What’s
The Goal?
As the gospel accounts give witness, Jesus
Christ lived his life on this earth in obedience to another; he lived in
obedience to God’s will, regardless of the personal cost. As we know, Jesus
followed God’s will for him even though it led him to a gruesome and horrific
death. As we consider this, it is important for us to always keep in mind that
Jesus did not actively seek or welcome this death. Clearly, the gospels give
witness that Jesus sought to avoid it, but he did so only within the bounds of
remaining obedient to God’s will. Indeed, Jesus’ crucifixion was a result of
his obedience to God’s will. Yet we need to remember that His death was not the
goal of his obedience.
In fact, even though it led to his
physical death, the crucifixion did not lead him to lose his life. In his death
he actually gained the resurrection - he gained his life even though he lost
it. Based on scripture, we can say that by denying his will in favor of God’s
will, Jesus truly gained his life.
It is through the life, death, and
resurrection of Jesus Christ, that we see the foundation for our calling as
Christian disciples. Discipleship is for us, as it was for Jesus, essentially
and fundamentally a single act of obedience expressed in a multitude of forms. Discipleship
begins with and is continued by a single act: The denial of self. In Christian
discipleship we are called to deny our will in favor of God’s will. In order to
gain our life, we are called to first lose it through our obedience. This is an
irresolvable tension within our discipleship. It is part of what sets us apart
from the world.
Again and again in the gospels Jesus
demonstrated his total obedience to God’s will. In the gospel passage before us
this morning we see Jesus confronted by Peter. Jesus has clearly seen where his
ministry, his obedience, will ultimately lead him. It will lead him to
Jerusalem and the cross. Upon hearing this, Peter seeks to dissuade Jesus from
following this path of obedience. It is with the best of intentions that Peter
believes that surely there must be a different path, a path that will not end
in Jesus’ violent death.
We can say with confidence that this other
path was in fact a temptation for Jesus because of the intensity of his
response to Peter. Jesus said to Peter, “Get
behind me Satan!” Given his human nature, the temptation Jesus faced to
follow a path that would lead him away from Jerusalem, away from the cross, was
real. Yet Jesus also knew that to follow that path, a path which
unquestionably would have meant greater personal security and comfort, would
also mean that he would actually be losing his life, even as he gained the
illusion of saving his life.
What about us? What path are we willing to
take? For us today, we live in a time when the point of life seems to be
primarily the attainment of material wealth. In our culture the point of life
is to get wealthy. We dream of money. We fantasize about what we would buy if
only we had enough money. Increasingly, we are willing to sacrifice family relationships,
our friends, our ethics, and our faith, all toward the end of personal gain. It
has become the root passion of our culture to join in the illusion of gaining
our life by attaining personal wealth. Our desire for money is apparently what
truly excites.
Now, having said all of that, it must also
be said that there is nothing inherently sinful or evil about making money. In
fact, our Reformed tradition has always taught that if our personal gifts lie
in the area of business and commerce, it is a stewardship issue not to use
those gifts. Nonetheless, it remains true to say that in our cultural context
the motivating force is a desire for money. We make career decisions based on
projected incomes. We make time-priority decisions based on profit potential.
If some interesting pursuit does not produce income, we consider it either a
hobby or a complete waste of time.
We have come to believe that money is the
answer to the question of life. We have come to believe that having more money
will solve whatever ails us. We have come to believe that having more money
will take away our profound unhappiness. We have bought into the illusion that
it is money that will grant us life. It is money that will make us satisfied
and make us feel complete.
However, while we are busy trying to get
more money to build bigger houses, to buy fancier clothes and cars, and to live
a lifestyle we think will bring us happiness - that will gain us our life, if you will, let us keep Jesus’ words
in verse 36 of chapter 8 ringing in our ears, “For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their
life”
Our culture has answered the question of
how to gain life by saying that the answer is MORE MONEY! Jesus’ answer is
categorically different. He said that to gain our life, we must first lose our
life. That is we must deny our wants, our desires, and deny ourselves the
fantasies which having “enough money” would bring. By doing so, by denying
ourselves the illusion that we gain life through material gain, we actually gain
our true life as disciples, as children of God seeking to be obedient, as
children of God placing our trust in God and not in our bank balances.
Let me share a story with you a about an
American business man on vacation in Mexico. The man visited a small coastal
village and was standing on the pier one day as a small boat with just one
fisherman in it docked at the pier.
Peering down into the boat the business
man could see several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the
fisherman on the quality of his catch and inquired how long it took to catch
them. The fisherman replied only a little while.
The American then asked why he didn’t stay
out a little longer and catch more fish? The fisherman said he had enough to
support his family’s immediate needs.
The American then asked, but what do you
do with the rest of your time? The fisherman said, “I sleep late; fish a
little; play with my children; take siesta with my wife, Maria; stroll into the
village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos; I have a
full and busy life, Sen~or.”
The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA
and could help you. You should spend more time fishing; and with the proceeds
buy a bigger boat; with the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several
boats; eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling
your catch to a middleman, you would sell directly to the processor, eventually
opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and
distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal village and move to
Mexico City, then LA, and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding
enterprise.”
In response, the fisherman asked, “How
long will all this take?”
To which the American replied, “Fifteen to
twenty years.”
“But what then Sen~or?”
The American laughed and said that’s the
best part. “When the time is right, you would announce an IPO and sell your
company stock to the public and become very rich; you would make millions.”
“Millions, Sen~or? Then what?”
At this the American paused for a moment
and said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where
you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your
wife, stroll into the village in the evenings sip wine and play your guitar
with your amigos.”
As
this humorous little story points out in several different ways, the pursuit of
money, even when successful, ultimately leaves us right where we began; a human
being searching for our life.
Jesus knew that his obedience to God would
lead him to the cross. On a human level, such a path could not have been an
inviting prospect. Understandably, Peter and the other disciples were afraid
for their friend. It is also completely understandable that Peter would seek to
dissuade his friend from taking such a path by encouraging him to make whatever
changes in his behavior and in his message necessary to take a different, less
violent path.
However, to do that would mean for Jesus
to set his mind on human things, not on divine things. It would mean that Jesus
would have to enter the illusion that he could find his life by seeking earthly
security. To do so would be to follow his own path, and to ignore God’s claim
upon his life. It would mean that Jesus would assert his human will over God’s
will, and that was something Jesus would not and could not do. Essentially it
would mean that Jesus had decided that he belonged to himself rather than to
God. That is what Jesus meant when he told Peter that Peter had set his mind on
earthly things and not on divine things.
You see, as a disciple we belong to
another, we belong to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We are not our own. We
cannot find security in our efforts. We cannot give ourselves life, regardless
of how hard we work or how smart we are in handling money, eventually death
takes our life. When that eventuality occurs, if we have ignored God’s will and
claim on our lives, then we have gained an illusion and lost our life.
John Calvin frames this issue quite well
in these words from his Institutes of the Christian Religion:
We are not our own;
Therefore neither our reason nor our will
should predominate in our deliberations or actions.
We are not our own;
therefore let us not propose it as our
end, to seek what may be expedient for us according to the flesh.
We are not our own;
therefore let us, as far as possible,
forget ourselves and all things that are ours.
On the contrary, we are God’s ;
to him, therefore, let us live and die.
We are God’s;
therefore let his wisdom and will preside
in all our actions.
We are God’s;
towards him, therefore, as our only
legitimate end, let every part of our lives be directed.
As we confront the grand question of ,
“How to gain our life?” what will be our goal? Will it be the illusion of
security and happiness proposed by the culture around us, or will we walk the
difficult path of discipleship. I say difficult not because we may face a
violent death on the cross as did Jesus, but difficult in the sense that for us
to give up control and place the control in God’s hands is extremely difficult.
Shall we follow the path created by our Lord, or shall we take the path
proposed by Peter? The goal is not an easy one, but let us seek the path of our
Lord Jesus and obedience to him. So may it be for us. Amen.
Reverend Marc V. Mason
Second Sunday in Lent
March 12, 2006
Trinity Presbyterian Church
Travelers Rest, SC