Jesus' Help Wanted Ad

I wonder what it would be like to write a “Help Wanted” add for church membership?  I mean, if you were going to write something trying to get people to join the church, what might it look like? 

Here’s my tongue in cheek version:

Come to church so that Jesus can give you your best life now.
Easy, flexible scheduling.  No commitments.  No pressure.  Work church around your current lifestyle.
Receive irrevocable benefits with no obligation on your part.  Attend when you want, involve yourself where you want, little or no financial obligation necessary.
Be comforted that you are loved and accepted just as you are with no need to change or grow, and receive assurance that the problems you are experiencing are just temporary and are caused by something outside yourself.

Okay, maybe that’s a little bit over the top, but maybe not by too much.  I tend to think that we like our Christianity easy.  We like our Christianity comfortable.  We want it to be like that free ice cream cone some restaurants give you as you walk out: sweet, satisfying, leaving you with a pleasant taste in your mouth and a smile on your face.

But Jesus’ own help wanted ad, is far, far different from such a thing.  Jesus’ help wanted ad that he sets forth today is far less sweet, far less pleasant, and far less appetizing.

It all starts when Jesus and his disciples are walking around Caesarea Philippi.  Ever the teacher, ever the instructor, Jesus asks his disciples: “Who do people say that I am?”  What’s the going word on the street?  What do people think about all the things that I’ve done? 

Jesus gets an ear-full.  “Some say you are John the Baptist.  Other folks think you are Elijah.  Some say you are a prophet.”

It’s not much different today.  All sorts of folks have their opinions about who Jesus was.  Some say he was just a great moral teacher.  Others put him as a founder of a religion on the par with Buddah or Mohammed.  Others even say he didn’t exist.  There’s all sorts of stuff going on about who Jesus was and what he really did or didn’t do.  The more things change the more they say the same. 

But, ultimately, the question of who Jesus is isn’t about those folks out there. Ultimately, the question of Jesus identity comes down to every single one of us in here (points to heart).  And Jesus knows that.  Jesus understands that greatly, and so he brings it home.  “Who do you say that I am?”

I’m sure there was a pregnant silence.  I’m sure the disciples sat there for a few seconds waiting.  Thinking.  What was the right answer?  What should they say?  They’d seen a lot.  They’d seen Jesus feed the five thousand. They’d seen him calm the storm.  They’d seen Jesus cast out demons; heal the paralyzed; and bring the dead back to life.  They’d heard his preaching and teaching.  They had knowledge that few others had.  What could they say that would bring it all together?  How could they answer and account for all of these things?

Peter finally breaks the silence, “You are the Messiah.”  And Jesus sternly warned everyone to keep quiet.

Do you wonder why Jesus said this?  Do you wonder why, after such a big announcement, after such an important revelation that Jesus would demand silence?

It’s really no wonder if you understand what everyone believed the Messiah was supposed to do.  The Messiah was supposed to cleanse the temple.  The Messiah was supposed to defeat Israel’s enemies.  And the Messiah was supposed to bring God’s justice to the world.  Of course, the way the Messiah was supposed to bring God’s justice was to enthrone himself as the king of Israel, and Israel would then rule the world.  These were the expectations of the Messiah.  This is what every single good Jew was taught about the Messiah.  This is why the Jewish people longed for the Messiah.  They wanted a temple free from corruption.  They wanted their enemies, in this case the Romans, off their backs.  And they wanted the power and prestige that came from being the world’s powerhouse.  For Peter to announce that Jesus was the Messiah and for Jesus to offer him no correction otherwise was a HUGE deal. 

And Jesus knew that.  Jesus knew what the expectations were, but he also knew he would accomplish them in quite a different fashion.  For he would cleanse the temple–but not as expected.  And the enemy he would seek to overthrow was not any earthly power, but a power that enslaved every person on earth–from the most powerful king to the lowest slave.  The power and enemy that must be overthrown was the power of sin.  And God’s justice would be revealed in the most unexpected of places–on a cross at Calvary.  Jesus knew all of these things.  Jesus knew that his path was far different than the expectations of his followers and of his fellow Jews.

And so, Jesus began to break them in.  Jesus began to teach them, openly and plainly.  He didn’t want to sugar coat it.  He didn’t want to leave them with any doubts or questions.  “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.” 

This was too much for the disciples to hear.  This was too off.  This wasn’t right.  This was unheard of.  Never had this idea ever been expressed by any single teacher of Israel.  Never had this idea entered into any conversation about the Messiah.  This could not be the way that things would happen.  Jesus must be out of his mind, and so Peter takes it upon himself to correct Jesus.  In fact, it’s a bit stronger than correct.  You see, the Bible here reads rebuked.  Peter rebuked Jesus.  This is the same word the Bible uses when demons are rebuked.  Peter thinks Jesus has a demon.  Think about that for just a minute.  Peter speaks to his teacher in the same way his teacher spoke to demons.  That’s not good.

And Jesus responds in kind.  Jesus rebukes Peter in the strongest of terms, “Get behind me Satan for you are setting your mind on human things instead of divine things.”  Somehow, Jesus’ response is much more forceful.  Somehow Jesus response puts Peter to shame.  It might just be because the same voice that calmed the storm and brought the dead to life is now the one offering the rebuke.  And that rebuke stings.  There is no hint of softness in it.  There is no hint of tactfulness.  There’s no, “You might want to think about what you are saying, Peter.  Your opinion might be wrong.” 

No.  I’m quite sure that if Jesus would have said this in a church, there would have instantaneously been a movement to get rid of him.  “He needs anger management.”  “He needs counseling.”  “No good religious leader should ever call one of his flock Satan.”  Jesus’ actions here are very, very uncomfortable.

But he’s not done.  If you think his words to Peter are out of bounds, just wait until you hear what he says next.  Just wait until he gives you his help wanted ad.  “If anyone wants to be my disciple, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For if anyone wants to save his life, he will lose it, but if anyone loses his life for my sake and the sake of the gospel, he will find it.”

This is discipleship according to Jesus.

This is discipleship according to the Bible.

Deny yourself.  Give up your expectations.  Give up your hopes.  Give up your dreams and desires.  Give up all the things you wanted and what you wanted God to do for you.  Put them all away.  Deny your self.

Pick up your cross.  Do you know how the disciples would have heard this?  Do you know how revolted they must have been when Jesus said this?  Jesus basically told them, prepare to die.  When we think of carrying a cross, oftentimes we think of the trials and tribulations we face in life.  And they are tough, boy are they tough.  It’s tough to face a chronic illness.  It’s tough to work at a job you hate.  It’s tough to deal with broken relationships in your family.  There are many, many tough things we face in life, but they are not the cross.  The cross was an instrument of torture and death.  If you were carrying it, you were headed towards suffering.  You were headed towards pain and agony.  You were headed towards death. 

Give up all your hopes and dreams and desires, prepare to die, and follow me.  For if you want to save your life, you will lose it.  But if you lose your life for my sake and the sake of the Gospel, you will find it.

That’s discipleship.  That’s the job description.  There is no sugar coating it.  There is no explaining it away.  This is the demand Jesus puts on his followers.

And if you are like me right now, you are thinking, “There’s no way.  There’s no way I can do that.  There is no way I can give up all of my hopes and dreams and desires.  There is no way I can die to all of these things.  There is no way I can lose my life like this.  This is impossible.” 

And it certainly is impossible.  The disciples couldn’t even do it.  When Jesus was arrested, they all ran away.  When Peter tried to follow and was confronted, he denied Jesus three times.  None of them were willing to face the cross.  None of them were willing to lose their lives.  They all fell far short of Jesus’ call.  And they knew it.  They, like we know that we haven’t even come close to what Jesus demands.

At this point you may be sitting there thinking, “Then why am I even here?  If Jesus’ disciples couldn’t do this and if I can’t do this, then why do I even bother showing up here?”

It’s because Christianity isn’t primarily about what you do.  It’s about what God has done in Jesus.  It is darn near impossible for us to deny ourselves, pick up our cross and follow Jesus.  But guess who did deny himself?  Guess who did pick up his cross? 

You know the answer to that question.  You know who carried his cross to Calvary.  You know who was hung on that cross, and you know who suffered and died on it.  He did this precisely because he knew that we couldn’t.  He knew that the power of sin is too great within each and every one of us.  He knew that the power of sin would keep us focused on ourselves; would keep us trying to preserve ourselves.  He knew we couldn’t break out of sins power on our own.  And so he died for us.  When we couldn’t follow him and didn’t deserve to be his disciples, he died for us.  He bore our shortcomings.  He bore our sinfulness.  He suffered on our behalf.

And then he gave us his righteousness.  He gave us his glory.  He gave us his status as a beloved child of God.  We didn’t earn this status.  We didn’t deserve this status, but it is given to us by sheer grace.  And when we are grasped by that sheer grace; when the Gospel becomes real to us, something happens.  We are changed.

This change was evident in the lives of the disciples.  You know, the ones I told you about earlier who ran when Jesus was arrested; who denied him when confronted.  Those same disciples, when Jesus appeared to them after the resurrection and offered them peace; offered them forgiveness; then went out into the world and suffered for him.  They went out into the world leaving behind themselves and most of them dying in proclaiming the love of God in Christ Jesus.  When they understood how much they were loved and how they had been forgiven, they were changed.  And they gathered together to hear what Christ had done for them so they would never forget the sheer grace of God.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, you have received the same love that the disciples received.  You have received the same grace that the disciples received.  Jesus has poured out his life for you and redeemed you.  When you walk out into the world and find that you are being dragged away from discipleship; when the cares and concerns of the world try to entice you and whisper sweet words of temptation; when the Evil One tries to tell you that you aren’t worthy to follow Jesus; look to the cross.  Look to the Savior who is the Messiah.  Let your heart be filled with His love and His power, and you will find something surprising.  You will find something contrary to the way the world works.  You will find that you are denying your self.  You will find that you are seeking God’s will instead of your own.  You will find that you are losing your life, but that you have found something much greater.  You have found the Risen Lord; you have found Jesus. And in him, you have found abundant life.  Amen.

Beginning to See

    It seems like an eternity since I last stood before you and left you hanging in the middle of Mark Chapter 8.  I began a sermon on the blindness that each and every one of us has, and I finished by describing a healing that Jesus performed on a blind man.  This healing is unlike any other recorded healing in scripture.  It is a healing performed in stages.  First the blind man is touched, and he sees, but not clearly.  The second time Jesus lays hands on the man and looks intently at him, the man is healed.  This healing was not only historical, but it was metaphorical.  It was meant to teach a lesson not only to the disciples, but to you and to me.  As we finish Mark Chapter 8, I hope that we will see the significance of our blindness, our need for healing, and how we too are healed in stages.

    In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus and His disciples are traveling toward Caesarea Philippi, and Jesus asks them, “Who do people say that I am?”  It was very uncommon for rabbis to ask their followers things.  Usually, it was the other way around.  Usually, the rabbis students were constantly asking questions, but Jesus is no ordinary rabbi. Like a master teacher, Jesus has a point to draw the disciples toward.

    The disciples begin spouting off all the things they have heard.  “You are John the Baptist returned from the dead.  You are Elijah who was taken bodily up into heaven who has returned to prepare the way for the Messiah.  You are a prophet, perhaps the promised prophet Moses spoke about before he died.”  It is an interesting list.  One thing is for sure, all of these agree that Jesus is from God, and that He is in the prophetic line.  Of this there is no dispute.  Of course, these answers are not adequate.  Jesus knows this.  The disciples do too.  How so?

    Jesus continues, “Ah, but who do you say that I am?”  Jesus is now putting the screws to His disciples.  One of my commentaries said it best, “Who do you, my most intimate and trusted friends–in contrast to the other people who neither know me nor understand me–think I am?”  There is no beating around the bush.  There is no hemming and hawing.  This is laying it all on the line right here.  “Who do you say that I am?” Jesus asks.  The answer to this question is the most important answer that the disciples–and that we could ever give.

    Peter speaks for them all, “You are the Messiah.” 

    Now, you need to know that this statement is quite loaded.  Today, we unhesitatingly say that Jesus is the Messiah, and we think about the cross and the salvation of the world.  Not so with the ancient Jews.  Not so with the disciples.  Such matters would have been very far from their minds.  Let me quote biblical scholar N.T. Wright in this matter:

    By no means all Jews wanted or expected a Messiah.  But those who did were clear (not least from their readings of scripture) that he had to do three things.  He had to rebuild, or cleanse the Temple.  He had to defeat the enemy that was threatening God’s people.  And he had to bring God’s justice–that rich, restoring, purging, healing power–to bear both in Israel and out into the world...The Messiah would be God’s agent in bringing in the kingdom [of God] in sorting out the mess and muddle Israel was in, in putting the Gentiles in their place. (Mark for Everyone)

    This is what the disciples would have thought about Jesus.  They would have thought that He was going to cleanse the Temple; defeat the enemy that was threatening them–which at the present time was the Romans; and then bring God’s justice to bear on Israel and the world which meant cleaning up Israel and then putting the Gentiles into their place.  This was the expectations of the Messiah.  Every Jew that believed in the arrival of the Messiah believed these three things, and Jesus would accomplish all three–just not in the manner everyone thought.  And as Jesus begins to tell the disciples about what Messiahship entails, we see that even though the disciples have begun to see, they cannot yet see clearly.

    Jesus first tells everyone to keep silent about these matters.  Some folks wonder why, I don’t any longer.  Jesus doesn’t want them to give everyone the idea that He will be their Messiah.  Jesus doesn’t want everyone in the surrounding countryside to think He is going to lead some sort of rebellion and religious/societal cleansing by force of arms.  Jesus needs to open the disciples’ eyes.  He needs to help them see clearly before they began to proclaim His rule.  And Jesus begins to do that immediately.

    Mark records, “Then 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.  He said all this quite openly.”  The Greek word for openly is “parrasia” which carries the connotations of someone who is completely free who speaks without restraint, who hides nothing.  (Kittel–Theological Dict. of the N.T.)  Jesus is being perfectly clear with His disciples about what will happen to Him–what will happen to the Messiah.  But there are two fascinating things in what Jesus says. First, Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man.  Jesus doesn’t use “Messiah” in reference to Himself.  In fact, Jesus much prefers “Son of Man” instead of Messiah.  Why?  For two reasons: Messiah, as I said before was a loaded term which connotes military conquest.  Jesus wasn’t about that.  Secondly, there is a much broader scope with tying Messiah and Son of Man.  Jews would have tied Jesus’ words with Daniel chapter 7 where the following is written:

    13As I watched in the night visions, I saw one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven.  And he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 To him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages  should serve him.  His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed.

    The reign of the Son of Man extends much, much further than the much smaller scope of the Jewish understanding of the Messiah.  Jesus is trying to expand the disciples’ vision so that they see Jesus’ purpose for the whole world.  Let me repeat that: Jesus is here for the whole world, not simply the Jews, and the salvation of the world will not be brought about by military conquest and purification, but by Jesus’ death.  “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the scribes...”

    There are two comments to be made here.  First from N.T. Wright again who pricelessly says, “Messiahs don’t get killed by the authorities.  A Messiah who did that would be shown up precisely as a false Messiah.”  And secondly from James Edwards in the Pillar New Testament Commentary on the book of Mark:

    The prediction of Jesus passion conceals a great irony, for the suffering and death of the Son of Man will not come, as we would expect, at the hands of godless and wicked people.  The suffering of the Son of Man comes rather at the hands of “the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law.”  It is not humanity at its worst that will crucify the Son of God but humanity at its absolute best.  The death of Jesus will not be the result of a momentary lapse or aberration of human nature, but rather the result of careful deliberations from respected religious leaders who will justify their actions by the highest standards of the law and morality, even believing them to render service to God (John 16:2).  Jesus will not be lynched by an enraged mob or beaten to death in a criminal act.  He will be arrested with official warrants, and tried and executed by the world’s envy of jurisprudence–the Jewish Sanhedrin and the principia iuris Romanorum.

    These things are just too much for the disciples.  They contradict everything they had ever been taught.  They contradict everything they had ever thought for themselves.  They believed such things to be absolutely, totally wrong.  Hence, Peter takes Jesus aside and rebukes Him.  Now, mind you, the same word that Mark uses for Peter rebuking Jesus is the same word Mark uses when Jesus rebukes the demons.  It’s that strong a reaction from Peter.

    But Jesus is just as strong.  Jesus is just as harsh, perhaps harsher.  “Get behind me Satan,” Jesus retorts, “For you are setting your things on human things and not the things of God.”

    And now, we come to the crux of this whole passage–indeed one might say this is the crux of the Christian message itself.  Jesus calls the crowd together.  Jesus wants to make sure that everyone understands this, not simply the disciples.  This teaching is for everyone–not simply those closest to Him.  “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.”

    Oh my.  Oh my.  Oh my.  Jesus plainly, openly, clearly teaches that if we want to see clearly; if we want to know clearly; if we want to understand clearly–we must die.  At this point, let me ask you, do you still want to be a Christian?  Do you still want to even consider following Jesus?  Do you still want to be a disciple if He says, in the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.”  “For if you want to save your life, you will lose it, and if you lose it for Jesus sake and the sake of the Gospel, you will find it.”  How can this be?

    The Christian worldview starts with a very basic assumption about humanity.  We were created to be good, but that goodness became warped.  That goodness was over ridden by a deep selfishness which sought its own good; its own power; its own prestige; its own satisfaction; its own survival above its dependency upon God.  To this day, our selfishness reigns.  To this day, our ego tries to claim superiority.  To this day, we do a lot to establish and preserve our identity and our self.  I am who I am, and I will change for no one.  And the world around us encourages this.  And many churches do too.

    I mean, I can tell you many, many churches who lead with the following sayings: Be yourself.  Rejoice in your identity.  Claim your heritage.  God loves you just the way you are.  All are welcome just as they are.  I don’t know of a single church that leads and invites people with the following: deny who you are, come and die.  It’s not a very popular advertising campaign.  But it is Jesus.  It is His call.  And it is because He knows that if we spend our lives trying to maintain our identity and preserve ourselves, we will die a thousand deaths; never find fulfillment; and be searching for affirmation over and over and over again.

    You know this as well as I do.  Deep down you know this is the way the world works–that we are constantly taught to look out for ourselves, and we are constantly worried and burdened that we haven’t done enough.  We tell our kids over and over, and you were probably told, “Work hard.  Do well in school so that...what?”  “You can get a good job and make enough money to live.”  “Work hard, save your money, invest wisely so that...what?”  You can retire and enjoy the years you have left.  “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” we repeat to ourselves striving to put off the pain of rejection when someone insults us.  We try to preserve ourselves because we find our value and worth in ourselves.

    And Jesus says, deny it.  Deny yourself and find your value in me.  For the world around you will strive to cut you down.  The world around you will take every advantage of you it can. The world around you will try to drain your wealth and leave you poverty stricken.  The world around you will demean your skin color and your heritage.  The world around you will bash your gender and your sexuality.  The world around you will cut you down at the knees because it will find your faults.  It will find your weakness, and it will exploit them.

    Now, here’s a question for you: how can the world exploit your faults if you no longer try to hide them but openly profess them?  How can the world bash your gender and sexuality if you have denied them?  How can the world trash your skin color or heritage if you say they don’t matter?  How can the world harm you if you don’t find your value in what the world thinks of you?

    Deny yourself.  Die to yourself.  See yourself as a dead person walking–for that is what carrying the cross means.  Ah, but it doesn’t just mean death.  No for whoever loses their life for my sake and the sake of the Gospel will find it.  Find it?  Yes.  You will find it.  For in Christianity, death is followed by resurrection.  The cross is followed by the empty tomb.  Denying one’s self is followed by finding one’s true self; true identity; true value and worth in the Savior who willingly died for you when you least deserved it.

    For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world may be saved through Him.

    Find your self in Jesus.  Understand what He did for you as He stretched out His arms and died for you.  Grasp the power of the resurrection as it removes your fear of death.  You will cease being caught up in the daily battle for self-preservation, you will find freedom, and you will truly see.  Amen.