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| Rev. Brian Wilkie |
Pastor of St. Andrew's Christian Community
Rockland, Ontario
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PODCAST LINK to CFRA broadcast
Sunday, March 11th, 2018:
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Broadcast Notes:
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Good Morning! I'm your host
today, Brian Wilkie of St. Andrew's Christian Church in Rockland. As we begin today, my prayer is that The Good
News of the Lord Jesus Christ would encourage and strengthen you today!
Taking
up the Cross
As we broadcast this message in the midst of the season of Lent, as we
run up towards Good Friday and Easter, it’s important to me that we take a look
at what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. So, in my last broadcast, I
spoke generally about following Jesus, remembering that Jesus gives us
direction with his word, gives us guidance with his Holy Spirit, and gives us
the power to do what he desires, through his answers to prayer, and the
empowerment of his gift to us, the same Holy Spirit.
And though that sounds like a very wonderful thing (and it is a
wonderful thing to follow Jesus) but Jesus also gives some strong warnings to
us as Christians, to recognize that following him will be challenging, and will
put us face to face with the resistance to God, that is found in the sin of the
world. And so he describes the willingness that we need, to serve and even lay
down our lives for him. As he speaks in Matthew 16 about his identity, his
work, and how our work will follow his example.
From Matthew 16: 13, he is speaking to his disciples:
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his
disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and
still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living
God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not
revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you
are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will
not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever
you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will
be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that
he was the Christ.
21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he
must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief
priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third
day be raised to life.
22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said.
“This shall never happen to you!”
23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a
stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the
things of men.”
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he
must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to
save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26
What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his
soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is
going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward
each person according to what he has done. 28 I tell you the truth, some who
are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in
his kingdom.” Matthew
16:13–28
This is the word of God.
Jesus has once again - as he tends to do - he’s packed a lot of content
into a brief discussion with his disciples. And as we take a look at what this
means, it will illuminate what it is for us to follow Jesus and take up our
cross daily.
We will look at that, but let’s listen to some music which speaks about
the cross. This is a familiar hymn, sung by an Ottawa group, Destiny, from
their album Next Level, singing, At the Cross. Would you listen to it with me?
<music>
Now as this scripture began, the question was, “Who is Jesus?” This is
the question people had been asking all over the area. As they listened to this
teacher, saw the miracles that he did, they wondered if he could be perhaps,
one of the great prophets of old brought back to give a message from God again.
Or, whether he might be, in fact, the Messiah that was promised long ago.
Others suggested that he was John the Baptist brought back to life (because
John the Baptist had been executed for his ministry and the offense that his
ministry had caused to some of the leadership of the area). Though there were
all kinds of speculation about who Jesus was, Jesus draws these answers out of
his disciples and says, “Yes, but what do you think?” And Peter is the one who
burst forth with the confession of faith which has become the signature of the
church, “You are the Christ, the son of the living God,” and Jesus commends him
for that. Jesus demonstrates that this confession of Christ is laudable.
That it’s a work of God in Simon Peter’s
life, and when you’re able to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, the son of the
living God, you are also being moved by the holy spirit of God. You’re being
redeemed by the work the work of God as he teaches you the truth so that you
can live in it.
Simon Peter is really commended for his confession of faith, and he’s
told how important that faith is and the way that Christians will live their
lives and be able to work Gods work on the earth. But, Jesus knows there’s
something the disciples don’t understand yet about following God.
Because often we think since God is all-powerful, since God is the Lord
of the universe and all eternity, that being on his side would mean constant
pleasure, constant ease, and constant ability to overcome every obstacle.
But Jesus using his own life, as an illustration, begins to tell them,
that being the Christ, the son of the living God, means that he is going to go
to Jerusalem. That he is going to suffer many things at the hands of the
elders, and the chief priests, and the chief teachers of the law, and that he
will be killed, and on the third day, rise again to life.
Now Peter seems to have stopped listening somewhere along the way as he
hears Jesus talk about all this doom and gloom and insists that it’s not
possible. Jesus, who is the son of the living God, shouldn’t be talking so
negatively. That he ought to have a better hope and better positivity. But he
decides to rebuke Jesus and says,” Lord, this will never happen to you.” And
Jesus makes the strongest rebuke in all of scripture, as he says to Peter, “Get
behind me Satan. You are a stumbling block to me. You do not have in mind the
things of God, but the things of men.”
Isn’t that a shock? Peter has said something amazing just a few moments
ago. Something that no one has ever dared to say out loud among the disciples
to that point. He says something that God has taught him and taught him from
the Holy Spirit. That Peter has had insight, which is amazing, that Jesus is
the Son of the living God.
But, within that same mind, he has a conviction and an opinion which is
still earthly and fleshly, and uninspired. When he expresses his conviction and
his hope, that the Lord Jesus will never suffer any harm because he’s the Lord.
It could never happen to him. Peter understand who Jesus is, but he doesn’t
understand what it implies for Jesus’ life. And in many respects, this is true
of many who confess Jesus. They have the faith to believe that he is the Son of
the living God, but they don’t understand that the suffering that he undergoes
on the cross is essential to his identity and his ministry. They don’t
understand that being part of the body of Christ doesn’t mean having everything
go your way. That it means standing for God in a world, which opposes him. And
so Jesus doesn’t just rebuke Peter for saying this suffering could never happen
to him. He reminds the disciples, he teaches the disciples, that suffering is
part of their lot as well. And saying to them that they themselves must take up
their cross and follow him.
Now, these disciples wouldn’t be under any illusions about what the
cross meant. They had seen enough crosses as the Romans executed rebels and
thieves, and murderers. All kinds of people just to make examples of them. It
was a horrible means of execution. It was designed to be a deterrent. It was
designed to let people know that if they raised their hand against the Roman
Empire, they would be made an example of.
So when he says take up the cross, none of the disciples were thinking
that he was saying they ought to wear a little golden cross as a jewel around
their neck. Or a little cross marking on their skin, or anything decorative or
ornamental, they knew that he was talking about losing their life for his sake.
And so, Jesus makes it very clear, that following him, believing in him, means
following him in the challenging circumstances of the kingdom of God. And he
says, mind you, that this seemingly hard teaching, is something you got to put
into an eternal perspective.
That when you take up your cross and follow me, you’ve got to remember
that if you lose your life for my sake, you will find it eternally. However, if
you spend your life trying to gain your own benefit and do your own thing, you
can very well gain the whole world, but lose your soul. That not following
Jesus is an eternal death, whereas following Jesus leads to the route of
cross-bearing into eternal life.
I hope that helps some people believe in the message of Jesus: that it’s
not ‘pie in the sky, by and by’. Jesus came into the real world. The real world
in which violence and opposition take place. Where people try to grasp by force
what they want from others. A world of real suffering. A world in which he
shares in the suffering of his people. And he calls his followers to be filled
with the same love that is willing to take the burdens, and share the burdens
of others, and help others along the way
We’re going to speak more about this taking up the cross after the next
song. Which once again, speaks about the cross, as a singer, Angel Smyth from
the 1990’s, sings about the sacrifice of praise. We bring a sacrifice of praise
to the house of the lord. Very often, we may think that the sacrifice of praise
is simply songs that are sung. But the sacrifice of praise really is the life
offered for Gods glory. Whatever the cost. That is the sacrifice of praise that
we bring into the house of the lord. Let’s listen to this song together.
It’s important for us to know about bearing the cross. That Jesus has a
couple of things about the cross that we need to understand very well. One is
that Jesus accomplished on the actual cross, something no other person could or
will be able to accomplish. No one ever needs to repeat what Jesus did on the
cross because in that one offering of himself, he paid the sin debt of the
whole world. He paid for every sin that you have ever committed.
He has redeemed you and reconciled you to God. He has taken all the offense that you have thrown against God by your disobedience. He has taken it
upon himself and he has not counted it against you anymore. That work on the
cross is not repeatable. But Jesus uses the example of his laying down his
life, to teach his disciples how fully committed to following him, they are
going to be. They’re going to be that way because they will be transformed by
Jesus. They’re not ready for it at this point in the scriptures when Peter
first affirms Christ and then rebukes him. He’s not quite ready yet. He hasn’t
received all the understanding and the faith that he needs to follow Jesus
fully. But he will. You know it (and I know it), that after Peter even denied
Christ on the night of his betrayal, he was reconciled and restored to his
ministry by the grace of God. And Jesus gave to his disciples the Holy Spirit,
which made them bold, where they had been cowardly before. And made them wise
beyond their education, and gave to them gifts and the ability to go and spread
the word. Peter wasn’t there yet, in the middle of the gospel of Matthew. But
Jesus had provided a way to make him ready, able, by his grace and his power,
to follow Jesus even to the point of laying down his life in execution years
and years later.
But we also need to understand is when Jesus talks about
taking up the cross, he’s not just talking about the end of life decision. He
is talking about the daily sacrifice of following him. Jesus uses this
expression of taking up the cross in Matthew chapter 10 when he speaks more
fully about following him. And he’s sending out his disciples to go into the
towns and villages of the region, and he tells them exactly how they are to
spread the good news. But he warns them that he’s sending them out like sheep
among wolves. He's sending them out, and he’s telling them to be on their guard
against people. Because some people will hand them over to local councils and
they’ll be punished for preaching the good news. Others will send them over to
the Gentiles. Hand them over to the Roman authorities, and they will be
imprisoned or flogged, or some of them, even possibly being killed for the
ministry that they’re doing.
He notes that their own families may resist what
they’re doing, may think they’re being foolish for following this prophet from
Nazareth. That they will find opposition within their own homes, their own
villages, and their own people, and the world at large. And so he tells them
that they’ve got a decision to make. About whether they’re going to love Jesus
more than these comforts, and helps in the world. Whether they’re going to lay
down their life and take up their cross and follow him.
Jesus gives more context to the idea of taking up the cross, and we see
that it’s a daily work of laying down our lives. Not by dying physically, but
by recognizing each day belongs to God, and that whatever the cost, it’s better
to follow God and do his will, then to pursue all our dreams or any of our
dreams.
This is what it is to take up the cross and follow Jesus. For Jesus in
going to the cross, did not do something that was pleasant to him. We see
evidence enough of that in the Garden of Gethsemane, and at every stage along
the way we see that the cross loomed over his life, as a necessary suffering
that he had to go through. But a very real suffering. Even so in the Garden of
Gethsemane, he says, Lord, Father, let this cup pass from me, if it’s possible.
Then he says since it’s not possible for this cup to pass by without me
drinking it, that your will be done, not mine.
Are you willing to say that to Jesus? Are you willing to say that to
Jesus as you wake up in the morning and face the day, and prepare to make the
decisions about how you will serve him? Even if it means there’s not enough
time for the things you wanted to do with the day. That seems like a very small
cross to bear. But it is the one that can wear on us.
And so, I encourage you,
if you find this teaching of Jesus to bear your cross, to be a burdensome one,
be willing to take it to Jesus. Be willing to confess to Jesus your hesitations
and your doubts, and let him minister to you with the strength that the Father
ministered to him. For when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, he didn’t
simply have to strengthen himself to go and face the cross. Instead, the
heavenly Father sent angels to minister to him and to help him. And in that, he
shows us that, we also can hear the call to live our lives for Jesus. To lose
our lives for his sake, as we daily sacrifice to him, and yet we don’t do it in
our own strength. We do it with the grace that God provides day by day and moment
by moment as we need it.
Will you turn with me in prayer to ask God for this grace in your life,
as I ask for it in mine?
Almighty God, we
come before you thankful that Jesus laid down his life for us, and we are so
grateful, that as we follow him, and lay down our lives daily for him, that he
will accomplish great things, to bring salvation, and grace and glory, to a
world desperately in need of his love. Use us almighty God. Let our lives be
consecrated to you oh Lord. In Jesus name. Amen
And this closing song, sung by the acapella group, This Hope, from their
album Edges, is a song that expresses this very sentiment, a hymn that says,
Take My Life and let it be, consecrated Lord to thee. God bless you as we
continue our pursuit of Jesus. Amen
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May you come to know Jesus Christ personally and profoundly.
May the Holy Spirit reside deeply within your heart, and may you feel our
heavenly Father surrounding you with his constant, abiding and accompanying
love.
Rev.
Brian Wilkie
St. Andrew's Christian Community,
Rockland, Ontario
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