Tawa Baptist

The Freedom Paradox

Scripture: 1st Corinthians 9:1-18

Video Link: https://youtu.be/ZG-yEtPvtoY

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • An apostle’s proof
  • An apostle’s rights
  • An apostle’s responsibility
  • Conclusion – Paul’s freedom

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Less is more. The only constant is change. The more you know, the more you know you don’t know. You have to spend money to make money. It’s hard making elegance look easy.

Each of these statements describes a paradox. A paradox is a statement or situation that seems contradictory or absurd at first but when investigated proves to be true.

Two weeks ago, we started a new sermon series in First Corinthians, not the whole letter, just one section of it: chapters 8, 9 and 10. We interrupted this series last Sunday for Mothers’ Day. We return to Corinthians again this morning.

In this section of Corinthians, Paul addresses the issue of freedom. How are Christians to use their freedom? Well, for Christians, freedom is somewhat of a paradox. When it comes to freedom, less is more. From First Corinthians chapter 9, verses 1-18 we read…

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord? 2 Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. 3 This is my defence to those who sit in judgment on me. 4 Don’t we have the right to food and drink? 5 Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas? 6 Or is it only I and Barnabas who lack the right to not work for a living? 7 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink the milk? 8 Do I say this merely on human authority? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing?  9 For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it about oxen that God is concerned? 10 Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because whoever ploughs and threshes should be able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. 11 If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? 12 If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ. 13 Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? 14 In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel. 15 But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me, for I would rather die than allow anyone to deprive me of this boast. 16 For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. 18 What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make full use of my rights as a preacher of the gospel.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

There are a few twists and turns in Paul’s thinking here. So that we don’t get too lost, let me summarise…

Some of the Corinthian believers were questioning Paul’s pedigree as an apostle because he refused financial support from them. They figured, we pay the other apostles and preachers who come to visit but we don’t pay Paul, therefore Paul can’t be a real apostle.

In a world that attaches value to money there is this false assumption that if you are a volunteer (and not a paid professional) you are somehow less.

Paul counters this assumption by proving that he is an apostle and as an apostle he has every right to claim support. By the same token he is also free to refuse financial support.

Here in lies the freedom paradox. Less is more. If he accepts his right to payment, Paul loses his freedom as an apostle. But by refusing payment he loses his credibility but preserves his freedom.  

In the process of presenting the freedom paradox, Paul illuminates an apostle’s proof, an apostle’s rights and an apostle’s responsibilities. Let us begin then with an apostle’s proof. How do we know someone is a genuine apostle?

An Apostle’s Proof:

If you ever have the misfortune to call your bank or insurance company on the phone, you will have to prove to them that it’s really you. It’s not enough to give your name, you also need to tell them your date of birth, your address, your last eftpos withdrawal and what you ate for dinner on Wednesday three weeks ago. It’s hard to prove who are sometimes.

As I said before, some in the church at Corinth were questioning whether Paul really was a genuine apostle. So, in the opening two verses of Corinthians 9, Paul gives them his credentials by way of a series of short rhetorical questions. This shows humility on Paul’s part and invites empathy from his readers.

Paul’s first two questions are these: Am I not free? Am I not an apostle?  These two questions go together because what Paul is really talking about here is his apostolic freedom.

The word ‘apostle’ literally translates as ‘sent one’. An apostle is one sent by Jesus, like an ambassador of salvation sent to a foreign land. By definition an apostle is free. Not free to do what they want, but free to go where the Spirit of Jesus sends them. Paul is clear in his own mind that he definitely is an apostle.

Paul’s next question is this: Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?  

An apostle bears witness to the resurrection of Jesus. And so, in the first century, one of the qualifications of apostleship was having seen the risen Jesus with your own eyes. Paul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus and it turned his life around. It transformed his whole outlook.

Not many people these days can claim to have seen the risen Jesus with their own eyes, although we do hear reports of some in the Middle East and Asia who say Jesus has appeared to them. Given the transformation that happens in their lives as a result, we need to take their testimony seriously.

In any case, to be an apostle one must be completely convinced of Jesus’ resurrection and live out of that conviction, as Paul did wholeheartedly.  

After his resurrection, Jesus appeared to 500 people on one occasion. Not all of them though became apostles. Consequently, Paul’s final proof is this: Are you not the result of my work in the Lord?

This is probably Paul’s strongest proof and the hardest one for the Corinthians to refute. They had come to faith in Jesus through Paul’s evangelism and preaching among them. How could Paul have done this if he wasn’t a real apostle?

Indeed, to call Paul’s apostleship into question is to call their own conversion into question. Paul’s intellectual and spiritual leadership is proof that his apostleship is genuine.

The Corinthians are the seal of Paul’s apostleship in the Lord. In ancient times a wax or clay seal guaranteed the authenticity of a document. The presence of the Corinthian church guarantees the authenticity of Paul’s apostleship.

So do we have apostles today? Yes, we do. To say we don’t have apostles implies the risen Jesus has given up on sending ambassadors of salvation to the world, which he hasn’t of course.

In practical terms, we might think of an apostle as someone with special gifts of leadership and preaching, who establishes churches in unreached places.

Paul doesn’t spend too much time proving his apostleship (just two verses), the evidence speaks for itself. Rather strangely, he spends a lot more time talking about an apostle’s rights (12 verses).

An Apostle’s Rights:

The Prime Minister of NZ is entitled to a number of perquisites or benefits.

To start with they are paid close to $500,000 a year. Their official residence while in office is Premier House. They are transported by the Diplomatic Protection Service in a BMW car or by Air NZ or the Air Force.

The Prime Minister and their spouse and children are also entitled to travel allowances and reimbursement for accommodation.

The Prime Minister is given the title ‘Right Honourable’ and retains this title after leaving office. Those Prime Ministers who serve for more than two years get paid an annuity after leaving the role. Usually, they are made a knight or a dame as well and they are entitled to a state funeral.

Most Prime Ministers accept these entitlements and fair enough. It’s a demanding job and they shouldn’t have to pay their own way. There was one Prime Minister though (John Key) who gave up some of his rights by donating his salary to charity.

In verses 4-6 Paul outlines the rights of an apostle to receive food and drink from those they minister to and to take a believing wife along with them, who would also be supported by the church. We are not talking about a Prime Minister’s entitlements here. Just basic food and lodging.

Paul mentions that other apostles (and their wives) receive this kind of support, including Cephas (which is another name for the apostle Peter) and the Lord’s brothers. Apparently, Jesus’ half-brothers became believers after Jesus’ resurrection and had an honoured role in the early church.

Paul and Barnabas, however, chose to pay their own way. They supported themselves by working with their hands to make ends meet, then preaching and evangelizing whenever they could. Paul was a tent maker. He worked with leather (sort of like Suzy from the repair shop).

Paul came from a Jewish background, where rabbis worked at a trade and refused to be paid for teaching the Torah. For the rabbis, using the Torah to make money was like using something sacred as a spade. They wouldn’t do it.

But for the Corinthians, who had a Greek influenced background, the idea of a teacher or philosopher working with their hands was absurd, it was a contradiction. Philosophers were supposed to have lots of free time to think.

How can you think properly if you are laying bricks or sewing tents all day?

This may be why the Corinthians questioned Paul’s apostleship.              

Paul then proceeds to provide a series of justifications for why apostles (like himself) have a right to be provided for. Soldiers, vintners, shepherds, temple workers all get fed on the job. Even oxen get to eat the grain as they work.

How much more right does Paul have to be fed. He was the very first apostle to bring the gospel to them.  

As usual, Paul saves his best argument to last saying in verse 14: In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.

Paul is referring to Luke 10, verse 7, where (in the context of sending out some disciples on a short-term mission trip) Jesus says: Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages.

Boom. There you have it. Mic drop. Paul is entitled to financial support from the Corinthians and yet he declines this support. Why?

Well, rights come with responsibilities, something once known as duty.

Rights and responsibilities are two sides of the same coin. The more rights you claim, the greater your responsibility and the greater your responsibility the less free you are. It’s the freedom paradox you see.    

An Apostle’s Responsibilities:

Imagine a future in which you are a scientist and you discover a way to make engines run on water. The great thing about your discovery is that it doesn’t use up water in the environment, it recycles water without causing pollution.

Your discovery means that fossil fuels are no longer needed. The potential benefits for the world’s ecosystems are manifold, reducing humankind’s carbon footprint and saving the planet from ecological disaster.

You now have a choice. You could, by rights, sell your intellectual property for an enormous amount and make a lot of money so that you never had to work again. But that would hinder the roll out of your discovery and millions of the world’s poor would pay the price in the meantime.

Alternatively, you could post your research online, making it freely available to any and all to reproduce. You would still need to work for a living but you would also remove any hindrance to the redemption of the environment and save millions of lives.

It’s a choice between the money or the environment. You can claim your rights by taking the money or you can give up your rights and save the environment from the tipping point of climate change. What would you do?

The apostle Paul did not discover the secrets of the water engine, but by God’s grace, he did discover the key to eternal life when he encountered the risen Christ. And from that point on he chose to make Jesus freely known to as many people as he could.    

After going to great lengths to show he is entitled to the right of support from the Corinthians, Paul then says (in verse 12), But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.

This phrase about not hindering the gospel is key. Paul wants to avoid anything which might prevent a clear road for the advance of the gospel. How then does accepting support hinder the gospel?

Probably the main reason Paul doesn’t want to accept support from the Corinthians is that he would lose his apostolic freedom. As an apostle, Paul needs to be free to go wherever Jesus sends him.

If he is on the Corinthians’ payroll then he has a greater obligation to the Corinthian church. He would get sucked into doing a lot of admin for them and he wouldn’t be free to preach to other unreached people groups. Also, he would not be as free to correct the Corinthians when they got out of line.

In verse 16 Paul says he is compelled to preach the gospel. In other words, he doesn’t have a choice. For Paul, preaching the gospel is compulsory. He has been commissioned by Jesus to do it.

He does have a choice however in whether he charges for his services and, as we read in verse 18, Paul chooses to offer the gospel free of charge and so not make full use of his rights as a preacher.

Paul’s pay is to receive no pay, thus preserving his apostolic freedom. This is the freedom paradox. Less is more. Claiming less rights allows Paul more freedom.

I know what some of you are thinking. If Paul didn’t accept payment for his work as an apostle, why don’t I do as Paul did? Why don’t I preach for nothing? Well, I’m not an apostle. I don’t have Paul’s gifts or energy. Besides, preaching is not the only thing I do for the church.

We need to ask the right question. Not the superficial question. The deeper question. The question is not, should we pay people to do Christian ministry? The question is, what will remove any hindrance to the gospel? Or said more positively, what will make the gospel more accessible to others?

If I worked fulltime as an accountant or a business analyst or a teacher or a movie star, I would earn more money, but I would be less free to give myself to preaching the gospel.          

Now please understand, there’s nothing wrong with secular employment.

The world needs Christians to be salt and light for Jesus in the workplace. Accounting and teaching and plumbing are no less sacred than church work.

If I could do both, I would. But if God compels you to preach (like Paul) then you have to give yourself to the gospel.   

For Paul it was all about the gospel. Although he would not accept support for himself, he did ask for money to help other churches in need, and he did ask for travelling expenses for his mission work. Why? Because this promoted the gospel and preserved his freedom.

Paul’s example warns us to avoid self-interest. We don’t want to be like some TV evangelists from the 80’s who always had their hands out for money. It is not right to use the gospel like a spade to dig for cash, taking advantage of the sick and the old. That sort of thing is a hindrance to the gospel. As Bono said, ‘The God I believe in isn’t short of cash’.

Nevertheless, there is still a price to pay in making the gospel accessible to others.

A question for you personally to consider, what are you compelled to do for the gospel? Not everyone is compelled to preach. Not everyone has the same gifts or calling. What are you compelled to do for the gospel?  Maybe you are already doing it. Maybe you are yet to discover it? Don’t look back with regret. Look forward in hope.  

Conclusion:

In thinking about Paul’s freedom paradox, I’m reminded of another paradox. We might call it the life paradox. In Luke 17, verse 33, Jesus says: Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.

Let us pray…

Lord Jesus, thank you for the freedom we enjoy. Help us to spend our freedom responsibly in service to your gospel purpose. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. What is an apostle? How do we know someone is a genuine apostle? Can you think of any apostles in recent history?
  3. Why do some in the Corinthian church question Paul’s pedigree as an apostle? How do you think this made Paul feel? How does Paul respond?
  4. Why does Paul give up his right to financial support? What is the cost to Paul of doing this? What does Paul gain by giving up his right to support?
  5. What would you do if you discovered how to make an engine run on water? Take the money or give your research away to save the environment? Why?
  6. What are you compelled to do for the gospel? 
  7. What sorts of things today are a hindrance to the spread of the gospel? What will make the gospel more accessible to others?
Tawa Baptist

Hinge

Scripture: Mark 8:27-38

Video Link: https://youtu.be/D8Rd-gYujQI

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Identity
  • Paradox
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Today we start with a crossword. The word we are looking for has five letters. And to make it easy for you, I have provided several clues: elbow, depend, joint, pivot, axis and connect. Any guesses? [Wait]

Yes, that’s right. The answer is hinge.

A hinge is a pivot point. Movement and change hangs on the hinge. Hinges allow doors to open. From time to time, we face hinge moments in our lives. Times of decision when it feels like we are about to break through some barrier or turn a corner. Hinge moments are often accompanied by an epiphany, an ‘aha’ moment, when the penny drops and a connection is made in our minds.

This Sunday’s lectionary reading focuses on Mark 8, verses 27-38. Chapter 8 is a hinge passage in Mark’s gospel. It comes in the centre of the book of Mark and describes a significant turning point in Jesus’ ministry.

It is also a hinge moment for Peter and the other disciples as they become aware of who Jesus is, what he came to do and what it means for them.

From Mark 8, verse 27 we read…

27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” 28 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” 29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.” 30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him. 31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” 34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their lifewill lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

Identity:

Time for another crossword. This word has 8 letters. Here’s a few other words to serve as clues: name, signature, self, family, whakapapa and fingerprint. What do you reckon? [Wait] That’s right, identity.

At the core of Mark’s gospel, we read about Jesus’ true identity. The revelation of Jesus’ identity is a hinge moment for the disciples. Understandably, it proves too much for them to take in all at once.

In verse 27 of Mark 8 we read that Jesus and his disciples went to the villages near the city of Caesarea Philippi. This was north of the Sea of Galilee, near the source of the Jordan River.

At the time of Jesus, Caesarea Philippi was a centre of emperor worship.

Before that the city had been a centre of worship for Pan, the Greek god of nature. And before that it had been a site of Baal worship. [1]

Now you would think this was a most unlikely location for Jesus to reveal his true identity, like hearing God speak to you at a Metallica concert, or in a shopping mall. Totally unexpected. But that is why Jesus came. To topple the idols in our hearts.

Whales communicate by a technique called echo-location. They can’t see all that well under water, so they make high pitched sounds measuring how long it takes for the sound to bounce back to them. The longer it takes for the sound to come back the further away the object.  

Jesus uses a bit of echo-location with the disciples on this occasion. Jesus doesn’t come straight out with it saying, “Guess what guys – I’m the Messiah”. No, he gently questions the disciples to sound out how far they are from understanding who he really is.

In an area which is renowned for its worship of false gods Jesus says to his followers, “Who do people say I am?” And they reply, “Some say you are John the Baptist, others say that you are Elijah, while others say that you are one of the prophets.”

This tells us most people didn’t yet perceive who Jesus really was. Yes, they had a vague idea that Jesus was a messenger from God but their vision of Jesus was still blurry. Most people thought of Jesus as a forerunner to the Messiah.

So Jesus asks his disciples another echo-location question. “What about you? Who do you say I am? This is more specific, more personal. Peter replies, “You are the Messiah”

The word ‘Messiah’ is a Hebrew word which literally means ‘anointed one’.

The Greek equivalent is ‘Christ’. Messiah and Christ mean the same thing.

In Old Testament times, when God wanted to identify someone to be king he would have one of his prophets anoint the chosen one by pouring oil on his head.

The words ‘Messiah’ and ‘Christ’ are not surnames for Jesus; they are titles.

To call Jesus, ‘Messiah’, was like calling him King, a rival to Caesar. This title was politically explosive, a treasonable offence.  

Verse 30 tells us that Jesus ordered his disciples not to tell anyone about him. The Jews thought the Messiah would be a military leader (like king David) who would destroy Israel’s enemies. If word got out that Jesus was a king like David, violence might follow. So Jesus orders his disciples to remain silent about his true identity. Jesus didn’t come to take life; he came to give life.  

In the verses just before today’s reading, Jesus heals a man who was blind. First Jesus takes the man outside the village, away from the crowd. Then he put spit on the man’s eyes, laid his hands on him and asked, ‘Do you see anything?’

The man looked up and said, ‘I see people; they look like trees walking around’. The man had some sight, but the healing wasn’t complete. So Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes once more and this time his sight was fully restored so he could see everything clearly.

This miracle of sight came in stages. It serves as an acted-out parable for the disciples and for us. Jesus wants to open the eyes of his disciples so they will see who he is and what he came to do. But, like the blind man, they don’t see fully or clearly at first. Their vision of Jesus comes into focus in stages.

Peter had correctly confessed that Jesus is the Messiah. That was true but there was more to it than Peter imagined. Peter could only see the crescent.

He couldn’t see the whole of the moon.

The disciples (for whom Peter was the spokesman) were under the common misconception that the Messiah would spill their enemies’ blood. But Jesus’ blood was the only blood to be spilled.

From verse 31 we read how Jesus began to teach his disciples that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.

There’s quite a bit going on here. Firstly, Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man. This is Jesus’ preferred title. Son of Man can simply mean, an ordinary human being. But, in this context, it more likely refers to a vision the prophet Daniel had centuries before, during the Babylonian exile.

In Daniel chapter 7 we read…

13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

The Son of Man figure in Daniel 7 is one who endures great trial and suffering, but who emerges victorious in the end. This concept of suffering first, then glory later, is the picture Jesus wants his disciples to see.

The thought of a dead Messiah is anathema to Peter and the other disciples. They cannot imagine such a thing. How can you win by losing? How can you save us from our enemies if you are killed? How can you be from God if the religious leaders reject you? It doesn’t make sense.

But Jesus insists it must happen this way. This is part of God’s plan. There is no plan B. With the benefit of hindsight, we can see how passages from the Old Testament, like Isaiah 53, were plainly talking about the suffering and vindication of God’s servant, the Messiah.

But the disciples (in Mark 8) didn’t have the benefit of hindsight. They only saw the crescent. Jesus saw the whole of the moon. Jesus’ picture of a suffering Messiah destroys Israel’s hopes. And without hope, what do they have? Well, false hope is no hope at all. It is kinder in the long run for Jesus to be truthful.

And yet there is hope in these verses. For beyond suffering and death there is resurrection. Did the disciples catch that part? Maybe not. 

When Peter takes Jesus aside to rebuke him, Jesus rebukes Peter saying…

“Get behind me Satan. You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Ouch! That must have stung. What’s happening here? Well, the devil is using Peter to create a moment of temptation for Jesus. But this is not Jesus’ first rodeo. He sees through it.   

Mark’s gospel highlights three times when Jesus was sorely tempted. The first is at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Immediately after his baptism the Spirit sends Jesus into the wilderness where he is tempted by Satan.

The second is in today’s reading when Satan tempts Jesus through a friend.

And the third instance comes near the end, when Jesus wrestles in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Father, not my will, but your will be done.

The temptation to avoid the cross was very real for Jesus, which is why he rebukes Peter as strongly as he does. Jesus cannot afford to allow his disciples (or anyone else) to define Messiahship. It is for God to define the identity of the Messiah. Jesus must stick to the straight and narrow way God has chosen. 

Although Peter wears the brunt of the rebuke, he was only saying what everyone else was thinking. Jesus may have been talking to Peter, but he was looking at the other disciples as he spoke. They (and we) have all had our thinking distorted by the devil.

We must not miss Jesus’ grace though. Jesus is not telling Peter to get lost. Jesus is not rejecting Peter outright. Rather, Jesus is telling Peter, ‘Follow me’. Stop trying to lead me. Stop trying to manage me. Stop trying to set the agenda for me. Get behind me as my disciple. I need your support not your opposition.

Paradox:

One more crossword. You might find this a bit harder. This word has seven letters and the clues are: contradiction, puzzle, mystery, catch-22 and conflict. What do you think? [Wait] That’s right: paradox.

A paradox is a contradictory statement that proves to be true. For example, you have to leave home to find home. When I am weak, then I am strong. Less is more. Go slow and you’ll finish sooner. There’s no success like failure. And infinite possibility leaves you with no choice.

Perhaps the greatest paradox is life itself. As Jesus says in John 12…

Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

In verse 34 of Mark 8, near the centre of the gospel, Jesus says… 

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me…”

Again, we don’t really appreciate how shocking this would have been for people in Jesus’ day. For Jesus’ first century audience, carrying your cross wasn’t a metaphor for putting up with a difficult person or living with a chronic illness. Carrying your cross meant being treated like an outlaw, a criminal of the worst kind.

Carrying your cross was like digging your own grave. To carry your cross was to go to your own execution in the most humiliating and painful way imaginable.

It involves looking like the bad guy in the eyes of others, even though you have done the right thing.

To deny yourself does not mean pretending to be something you are not.

Self-denial, in this context, means putting aside what you want in order to do what Jesus asks of you. Denial of self involves the obedience of faith.

Being a disciple of Jesus means following Jesus’ example. We see Jesus’ integrity here. Jesus does not ask us to do anything he has not already done himself.  

In verse 35, Jesus gives us the paradox of salvation in a nutshell…

For whoever wants to save their lifewill lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.

The word translated as life, in verse 35, is psyche in the original Greek, from which we get the word psychology. Psyche is the Greek word for soul.

Your soul is your life force but it’s also your mind and personality. Your soul is the essence of who you are, deep down. It’s your true identity. 

Perhaps, among other things, Jesus is saying: you can only find your true self in me. You won’t find your self by pursuing a high-flying career or becoming the world’s best at something. You won’t find your self through fame or fortune or pleasure or good deeds or anything else this world might offer. We are defined by God and so we find our soul (our true self) in and through Christ.

With these words of Jesus, we find ourselves on the cusp of mystery.

The meaning is elusive. The paradox of life (and salvation) is like a rainbow.

A rainbow is meant to be enjoyed from a distance. If you try to understand a rainbow by getting close, it will keep evading you.

The full meaning of Jesus’ words cannot be grasped this side of eternity.

What we do know is there is no rainbow without the rain. There is no glory without suffering. There is no hope without waiting.    

We see the paradox of salvation worked out in the events of Easter. Jesus died on the cross in obedience to God’s will and God raised Jesus to eternal life on the third day. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection millions are saved and find eternal life. This is a wonder, beyond our comprehension.

In verses 36 and 37, Jesus says:  36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?

The word translated as soul is psyche in the original Greek, the same word translated as life in verse 35. You are not just a collection of chemicals. By God’s grace you are a living soul. There is a value to your life and soul which cannot be measured. You are priceless.

Today’s lectionary reading finishes with Jesus saying: “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

Jesus is calling for loyalty here. Mark’s gospel was written for the early church and the early church was a persecuted church. Christians were being brought before the authorities and faced with a brutal choice. Renounce Jesus or die.

Jesus is saying it is better in the long run to remain loyal to him, even if that means being killed. If we share in Jesus’ suffering, we will also share in his glory. Some Christians around the world today still suffer violence for their faith. I imagine these words of Jesus carry real weight for them.

Although the church in New Zealand is not persecuted like the church of the first century, Christianity generally has fallen out of favour in this country.

We have witnessed a gradual erosion of trust between church and society.

Also an erosion of basic Biblical knowledge. Wisdom is called for.

We want to live in respectful relationship with others in our society, without compromising our loyalty to Christ. We need to conduct ourselves in a way that honours the name of Jesus.

We must face the reality that some people will respect our faith and others will view us with contempt, irrespective of what we do. We cannot control what other people think or feel. But, with the Spirit’s help, we can follow Jesus’ example of being gracious and true.

Conclusion:

Jesus’ words in our reading today are incredibly challenging. The spiritual equivalent of trying to climb K2. We cannot follow Jesus in our own strength. Peter tried and ended up denying Jesus three times. But the Lord restored Peter and Peter went on to remain loyal to Jesus, even unto death.

How you finish matters more than how you start, but you still need to start.

If you are feeling inadequate to accept the call of Christ, then you are not alone. Take courage. God has a way of giving you what you need when you need it. We walk by faith, not by sight. If you fall or fail, do not give up.

Take a breath, seek forgiveness and carry on. Your soul is more valuable than you think. God’s grace is sufficient for you.

May goodness and mercy follow you all the days of your life and may you dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Amen. 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. Can you think of a hinge moment in your life and faith? What happened? How did you feel?
  3. Why did Jesus prefer the title ‘Son of Man’, rather than ‘Messiah’? What is the difference?
  4. Why does Jesus rebuke Peter saying, ‘Get behind me Satan’?
  5. Discuss / reflect on verses 34-38 of Mark 8. How would people in the first century have understood Jesus’ words? How do you understand these verses? What are the implications for us today?
  6. Who do you say Jesus is?

[1] Ben Witherington, ‘The Gospel of Mark’, page 240.