"Lent Reminds Us What Real Life Is All About"

Sermon on Mark 8:31-38

Weekend of March 12, 2000

Saint Mark's, Watertown, WI

Pastor Karl Walther

 

            The Scriptures assure us: What the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering-- for us! Amen.

            God's Word for this first Sunday in the Lenten Season is Mark chapter eight, verses thirty-one through thirty-eight:

            Jesus then began to teach his disciples that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers 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. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."

            Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."

            This is God's Spirit-inspired Word of Jesus Christ.

Introduction: What Worries You?

            Dear fellow Christians-- whom the Lenten Season reminds what real life is all about:

            Do you ever worry?

            I do! And when I analyze it -- maybe it's because I'm rather high-strung -- but I bet I worry about something every few minutes during most of the day.

            Early in the day: "Will I be quiet enough that the baby doesn't wake up?" "Will I be fast enough to catch the morning news?" "Will I get the kids to school on time?"

            A little later on: "How in the world will I get all this work done today?" "Will I get this sermon written quickly enough so that I can make hospital calls on time, eat lunch on time, bring some tapes to some Spanish language people, retain the kids' attention during class this afternoon, eat supper, visit more people in a different language during the evening, and get home early enough not to risk the ire of my spouse?"

            And then come the big worries: "My wife and I are healthy now; will we always be?" "The kids are pretty problem-free; will they always be?" "The Lord is doing some marvelous things in the ministry here right now; will he always do them?" And if not: "Will people realize that sometimes the Lord decides to operate more slowly and less visibly-- or will they all of a sudden blame me for failure?"

            And then finally the biggest worry: "Right now, in many ways, I'm basking in the sunshine of God's grace; will that always happen?"

            Do you ever worry like that? I bet you do! That's why I spent some time describing my worries: because I figured you could relate. It means, though, that the big question both for you and for me is this: What will take those worries away?

Theme: Lent Reminds Us What Real Life Is All About

            Well, God's Word to us today -- in a roundabout way -- gives us an absolute antidote to all our worries. By the end of the sermon, I hope that you will see:
* LENT REMINDS US WHAT REAL LIFE IS ALL ABOUT. Lent reminds us, first of all, that (1) CHRISTIAN FAITH IS TRUSTING IN CHRIST'S CROSS. It says, secondly, that (2) CHRISTIAN LIFE IS TAKING UP CHRIST'S CROSS. In the end that's the absolute antidote for all our worries.

Part One: Jesus Reminds His Disciples That

Christian Faith Is Trusting In the Cross

            So, it was maybe late in the summer of what was likely the year twenty-nine ad. Jesus was finishing up two years of ministry, mostly in Galilee, during which he had steadily increased in popularity. Just recently Jesus had fed the five thousand, walked on the water, and heard Peter's profession of faith: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!" Now Jesus and his apostles were in the far northern reaches of the Holy Land. And Jesus knew that a year-long march to his death, a hundred miles south to Jerusalem, was what faced him.

            It's at that point that we read: Jesus then began to teach his disciples that the Son of Man (Jesus favorite self-designation)-- the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law (all the Jewish leaders), and that he must be killed -- wow! talk about raining on the disciples' parade! -- and after three days rise again.

            Then we read: Jesus spoke plainly about this -- literally: he kept speaking boldly -- and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. Peter, it seems, had constructed for himself a Christianity that could not face this kind of apparent failure. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples -- who must have been near enough to hear Peter's words -- Jesus rebuked Peter-- for their good and for his good. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. Jesus knew exactly who was behind Peter's words! "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."

Appropriation One: Jesus Reminds Us That

Christian Faith Is Trusting In the Cross

            You know, my friends, we're like Peter sometimes. His was what's called a "theology of glory". Peter's idea was that if we trust Christ, God guarantees that everything else will go just rosy. As long as we trust Christ: the money will be good, and our relationships won't get too stressed, and our health will be good, and things will go well.

            But that's not the way life works, is it? Sometimes our money does get tight, and our relationships do get stressed, and we lose our health, and it seems like the world is caving in on us! And then we wonder, "What went wrong? Where is Jesus? Doesn't God love me anymore?"

            Ah!-- and that brings us to true Christian theology: not Peter's theology of glory, but a "theology of the cross". That's what Jesus suffered his floggings for-- in punishment for our worries. That's what Jesus suffered his rejection for-- in punishment for our anxieties. That's why Jesus went to the cross and through hell and into death for-- to take away our sins.

            That's the theology of the cross. And that's what the Lenten Season reminds us: that Christian faith -- above all things! -- is a matter of trusting in Christ's cross.

 

 

Part Two: Jesus Reminds His Disciples That

Christian Life Is Taking Up the Cross

            Nevertheless: if I stopped there, I'd only be giving you half the message God intends today. You see, in this section of the Scriptures, not only does Jesus say that he will take up his cross, he insists that we must take up ours, as well.

            Listen in: Then Jesus called the crowd to him along with his disciples. What Jesus was about to say was important enough he wanted everyone to hear it. He said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." "He's got to trust me and not himself!" "He's got to be concerned with me and not himself!" That's the sense of Jesus' words. And he goes on: "For whoever wants to save his life -- this life -- will lose it forever and ever, but whoever loses his life -- this life -- for me and for the gospel will save it" eternally.

            Then Jesus adds some words that make it clear just how important this whole discussion is: "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?" "Take up my cross," Jesus is saying, "for nothing less important than your eternal soul's everlasting salvation!" In fact, Jesus concludes, punctuating the point, by saying: "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."

Application Two: Jesus Reminds Us That

Christian Life Is Taking Up the Cross

            So, let's return to the beginning of the sermon. What is it you worry about?

            If you're a student: do you worry about school? If you're a worker: do you worry about your job? ...Students: Do you worry about becoming ineligible for sports? about falling from the top of your class or the honor roll? Do you worry about completing all your homework? ...Workers: Do you worry about failing to advance on your job? about losing your job? Do you worry about getting all the work done?

            To you Jesus says: "Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me." "Don't worry about your grades; don't worry about your wages-- just worry about serving me: to your utmost," that's what Jesus saying. "Don't fret about getting your work done; don't I own time, and won't I give you any amount of it-- that I choose and you need?" that's what Jesus is saying. "And furthermore, after every earthly moment is ended," he says, "through my cross you are forever with me."

            Or suppose your worries are over relationships.... Will other kids quit picking on you? Will that special someone ever pay attention to you? Will your boss, or your employee, ever quit irritating you? Will you ever get married? Will your marriage hold together? Will your children -- whether small or grown -- behave themselves?

            To you Jesus says: "Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me." "Don't worry about your relationship to others; just count on your relationship to me!" "Don't worry about pleasing others; just be concerned with pleasing me!" And: "If you have legitimate concern over a relationship that I myself have put you in, come to me: in prayer!"-- that's what Jesus is saying. "And furthermore, after every earthly relationship is ended," he says, "through my cross you are forever related to me."

            And if you're full of sorrow, or if you are full of sickness, or if you're near your death: Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me." Follow Jesus this Lenten Season: through his floggings, through his rejection, through his suffering, through his death -- and willing to face your own! -- follow him to the eternal glory his cross has most certainly won for you.

 

Conclusion: Trusting In and Taking Up the Cross

Make Our Worries Disappear

            You see, then, that: Lent Reminds Us What Real Life Is All About. Our Christian faith is a matter of trusting in Christ's cross, and our Christian life is a matter of taking up Christ's cross.

            And when you trust in and take up Christ's cross -- intent on placing your confidence only in him, intent on drawing near only to him, intent on serving only him -- really every worry disappears.... Amen.

            The Scriptures assure us: There is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set us free from the law of sin and death. Amen.