Always Close -- A Message for February 28, 2021

 

Last week, we recalled the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness….he spent 40 days praying and contemplating his calling.  Jesus knew the work he would do on earth would be difficult, that the powers-that-be would not welcome his message.  This morning, we turn to the 8^th chapter in Mark…this chapter describes one of the conversations Jesus had with his disciples as he began to prepare them for the negative ways the religious and Roman authorities would react to Jesus and his message.  Listen to how Mark recalls this conversation as we read from chapter 8, verses thirty-one through thirty-eight:

Scripture Reading                          Mark 8:31-38

Jesus 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 teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 

Jesus 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 concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Then Jesus 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 and for the gospel will save it. 

What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 

Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 

If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

Here ends this reading of the Word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Prayer for Understanding

Gracious God, send your Holy Spirit to move in us and among us, so that we may hear your voice speaking in the scriptures.  Open our minds and hearts to encounter your Living Word, and give us the courage to follow, no matter the cost. Amen.

          If you google the phrase “habits to live longer,” thousands of articles and “to-do” lists pop up – eat more nuts, don’t overeat, consume tons of turmeric, exercise, avoid smoking, eat healthy plants, drink coffee or tea, sleep, make friends….the list goes on.  Almost every magazine I read, nearly every month, has articles about healthy practices they contend will lengthen your life.  As Americans, we are encouraged to have longer lives – it is optimal to live until you are at least one hundred and ten.  Articles predict the length of human lives will continue to last longer and longer – if we just follow all of the right steps, our children will live to be a hundred and thirty or forty.

          Our reluctance to face death by extending our lives is nothing new, although perhaps our culture has taken it to extremes.  In today’s scripture reading, Jesus tells his friends that he is going to die.  Jesus’ disciples loved Jesus. They cherished their time with him. They respected him. They were awed by his teachings and miracles.  And, like most mentally stable people, their thoughts when they heard Jesus predict his own death turned to fear and displeasure – they wanted Jesus to do everything he could to avoid an untimely death. 

          In our lives, we often avoid risky behavior because we want to preserve our health and our lives.  The older we get, the fewer risks we take.  We follow the speed limit.  We take our vitamins. We get check-ups. We pay our taxes. We don’t take vacations to war zones. We try not to break the law and work to make sure we don’t come under the scrutiny of the police.  Like Peter, our self-preserving instincts are very “human concerns” – not the concerns of God.

          Following Christianity is risky business.  When we work to follow Jesus, we deny our own wants.  We deny our own desires. And, we work to do the right thing. When we follow Jesus, we must do the right thing even if it means putting our lives at risk.  Sometimes, doing the right thing means taking a stand against an unfair employer.  Sometimes, doing the right thing means taking a stand against an unfair landlord. Sometimes, doing the right thing means taking a stand against an unfair city or state government. Sometimes, doing the right thing means taking a stand against an unfair corporation. 

          Jesus demonstrated to us his care for those who were suffering. Like Jesus, we must take steps to help people who are hungry, needy, homeless, without health care, and without hope for a better future.   We are called to pick up our own crosses – to live for God, not for our own self interests.  We are called to work on behalf of God and on behalf of vulnerable people, not just on behalf of our private needs and wants.

          After Jesus’s resurrection, Jesus spent several days communicating with this disciples and preparing them for life without him.  Jesus told them the Holy Spirit would come upon Jesus’ followers to empower them to do the work of spreading the Good News of Jesus to the people of the earth.  The Holy Spirit is upon us to help us to live out Jesus’ teachings and to live lives modeled on the words and works of Jesus.  

Jesus didn’t tell his followers that our work will be easy…picking up our own crosses means that the work we do will not be popular or welcome.  There is risk inherent in following Jesus.  We may suffer as we follow Jesus.  We may be rejected for following Jesus.  We will be uncomfortable when we follow Jesus.  But, our souls will be rewarded. 

We follow Jesus not because doing so will make our lives easy, but because we are so appreciative of the ways God love and blesses us.  We do so because we are appreciative of the sacrificial love Jesus has for us.   We follow Jesus not because it will extend our lives like miracle creams and turmeric, but because our faith in Jesus assures us that the human experience is not limited to the days we spend on earth, but is extended to the eternity we will spend with God. We serve Jesus because we appreciate the ways we are washed in God’s grace and forgiven and loved by our gracious God.

We thank God for the opportunity we have to serve God by picking up our crosses and following Jesus. 

Amen.