[Sermon Archive] - [Weekly Devotional Guide]

This Week's Sermon THE SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT 08 March 2009 "Losing the Eternal for the Temporal?" Mark 8:27-38 LSB Series B Pastor Philip G. Meyer Soli Deo Gloria!

One of the more curious things to come out of our nation's economic crisis is that some people are re-evaluating their pursuit/faith in material things as the chief activity of their lives. They no longer see gaining wealth as their chief goal since wealth can be taken away so quickly and so easily. Perhaps there has come a healthy skepticism that having the world is an end all to trouble. Surely there must be more to life if one's wealth can disappear so quickly! However, I am under no illusions that this kind of thinking is permanent! Quite the contrary, as soon as things pick up again, most will go right back to their goal of gaining the whole world! Give a person a chance at winning a quick million dollars and he'll jump at it.

Perhaps material gain is not all that there is to this. The world of celebrity is filled with narcissistic people, obsessed with being noticed and adored. So many of the "reality" programs that entertain us focus on gaining an identity that depends upon being noticed, adored, idolized. The Daily Mail of London reported that actress Jennifer Aniston spent $50,000 to keep her famous "no fuss" hair properly coiffed while promoting her film, Marley and Me. The Daily Mail reiterated the amount because one staggers at how she could spend $50,000 on her hair in one week. Of course, achieving that kind of notoriety can bring great wealth with it. Obviously, she has it. Those who act more outrageously get more attention. They have their reward, as Jesus said, but it is not an eternal reward.

The sad truth is that many people no longer think of an eternal reward, or if they do, they discard it in favor of getting that which is transient. It seems to be the American way. After all, we built our wealth in the last 10-15 years on credit. We mortgaged the future for the present. We borrowed from tomorrow in order to enjoy today, and now some realize that they were simply living beyond their means. The way out is not to borrow more, but to pay down the debt.

In theological terms we could call it denying one's self, taking up the cross and following Jesus. It is turning to the things of God, as Jesus says here. Just what are "the things of God?" First of all, a denial of self. Love of self was the ruin of Adam. If he had not preferred himself to God he would not have sinned, but the temptation was too strong and he gave in. If Adam had not grasped what was not his, if he had denied himself, he would not have sinned and he would have remained in communion with God, and we wouldn't be here this morning, but he gave in to what he wanted rather than what God wanted. He failed the test to "fear, love, and trust in God above all things." Self got in the way.

Self gets in the way for us, too. We are afflicted with an inordinate love of self which leads to an inordinate love of the things of the world. The things of this world are not evil in an of themselves. After all, they are gifts of the Creator. He gives them to us for our use. But when one becomes consumed by getting them as the highest good in life, then one has let self get in the way.

Perhaps you remember the probing questions from the Meditation on the Ten Commandments, that blue booklet that is to help you prepare for Private Confession and Absolution. A couple of those questions go like this:

"Do I love the things God gives me more than I love him?"
"And do I cling to what God takes away, even though he gives me himself?"

These would be real questions for the Twelve. Peter's magnificent confession of faith would do him no good if he later denied Jesus, preferring his own security to suffering and dying with Jesus. When confronted with the cross, every one of them failed. They "saved" their lives rather than "lose" them with Jesus. At least, that's what they thought at the arrest and crucifixion.

Jesus does not call upon you to engage in self-hate. It is true that Jesus says that the disciple must hate his own life [John 12.25], but that is by way of contrast. He does not say that you must hate yourself. Speaking by means of these contrasts Jesus says that you must confess that your life and your priorities are disordered. You have things and persons where you should have God. You love the things God gives you more than you love him who gives them to you. You love another person more than you love God.

You cannot set things right of yourself because your self continually puts its interests before the things of God. You cannot do it because it is outside of your power to do so. Not even Peter, who had such a marvelous confession of Jesus as the Christ, could do it. Only One has done it, our Lord Jesus Christ.

It will not do to hold Christ up as an example for you to imitate. You cannot pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. To point to Christ as your example of self denial leads only to despair. What we are really talking about is repentance. Only God the Holy Spirit can cause your repentance as the terrors of the Law overtake you. The Law must kill your Old Adam. You must be convinced that you cannot hold on to the things of the world and God at the same time. The cross speaks to crucifixion. It involves the crucifixion of your sinful self, the putting to death of everything you have placed between you and God and clinging only to Christ. You must see that having the world means losing Christ forever.

Jesus asks two very probing questions that every person must answer for himself:

"For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?" (Mark 8:36-37, ESV)

But Christ does. He offered his holy, precious blood in payment for your soul. He died to redeem you from your self-seeking ways, your selfish, foolish acts of placing your own interests ahead of God's demands in the Commandments. He restores the right order of things by means of his cross. His payment of his life is eternally effective, once for all. There are no defaults because there is no outstanding balance to be paid. His life and death were the only payment which could wipe out the debt of sin forever.

Surprisingly, Jesus is not ashamed of you! He is not ashamed to associate with self-centered people like us. He is not ashamed to give his life as a ransom for us. Why? Because God has loved you beyond your comprehension. He has loved you even when you did not love him. The Father in heaven sent Jesus to give his life as a ransom for you. Christ gave himself in a wholly selfless manner for your sins of selfishness and self-interest.

Now he asks that you follow him by taking up your cross after him, that is, of living a life of sacrificial love for God through your neighbor. Since he has crucified your Old Adam in Holy Baptism he makes this burden light. It is not anything at all like the burden he has borne for you. He calls you to live as one who bears his name, one who is not ashamed to be called a Christian, one of Christ's own.

The danger lies in going back to one's former way of life, of thinking that you can still have the world and have Christ. One day there will be a reckoning, the day that Christ comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. On that day, merely speaking the name of Jesus will not be enough [Matthew 25]. Only those who have lived life under his cross, that is, confessing his name by word and deed, will be received into the glory of his Father.

The Apostle Paul warns us:

"[let . . .] those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away." (1 Corinthians 7:31, ESV)

Christ has secured eternal life for you by his cross. He will come again in glory with his holy angels to take those who have denied themselves and taken up their crosses after him, those who are not ashamed to call him "Lord," and who trust in him for eternal life.

Come, confess Jesus as the Christ as you receive his body and blood for your forgiveness. Know the joy of having everything in him.