a huge time.
And if you were at summer camp last week,
then you'll notice that this passage was one of the passages that I preached on.
So that helped me as my preparation for this week.
But hopefully it'll remind you of a few things.
I want to launch in by praying because this is Vision Series.
Every year I'm excited about Vision Series.
I buy a new shirt for Vision Series every year.
I've been doing it for 13 years.
So I'm ready to kick off and look at where God's taking us in the next five years.
So let's pray and we'll launch into that.
Gracious God, we thank you for this opportunity for us as a church
to think about the things of where you might be leading us
because we're looking in the past and what you have commanded us to do.
Lord, we pray that throughout this term and even this day,
that you would captivate each one of our lives
so that we are more dusty from the dust of Jesus' feet.
And we ask it for your glory.
Amen.
So as I've indicated, this is a very important term for us at St. Paul's.
After closing out 11 years of Vision 2020,
at the end of last year,
we're launching into this new stage of ministry and life together
here at St. Paul's with Follow 25.
You've got a copy on your seats of Follow 25 in our strategic plan.
It's a shift in our ministry culture to the deliberate development of disciples,
all of life disciples of Jesus by the end of 2025.
And if one of the pages, you'll notice what is the big, hairy, audacious goal.
And that is for 65%, it's towards the back of it,
65% of St. Paul's identifying much growth in faith through this church.
It is my understanding that no church can do that
or has done that or is currently doing that.
So that's why it's a big, hairy, audacious goal.
And if there are a very small number of churches
that are deliberately developing disciples in that kind of way,
certainly in the Western world,
that's our big, hairy, audacious goal,
which means this plan is not just,
well, let's just work a bit harder what we're already doing.
Every vision, every ministry strategy means there must be some form of change
in the way we behave.
And so this one here is no different.
Whatever stage of the journey you are on with Jesus right now,
whether you are a not yet follower of Jesus
through to someone who has been a lifelong follower of Jesus,
our goal here is for the vast majority of us
being able to self-identify
that I am moving forward and grasping more of Jesus
as he's grasping more of me.
So in our preaching this term,
we're taking a sweeping look at Christian discipleship.
Things like it's the foundation of it,
the resources for it,
and what it looks like in practice.
We're going to refine the strategic plan
and commit to it by the end of the term.
We're going to pledge our resources to seeing it realized.
There's a raise a bunch of money
by the end of the term to see discipleship
amongst our next generation flourish
and just a range of other stuff.
So today we're looking at the key foundation
of Christian discipleship.
And if you've got the St. Paul's app in front of you,
I want to encourage you to open that up
and follow along with the outline.
There's really two main points here
for us to see that being a Christian,
being a disciple,
means that we are following the Lord
and secondly,
we are following the crucified Lord.
So following the Lord first of all.
The word disciple
used in Christian circles nowadays mainly
is a word that was not coined by Jesus himself.
It's not a uniquely Christian term.
John the Baptist had disciples,
Pharisees had the disciples,
Greek philosophers had their disciples,
Jewish rabbis had their disciples.
It was common word in Greek and Roman empires.
And the word disciple literally means
to be a student,
to be a learner.
That's its core meaning.
In the Jewish context,
a disciple would take the posture
of sitting and learning from their teacher,
sitting at the feet of their teacher
and learning from them,
not just a set of doctrines,
but all of life.
But also,
that disciple would follow closely
as they watched their teacher
live all of life.
And so the saying
that a disciple should become dusty
with the dust of their rabbi
was a Jewish saying
in the first century.
That is,
they are to follow them so closely
in all of life
that they would be covered in the dust
stirred up from the feet of their teacher
as they walked.
Now,
one notable thing
about the disciple-teacher relationship
in Jewish tradition
is that the disciples chose their teacher.
Disciples chose their rabbis.
The Christian, however,
is chosen and called by Jesus.
From the moment his public ministry commenced,
Jesus called disciples
to leave everything,
your family,
your fishing nets,
and follow me.
And from those early,
early disciples,
those fishermen,
tax collectors,
he has changed the world.
And he continues
to call people
from every tribe,
language,
nation,
and people
to follow him today.
So who is it
that has the authority
to call people
to leave everything
and fully align themselves
to him?
Who is it
that the Christian follows?
That's the question.
That's the question
posed in front of us
in Mark 8.
Who do you say I am
is the question
that Jesus asked
his closest followers.
But before he asked
that question,
he asked them another question.
Who do
others
say I am?
What's the general consensus
out there
about who I am?
Jesus of Nazareth,
Jesus the Christ,
is undoubtedly
the most popular,
the most recognized,
the most quoted,
the most admired,
and the most controversial figure
in all of the history
of humanity
and human society.
No other person
has been more scrutinized,
more studied
than Jesus of Nazareth,
ever.
No one.
Entire philosophies
and religions
have been founded
on his teaching.
More books
have been written
about him
than any other person
who has ever lived.
Every day,
his name
is spoken
more than any other name
from affectionate
admiration
to absent-minded
curses
and denouncements.
The large figures
of history
have had to
acknowledge him.
John Lennon
couldn't think
of anything
bigger
when he said
at the height
of their fame
that the Beatles
were bigger than Jesus.
He couldn't think
of anything else
to name.
President George W. Bush
cited Jesus
as his favorite philosopher.
The French Emperor
Napoleon Bonaparte
said,
Alexander,
Caesar,
Charlemagne
and myself
founded empires,
but on what foundation
did they rest
the creations
of our genius?
Upon force,
Jesus Christ
founded an empire
upon love
and this hour
millions of men
would die for him.
The Cuban
communist dictator
Fidel Castro
said,
I never saw
a contradiction
between the ideas
that sustain me
and the ideas
that symbol
of that
extraordinary figure
Jesus Christ.
No message
has been more
used
and exploited
than Jesus Christ.
Politicians
grab from him
quotable quotes
to prop up
their political platform.
Every religion
in the world
too,
Christian or not,
has to factor
to some degree
an appraisal
of Jesus himself.
It might be
to honor him
as one of God's
great prophets
or an enlightened man
or to reject him
as a fraud
or to hail him
as the king of kings
and the savior
of the world.
No person
is more misunderstood,
marginalized
and commercialized
than Jesus Christ.
He's been fictionalized
by the last temptation
of Christ,
humanized by the passion
of the Christ
and he's been
satirized by the Simpsons
and South Park.
Even the Christian church
is guilty
of marketing Jesus
as we have put
our own spit
on him.
He is viewed
as either a stern
taskmaster
or as a moral jellyfish
willing to hand
our forgiveness
and turn a blind eye
to anyone
who prays a shallow
prayer of confession
only to live lives
devoid of his presence.
Get Jesus wrong,
you get discipleship wrong.
It is incomprehensible
to me
that Fidel Castro
saw no contradiction
between his life
and the life of Jesus
except
that he has put
a spin on Jesus
that is not true.
He has not engaged
to the true Jesus Christ.
Who is Jesus?
What did he do
and what does it mean
to follow him?
How do we live
as committed disciples
of Jesus today?
Those are the sorts
of questions
we're delving into
over this term.
Now Mark
does not want us
to be vague
about the Christian faith.
He longs
that we get
an accurate picture
of who Jesus is
and what he came
to do
and chapter 8
is the pivotal chapter
in this gospel.
The disciples
finally begin
to see
who Jesus
actually is
and in verse 25
Peter answers
the big question
of the identity
of Jesus.
You're the Christ.
Peter is using
a word
that literally means
you are
the anointed one.
The anointed one,
the Messiah,
the king
to end
all kings,
the king
who will put
everything right
in this world
that has gone wrong
and when Peter
says that
Jesus accepts
the title.
That is
Jesus does not
call people
to be curious
onlookers.
Can I say
that he doesn't
even call people
to be converts?
He calls them
to be disciples.
He calls them
to be fully
committed followers
and the name
gives it away
Christian.
The term
was first used
in the city
of Antioch
in Acts chapter 11.
It's part Greek
part Latin.
It means
followers
of the Christ.
Christ.
For the early
Christians
Christ was so
much on the
lips of these
believers
and they lived
so like Christ
that the pagan
city of Antioch
said
there's no
other name
but to call
them
of the name
Christ.
No other name
would do.
Christian,
disciple,
follower,
they're all
interchangeable words
to describe
a relationship
with Jesus
Christ
in such
a way
that he
is your
Lord
and he
shapes
and impacts
every
corner
of your
existence.
And so
discipleship
speaks of a
lifelong journey
of following
Jesus,
100%
dedication
to him
where he
shapes
every
aspect of
you
into
his
image.
However,
the one
thing that
comes out
of Jesus'
mouth
that Peter
and he's
a spokesman
for the
disciples
that they
find appalling
and shocking.
Take a look
at it with
me.
Mark 8
verse 31.
He then
began to
teach them
that the
Son of
Man must
suffer many
things
and be
rejected by
the elders,
the chief
priests and
the teacher
of the law
and that
he must
be killed
and after
three days
rise again.
He spoke
plainly about
this and
Peter took
him aside
and began
to rebuke
him.
Jesus says
here,
the Son of
Man must
suffer.
He picks
up the
title,
the Son of
Man,
from Daniel
chapter 7
in the Old
Testament.
The Son of
Man is a
divine
Messiah figure
who comes
with the
angels to
put everything
right that
is wrong
in this
world.
The
Messiah
suffering,
however,
to the
disciples
makes no
sense at
all.
The
Messiah was
supposed to
defeat
evil,
was supposed
to beat
injustice and
make everything
right in the
world.
How could a
Messiah
defeat evil
by suffering,
by dying?
How could
he do that?
Jesus
is explicit.
he is
planning to
die,
not merely
predicting that
he would
die.
This is a
voluntary act
on his
behalf.
Peter is
offended at
this.
It is one
thing for
Jesus to
say,
I'm going
to take
up and
I'm going
to fight
this fight,
the good
fight,
but I
will be
defeated
and die.
And it's
a total
another thing
to say that
in fact the
very reason I
came is to
die.
And the
moment he
says that,
Peter begins
to condemn
Jesus in
the strongest
possible terms.
You see,
ever since
Peter was a
wee lad in
nappies,
he was told
that the
Messiah would
come,
he would
defeat evil
and injustice
and ascend the
throne in
Jerusalem and
to restore the
nation of
Israel to
its heights.
hearts.
And here we
have Jesus
saying that I
am that one,
I am the
Messiah,
I am the
king to
end all
kings,
but I
have not
come to
live and
rule and
reign,
but I've
come to
die.
I have not
come to
take power,
but to
lose it.
I've not
come to
rule,
but to
serve.
And that
is how I'm
going to
defeat evil
and put
everything
right.
Jesus
says he
must
suffer.
Not that
he would
suffer.
And the
word must
there controls
the entire
sentence in
such a way
that everything
in that list
must happen.
Jesus must
suffer.
He must be
rejected.
He must be
killed.
He must be
resurrected.
And all of
those must
must happen
if people
are to be
saved and
the world
is to be
renewed.
Let me
give you
two reasons.
If you're
looking on
your outline,
there's a
personal reason
and there's a
legal reason,
legal necessity
and a personal
necessity as to
why Jesus
must die.
Firstly,
the personal
necessity,
the personal
must.
Now,
we probably
know by
now the
difference
between,
you don't
have to live
long,
the difference
between fake
love and
authentic
love.
In fake
love,
our aim
is to
show some
kind of
love to
another
person in
order to
extract something
from them.
And ultimately,
it's about our
happiness.
That is,
our love is
conditional.
We only
give it
when the
other person
is affirming
us and
meeting our
needs and
filling us
up on the
inside.
Fake love
never allows
itself to be
vulnerable.
You always
have to hold
something back
in case you
need to cut
your losses
and run.
The aim of
authentic love
is to spend
yourself and
use yourself
for the
happiness of
the other
because your
joy is their
joy.
I would
love to
go on a
great
excursus
now about
how the
definition of
marriage,
and I'm not
talking about
same-sex
marriage,
the definition
of marriage
has shifted
in Western
culture to
one where
love is the
primary issue.
Authentic
love is
unconditional.
You give
it whether
your needs
are being
met or
not.
it is
radically
vulnerable.
You spend
everything.
You hold
nothing back.
You give
it away.
The problem
is if you're
sitting there
now and
allowing these
words to
filter down
to a little
depth,
you will
realize that
you are
incapable of
doing that.
That no one
is actually
fully capable
of giving
true love
love.
All the
time.
We
desperately
need it
and want
it, but
nobody can
give it
to us.
Not that we
can't give
any kind
of authentic
love, but
no one is
fully always
capable of
it.
We need to
be loved as
human beings.
Like we need
oxygen and we
need water.
What every
single one of
us needs is
someone to
love us
who doesn't
need our
love back.
Someone who
loves us
radically,
unconditionally,
vulnerably,
and that
person is
Jesus.
At the
baptism of
Jesus,
earlier in
Mark, we
see that the
very essence
of God is
mutual love
relationship,
a relationship
where the
three persons
of the
Trinity have
forever given
to each
other love.
self-giving,
selfless love.
Within
himself, God
has forever
had all the
love, all
the fulfillment,
all the joy
that he could
possibly ever
want.
Which means
that Jesus
does not need
to extract any
more love
from anyone.
He's filled
up.
He lacks
nothing.
The only
way we get
true love
is from
him.
The security
of Jesus'
love enables
us to
need less
and to
love others
more.
True love
actually creates
more true
love.
Jesus
must die
because
without it,
this world
has nothing
to break the
cycle of
destructive,
manipulative,
conditional,
non-vulnerable
love.
Legally,
secondly,
Jesus must
die.
It's a legal
necessity.
When someone
wrongs you,
a debt
is established.
Happens in
all of life,
not just
financially,
emotionally,
psychologically,
a debt is
established.
So for
instance,
if you
got my
phone and
you broke,
it's alright.
If I have my
phone up here
and I held
it up and I
said,
if you broke
my phone,
there are only
two things
that can
happen.
You take
my phone
and you
break it,
two things
can happen
at this
point.
Either I
say to
you that
will be
$1,000,
whatever it
is, the
cost of it,
or I can
say to
you, I
forgive you.
That's the
only two
options you
got.
Either you
pay for
it,
or I
can say
to you,
I forgive
you.
In the
first case,
you pay
the debt.
You've
created the
wrong, you
pay the
debt.
In the
second
instance,
I pay
the debt.
That is,
the value
of the
phone doesn't
just disappear.
If I
choose to
forgive you,
absorb you
of the
debt,
then I
have to
pay the
debt.
Either I
have to
buy a
new phone,
or I
have to
go back
to pen
and paper
and pigeons.
In one
way or
another, I
absorb the
debt for
your wrong
against me
if I
say I
forgive you.
And that
happens on
all levels
of life.
If someone
robs you
of an
opportunity
or of your
happiness or
of your
reputation or
something else,
it creates a
sense of
debt,
relational
debt.
Justice has
been violated
and a debt
has been
accrued and
there are only
two options
in that
moment.
You can
make them
pay by
destroying
their
opportunities,
ruining their
reputation.
You can hope
that they
suffer or
you can
ensure that
they do.
But there
is always a
personal toll
to that.
When you're
making them
pay off their
personal debt
to you by
suffering,
you are
becoming like
them.
You are
doing what
done to
you.
You become
harder,
you become
older,
colder and
older,
and evil
wins.
The only
alternative is
to forgive,
but it is
really hard
to forgive.
It is
agony to
forgive.
It is
agony to
refrain from
vengeance.
It is
agony because
you choose
to absorb
the cost
of the
debt.
You're not
trying to
get your
reputation
back by
tearing down
their
reputation.
True
forgiveness
always requires
suffering.
Love
requires
suffering.
It is
a nonsense
to say,
why does
God not
just go,
just forget
about it.
Debt
never just
vanishes.
Either they
pay or you
pay.
It should
come as no
surprise that
God would
say the
only way
that I
can forgive
the sins
of the
human race
against me
is either
make them
pay or I
pay.
either
humanity
has to
pay for
its debt
of sin
in rejecting
me,
its creator,
or I
will.
The only
way God
can pardon
us and
not judge
us is
to go to
the cross
and absorb
it himself.
And that's
why Jesus
says I
must suffer
because if
I don't,
you do.
If I
don't,
you do.
He is
saying that
He is
the King,
but not
just like
any King
you've ever
imagined.
He is
the King
who must
die.
He is
the King
who must
suffer in
order for
us to be
loved and
forgiven and
filled up.
But He
doesn't stop
there.
Following
Him means
we die
too.
Let's keep
reading verse
34,
Mark chapter
8.
Then He
called the
crowd to
Him along
with His
disciples and
said,
whoever wants
to be
my disciple
must deny
themselves and
take up
their cross
and follow
me.
For whoever
wants to
save their
life will
lose it,
but whoever
loses their
life for me
for the
gospel will
save it.
What good
is it for
someone to
gain the
whole world
and yet
forfeit their
soul?
Or what
can anyone
give in
exchange for
their soul?
What does
it mean
for us to
lose our
life for the
gospel in
order to
save it?
The word
that's
translated
life there
in verse
35 is a
word that
means your
identity,
your personality,
your selfhood.
It is the
things that
make you
distinctively
you.
Now Jesus
isn't saying
there that you
need to lose
the things that
make you
distinctively
you.
You just
need to lose
all of who
you are.
That would
make no
sense whatsoever.
What he is
saying is that
you don't build
your identity on
gaining things in
this world.
Verse 36,
what good is it
for someone to
gain the whole
world and yet
forfeit their
soul?
Every single
culture points
to the things
and says that
if you gain
those things,
if you acquire
those things,
if you achieve
those things,
then you will
know that you
are truly valuable,
that you are
truly loved.
You become
lovable to
others.
Traditional
cultures say
that we have
no sense of
self unless you
gain the
respectability and
the legacy of
family and
children.
Individualistic
cultures are
different.
We say that
you are a
nobody unless
you have a
fulfilling career
that brings you
money, reputation
and status.
Either culture
ultimately says
the same thing.
Your identity,
your sense of
self-worth is
based on
performance.
It is based on
your achievements.
If you perform
well enough,
you will find
the love and
the approval that
you crave and
it will fill you
up on the
inside.
And Jesus
says, if you
gain the
entire world,
it won't be
enough.
No matter
what you
achieve,
no matter
what you
gain,
it's never
going to be
enough to
make you
sure that
you know
who you
really are.
If you
build your
identity on
the fact that
someone loves
you or you've
got a good
career, what
happens when
those things
are gone?
gone and
it will
go.
Your whole
sense of
self is
gone.
Speak to
people who
have just
retired.
God's
life.
God's
life.
God's
life.
God's
life.
Jesus did
not come to
convince us to
shift from one
performance-based
identity to
another.
He wants us to
lose the old
self, the old
identity and
base our sense of
worth and value
and self on
him, what he's
achieved for us,
the good news of
the gospel.
Did you notice
that in verse
35?
For whoever
wants to save
their life will
lose it, but
whoever loses
their life for
me and for
the gospel will
save it.
Foundation of
Christian
discipleship is
the good news
of Jesus
Christ.
It's the
gospel.
Christianity
is not
performance-based
except it's
based on the
performance of
Jesus Christ.
True
gospel, sorry,
the gospel is
not something we
do.
It's something
that God has
done for us in
Jesus.
It is God's
grace from the
very time you
begin to the
time you end.
We believe, we
receive, we live
as followers of
Jesus in the
light of the
gospel.
Jesus went to
the cross and
on the cross he
lost his identity
so to speak so
that we can have
one.
Once we see that
the Son of God
doing that for us,
loving us like
that, we begin to
get a strength and
assurance and
identity that sets
us free from our
culture's identities.
But no, Peter
here when he
hears these words
from Jesus is
furious.
He is furious
with Jesus because
Jesus' suffering is
not part of Peter's
agenda.
His agenda led
from strength to
strength and it
did not include
suffering.
And that
unfortunately is
one of the major
undercurrents of
discipleship in the
Western world.
We relate to Jesus
in exactly the same
way.
We have our agenda,
we have our goal,
we have our visions
for our lives and we
think that it's good
to have God on our
side.
Jesus' job is to
get me established
well in life,
to give me the
things that are the
desires of my
heart.
What Christian
discipleship says
that if we have an
end and Jesus is
the means by
achieving that
end, then we
are using
him.
It is just
another form of
conditional love
and it will leave us
empty.
if we try to
negotiate with
all will obey
you if we're
not seeing him
as a king.
If Jesus is the
king to end all
kings, then you
cannot come to
hear this king
negotiating your
terms.
We lay down our
weapons at his
feet.
It's essential that
we see Jesus Christ
as king on the
cross.
If we just
simply see him
as king,
then we'll
obey him because
we have to obey
him.
but he's the
king who went
to the cross
for us and
therefore we can
submit to him
our love and
trust.
He's a good
king.
Instead of
negotiating, we
simply say,
Lord, whatever
you ask, I
will do.
And whatever
you send, I
will accept.
If he has
utterly given
himself to us,
how can we
not give
ourselves utterly
to him?
Taking up our
cross means that
we die to
self-determination,
we die to
self-control,
sorry, we
die to control
of ourselves,
over our
lives, and
we die to
using him to
achieve our
agendas in
life.
I love the
way C.S.
Lewis closes
out his book,
Mere
Christianity,
as he
describes the
life of the
disciple.
give up
yourself, and
you will find
your real
self.
Lose your
life, and
you will save
it.
Submit to
death, the
death of your
ambitions and
favorite wishes
every day, and
the death of your
whole body in the
end.
Submit with
every fiber of
your being, and
you will find
eternal life.
Keep back
nothing.
Nothing that
you have not
given away is
in fact really
yours.
Nothing in
you that has
not died will
ever be raised
from the dead.
Look out for
yourself, and
you will find in
the long run
only hatred,
loneliness,
despair, rage,
ruin, and
decay.
But look to
Christ, and
you will find
him, and
with him
everything else
thrown in.
The call of
Jesus on our
lives, if I
might use the
metaphor again,
is that the
dust of Jesus
covers every
single aspect
of our being.
no part is
untouched by
him.
And as we
journey through
this term, I
want to ask
you to ask
him specifically,
Jesus, are
there any
parts in my
life that
are not
covered by
your dust,
and by your
grace, enable
me to surrender
it to you?
Amen.