Sermon: Let Jesus Lead
|
February 18, 2018, First Sunday in Lent
If there’s one incontrovertible fact to life here on Planet Earth, it’s that nothing about our existence is anything near a piece of cake. Most of us know all too well how each day’s events have a way of weighing us down with all manner of burdens and responsibilities, many of which are simply much more than we can handle.
There are the expectations leveled upon us by others, either the people we work for or the people we serve. There are the demands of the classroom, which always seem to ramp up around this time in the semester. There are family plans that need to be put in place as we prepare for the spring holidays. I don’t know if there’s a person here this morning who has not at some point made the statement, “If anyone asks me to do one more thing, I think I will scream.”
And then, here comes Jesus, with perhaps the heaviest load of them all. “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily, and follow after me.”
Little wonder that so many today act as if they didn’t hear Jesus give this teaching. Particularly in this present day when most people have time only for investing in something that will bring them personal benefit, it’s hard for the call of Jesus to get through. And sadly, there are many churches that have bought into this way of thinking. “Never ask people to get out of their comfort zones.” “Be wary of asking people for too much commitment; that’s an empty term today.” “Minimize all talk of sacrifice; and whatever you do, don’t mention money.”
Is there any wonder that so many people today no longer make church participation a priority? If you don’t ask for anything bold and daunting, then people will naturally assume that you’re not that serious about your message.
But I can promise you that the people in the first century who heard Jesus speak these words understood precisely how serious Jesus was. Though the cross today is often thought of as a nice wall hanging or a fashion accessory, in the first century world it was the means by which the Romans imposed their will on slaves and subject peoples. It was their way of saying to the nations they had conquered, “We Romans run this place; and if you get in our way, we will crush you like a bug.”
And yet, here comes Jesus, offering that very means of shame and degradation as the crowning symbol of loyal devotion. “If anyone would come after me, he must first deny himself and take up his cross daily, and follow after me.” Indeed, this message of ultimate devotion wasn’t some offhanded comment or slip of the tone from Jesus. This teaching shows up in all three Synoptic Gospels, and in two of them, Matthew and Luke, it shows up twice. No other saying of Jesus is given such prominence. Clearly, this message of self-denial, cross-bearing, and loyal following all together form the heart of Jesus’ message.
So, why don’t we get it today? Could it be that we do get it, and that we’re simply afraid of embracing it? Could it be that we absolutely know the depth of commitment to which Jesus is calling us and we’re reluctant to follow him to places and among people that would make us feel unsafe, unhealthy, and uncomfortable?
Perhaps it might be of help to recognize that when we do heed Jesus’ call and bother to deny ourselves, there’s a part of us that opens up to the power of Jesus that can make us the people God created us to be – a servant self, a generous self, a gracious self – a self that experiences the fullness of life Jesus came to provide. Perhaps it might be of help for us to recognize that what Jesus is offering us with this admittedly hard teaching is an opportunity to break out of the prison of self, a prison that too often keeps us from enjoying the best life has to offer, as we resist the urge and refuse the pressure to think only of ourselves so that we might become more open to the possibilities before us when we think like Jesus thought and walk like Jesus walked.
This Sunday on the Christian calendar is the first Sunday in the season of Lent. It is a time to prepare our hearts for a glorious Easter observance. If you’re unfamiliar with Lent, that’s understandable. Baptists in general have not been quick to embrace Lenten practices. Part of our reluctance has to do with tawdriness and tackiness that have come to characterize what should be a rich and holy journey. You know what I’m talking about. “I’m giving up chocolate for Lent.” “I’m giving up soft drinks.” If I hear Jesus correctly, what he’s calling from us in this season is a whole lot more than that. He’s calling us to give up ourselves and to do so each day so that each day Jesus might make us more the people he went to the cross to redeem us to be.
Are you familiar with the name Nicholas Copernicus? You probably are. Copernicus was a 16th century Polish mathematician who came up with the idea that the earth revolves around the sun instead of the other way around. Copernicus actually had made that discovery years before he actually published it. His discovery was the result of years of working out the mathematical proofs that were necessary to validate his thesis.
Now, picture Copernicus at work in his study as he comes to the end of a long and complicated mathematical equation and writes down the result. Then, picture him going outside and looking up at the sun, and almost literally feeling the earth move under his feet as he imagines himself standing on the surface of a planet rotating around the sun at some 600 miles per hour. It makes you feel sort of small, does it not?
Copernicus’ discovery was such an earth-shaking idea that he chose not to publish the results of his study until the year of his death, at which time, as he had predicted, was banned by the Catholic Church. It was banned by the Church because if Copernicus was right, the earth wouldn’t be the center of the universe, and neither would we. The Church didn’t get it, and I don’t know that it doesn’t get it even today.
If we did, we’d put Jesus at the center of the universe and we’d take up our rightful orbits around him instead of the other way around. And we’d find that if we would only do that, all the other things in our life would take up their proper orbits as well – our labor, our leisure, our relationships, our finances.
And so, I challenge you this morning to join me in a journey where every day between now and Easter we simply displace ourselves as the center of the universe and put Jesus in our place. I challenge you to join me in some personal act of self-denying, cross-bearing ministry. Maybe it will involve showing kindness to someone you don’t normally get along with. Maybe it will involve setting aside some time in your busy schedule to serve some pressing need God has brought to your attention. Maybe it will mean extending an invitation to someone to talk about spiritual matters. Maybe it will mean helping someone master some task they can’t work out on their own. But whatever it is, it will surely be some work that will be difficult and costly, burdensome and exhausting. And because it is, it will be a task that magnifies Jesus and enables you each day to experience the joy of his salvation.
Someone has put the concept this way: “Jesus can’t clean the house of you with you in it” (Anne Lamott, Grace Eventually, p.235). This season is a time for you to get out of your house and let Jesus come in.
And as you do, you will find the grace to help you shoulder the load that Jesus gives you and to do the work to which Jesus calls you. And it will be a work that will provide you with such peace and purpose that when Easter is over, you will still have the heart to pursue it. For when that day does come, not only will you have finally gotten the message of Jesus – deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow him. When that day does come, the message of Jesus will, more importantly, have gotten you.