Denying Oneself

A sermon given by Rev. Jonathan ScanlonGenesis Presbyterian ChurchAugust 31, 2014The 22^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Matthew 16:21-28   ²¹ From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.  ²² And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you."  ²³ But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."  ²⁴ Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  ²⁵ For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.  ²⁶ For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?  ²⁷ "For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done.  ²⁸ Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

Over the last few weeks we have discussed Jesus’ disciple Simon Peter. In these recent discussions, you have heard me say how I believe Peter has been given a bad rap as the disciple who embodies what disciples are not to do. Peter is known as the disciple who begins to sink when attempting to walk on the water, he cuts off the ear of the solder arresting Jesus, and he will deny knowing Jesus three times in the night. Despite all of these character flaws, Jesus sees great potential in Peter. He and his brother Andrew were the first Jesus called to be disciples. Jesus believed if anyone could model a life of faithful discipleship it is Peter.

As we pick up with of Gospel lesson today, Jesus has complimented Simon Peter, called petros the Greek word for rock, and declared on this rock the church is to be built. Peter is the foundation for how we as the church are to live. He was given the keys to the kingdom and considered the gatekeeper as Jesus told him anything he fastens on earth with be fasted in heaven and anything he made loose on earth with be loosened in heaven. In this moment Peter, the bumbling disciple who is remembered for doing so many things wrong, is honored with great responsibility.

The moment didn’t last long. As soon as Jesus began to describe what was going to happen when they entered Jerusalem, Peter became angry and argumentative. “God forbid it,” he cried out. Peter does not want Jesus to suffer. He can’t imagine his teacher and mentor, who has just begun to help him turn his life around, journeying toward an abrupt and violent demise. Peter could not understand why Jesus would plan to walk into such a trap, when he might avoid the confrontation by turning to walk away from it. Why take a risk you do not have to take?

In this moment, Peter has exchanged Jesus’ revelation of God’s action in the world for his own merely human perspective. Peter begins to think about himself and fails to represent God. Fear, self-interest, self-centeredness, and pride block any of Peter’s progress in his understanding of God that he has made up to this point. Peter, petros, the rock upon which the church is to be built, has stumbled and has become the impediment, the stumbling block, for the faith of others instead of the model of discipleship.

Jesus quickly responds to Peter’s remark with the words, “Get behind me, Satan.” You Simon Peter, of all people, can’t say that; because you are not on the side of God. When you make such a suggestion you become nothing more than a stone that may cause me and others to stumble and fall; for you are not thinking God’s thoughts but rather your own human thoughts. You, of all people, will deny me because when push comes to shove, you are a stumbling block to faith.

If those who wish to follow me are sincere, let them deny what stumbling blocks are keeping them from living faithful discipleship. Let them deny themselves of what is keeping them from living on the side of God. Pick up your cross and follow me.

 These are not easy words to hear, and never will be easy to swallow, but we know they are not the end of the story. This invitation to follow Jesus, toward such a sacrifice, does not end with death but rather is transformed to new life through the resurrection. Our fear of death, suffering, and scarcity often causes us, just like Peter, to forget who we are as disciples, and whose we are as God’s people, and why we are living on this rock of a planet in the first place.

This isn’t the first time Jesus has mentioned picking up a cross in order follow as a faithful disciple. It may be the first time they understood what he meant. Back in Matthew chapter 10, Jesus sends out his twelve disciples with the words, “³⁷ Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;  ³⁸ and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.  ³⁹ Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”

Very few of us have to suffer such a great sacrifice for our faith. We living in our country and culture will not have to die for the sake of professing a faith in Jesus Christ. Much of our Christian faith and values have become deeply commingled with, and I dare saying co-opted and compromised by, the individualism and self-centered, self-serving values of our larger society. Because it is not as much of a sacrifice for us to gather and worship God, it has become more difficult for us living in such a free individualistic society to articulate, affirm, and demonstrate our faith to those around us.

Do we worship a God of personal salvation, believing, “I know I’m saved and that is all that matters?” Or do we worship a God who sends us out into the world on a mission to build the community of discipleship? Is God more interested in our individualistic beliefs or the faithful response of our community? There are plenty of self-proclaimed Christians in the world who disagree with me when I claim the call to deny oneself, to take up the cross and lose one’s life for the sake of the message of the Gospel is not focused on personal salvation, and yet denying one’s self and individualism is the very means Jesus intends for us to achieve such an end. Jesus says, if you want to follow me, deny yourself; if you want to find your life, give up living your life for yourself and live for God.

Discipleship involves shifting from being a hearer to being a doer. It is not simply the passive belief in Christ that matters but the more active following of Christ that transforms lives and builds faith. Jesus wants us to begin think with a different mindset on divine things rather than on human things. Instead of thinking of our individual lives with God, we are to think of the whole community. After all, an individual does not, and cannot, exist alone but rather only as part of the whole.

                  

Discipleship is a call away from being self-centered toward living a life that is Christ-centered. The church exists to make disciples. Disciples are those who make and carry the way of the cross as their way of life. Once we become Christian disciples, we are no longer our own. Disciples begin to lose themselves by forgetting their possessions and focusing on God’s action in the world. None of us will ever be perfect in this regard, but we may begin to help remind one another how we belong to God. Just as Paul writes in Romans, it is now for us to live and die for God in Christ.

Discipleship requires us taking steps outside of our comfort in new and different circumstances. It involves sharing what we have instead of hoarding for our own comfort and consumption. Deny yourself what you don’t need because our true worth is found in the giving of ourselves to other. Standing with and for those who have no voice, we must be willing to make sacrifices in our lives for the gospel.  

A few years ago NPR ran a short story about someone who inspires me. Julio Diaz at the time was a thirty-one year old social worker living in the Bronx. After work, he often got off his subway one stop early to eat dinner at his favorite diner. One night he was approached by a teenage boy who came up on him from behind, pulled out a knife which he jabbed into Julio’s back and demanded his wallet.

            As the boy ran off with his wallet, Diaz yelled to him offering for the assailant to take his coat on a cold night when the boy had nothing warm to wear. Surprised the boy came back, accepted the coat and asked why he was offered this coat. Julio’s response was that from his perspective, if he was going to stay out in the cold and risk his life mugging people for a little money, he seemed to need the coat more.  Diaz then said he was on his way to get something to eat and offered to take the robber to his favorite diner for a meal.

            While sitting in a booth at the diner all of the employees of the restaurant, from the manager to the dishwashers, came over to the table to speak with Diaz and his attacker. The dumbfounded mugger questioned his victim, “You know everybody in here. Do you own this place?"

"No, I just eat here a lot," Diaz told the teen.

 “But you're even nice to the dishwasher,” the boy exclaimed.

Diaz replied, "Well, haven't you been taught you should be nice to everybody?"

"Yea, but I didn't think people actually behaved that way."

Diaz proceeded to ask him what he wanted out of life. The boy’s face turned sad.

Either he couldn't answer or he didn't want to.

Later the bill arrived, Diaz quickly said, “You’re going to have to pay for this because you have all my money. If you give me my wallet back, I'll gladly treat you."

With his wallet returned he paid the restaurant as well as gave the boy $20 asking only for the teenager’s knife in return.

Afterward, when Diaz told his mother what happened, she said, "You're the type of kid that if someone asked you for the time, you’d give them your watch." To which Julio Diaz responded, "I figure, you know, if you treat people right, you can only hope that they treat you right. It's as simple as it gets in this complicated world."[1]

            Whatever we do here in the church together, how we worship, what we learn, how much we give, whose lives we touch, and who we assist must all bear witness to the transformative power of the cross or else it will have been done for nothing more than self-serving vanity. We may choose to turn from all that which hinders our faithful and lived commitment. To deny oneself and to follow is the take up the cross and all that comes with it. 

            In a few minutes we will sing Lift High the Cross, a great hymn of the Church. Before you join in singing today, perhaps you may want to ponder what it means for you to pick the cross and lift it high as you follow as Jesus’ disciple. What are we to deny ourselves till all the world adores Christ’s sacred name? It is as simple as it gets in this complicated world. So, may it be so. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

---

[1]Michael Garofalo. A Victim Treats His Mugger Right. Retrived from Web: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89164759 November 25, 2010