Losing your life to save it
Sermon for the 2nd Sunday in Lent, year B
Bible reading: Mark 8:35,36
We were all rather concerned when the share market plunged. But for some, the crash of 2008 was too much. Life wasn’t worth living anymore, and they took their own lives because of massive financial loss and the inability to repay huge outstanding debts. One man in New York took his life because he was under investigation for corruption or embezzlement.
Before the collapse, many people had everything they desired. They had the whole world, in a sense. But in one fell swoop all that was snatched away. Their idyllic lifestyle came to an abrupt end. I can’t help but think about that Midnight Oil song, Your dream world is just about to end.
In a way, the world has been given a little taste of death since the markets crashed. It’s a wake up call. It makes us ask again – what really is the substance of my life? The adversity which comes from financial ruin, fire or flood can be a perfect opportunity for people to reassess their lives and question what really matters. Is it the fragile, transient things like money, pleasure and vain glory that my soul needs, or am I completely lost without some deeper more rock-solid foundation at the centre of my life?
Jesus often warned about the futility of worldly wealth. He hints at it in his parable about the foolish and the wise builder. We all know what happened when the storm hit. On another occasion he was chatting with a rich young man who had apparently led quite a religious life. But the man’s true treasure was money. So when Jesus told him to sell everything and give it to the poor if he wanted to inherit eternal life, the man walked away feeling sad. The cost of discipleship was too great.
Our Lord isn’t just trying to make life miserable for people. In all of this he is trying to open our eyes and direct us to a kingdom not of this world, the permanent kingdom of God. He promises to lead souls into this kingdom, but it is a costly transition. The cost is ultimately one that he himself came to pay in full.
But those who would share in this new kingdom are called to take up their cross and follow Jesus. Losing your life for his sake means letting go of vain, egoistic self-love, and trusting the Lord Jesus Christ to call the shots. It means we are to crucify the flesh, mortify the deeds of the body, deny ourselves.
These are hard demands but there is no avoiding them. The words of our Lord are plain and unmistakable. If we do not carry the cross, we shall not wear the crown.
—R.C. Ryle
How did Jesus get on to this topic anyway? What was the previous incident again? He had just told his disciples what lay ahead for him: suffering, persecution, rejection and execution. He even made mention of his rising to life again after three days.
But Peter had not liked that very much at all. He had taken Jesus aside and tried to deter him. ‘Not on your life, Lord! This must never happen to a good fellow like you!’
He didn’t know it at the time but his rebuke was in direct conflict with God’s ultimate plan. Old Nick had still not given up in his efforts to thwart the mission of Christ.
Get behind me Satan!
came Jesus’ sharp retort. You are not on the side of God, but of men!
The call to follow Jesus runs counter to our natural impulses. When we live life our own way, a law unto our self, we are not on the side of God. Hence the constant and urgent message of the church is the call to repent. That means a change of mind, making a complete U-turn from doing our own thing. This is a major emphasis at this time of year throughout the season of Lent.
‘Why should I?’
That’s the normal response to the call to repent and follow Christ. ‘Why should I give up what I want in life?’
And I am reminded of Bilbo Baggins’ reluctance to let go of the ring in the opening chapter of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. The ring in his possession had such a strong hold over him. When asked by the old wizard to release it, he became very defensive and feisty.
In the same way we are prisoners of the pursuit of power, wealth and pleasure. We despise the thought of serving others and putting their needs before ours. We try to save ourselves at every opportunity with all the energy at our disposal, as though nothing else matters. In short, we want to be lord of our own life. When others threaten our planned course, we lash out at them.
We weren’t always at loggerheads with God. It was a different story when God first made us. For God created the world as a place of pleasure and beauty, of riches and plenty, and gave human beings a certain share in his reign over all creation.
But there was a terrible incident when the first humans blew that all away by seeking more than they had been given, desiring to be like God.
So now everything has been turning upside down. All that is attractive in this life is not necessarily good. By the same token, all that is unattractive and lowly is not necessarily bad. And so when Jesus offers us a way out of self destruction, even though it be a cross that marks that way, the cost of discipleship is surely one we readily pay without delay.
We draw courage to follow, knowing that he has already gone before us. His was the lowly path of self-denial. Although he was immortal, he let go of his glory, becoming a human being. He took on the form of a servant and became obedient unto death on a cross in order to purchase us back from inevitable and outright destruction. But God raised him to life again and has restored him to his right hand in heaven.
Jesus promises that all who lose their lives for his sake and for the sake of the gospel of forgiveness, will find their lives once again. A life so much better than the one he calls us to hand over.
Jesus says, ‘I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want you. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked – the whole outfit.’
Is that so difficult? Yes, it goes against our impulses and it is difficult. But yet it is also easier. Because basically, our Lord is saying to us:
I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you myself.
—C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity
We recognise baptism as that place where Christ kills our natural self. He gives us a new self so that we are now people of the kingdom of God and not the fleeting, fragile stuff of our own making. Through baptism the Holy Spirit plants faith to enable us to follow Christ, through his suffering to his glory.
Make no mistake, salvation is given freely by God to all who have faith in Jesus Christ.
For it is by grace you have been saved …and this is not your own doing.
—Ephesians 2:8
But that faith is proved genuine by taking up the cross and following Jesus without compromise.
That doesn’t mean we are to do so grudgingly, as if to say, ‘Alright then, God. Have it your way!’
Nor does it mean we are to have a martyr complex, drawing attention to ourselves because of how much we have suffered and given up for Christ.
Ours is to be the simple, complete free-will offering of ourselves to Christ, losing our lives for the sake of Christ and his gospel. This is not the misguided submission of one’s life and will to a power-hungry cult leader. Our Lord has already shown us the outcome. His promise is that we shall find life in all its fullness as we give up our own life. Full of conviction at seeing the risen Lord, St Paul wrote:
…whatever gain I had I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ.
—Philippians 3:8
So you are no longer your own. You belong to Christ. He purchased you with his own holy, innocent and precious blood.
- You can at the same time both fear God and yet praise him
- You can at the same time suffer with Christ and live in the joyful assurance of sharing his glory and his dominion over death
- You can strive for perfection and yet know the peace that comes through forgiveness of sins
- Christ has freed you from yourself and gives you a brand new life as a child of God and a citizen of heaven.