Printer Friendly VersionMatthew 16:21-28, Exodus 3:1-15, Romans 12:9-21
A member of our church recently lost his Mother-in-Law to cancer.
I remember his phone call describing his last moments with her as she lay
dying on her bed. He could not get over what he called the, “beauty,”
of her death. As she lay there she continued to offer him and her daughter
the comfort that she could see they needed so desperately. She would reassure
them of her confidence in Jesus Christ to accept her into His Kingdom. And
at one point she said to them, “I have to go now, He’s come for
me. Don’t worry, I love you and I’ll see you soon.”
My friend told me it was the most spiritual experience he has
ever witnessed in his life. He never knew that the process of death could
bring such a wonderful sense of peace. Seeing her death made his life worth
living. Who would have ever thought death could make life worth living?
Jesus
Read Matthew 16:21-28…
It's late in the earthly life of our Lord and he is literally
staring death in the face. And when death is at the door there is no time
to mix words. So, "Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly..."
(v.21) It’s as if he is saying, “Men, there is no more time. I will
be turned over to the enemy soon and there’s something I need for all
of you to fully understand!” “If any of you wants to be my follower,
you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow
me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you
give up your life for me, you will find true life.” (v.24-25)
The real call to the Christian way of life, to being, as Bill Hybels puts
it, "A fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ,” is death to our
way of life.
One question may be, “What does death mean from God's perspective?”
To which our Lord responds “You are seeing things merely
from a human point of view, and not from God’s." (v.23b) Death from
God’s perspective means LIFE! It’s what some church traditions refer
to as, “dying to ourselves…living for Christ and not for ourselves.”
It’s the sacrificial life described to us in the epistle lesson from
Romans..."A Living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God..." (12:1)
What the disciple's in Matthew’s gospel didn't yet know
was that the Kingdom of God had come to them in the person of Jesus Christ
and that its full consummation was seen in his death and resurrection. And
his Kingdom will continue to "come...on earth as it is in heaven"
through his disciples who continue to die to our own lives so that the life
of Jesus Christ can have its full expression in us!
Is "DEATH" WORTH LIVING? You bet! In fact, it's the
only way to live!
The question is what does this “death worth living”
look like?Communication:
This kind of life was described for us earlier in the reading of the Romans
passage and I’ll paraphrase from Eugene Peterson’s, The Message.
Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run
for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who
love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.
Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants
of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all
the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.
Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with
your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re
down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with
nobodies; don’t be the great somebody.
Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve
got it in you, get along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even;
that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says
God. “I’ll take care of it.”
Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go
buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity
will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you;
get the best of evil by doing good.
Jesus knew in the gospel and the Apostle Paul knew in the epistle
that death is worth living, but not necessarily an easy thing to do.
So, where are you in this process of participating in your own
death so that the life of Christ can be formed in you?
Perhaps the story of a real man like Moses can help real men
and women like me and you. If you recall from Exodus 3 God is calling Moses
to lead His people out of the bondage of slavery into “a land flowing
with milk and honey.” (v. 8b) Moses is not nearly as eager to do this
as God is to have him do this! “But who am I to appear before Pharaoh?”
Moses asked God. “How can you expect a man like me to lead the Israelites
out of Egypt?” (v. 11) When you think about Moses’ life, it’s
a fair question, but here’s the key.
In the context of the story, Moses, a "Prince of Egypt,"
flees the only life he knows, a life of rulership and royalty," (Ex.
2:11-25) and eventually is "forced, (as the result of being a felon),
to take up residence with the Hebrew people whom he had only known as slaves.
(Midians)
Now this isn't just a mere step down for Moses nor can we make it more palatable by saying that he had to swallow his pride! If he had remained in Midian, maybe, but God had more in mind. Moses would be called to Egypt to free those whom he had formerly enslaved. And to do that Moses would have to die, die forever to the life he once knew as prince and become a "slave," a bond servant of God. His death to himself made his life worth living. Is "DEATH" WORTH LIVING? You bet! In fact, it's the only way to live!
The invitation to us today is…Come, and “die.”
Amen.
At this point the congregation would be invited to the celebration of the Sacrament of Holy Communion.
