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Tuesday, September 09, 2014

The World is not Enough - Matthew 16:21-28

Introduction

I've been struck by what John Carr has said about the Gospels. “The Gospels were written so that you may believe”. So I started thinking about what it is in this passage that helps us to believe in Jesus. I think part of the answer is Peter. The gospel characters are very well portrayed, if we read the gospels in larger chunks than just the small reading we had this morning, it doesn't take long before we get a pretty good idea of what each of the main disciples are like. Peter is impetuous, he acts before he thinks, and he responds without thinking through what he is saying. There is nothing malicious in him, and he clearly has a great love for Jesus. That's why he responds like he does.
A couple of weeks ago we heard Jesus ask his disciples “Who do you say that I am?” (16:15). I wonder if there was a long pause as they all wondered what their teacher expected them to say. It was Peter who broke the silence. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” and Jesus' reply is one of warm congratulation and reward: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”
How did Peter feel after that? He is told that he is blessed, given a new name, and entrusted with the future mission of the group.

Up a Level

As a result of this Jesus decides that they have come far enough for him to be teaching them at the next level.
I overheard a conversation on the bus on Friday. Two girls from Mayflower comparing notes on their new classes. “She's, like, taken it to the next level, she's speaking Spanish as soon as we get in the room and the tasks are all written up in Spanish, and some of the words we don't even know ...”, and so it went on.
When a teacher thinks you have mastered a certain amount they start with the more difficult teachings and it can be hard to adjust.
That is what has happened here. The passage we had read to us starts “From that time on ...”. Now Jesus will be speaking clearly about what must happen. He's here on a mission to rescue humanity. If the mission is to succeed He must die on a cross. Then on the third day he will rise to life.
It's all too much for Peter, much too big a step forward. He can't cope. God had revealed to Peter who Jesus was, but the enormity of it was too much to take in. How could his friend, his leader, the person he had left his home to follow, the person he had been with and relied upon for two years, suddenly be speaking of his death. No, that can't be right! Jesus, you must to be mistaken. This is not how it goes for the person I have come to know, there is so much still to do, so many people still to heal, so many people still to convince, we've hardly started!
What comes out probably doesn't do justice to his thoughts: “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
And Jesus' retort is perhaps the biggest, hardest put down in History: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
Peter has gone from the greatest hero, to nothing, to worse than nothing. From the closest friend to the greatest enemy, in the space of almost no time at all.

Ups & downs

Well life certainly has it's ups and downs.
We've had our own ups and downs recently as we've heard the news that Warner will be leaving us, then last week the church was full as we and people from the other churches, and various organizations around town came to say our goodbyes.
What a great service it was! – and what a sad occasion.
Perhaps some of us still haven't really accepted what has happened, is was all too quick for us to get an understanding of what the church will be like without him.

Hard Teaching

Jesus didn't give Peter any time to come to terms with his failure, He just launched straight into more teaching. Here we have another reason the gospels help us to believe – they teach us the reality of following Jesus. It is not sugar coated in any way – straight forward truths, but some are hard to bear.
This is most certainly on another level compared to what the disciples have seen until now. It remains difficult for us too, but if we are to be focused on Jesus, and not let the ups and downs of the world overcome us, this is were we must be.
Now I'm going to look at these last four verses in a more detail. You may want to follow the text as I do.

24 If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
The disciples had all been called, some had left their jobs and homes in an instant to follow Jesus, and yet He say “If anyone would come after me ...” His assumption is that they are making an effort to follow him (and right now to keep up with Him!). That is true for us too, it is hard work sometimes to follow Jesus, we don't understand where He is leading us, or the purpose behind what He is asking of us. Some of the things He say, some of the commands (or is that demands) in scripture seem impossible.

Deny Self

But following after Him is the easy piece. Next, He says that we must deny ourselves. That is not the same as self-denial. During Lent some people give up chocolate or perhaps meat or something else – they deny it to themselves, that is self-denial, it is not denying self. To understand what Jesus is saying, we can again use Peter as an example. Most of you will know that after Jesus' arrest, Peter denied that he knew Jesus three times. In predicting that Jesus said (Mt 26:34) “I tell you the truth, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”
The word used there – translated disown – is the same word used in this passage. When we become Christians, everything that we were is to be left behind. As Paul says to the Corinthians “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
We can say of our former lives, “I don't know him (or her) – I have nothing to do with them.”. It is easy to say, but much harder to do.
So what does it mean in practice, I found this description:
“If when you are good, evil is spoken, and when your wishes are crossed and your advice is disregarded, and your opinions are ridiculed, and you refuse to let anger rise in your heart, and even defend yourself’ but you take it patiently in loving silence, then you are dying to self. And when you lovingly and patiently bear any disgrace, any irregularity, any annoyance, when you stand face to face with extravagance and folly and spiritual insensitivity and endure it, as Jesus did, that is dying to self. And when you are content with any food, any money, any clothing, any society, any solitude or interruption by the will of God, that is dying to self. And when you never care to refer to yourself in conversation or record your own good works, or itch after commendation from others, and when you truly love to be unknown, that is dying to self. When you see your brother prosper, see his needs wondrously met, and can honestly rejoice with him [with his big house, with his big car, with his big pool – whatever it may be] without feeling envy, and never question God though your needs are greater and still unmet, that is dying to self. Now when you can receive correction and reproof from someone of less stature, and admit that he is right and find no resentment or rebellion in your heart, that is dying to self.”



[Chelmsford holding cross]
We have neutralized to power of the cross, we have turned it into a symbol of comfort. Do you remember the video of the Chelmsford holding cross a few weeks ago, and how lovingly this symbol was described. There is nothing wrong with that, so long as we don't lose its real meaning – it represented a shameful death to the Romans, and also to the Jews. For us today, the nearest equivalent would be to carry an electric chair – that is where murders end up in some countries, and that is what the cross really represents.
We have an expression - “we all have our crosses to bear” which, no doubt, derived from this passage, but our saying does not do justice to the passage. It usually refers to all the difficulties that occur in life – sickness, disability, problems with family or work, or whatever causes you trouble, but that is not what Jesus is talking about. We only have one cross to bear, and it is the cross of Christ.

25 & 26 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”
This saying in verse 25 is found in all four gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, so the gospel writers clearly though that it was important. Sometimes it is found more than once, so it may have been something that Jesus was said to them all many times. It is simply saying that if you try to save your life now – by denying Jesus, then you will ultimately loose it, but if you loose your life now then you are assured of eternal life. This is really just an extension and expansion of 'take up your cross'.

26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
Our translation makes it sound as though Jesus has changed tack, but the word translated 'soul' here is the same word translated 'life' in the previous verse. The word can be translated to life, soul, heart, mind and refers to the inner person, so nothing much has changed in what Jesus is saying. Perhaps we could say “What good is it if a man gains the whole world, yet forfeits himself. What can a man give in exchange for himself?
So what can a man get in exchange for his soul, for himself?
There are any number of films and stories based on people gaining some advantage by selling their soul to Satan, and their lives do not end well, but it was an exchange in a bond film that really spoke to me:
Elektra King: I could have given you the world.
James Bond: The world is not enough.
Elektra King: Foolish sentiment.
James Bond: Family motto.
When we are tempted to go seeking after things that the world has to offer, we should remember the family motto “The world is not enough”.
Look at it another way. On one of the CCS evening the students were doing a presentation on how to reach various groups of people, as a demonstration of a technique I was asked to come to the front to estimate the value of a rare painting, which they had carefully covered and stood on the floor. I was asked to kneel down, but my knees are not that great, and I didn't get as far as I had hoped. They raised the cover …
… and I saw a picture of my feet!!
How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news! - or even if they are on the church floor! From the hymn 'Our God Reigns' and Isaiah 52
It was of course a way of revealing to people how much God values them.
I wouldn't give up my soul for the world, but God gave up His son for my soul.

For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.

For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.
There is an expectation that God will respond justly to how we behave in this life.
Ps 62v2 Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done.
And
Ro 2:6-8 God “will give to each person according to what he has done.” To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honour and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.

Mt 16:28 I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

Mt 16:28 I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
Peter has already been told that He has been given the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, but we know that Jesus is in charge of His church on Earth, and we also know that all the disciples were involved in the founding of the church in some way, and the church is the beginnings of the Kingdom of God.

Conclusion

Jesus has moved the teaching up a level in response to Peters triumph and failure. He is preparing the disciples for Easter. We may not have realized that there is such a cost to discipleship and we may not yet be ready to go the whole way. We should remember that Jesus' mission to save us from sin and death cost him His life, that seems to be more that a fair trade to me.
Lets pray.

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