Follow 25 Celebration Sunday

Well, good morning, everyone.

The year, as we've already heard a bit this morning,

you probably remember yourself, 2020 was the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19.

!

We had a limit of five and funerals a limit of 10 people.

Only five days after that, the first general public lockdown happened here in New South Wales.

It was so rapid, unprecedented times.

All of our habits and behaviours were shifted dramatically.

We had to think every time before we moved outside.

In fact, from that general public lockdown on the 31st of March 2020,

we experienced the constant process of restrictions being eased,

only to be tightened again until the 25th of June 2021,

when the Delta variant of COVID caused Sydney to go into strict lockdowns once again.

And this hard lockdown stayed in force until the 11th of October 2021,

when the New South Wales government allowed us to take off our pyjamas and venture out once again.

And we started to regather for Sunday services like this in November 2021.

That was basically the end of the first year of follow 25.

We regathered like this, but with ongoing restrictions until the end of 2021.

I think it's hard to reflect on follow 25 without factoring in COVID as an issue.

Because even from the process of regathering, it was 18 months after that, well into 2022,

before an element of a new normality started to settle in amongst us.

COVID-19 cast a very big shadow over,

not just the early days of follow 25, but the planning leading up to it.

It was a pandemic that had a profound impact on society.

As we know now, things like anxiety and mental health issues went through the roof.

During lockdowns, issues of alcohol abuse and domestic violence climbed dramatically.

And so the issue, people argue nowadays that the COVID-19 pandemic

sped up the issues of anxiety and mental health in our society by 10 years,

sped it up so fast.

Of course, what it also did was it had a profound impact on churches.

Early thinking of the COVID-19 pandemic was that it estimated that the pandemic sped up

the great de-churching of the West by at least 10 years as well,

where church attendance rapidly declined.

And the longer we stayed online, the less people were tuning in.

So what COVID-19 did was expose for the church in the West,

something that some of the greats had been saying for many years,

and that there was a shallowness to discipleship,

to following Jesus in Western Christianity.

For too long, the focus of churches had been, in fact,

growing church attendance on programs and buildings,

but in fact not on intentionally forming disciples of the Lord Jesus

who would multiply themselves as forming other disciples of the Lord Jesus.

And so COVID-19 was the wake-up call that we needed,

if we were willing to be woken up,

to push follow Jesus in all of life back into the focus for the church like ours.

And it was the context that produced follow 25,

and the key objective to see the majority of us grow in faith in the Lord Jesus.

And so this morning, what we're doing is we're going to go back

to see what it is to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ,

where we started, in fact, in follow 25 and Mark 8.

So get Mark 8 open for us there.

And I've got, this is where we're headed today in these points.

It's also in the St. Paul's app if you want to follow along in there.

The word disciple, not uniquely Christian word,

it was in fact common in Greek and both the Greek and Roman empires.

It's a word that literally means a student, learner.

In Jewish context, the context of Jesus,

is that there was a saying that says that a disciple

should become dusty with the dust of their rabbi.

That is, we should follow their rabbi so closely

that they would be covered in the dust that the rabbi stirred up

by their feet as they walked.

That is, the idea was that you would follow them in all of life

and reflect them in all of life,

that as they were dirty, so you became dirty with their dust.

And it's in this context that Jesus calls disciples

to leave everything to come follow him.

And Mark tells us why.

Why would they do that?

You see, the crucial question here

is the question of who is Jesus.

Jesus says that.

Well, you know, who do people say I am?

What's the general consensus?

Jesus says that.

Jesus says that.

And the views are many throughout history.

You see, Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the Christ,

is undoubtedly the most popular, recognizable,

the most quoted, the most admired,

the most controversial figure in all of history

and human society.

No other person has been more scrutinized and studied.

Entire philosophies and religions have been founded on his teaching.

No more books, sorry, more books have been written about him

than any other person in human history.

Every day his name is spoken by more people

from affectionate admiration to absent-minded curses

right through to denouncements.

No teaching has ever been more exploited and used than that of Jesus.

Politicians grab one of his quotable quotes

in order to prop up their political platform.

It might be to honor him as one of God's prophets

or simply as an enlightened man.

It might be to reject him as a fraud,

to hail him as the king of kings and the saviour of the world.

No person is more misunderstood,

marginalized, commercialized than the person of Jesus.

He's viewed as a stern taskmaster

or as a moral jellyfish,

just willing to hand out forgiveness

and turn the blind eye to anyone

who might pray a simple shallow prayer of confession

only to go on the next moment living life

devoid of his presence.

In other words, the point is that if you get the person

of Jesus wrong,

you get Christianity entirely wrong.

Entirely wrong.

Who he is and what he did

are the crucial questions

because it defines what does it mean to follow him.

And Mark is one of those biographies of Jesus

that he wants to make sure that we're not vague

about the answers to those questions.

Who he is, what he's done

and what does it mean to follow him.

In verse 29, Peter answers the big question

of the identity of Jesus.

He says Jesus is the Messiah.

He's the Christ.

He's using a word that literally means

you are the anointed one.

The anointed one.

You're the Messiah.

You are the Christ,

which means you are the greatest king.

You are the king to end all kings.

You're the ruler to end all rulers.

And you're the king.

Using the word Messiah means that you will come

to defeat evil.

And Jesus accepts the title.

He does not rebuke Peter at all.

And that has massive implications

for all of humanity.

Because Peter is using a title

that has implications for every single human being.

It's a title which means that Jesus

is not calling people here to be curious onlookers.

He's not even calling people to be converts.

He's calling them to be disciples.

Followers.

Followers.

Fully committed followers

to the Christ.

The king to end all kings.

The ruler of all rulers.

And the word Christian,

the word disciple,

the word follower of Jesus,

whatever you want to use,

are interchangeable words

which really describe

a relationship with Jesus

that is a lifelong,

all of life journey

where you follow,

where you are getting dusty

with the dust

of the Christ.

The ruler of all.

That's a Christian.

But then he,

Jesus throws a little bit more light

on what it means to be,

what it means for him to be the Christ

and implications for us who follow it.

So verse 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 then he must be killed

and after three days rise again.

He spoke plainly about this

and Peter took him aside

and began to rebuke him.

He says,

the son of man

must suffer.

So,

he accepts the title

of the anointed one

and now he refers to himself

as the son of man.

As I said last week,

the son of man

is a divine figure

mentioned hundreds of years earlier

in the book of Daniel chapter 7.

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

And this son of man

comes with authority,

all the authority of God

to put everything right

in a world,

in God's world

that has gone horribly wrong

because of sin.

And Jesus refers to himself

as that one.

But,

the idea

of the son of man's suffering

makes absolutely

no sense

whatsoever

to these Jewish lads

following Jesus

in this moment.

You see,

the Messiah,

the son of man

was meant to defeat

evil and injustice

and make everything wrong,

everything right

that's wrong in the world.

How on earth

could the Messiah,

the son of man

do that

by suffering?

But Jesus

is emphatic.

He is

planning

to die.

It's a planned

and a voluntary

act.

You see,

it's one thing

for Jesus to say,

listen guys,

I'm here,

I'm going to fight evil.

And,

you know,

but in the end

I will die,

I will be defeated.

It's another thing

entirely

for them to say,

in actual fact,

death is the reason

I came

to live.

And none of this

makes sense

to Peter at all.

At all.

You see,

from an early age

when he could crawl,

he was told

that the Messiah

would come

and defeat

evil and

injustice

and he would

ascend the throne

in Jerusalem

and reestablish

the nation

of Israel,

God's people.

people.

And Jesus

says,

I am the Messiah.

Peter said it

with his own mouth,

I am the Messiah.

I am the

Son of Man

but I've come

to die

not to

live

and reign.

I've come

to lose

power

not gain it.

I've come

to serve

not to

be served.

And so

Peter in this

moment

condemns

Jesus

in the

strongest

possible

terms.

The

strongest

possible

terms.

And Jesus

rebukes him.

You see,

Jesus is emphatic.

I must

suffer.

And the

word must

there

controls

the

entire

sentence.

I must

suffer.

I must

be rejected.

I must

be killed.

And I

must be

resurrected.

And all

of those

musts

have to

happen

for humanity

to be

saved

and for

the world

to be

renewed.

For justice

to be

served,

Jesus

must

suffer.

He

must

suffer.

You see,

when

someone

wrongs

us

in any

category

of life,

what happens

in that

moment is

a debt

is

established.

For

instance,

if you

grab my

phone and

you break

my phone

or you

steal my

phone,

a debt

has been

established.

Imagine you

break it,

you tread on

it,

although

apparently

it's not

meant to

break.

So we'll

see.

Hopefully

not.

There are

really only

two options

in that

moment.

Either you

pay to

repair or

to replace

my phone

or I

say to

you,

don't worry

about it,

I forgive

you.

They're the

only two

options.

in the

first case,

you pay

the debt.

You

either get

my phone

repaired or

you replace

it,

you've got

to open

up your

wallet or

your key

card and

you've got

to pay

for it.

In other

words,

and in the

second case,

I pay for

the debt.

That is,

the value

of that

phone doesn't

just disappear

into the

ether

somewhere.

The value

of the

phone is

still there

and someone

has to pay

for it.

And if I

choose to

forgive you

that debt,

then I

have to

pay the

debt.

I either

pay the

repairs on

the phone

or I pay

for a new

phone or

I go back

to paper

and pen

and landline

or pigeons

or whatever.

In other

words,

I absorb

the debt

in some

way and

I have

to pay

for it

if I

forgive you.

And that

happens on

every level

in society.

If someone

robs us

of an

opportunity

of happiness

or reputation

or in

some,

a debt

is accrued

at that

point.

A relational

debt is

accrued.

And there's

only two

choices.

You can

make the

other person

pay by

destroying

their

opportunities

and ruining

their

reputation.

That is,

you can

hope that

they suffer

or you

can ensure

that they

do.

And in

that moment,

as I said

last week,

evil wins.

it's

fighting fire

with fire.

And when

you fight

fire with

fire,

one debt

creates

another debt

which creates

another debt

which creates

another debt

and it

goes on

and evil

wins.

And the

only

alternative

in that

moment

instead of

fighting fire

with fire

is to

forgive.

forgive.

But

forgiveness

is so

hard.

It's in

fact the

harder way.

It's

absolute

agony

because

forgiveness

means I

choose to

absorb the

debt

that you

have against

me.

It means

not trying

to get my

reputation

back by

tearing down

your reputation

even subtly

sharing prayer

points.

Lord we want

to pray for

this person

who's wrong

to me.

Did I mention

them by name

by the way

so that you

all know?

True

forgiveness

always

requires

suffering.

Debt

never just

vanishes.

And that's

why Jesus

says here

I

must

suffer.

The

only way

that the

son of

man can

defeat

evil

and

maintain

justice.

The

only way

that God

can forgive

us is

if he

was to

absorb the

debt

himself

and pay

for it

himself.

The

alternative

is he

obliterates

humanity.

It's

either

humanity

pays the

debt for

its sin

of rejecting

God their

creator

by

suffering

under

the

justice

of

God.

You

reject

the

author

of

life

and

so you

die

eternal

life.

Or

God

chooses to

forgive

sin

in which

means he

pays for

it.

Jesus

must suffer.

He

must go

to the

cross

and he

must

die.

And so

we have

this

remarkable

moment

here.

Jesus

is the

Christ.

He

is the

king to

end all

kings.

He is

the ruler

and deserves

our allegiance.

He deserves

us to

follow him.

He has the

authority to

command it.

But he's

the king

that we

could never

possibly

imagine.

He's the

king who

must die

because he

chooses to

forgive.

You see,

as the

Christ with

all authority,

Jesus can

demand us

to follow

him, but

it's the

Christ who

chooses to

suffer for

us out of

love in

order to

forgive us,

that compels

us to

follow him.

But he

doesn't just

stop there

because as

he walks

this journey

and our

role as

followers of

him is to

get dust,

dust,

let's just

keep reading

verse 34,

for 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.

Whoever

wants to

save their

life will

lose it,

but whoever

loses their

life for me

and for the

gospel will

save it.

What good

is it for

someone to

gain the

whole world

and yet

forfeit

their soul?

Or what

can anyone

give in

exchange for

their soul?

Now what

does it

mean to

lose our

life for

the gospel

in order

to save

it?

The word

translated

life there

in verse

35 is a

word that

literally stems

from the

original word

ego.

It means

your identity,

it means

your personality,

it means

your sense

of selfhood.

Ah.

It means

the things

that make

you

distinctively

you,

what you

have built

your life

on.

In other

words,

what Jesus

is saying

here in

a roundabout

kind of

way is

he's saying

don't build

your identity

on gaining

the whole

world for

yourself.

He says

in verse

36,

what good

is it

for someone

to gain

the whole

world

and yet

forfeit

their soul

or forfeit

their very

self.

Now

every

culture,

no matter

what culture

we come

from,

says that

if you

gain certain

things in

life,

if you

acquire

them or

you achieve

them,

then you

will have

a strong

sense of

identity of

who you

are and

you'll know

at that

moment that

you are

valuable,

that you

are worthy

and then

you'll have

rest.

Traditional

cultures would

say that

you have

no sense

of self

unless you

gain the

respectability

and legacy

of family

and children.

Individualistic

cultures say

things like

you're nobody

unless you

have a

fulfilling

career that

brings you

reputation,

money,

status,

that kind

of stuff.

Either way,

it doesn't

matter what

culture you

come from,

all cultures

of this

world basically

say the

same thing.

Who you

are as a

person,

your identity,

your sense

of who you

are is

based on

your performance.

In one way

or another,

it's based on

your performance.

It's based on

what you've

achieved.

If you

perform well

enough in

conforming to

your culture,

then you

will find the

love and the

approval and

the acceptance

that you so

desperately need.

And what

Jesus says here

is if you

gain the

entire world,

you do it

better than

anyone else,

it won't be

enough because

you will lose.

the more

you try to

gain,

the more

you will lose

your sense

of self.

It's not

without a

certain sense

of irony

that one of

the things

that COVID-19

brought out

for us,

particularly in

lockdowns in

the Western

world,

a growing

sense of

mental health,

an actual

pandemic of

mental health.

Why?

One of the

core foundational

values of

Western

civilisation is

personal

freedom.

And a whole

generation have

been grown up

through schools.

You can be

whoever you

want, you

can do

whatever you

want.

That is until

the government

says I can't

leave home.

My core

value of my

identity has

been rocked.

by not

being able to

even leave

my home.

You can

gain the

whole world,

it won't be

enough.

If we build

our identity

on a

relationship

or a

career

or whatever

it might be,

what happens

when something

goes wrong

with that

thing?

Our sense

of self

is rocked.

I don't

just lose

a job,

I lose

part of

myself.

And so

what Jesus

says here is

I'm not

come to

convince you

to shift

from one

performance-based

identity to

another

performance-based

identity.

He wants

us to

lose our

old self,

the old

identity,

and base

our sense

of approval

and worth,

our value,

on the

identity

that only

He can

give us.

Notice it

there in

verse 35.

For whoever

wants to save

their life will

lose it,

and here's the

alternative.

But whoever

loses their

life for me

and for the

gospel will

save it.

In other

words,

whoever

surrenders

their life

to me,

whoever

hands over

themselves to

me,

and the

gospel will

save it.

When our

life is lost

in the

gospel,

we save it.

And the

gospel,

if you're new

here,

or even if

you're not,

let me remind

you again,

it is the

foundation of

what we believe

here at

St. Paul's.

It is the

heart of

Christianity and

the Christian

discipleship.

You don't

ever move

beyond the

gospel.

The gospel is

not something

we do,

it is something

God has done

for us in

Jesus.

It is God's

grace to us

from beginning

to end.

We believe

and receive

and we live

as followers

of Jesus

in the light

of the

gospel.

And the

gospel is

the good

news that

Jesus Christ,

the Son of

God,

died for

our sins

and he

rose again

eternally

triumphant

over all

of his

enemies,

evil,

sin,

death,

in such

a way

that there

is now

no condemnation,

not even

a skerrick

of condemnation

for anyone

who puts

their trust

in Jesus

but only

the hope

of everlasting

joy

in him.

1 Thessalonians

5 is

pure gospel

for God

did not

appoint us

to suffer

but to

receive

salvation

through

our

Lord

Jesus

Christ.

He

died

for us

so that

whether we

are awake

or asleep

we may

live together

with him.

You see

once we

see the

Son of

God

loving us

like that

we begin

to get

a strength

and assurance

and identity

that actually

sets us

free

and Peter

in this

moment

is

furious

he's

furious

because

his

agenda

for

Jesus

was an

agenda

that led

from strength

to strength

to strength

and while

he acknowledged

that Jesus

was the

king

he was

hoping

that he

would at

least be

the prime

minister

and bask

in the

glory of

Jesus'

victory

as he

took the

throne

in Jerusalem

and so

Peter's

agenda

did not

involve

suffering

as it

is the

agenda

for so

many

Christians

in the

western

world

it does

not

involve

suffering

if Jesus

is the

king

to end

all

kings

what we

are told

here is

we do

not

negotiate

with him

it's

essential

that we

see Jesus

the king

on the

cross

if we

simply

see him

as a

king

on a

throne

we'll

obey him

because we

have to

obey him

and there's

a definition

of religion

but he

is the

ultimate

king

who went

to the

cross

for us

and therefore

we can

submit

to him

out of

love

and trust

and so

following

Jesus

means dying

to self

determination

it means

dying to

control

my life

it means

dying to

using

Jesus

for my

own

agenda

and

simply

saying

with

our

whole

being

whatever

you

call me

to do

I will

do

and

whatever

you send

I will

accept

it's

a life

of

submission

and what

is the

goal

of that

you see

if you get

Jesus

wrong

we get

follow him

wrong

and we

also get

what his

plan for

us

is wrong

verse 38

is the

goal

of

Jesus

entire

mission

if

anyone

is

ashamed

of

me

and

my

words

in

this

adulterous

sinful

generation

the

son

of

man

will

be

ashamed

of

them

when

he

comes

in

his

father's

glory

with

the

holy

angels

in

other

words

what

he's

saying

here

is

Jesus

mission

is

not

just

simply

to

save

sinners

but

it's

in

fact

to

save

sinners

for

God's

glory

until

the

very

end

when

God

is

glorified

Jesus

came

into

this

world

to

reveal

the

glorious

God

to

a

world

that

is

intoxicated

with

its

own

glory

and

its

own

passions

to

gain

the

entire

world

growth

as a

disciple

of

Jesus

is

a

simultaneous

process

of

getting

a

bigger

and

bigger

vision

and

grasping

more

and more

faith

the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

as

king

over

my

life

and

a

growth

downwards

as I

divest

myself

of

all

sense

of

who

I

am

and

my

worthiness

I

grow

downwards

as I

see

my

frailty

and my

sin!

And so

I

grow

upwards

in

and

downwards

in

humility

and

they

happen

together

concurrently

and

Jesus

Christ

calls

him

to

follow

him

so

that

we

might

become

like

him

for

God's

glory

1

John

3

now

we

are

children

of

God

and

what

we

will

be

has

not

yet

been

made

known

but

we

know

that

when

Christ

appears

we

shall

be

like

him

for

we

see

him

as

he

is

all

who

have

that

hope

in

the

future

my

words

in

him

purify

themselves

just

as

he

is

in

other

words

the

goal

of

being

saved

by

Jesus

the

goal

of

following

Jesus

is

personal

transformation

into

the

likeness

of

Jesus

to

become

as

he

is

like

Jesus

in

his

patient

endurance

like

Jesus

in

his

priority

like

Jesus

in

his

mission

to

the

world

to

be

a

Christian

is

to

walk

the

path

of

transformation

into

the

image

of

Jesus

Christianity

is

not

just

about

sin

management

I

pray to

praise

forgive

my

sins

and

now

Jesus

job

is

to

support

me

and

my

agenda

for

life

that's

what

Peter

got

wrong

and

we

cannot

grow

in

personal

transformation

unless

we are

consistently

looking at

and to

the

one

we are

to

become

like

that's

been

the

essence

of

follow

25

in

fact

the

key

objective

there

was

75%

growing

much

in

faith

why

that

key

objective

because

unless

we are

specifically

growing

in

faith

all

the

other

things

that

we

would

do

associated

with

being

a

disciple

of

Jesus

generosity

doesn't

happen

evangelism

doesn't

happen

although

growing

greater

confidence

the

rest

doesn't

happen

and

we've

heard

again

about

the

last

five

years

and

remind

again

today

that

research

has

indicated

that

there's

only

really

one

I mean

there's

multiple

things

that

contribute

to

growth

in

faith

but

there's

one

key

one

and

that

is

reading

God's

word

more

than

four

times

a

week

in

other

words

constantly

gazing

on

the

glory

of

Christ

and

God

and

his

gospel

four

more

times

a

week

and

so

when

I

put

down

there

65%

us

growing

in

faith

that

was

a

target

according

to

people

who were

helping us

at this

point

was a

very

ambitious

target

especially

so

because

in

2021

the

figure

for us

here

at

St.

Paul's

was

17%

and

so

did we

hit

65%

no

research

our own

research

this

year

we

hit

48%

is

that

a

failure

10

years ago

I would

have said

yes

right now

I'd say

no

in

fact

along

with

that

48%

and

I

might

add

that

in

our

own

church

culture

here

in

Sydney

the

average

is

around

the

24%

but

along

with

that

48%

we

are

also

seeing

in

the

last

12

months

94%

of us

are

saying

that