Jesus Calls Us
“Jesus Calls Us”
Mark 8:31-38
CCUM March 12, 2006
Rev Carolyn Waters
31Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
34He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
There are so many significant words attributed to Jesus in this passage from Mark that are foundational to meaning of calling oneself a “follower” of Jesus Christ.
I’ll begin this morning with my ending! Claiming the “Christian Faith” as one’s practice means you are a different person because of claiming that identity than if you didn’t claim it.
Now let me twist that for a moment. How are you different and how is your life different because you claim the Christian faith as your religion?
Because you claim Christianity, it implies that you “follow Jesus”.
What is that all about?
The role of a “follower” is to fulfill the tasks requested by the leader.
What is there about your life that is different because you follow the leader?
Most of us are better at giving directions than receiving them!
And then there is the part of the passage about denying self. What’s with that? It may be one of the most counter-cultural challenges we could be given.
My current favorite New Testament Scholar, Wm Loader offers these words for reflection:
These verses have caused considerable confusion in Christian spirituality. Who is doing what? Which self am I denying? With which self am I doing the denying? Is it a matter of not doing what I want to do – for a while, perhaps during Lent – only then to return to myself? Is it saying I need to hate myself or, at least, constantly put myself down – or, if I want to make a good impression, keep doing so when others are listening. It is little wonder that many people have been confused by the rules of the game.
Loader continues:
Clearly we are being offered an alternative model of being. It is for our gain, in our interests, to consider it. That is the appeal. So there is no thought of our abdicating responsibility nor of our being asked to do what we do not want to do. We are being challenged to want something different. Instead of thinking only of ourselves and believing that it is to our good to gain wealth and avoid any path which leads to suffering, we are being challenged to be generous, giving of ourselves, even when it may mean suffering. The first image of ourselves and our good is to be set aside; instead we are to embrace the way of Jesus, of self giving love. Then we will find ourselves, our true selves. The merging of our will and being with God’s will and being, and therefore with love which cares for others as well as for ourselves, is the way of discipleship. It is also the way to real humanness - and the way of Jesus, and ultimately also of God!
The commitment of responding to our individual and unique “calls” to follow Jesus results not in self-sacrifice but in finding self. In finding self, grounded in the spirit of God’s love, one is most able to sacrifice self, to “give it up” for others.
In denying self, following a call, carrying our own cross (which I take to mean our individual purpose in life)………….we find ourselves.
When our life is spend in indulgence, selfish decisions, insular living, cocooned and living under the illusion of protection and safety, according to the “teachings” of what we believe………..in such an approach to life we in fact have no life.
Spiritual writer Henri Nouwen has these words to say about this passage from Mark:
The great paradox of life is that those who lose their lives will gain them. This paradox becomes visible in very ordinary situations. If we cling to our friends, we may lose them, but if we are nonpossessive in our relationships, we will make many friends. If fame is what we seek and desire, it often vanishes as soon as we acquire it, but if we have no need to be known, we might be remembered long after our deaths. When we want to be in the centre, we easily end up on the margins, but when we are free enough to be wherever we must be, we often find ourselves in the centre. Giving away our lives for others is the greatest of all human acts. This will gain us our lives.
Bread for the Journey p. 138
I struggle with “my call”……….. “my cross”………. “my purpose”.
I do not struggle with whether or not I am “called” to ordained ministry. That has always been a clear discernment and decision for my whole adult life. But I do struggle with what I am to be doing with my life as an ordained person. I struggle with how I live out my faith. I struggle with how I witness my belief through my decisions about how I live………what I do with my time, what I do with my money……….what I do with my abilities to lead, to follow, to serve. I constantly struggle.
I so intended and wanted to join the small group for the mission trip to Mississippi in a few weeks. But realized this past week that if I stepped aside from doing that, someone else that wouldn’t get to go if I did, would have a wonderful opportunity and experience. Sometimes we are called to do things, sometimes we are called not to do things.
The “One Book, One Church”…….theme for Lent is Ending Hunger Now by George McGovern, Bob Dole, and Donald Messer. We began a 4 week study last Wednesday night, we will have a church wide discussion of the book on April 23 with one of the authors, Donald Messer. I challenge you to buy the book and read the book. If half of this congregation reads this book it will change who we are as a church. We cannot be reminded enough about how so many people in this world suffer because of hunger.
p.2 Every day 30,000 people die of starvation
That’s 1,250 people every hour
20 people every minute
1 person every 3 seconds
852 million people are hungry right now
From chapter 1 of the book: “There is not a lack of food in the world, but a lack of political will and personal compassion.” (p.3)
“We hear the numbers, but they have no names. Statistics are what Africans call ‘numbers without tears.’ It is only when we experience a hungry person or embrace a starving child that we see the reality behind the statistics.”
I yearn for us……..as a people and as a congregation to have passion for something beyond ourselves.
There are many places of need, there are many voices crying for help.
Following Jesus is about responding to those places of need and those cries for help.
Look again at the call to worship:
Opening:
Jesus calls us To leave the past JESUS CALLS US TO HOPE
Jesus calls us
To travel lightly JESUS CALLS US TO FAITH
Jesus calls us To live fairly
JESUS CALLS US TO JUSTICE
Jesus calls us To risky living JESUS CALLS US TO LIFE
And the question for reflection:
What in you is dying/being born? What in our congregation is dying/coming alive?
Who is Jesus calling you to be?
Where is Jesus calling you to go?
What is Jesus calling you to do?
Mark 8:31-38
CCUM March 12, 2006
Rev Carolyn Waters
31Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
34He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
There are so many significant words attributed to Jesus in this passage from Mark that are foundational to meaning of calling oneself a “follower” of Jesus Christ.
I’ll begin this morning with my ending! Claiming the “Christian Faith” as one’s practice means you are a different person because of claiming that identity than if you didn’t claim it.
Now let me twist that for a moment. How are you different and how is your life different because you claim the Christian faith as your religion?
Because you claim Christianity, it implies that you “follow Jesus”.
What is that all about?
The role of a “follower” is to fulfill the tasks requested by the leader.
What is there about your life that is different because you follow the leader?
Most of us are better at giving directions than receiving them!
And then there is the part of the passage about denying self. What’s with that? It may be one of the most counter-cultural challenges we could be given.
My current favorite New Testament Scholar, Wm Loader offers these words for reflection:
These verses have caused considerable confusion in Christian spirituality. Who is doing what? Which self am I denying? With which self am I doing the denying? Is it a matter of not doing what I want to do – for a while, perhaps during Lent – only then to return to myself? Is it saying I need to hate myself or, at least, constantly put myself down – or, if I want to make a good impression, keep doing so when others are listening. It is little wonder that many people have been confused by the rules of the game.
Loader continues:
Clearly we are being offered an alternative model of being. It is for our gain, in our interests, to consider it. That is the appeal. So there is no thought of our abdicating responsibility nor of our being asked to do what we do not want to do. We are being challenged to want something different. Instead of thinking only of ourselves and believing that it is to our good to gain wealth and avoid any path which leads to suffering, we are being challenged to be generous, giving of ourselves, even when it may mean suffering. The first image of ourselves and our good is to be set aside; instead we are to embrace the way of Jesus, of self giving love. Then we will find ourselves, our true selves. The merging of our will and being with God’s will and being, and therefore with love which cares for others as well as for ourselves, is the way of discipleship. It is also the way to real humanness - and the way of Jesus, and ultimately also of God!
The commitment of responding to our individual and unique “calls” to follow Jesus results not in self-sacrifice but in finding self. In finding self, grounded in the spirit of God’s love, one is most able to sacrifice self, to “give it up” for others.
In denying self, following a call, carrying our own cross (which I take to mean our individual purpose in life)………….we find ourselves.
When our life is spend in indulgence, selfish decisions, insular living, cocooned and living under the illusion of protection and safety, according to the “teachings” of what we believe………..in such an approach to life we in fact have no life.
Spiritual writer Henri Nouwen has these words to say about this passage from Mark:
The great paradox of life is that those who lose their lives will gain them. This paradox becomes visible in very ordinary situations. If we cling to our friends, we may lose them, but if we are nonpossessive in our relationships, we will make many friends. If fame is what we seek and desire, it often vanishes as soon as we acquire it, but if we have no need to be known, we might be remembered long after our deaths. When we want to be in the centre, we easily end up on the margins, but when we are free enough to be wherever we must be, we often find ourselves in the centre. Giving away our lives for others is the greatest of all human acts. This will gain us our lives.
Bread for the Journey p. 138
I struggle with “my call”……….. “my cross”………. “my purpose”.
I do not struggle with whether or not I am “called” to ordained ministry. That has always been a clear discernment and decision for my whole adult life. But I do struggle with what I am to be doing with my life as an ordained person. I struggle with how I live out my faith. I struggle with how I witness my belief through my decisions about how I live………what I do with my time, what I do with my money……….what I do with my abilities to lead, to follow, to serve. I constantly struggle.
I so intended and wanted to join the small group for the mission trip to Mississippi in a few weeks. But realized this past week that if I stepped aside from doing that, someone else that wouldn’t get to go if I did, would have a wonderful opportunity and experience. Sometimes we are called to do things, sometimes we are called not to do things.
The “One Book, One Church”…….theme for Lent is Ending Hunger Now by George McGovern, Bob Dole, and Donald Messer. We began a 4 week study last Wednesday night, we will have a church wide discussion of the book on April 23 with one of the authors, Donald Messer. I challenge you to buy the book and read the book. If half of this congregation reads this book it will change who we are as a church. We cannot be reminded enough about how so many people in this world suffer because of hunger.
p.2 Every day 30,000 people die of starvation
That’s 1,250 people every hour
20 people every minute
1 person every 3 seconds
852 million people are hungry right now
From chapter 1 of the book: “There is not a lack of food in the world, but a lack of political will and personal compassion.” (p.3)
“We hear the numbers, but they have no names. Statistics are what Africans call ‘numbers without tears.’ It is only when we experience a hungry person or embrace a starving child that we see the reality behind the statistics.”
I yearn for us……..as a people and as a congregation to have passion for something beyond ourselves.
There are many places of need, there are many voices crying for help.
Following Jesus is about responding to those places of need and those cries for help.
Look again at the call to worship:
Opening:
Jesus calls us To leave the past JESUS CALLS US TO HOPE
Jesus calls us
To travel lightly JESUS CALLS US TO FAITH
Jesus calls us To live fairly
JESUS CALLS US TO JUSTICE
Jesus calls us To risky living JESUS CALLS US TO LIFE
And the question for reflection:
What in you is dying/being born? What in our congregation is dying/coming alive?
Who is Jesus calling you to be?
Where is Jesus calling you to go?
What is Jesus calling you to do?
posted by Rev Waters | 9:09 AM
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