Mark 8:34-9:1, Luke 9:23- 9:27, Matthew 16:21-28: Time, Talent and Treasure Series, Part 1: Time – Lost and Saved

Presented to the Swift Current Corps 05 September 2010
By Captain Michael Ramsay

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me (and for the gospel) will save it (Mark 8:35, Luke 9:24, Matthew 16:25).

I’ve got a test for us today: Famous Quotes. Let’s see which side can name the speaker of each of the following quotes:[1]

1) “Hi Ho Silver, Away…”

2) “We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto”

3) “I am not a crook”

4) “Living next to you [the Americans] is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt.”

5) “While women weep, as they do now, I'll fight; while children go hungry, as they do now I'll fight; while men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do now, I'll fight; while there is a drunkard left, while there is a poor lost girl upon the streets, while there remains one dark soul without the light of God, I'll fight, I'll fight to the very end!”

6) “Up, up, and away!”

7) “I’m strong to the finish ‘cause I eat my spinach; I’m _________ the sailor man.”

8) “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but for whoever loses his life for me (and for the gospel) will save it.”

These are all famous quotes from people and in some ways the quotes have even served to summarize the impact the individual had on history. Nixon is famous for his speeches around the time of his resignation. Another little quiz for you: only two American presidents have ever been impeached, can you name them? (Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton; Nixon resigned he was never impeached)[2]

As far as the quotes are concerned, Nixon is remembered for Watergate. Trudeau is known for – well, the good thing that Trudeau is known for (I realise that on the prairies here he is remembered unfavourably for a lot of things) - is that he really gained Canada greater independence from both the British and the American Empires than we have ever experienced either before or since. William Booth’s ‘I’ll Fight’ quote still echoes down through the generations as The Salvation Army champions its Wesleyan version of the social gospel. As John Wesley said, ‘there is no holiness but social holiness’[3] And Jesus’ quote that we are looking at today – “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me (and for the gospel) will save it” – is a very important one. Did you realize that no other saying of Jesus is given this much as this emphasis in all of scripture (Matthew 10:38-39, 16:24-24; Mark 8:34-35; Luke 9:24, 14:26-27, 17:33; John 12:25)?[4] Each of the Jesus’ biographers, in their gospel accounts, record Jesus as uttering this quote at least once. Matthew and Luke each record it multiple times in different contexts where Jesus says the same thing: “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me (and for the gospel) will save it.” This is thus a very important saying for us to understand.

Today, we read the quote in the context of Mark 8:34-38, which is very much the same context as Luke 9:23- 9:27 and Matthew 16:21-28: 34:

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."

Now this brings us to any important question: Jesus says “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it…”, What does it mean to SAVE your life? It means NOT to die; it means NOT to die a physical death.[5] And what does it mean to LOSE your life? It means to die. It is simple. It is not tricky – especially given the context of Jesus talking about us picking up our cross and following him: the cross – of course - being a brutal method of state execution, much like the electric chair or lethal injection in the States today only more painful.

I’ve got a couple of examples both negative and positive responses of people faced with exactly this situation that Jesus is talking about when he says “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me (and for the gospel) will save it.” When we were in Vancouver, there was a really large Salvation Army conference at Canada Place there. General Gowans was the keynote speaker – we all know General Gowans, he was the one who articulated the Salvation Army mission very succinctly as to ‘save souls, grow saints, and serve suffering humanity.’ One speaker at that same conference was Baroness Cox who shared a testimony about a young boy from her time serving in Indonesia.

There was a young boy who had come to know the Lord. He told everyone he found about Jesus. He didn’t have a lot of success in his evangelism, if I remember correctly, not anyone came to the Lord at that time but he was not ashamed of the gospel. One day some people come to his village who aren’t so happy about his faith. They are seeking out Christians (I don’t remember at this point whether they are radical Muslims, Atheists, Capitalists, or what). They come to his town and they offer to spare his life if he simply renounces his faith. He refuses. They chop off a limb. He is given another chance to deny Christ. He refuses. They chop off another limb. They give this young boy every opportunity to deny Christ and save his life: he refuses and he dies by being hacked to death in front of his whole village. He is asked to deny Christ and thus save his life but instead he loses his life for the Gospel and for Christ. This boy really did pick up his cross and follow our Lord to Calvary.

As did the apostles around Jesus’ time: We know that Jesus’ apostles, like this boy, loved Jesus more than their own families and even their own lives (cf. Mark 3:20-35; 13:9-13). Jesus’ apostles did not die peaceful deaths – many were crucified or beheaded. Matthias was stoned; Thomas was stabbed; James the brother of Jesus was thrown from the top of the temple in Jerusalem: he survived, so his attackers beat him to death. John would be the exception to the rule of the martyred apostles, but it was not for a lack of conviction. His accusers tried to boil him alive in a pot but much like with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace for some reason God chose to decline John’s offer of martyrdom (Daniel 3:1-30). However no one can deny that they all lived up to the Christian standard: “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me (and for the gospel) will save it”

I can think of another story of some U.S. missionaries in Afghanistan before the American invasion ever began (2001-present). This one had a very different ending. The Taliban, who made up the government of the day, sentenced some missionaries to death unless they recanted their faith. These missionaries, unlike the apostles, and unlike the young Indonesian boy decided they would deny Christ and the Taliban rewarded them by sparing their lives. In so doing they their only reward is in this life that they chose to save. I have also heard of stories of so-called Christian missionaries in Africa and Asia who have, as part of their denial of the gospel and our Lord, even submitted to so-called female circumcision (which is in reality a mutilation of their genitalia) rather than die for our Lord. These people apparently chose their temporal life for themselves rather than to die for Christ and save their eternal soul.

Even though Jesus said to do otherwise: “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me (and for the gospel) will save it.”

About those missionaries that denied Christ – I really hope that they have since come to the Lord in fear and trembling and in legitimate repentance – legitimate repentance would mean, of course, that should they wind up in the same situation that they would choose a very different course of action. Just like Peter did. Remember that he denied Jesus 3 times before the cock crowed twice but later repented, led the early church, and eventually did accept his martyr’s crown (Mark 13-14, Matthew 26, Luke 22, John 18, John 21:15-25, Acts 1-12). I thankfully am not in a position to judge those missionaries or anyone’s salvation and really hope that they truly repent of this most grievous sin and do themselves grab hold of eternal life like the Apostle Peter but if they don’t… Can you imagine if you were a missionary and you were told that if you denied your faith you would live but if you didn’t you would die so you deny your faith and they kill you anyway? Can you imagine if the last thing you ever do before you are faced with the reality of God’s eternal kingdom, is to deny your citizenship in that kingdom. Jesus says if we deny him here and now, he’ll accept our resignation and then he will deny us in his kingdom there and then.

What about us here today? I don’t imagine that many of us will be ever faced with a literal life and death decision for Christ here in Saskatchewan. Although maybe some of the younger ones might live to see such a time (cf. Mark 3:20-35; 13:9-13).[6] I don’t think that anyone a generation ago would have been able to predict the persecution Christians are suffering in BC and even in some places in Ontario these days.[7] But assuming that Saskatchewan remains loyal to Christ now and when he returns, how do we apply this very important saying of Jesus to our own life? “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.”

Theologian Fred B. Craddock says, “A cross is not sought or pursued, but it was and still is true that following Jesus in service to God, which translates into meeting human needs, is on a path which there are crosses, prices to be paid, pain and hurt to be accepted. We are not speaking about a death wish here but obedience to the will of Christ.” [8] We are not called to be suicide bombers but we are called to serve Christ and not ourselves. We are called to give Jesus all of our time, all of our life, and if he asks for us to sacrifice our physical life – as he did of his apostles, the missionaries that we spoke of and that young Indonesian boy - then we must not withhold it from him.

Leon Morris says, “The follower of Jesus must deny himself (not just his sins, himself; he cannot be self-centred). There is nothing self-indulgent about being a Christian. The disciples had probably seen a man take up his cross, and they knew what it meant. When a man from one of their villages took up a cross and went off with a little band of Roman soldiers, he was on a one-way journey. He would not be back. Taking up the cross meant the utmost in self-denial.”[9]

How do we do with that in our world and life today? How can we in our life consistently deny ourselves and instead follow Christ (Luke 9:23, 14:27: 1 Corinthians 15:31; cf. Matthew 10:38; Gospel of Thomas 55b)? A lot of it comes down to how we spend our time. There are people in our city here who are on the path to hell. Jesus wants us to point them to the path of Salvation that he died to make and the apostles died pointing out. Are we willing to give our lives for Christ? Do we spend our time telling people about Jesus or do we spend our time in self-indulgence? In our life everyday we have to make our decision to follow Christ (Luke 9:23, 14:27: 1 Corinthians 15:31; cf. Matthew 10:38; Gospel of Thomas 55b). Do we put ourselves first or do we put God and others first? Do we spend more time reading the Bible and praying or do we spend more time watching TVs and movies? Do we spend more of our conversations telling people about Christ or gossiping about other Christians? How we spend our time is a true indication of what we believe and who we believe in. I ask each of us here today if someone looked at our how we spend our time could we convince them honestly that we have given up our lives for Christ? Are we offering our time and our lives to Christ? If we are then great things will happen, I promise.

Remember the story about the young boy that I told you. The young boy from Indonesia who eagerly accepted his martyrs crown as it was offered to him? Shortly after and because he died, the rest of his village chose to live. He died for Christ and the rest of his village saw that and decided to live for Christ. His death led to the salvation of all those people even through the generations, I believe, and this is why and how we know this story today.

“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.”

In the corps here these next few weeks we are speaking about serving God with all of our time, talents, and treasure. This year we are concentrating on evangelism. When the leadership team met the other day we agreed to set as a goal that each of us would invite one friend to church here and we would then keep encouraging them to come religiously. If in this whole year, every one of us makes that same commitment and is able to bring just one friend to or back to the Lord and/or just bring them here to worship with us on Sundays then there would be 80+ people sitting in these seats just one year from now. Jesus asked us to give up our lives for him and to invite others to do the same (Matthew 28; John 15). Today I would like to encourage all of us here to do just that: if there is anything in our lives that is more important to us than Christ: maybe a spouse, maybe a job, maybe our pride, maybe our family, maybe… If there is someway that we selfishly holing onto our time and that are putting our life before the work of Christ, I would invite us in a moment to come and symbolically lay it at the altar. Let us each ask our Lord to “Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.”

Let us pray.

http://www.sheepspeak.com/

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[1] Answers: The Lone Ranger, Dorothy, Nixon, Trudeau, William Booth, Superman, Popeye, Jesus.
[2] http://www.infoplease.com/spot/impeach.html#axzz0yOSF5DFQ
[3] John Wesley, “Upon Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount”: Discourse IV, 1748; The Works of John Wesley, Jackson Edition, “Preface to 1739 Hymns and Sacred Poems”, vol. 14:321. Cf. also John Wesley, 'The Almost Christian', Preached at St. Mary’s Oxford, before the University, on July 25, 1741 and John Wesley, 'The Use of Money'
[4] Matthew 10:38-39, 16:24-24; Mark 8:34-35; Luke 14:26-27, 17:33; John 12:25. Cf. Lewis Foster, ‘Luke’ in NIV Study Bible (Grand Rapids, Mi : Zondervan, 2002), note on Luke 9:24, p. 1589.
[5] Cf. Walter W. Wessel, William L. Lane in NIV Study Bible (Grand Rapids, Mi : Zondervan, 2002), note on Mark 8:35, p. 1542.
[6] cf. Mark 3:20-35; 13:9-13;God is more important to anyone in the Christian’s life, including her family. See also Captain Michael Ramsay, ‘Mark 3:20-35: The Family of God’ Presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps on February 17, 2008.
[7] cf: www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1040356828066_95///?hub=TopStoriescf. also Christianity Today: Parents Flee Public Schools: "Christians in British Columbia, Canada, are worried that courts are undermining their religious rights in the classroom.” http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/march/12.23.html Cf. also the Atheist website, nodeity.com: http://nodeity.com/chamberlain_v_SD36.html re 'One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dads, Blue Dads' - You can read the Supreme Court Decision re. Questionable books: http://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/index.html - The following phrase is interesting - 'The School Act's insistence on secularism;' this begs the question why must we be subjected to the secularist Worldview; neither BC not Canada were settled or founded upon that mythology. There were other problems with the books as well. CBC.ca: "This story has problems with punctuation and grammar throughout. The spelling of 'favourite' is inconsistent, switching from the Canadian to the American," said board chair Mary Polak about Asha's Mums. The board also criticized the book's depiction of men.(http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2003/06/13/samesex_books030613.html).It is serious that even though the book is unsatisfactory for education young people, that it was deemed necessary for our children to be exposed to it. The courts it appears are more interested in promoting a secular-atheist worldview than they are about providing a quality education for our children. The federal government has the jurisdiction to make laws to protect its citizens. The Supreme Court is only allowed to interpret the laws in theory. Cf. The National Post: ‘Gay couple gets input into school curriculum’, http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=80dd8007-ef56-40a7-809d-37936b9d4179&k=51593&p=1. Cf. also ‘Secular-Atheist's religion secures making the promotion of Homosexuality mandatory in the BC school system.’ Lifesite.net: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jun/06060101.html cf. also 'Documents Reveal Government Signed Over Control of Education to Homosexual Activists': http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jun/06061907.htmlcf. also: Peter Corren (né Cook) and Murray Corren (né Warren) — 'Corren is a combination of their former names — are LGBT-rights activists from Vancouver, British Columbia whose complaint before the BC Human Rights Tribunal led to an agreement by which the provincial Ministry of Education will consult them on how gays are presented in the school curriculum': http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_and_Murray_Corren. Cf. http://www.secularontario.ca/peterbexam06dec13.html, CBC.ca: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2007/01/26/prayer.html , CanadianChristianity.com: http://www.canadianchristianity.com/cgi-bin/na.cgi?nationalupdates/070201prayer. No religion / Atheism is now the largest religion / World View in BC: StatsCan: http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/Products/Analytic/companion/rel/bc.cfm
[8] Fred B. Craddock, Luke (Interpretation: a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: John Knox Press: Louisville, Ken., 1990), 130.
[9] Leon Morris, Luke: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1988 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 3), S. 188