Sermon “Following Jesus”

 

There was a time not too long ago where there were some of the preachers that became popular were preaching what was called a “prosperity gospel”.  Basically the message promoted the idea that God wants Christians to be "abundantly" successful in every way, including financially.  It was made especially popular by some of the televangelists in the 80’s.  (slide)

 

It was also called “name it and claim it”, or “health and wealth gospel”.  This idea was that if prayed for something and believed in it enough, God would grant it to you. If you didn’t get well, maybe you didn’t have enough faith!

 

When one reads this passage today in Matthew, it almost seems like the opposite message.  Jesus tells his followers that they must “deny themselves”, “take up their cross” and “lose their lives” if they wanted to follow Him.  And since He was predicting His own fate in going to the cross, it is a little hard to make the connection that following Jesus is always going to bring one material abundance or prosperity from a worldly perspective.  

 

In fact Jesus almost denounces material accumulation when he says, “What good would it be if a man gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?”  

 

Now first of let me clarify what I am not saying and I don’t think Jesus was saying.  I don’t think this means that to accumulate wealth is a bad thing.  There are plenty passages that tell us about wise steward that as they are faithful in some are given more.  Money in itself is not an evil thing, it is the love of money that is more an issue.

 

In fact most of our churches, missions and many other God glorifying efforts are funded by those who give faithfully out of their abundance.  But the point is that just following Jesus won’t mean you will become prosperous or wealthy, or that if you are sick and not healed it doesn’t mean you have faith. 

 

So what does this passage mean?

 

First of all we should observe that Jesus has been teaching his disciples and he has been showing them what God’s kingdom is like and demonstrating God’s power, and also allowing them to be a part of it.

 

Recently Peter has declared and understood that Jesus is the Son of the Living God and the Messiah that they had been waiting for. Jesus declares that he is blessed and this has not been revealed to him by man but by God!

 

Then as Peter so often does, he sticks his foot in his mouth.  As Jesus begins to describe what His Messianic journey would look like in his imminent road to the cross, Peter takes Him aside and says, “Never Lord, this shall never happen to you.” 

 

Jesus rebukes Peter and tells him he doesn’t have mind the things of God but of men.  You see Peter thought that Jesus was going to take over the world and cause the Jewish people to become dominant again.  In sort of a similar way, Peter believed in a prosperity gospel.   

 

It is in this context where Jesus clarifies his mission and ours.  In the following words Jesus defines what a Christian should look like and this will distinguish them from any other person on the earth.  Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me they must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me.” 

 

If you have been around the church for awhile you have probably heard these words a lot, but what exactly do they mean? 

 

Deny Yourself

 

This is not a popular message in our Western society which is dominated by a philosophy that says to satisfy your desires at all costs.  In the last twenty years we have lived in a society that spends millions of dollars every year to produce ads that make us “want to have it”. 

 

One example might be for the soft drink Sprite which says, “Obey Your Thirst”. (slide) Now of course we need to hydrate, and Sprite is a fairly good thing to do it with, but the whole idea is that we see promoted is it all about me and getting my needs met!  Of course I am not trying to say if you drink Sprite you aren’t following Jesus, then even I wouldn’t be!

 

My point is whether it is food, beverages, cars, boats, clothing or whatever the latest toy can become our masters and something we think we have to them to be happy.  Yet Jesus tells us to deny ourselves as one of the first steps to being his follower.  This is a very counter cultural message, especially in Orange County.  

 

I also don’t think this is saying you can’t enjoy any of the pleasures of life that have been given to us by God himself. I think Jesus is showing us a new way to find life.  It doesn’t have to be all about me, or being a slave to my desires.  As I give up some of my rights to have all this stuff, I will find a new freedom and ability to have self control and experience a new joy that this world can’t give.

 

There was a time that I used to drink a fair amount and regularly, especially on the weekends...that would be in college!  And as I got out of college, it just got quite frankly kind of boring, and I was beginning to feel like I was drinking out of pure habit.

 

I was growing in my Christian walk, and I felt compelled to give it up altogether to follow Jesus more closely.  Over the next five years I discovered how much fun I could have without alcohol and discovered that by denying myself I found new life.  I thought I was giving up something, but I was actually finding something new that I think God wanted to show me.  He wanted to show me with his help I could have self control and it would be deeply satisfying. 

 

Maybe there is something in your life, where God is saying “deny yourself’ I have something better for you.

 

Pick Up Your Cross

 

Well if you liked that section you will love this one.  Jesus then tells his followers to pick up their cross. The cross was symbol of the worst kind of torture for the worst kind of criminal, and Jesus is telling his followers to walk in the footsteps he would take to Calvary.  (slide)

 

Often we wear crosses today as a symbol of fashion.  When one realizes what it truly symbolizes and how the Son of God and suffered and died for something he didn’t do, it might make us more cautious to put one on. 

 

And Jesus is saying if you want to follow me not only are you to deny yourself but also pick up your cross.  Again it is important to say what I don’t think this means.  I don’t think this means that all of us are to die on a cross like Jesus did. 

 

But I do think it means that being a Christian will often involve suffering.  There are different forms of suffering.  We will often hear someone say, “I guess this is my cross to bear”.  I think that gets close to the meaning what Jesus is saying here.  He realized that because of sin in the world that life would be painful sometimes, especially as one tries to stay true to truly following Him. 

 

Follow Me  (slide)

 

Finally, Jesus says as we deny ourselves and pick up our cross, we are following Him.  I think we were meant to follow someone.  I remember growing up, the guys next store I used to follow around the block playing every sport imaginable. 

 

In my freshman year high school, I remember some guys in grades above me that were good athletes and were Christians. I wanted to follow them.  I also remember times in my life when I followed people who led me down paths I shouldn’t have gone down. 

 

When I got out of college I guy I worked in the insurance business with led me to a church called Willow Creek and I followed him there. He was a follower of Jesus Christ.  There I was taught to follow Jesus Christ. 

 

Along the way, many small groups have helped me to follow Jesus Christ. Individual mentors have helped me to keep following Jesus Christ.  The bible has taught me how to follow Jesus Christ.  My wife and kids teach me how to follow Jesus Christ.

 

I have given up a lot to follow this man called Jesus.  But words cannot explain how much I have gained.  It is ridiculous for me to even make the comparison.  Jesus is looking for a few more followers today.  The world is in desperate need of true followers of Jesus Christ.  The United States is in desperate need of true followers of Jesus Christ.  Irvine, CA is in desperate need of true followers of Jesus Christ. 

 

Will you follow Him? (Slide)  Let’s do it together!!