Follow Jesus

Well, good morning everyone.

As Nick has said, we're kicking off our annual vision series today.

This one is, in my view, particularly special

because it's the final one for Follow 25.

Follow 25, if you're relatively new around here,

is our five-year strategic plan

that was launched four years ago

to see the majority of us at St Paul's

growing in faith, growing in God confidence.

And over the past five years or four years,

we have learnt quite a lot

in terms of what does that look like in our day and age.

And so this vision series,

we're going to build on that work

by digging a bit deeper

into how we follow Jesus here at St Paul's

in this season, 21st century,

as we live out our purpose

of treasuring Jesus together for the joy of all people,

which is our purpose statement.

It's our statement which tries to capture, if you like,

both the great commandment and the great commission.

That is, the great commandment to love God and love people

and to make disciples of all nations.

So, you know, worship God, love each other,

and serve the world.

That's really what the three things

that we're on about here at St Paul's.

And so as we do that in our vision series,

we are planning to take our collective next step

to see lives flourish in Jesus in our city.

And the key to that,

which we want to get down to the nitty-gritty

through this vision series,

that for us to see lives flourishing

and for us to collectively take our next step,

we individually need to be intentionally

taking our next step to grow as disciples of Jesus.

So the thrust of what I am calling us to

over the course of this term

is to intentionally practice rhythms of grace,

what have been called godly habits,

spiritual disciplines over the centuries.

And this is a need for all of us.

None of us have got any of this right.

Some of us are stuck in a rut

and happy to be there.

Some of us don't even realise we're stuck in a rut.

So my call throughout this series

will be for us to intentionally follow Jesus

and to fulfil his purpose for us in life.

And that is that we would be transformed

into his image day by day.

Now, this is my 15th vision series at St Paul's.

It's been my privilege and my honour

to lead St Paul's for almost 16 years now.

It'll be coming up real soon.

The Ad of Mercy for that.

You're not marking it.

It's in my calendar.

I am so, so personally confident

that pursuing intentional Jesus,

intentional discipleship in Jesus Christ

is so absolutely right

in terms of what God has called us to.

It is my strong conviction

after nearly three decades of pastoral ministry

that treasuring Jesus above everything else

is what we all need

and to do it in every aspect of life

to him to be,

for us to fully surrender to him

is what every one of us needs to do

and yet it's the thing

that is often lacking in Western Christianity.

You may or may not remember

but back when I launched Follow 25,

my personal commitment

was that I was going to read

the Old Testament once

and Psalms and New Testament twice

every year

for the course of Follow 25

and so far I've been on track

for the past four years

and it's become more of a habit now

and much easier to do

after four years of slogging away at it.

I'm glad I've done it.

Over the past four years,

in conjunction with that,

I have faced many personal challenges

that have forced me

to go deeper in understanding myself

of seeing areas that needed to be changed in my life

and working on those areas.

And I'm grateful for God and his spirit.

I'm grateful for the community of saints

who have assisted and walked with me

and mentors and coaches

who have helped me through that process.

And so after four years

of following Christ in this process,

of Follow 25,

I have seen change in my life.

I feel more stable and content.

I have more mystery in life,

in the things of God.

I feel like I'm more restful in him

after four years of Follow 25.

And yet,

I come to this series

very conscious.

After walking with Jesus

for over three decades,

I struggle day by day

to live out the life of discipleship.

I am like you,

a sheep before I am a shepherd.

I'm conscious of the setbacks.

I'm conscious of the apathy

and the battle in my life to change.

And after 16 years of leading St. Paul's,

for those who've been around

the whole time of that,

you know that.

You can see straight through me.

That's the difficulty of standing up here

almost week after week after week.

I feel exposed and vulnerable

as I call us to surrender everything to Jesus.

I am a sheep like you

and I struggle to do that too.

I can bring it to you

with an element of sharpness

and clarity and humour

and conviction

and yet struggle to do it myself.

I'm a flawed saint

journeying with you.

For instance,

I need to crucify the love

of praise and affirmation

every day.

I have to crucify the desire

to make a name for myself

rather than a name for Christ.

I am drawn to security

and comfort and possessions.

I struggle with some of the fears

at 55

that I struggled with at 15

and I'm frustrated

by the lack of change in those areas,

the fear of rejection.

The fear of rejection.

The fear of looking foolish.

I have battled personal insecurity,

identity and social anxiety

all of my life.

I am prone to self-pity.

I feel it quickly

if I don't get the love

and the respect

the way that I want to.

I'm a lover of progress

and productivity

and so I constantly battle

the guilt around the use of my time.

procrastination is one thing

that I hate about myself.

I'm generally quick

on critical analysis

and problem solving

and decision making

and slower

on listening and compassion.

I love to praise God

with you

in this setting

and I'm very conscious

that I feel a constraint

in my own soul

when it's just me and God.

I constantly question

the motives of my heart

and so I question

the motives of yours

and others too.

I've loved my wife

imperfectly for 26 years.

and my children

imperfectly for 17 years.

I want to know God.

I want to know myself

and I want to see the gap

and the difference

between who I am

and what he's called me to.

And so I say all of that

and have it included everything

just simply to say

I'm with you

and I invite you

to take your next step

with me.

In the embrace

of our Saviour

who knows us

Saviour who is gentle

and humble

and tender

towards flawed saints

like me

and you

as we are made more

in his image this year.

so you will hear

tenderness

in this series

but you will also hear

or feel

some boots up the backside.

It's in the context

of a tender boot

if you like

because after 16 years

of leading St Paul's

I can say

that some of us

here have not even

moved to scratch.

I can say

in reflecting

in 16 years

there's been

no change

in some people

at St Paul's

in 16 years.

Your value systems

are still the same

your habits

are still the same

your priorities

are still the same.

in fact

for some of us here

I'm actually

seeing it get worse.

I'm seeing a decline

in discipleship.

There may be

a growth in

knowledge

but don't make

the mistake

that a growth

in knowledge

means transformation.

That's the mistake

of Western society.

And so

I invite you

to come on this

journey

and take your

next step.

And so today

we're really

just going to

start at the

beginning

of Christian

discipleship

where it all

begins

before we go

into the details

which is

following Jesus.

And so

four points

today

you'll see

them up

on the screen

and the first

point

who is Jesus?

Who do you

say I am?

That's the question

Jesus asked

his closest

followers

in Mark 8.

But just

before that

question

he also

asked them

the question

so who

do

other people

say I

am?

What's

people's

opinion

to me?

Now

Jesus of

Nazareth

is undoubtedly

the most

popular

most

recognisable

most quoted

the most

admired

the most

controversial

figure in

all of

history

and human

society.

no other

person

has been

more

scrutinised

or studied

ever

in the

history

of

humanity.

Entire

philosophies

and religion

have been

founded on

his teaching.

More books

have been

written about

him than

any other

person who

has ever

lived.

Every day

his name

is spoken

more than

any other

name from

affectionate

admiration

and worship

to absent

minded

curses

and

denouncements.

The large

figures of

history

have had to

acknowledge

him from

communist

dictators like

Fidel Castro,

Napoleon

Bonaparte,

Donald Trump,

I mean

name them,

Caesar,

Charlemagne,

they've all

had to

reckon with

Jesus Christ.

No message

has ever

been used

or exploited

more than

that of

Jesus Christ.

Politicians

grab some

of his

quotable quotes

to prop

up their

political

platform.

Every religion

in the world,

whether it be

Christian or

not,

has to

factor in

some appraisal

of Jesus

himself.

It might

be to

honour him

as one

of the

God's

great

prophets

or as

an

enlightened

man

or to

reject him

as a

fraud

or to

hail him

as the

king of

kings

and the

saviour

of the

world.

A person

is more

misunderstood,

marginalised

or

commercialised

than

Jesus.

He's

been

fictionalised

in the

last

temptation

of

Christ,

humanised

in the

passion

of the

Christ

and

satirised

by the

Simpsons

and South

Park.

He's

viewed as

either a

stern

taskmaster

or a

moral

jellyfish,

willing to

hand out

forgiveness

and to

turn a

blind eye

to anyone,

anyone who

prays just a

simple shallow

prayer of

confession only

to live a

life from

that moment

devoid of

his presence

at all.

And there's a

summary of

Western

Christianity

since the

1970s.

you see,

the point

is,

you get

Jesus

wrong

and you

get the

meaning of

the Christian

faith and

what it

means to

be Christian

entirely

wrong.

And Mark

longs that

we get an

accurate picture

of who

Jesus is

and what

he came

to do.

So Mark

8,

it's the

pivotal

chapter,

take those

off the

screen,

it just

really

freaking

me out

a little

bit.

It's the

pivotal

chapter in

the gospel.

Jesus'

early followers

begin to

see the

true identity

of who

he is

and in

verse 29

Peter answers

the big

question of

the identity

of Jesus.

He is the

Messiah.

It's a

word that

literally means

the anointed

one.

You're the

anointed

one.

You're the

Messiah.

You're the

Christ.

You are

the king

to end

all kings.

You are

the long

promised

ruler of

the world

and Jesus

accepts the

title.

Doesn't reject

it in any

way.

But the

next thing

that comes

out of

Jesus'

mouth is

shocking.

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

teacher of

the law,

and that

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

must

suffer.

And what

he does

here is he

takes up

not just

the identity

!

He

is given

by Peter

in this

moment,

but he

actually

applies a

new one

to himself

when he

calls himself

the son

of man,

which is

Daniel chapter

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

7 in the

Old Testament.

The son of

man in

Daniel 7

is a

divine

Messiah

figure who

comes with

the angels

to put

everything

right in

a world

that's

horribly

wrong.

The son

of man in

Daniel 7

is God

himself

in the

world.

So,

how could

the

promised

Messiah

defeat

evil and

suffering and

injustice

by suffering,

by dying?

The

concept of

a suffering

Messiah,

a dead

Messiah,

a dead

rescuer,

makes no

sense.

And yet

Jesus is

explicit.

He's

planning to

die.

He's not

predicting that

he will

die.

I mean,

we can all

predict we

will die.

There's no

prophecy in

that.

I'm going

to die.

Ratio is

one out of

one.

He's a

plan.

It's one

thing for

Jesus to

say that

he will

fight for

justice and

he will be

defeated.

It's

another

thing that

he says

that I

will fight

for

injustice,

I will

overturn

evil.

It's the

very reason

I came

and the

way I'm

going to

do that

is through

my

death.

He is

the

Messiah.

But he

came not

to live

and reign,

but to

die and

reign.

Not to

take power,

but to

lose it.

Not to

subjugate,

but to

serve.

And the

word must

there in

those

sentences

controls the

whole sentence.

It controls

everything.

It's the

main word.

Jesus

must suffer.

Jesus

must be

rejected.

Jesus

must be

killed.

Jesus

must be

resurrected.

All of

those

musts

have to

happen

for

humanity

to be

forgiven

for crimes

against God

and saved

from God's

judgment

and for

evil to be

defeated and

for the

world to

be renewed.

And Peter

takes Jesus

aside and

says,

whose side

are you

on?

And he

condemns

him in

the

strongest

possible

terms.

And Jesus

says,

get behind

me,

Satan.

He

speaks

to

one of

his

closest

friends

and

gives

him

the

name

of

his

worst

enemy.

Don't

you

dare

stand

in

the

way

of

my

mission.

It

makes

no

sense

to

Peter.

But it

does

make

perfect

sense.

You see,

Jesus'

death

makes

perfect

sense

on

a

whole

different

levels.

But let

me just

focus on

one,

the

legal

level.

If you

were to

grab my

phone right

now,

take it

and

break it

so you

destroyed it,

there are

two things

that can

happen in

that

moment.

Either

I

pay for

it and

I say

to you,

don't worry

about it,

it's fine,

it's only

an iPhone

12,

there's

16 now.

I

forgive you.

If I

do that

for you,

what happens

in that

moment is

I pay

the debt.

I pay

the debt.

the other

alternative is

I say

to you,

you owe

me a

new iPhone

12.

And in

that instance,

you pay

the debt.

The value

of the

phone itself

doesn't just

disappear,

doesn't just

go.

Someone

has to

pay the

debt.

I can

choose to

forgive you

and then I

pay the

debt.

And I

can do

that in

a variety

of ways.

I can

go out

and I

buy

myself

a

new

phone

or I

have to

pay the

debt

by going

back

to

paper

and pens

and

pigeons

or landlines,

that kind

of stuff.

I have to

pay the

debt that

way.

I would

absorb the

debt in

some kind

of way.

And that

works on

every level

of life.

If someone

robs you of

an opportunity

of your

happiness,

or of

your

reputation

or something

else,

what happens

in there is

a personal

debt is

accrued in

that moment.

And there

are only two

choices in

that moment.

Either you

make them

pay by

ruining their

happiness,

their reputation,

their

opportunities,

or you

can forgive

them.

Ever had

the experience

of forgiving

someone in

that scenario?

How painfully

hard it is?

true

forgiveness

always

requires

suffering.

Always

requires

suffering.

And so it

makes no

surprise

that God

would say

the debt

of humanity

against God

for crimes

against their

creator,

for not

living under

his rule,

God

doesn't,

you know,

the moral

jellyfish

Jesus,

ah,

don't worry

about it,

you know,

we'll all

make it in

the end,

just get

your own

way,

be fine.

That does

not work

in society.

That does

not work

on a personal

level in

your life.

Why would

we expect

God to

do that?

The only

way that

could,

something

would happen

was God

would say

the only

way I

can forgive

the sins

of the

human race

is either

cause them

to suffer,

judgment

and punishment

or I

suffer.

The only

way God

can

pardon

us

and not

judge us

is for

him to

come under

his own

judgment

for our

sin,

for him

to absorb

the punishment

himself

and Jesus

says that's

what I'm

here to do

on the

cross.

I

must

suffer.

Jesus

is God

and King.

He chooses

to die

to pay

the debt

that we

owe him

and that

makes him

not just

the King

of Kings,

not just

a mighty

God,

but a

merciful

and gracious

and loving

God.

From the

moment his

public ministry

commenced,

Jesus

called

people to

repent,

that is

stop walking

away from

God and

come back

to me,

come back

to him,

to repent,

to turn

away from

rejection and

to find

forgiveness and

new life and

a transformed

life in

him.

Right from

the very go

of his

public ministry,

Jesus was

not interested

in curious

onlookers.

he was

not

interested

in

converts

to pray

a shallow

prayer of

confession.

He was

calling

disciples,

followers,

fully

committed,

surrendered

followers to

himself.

And he

calls all

of humanity

down that

same path

now.

and some

of us

here,

our very

next step

in life

is to

take that

next step,

to come to

Jesus and

we would

love to

talk to

you about

that.

the call

here is

to follow

Jesus.

Now the

concept of

discipleship

was common

in the

Greek and

Roman

empires.

The word

disciple,

which was

not coined

by Jesus,

it's not

a Christian

term,

the word

disciple

literally

means a

student or

a learner.

In the

Jewish

context,

a disciple

would take

the posture

of sitting

and learning

from their

teacher and

following them

in their

daily

activities,

daily

duties.

What is

interesting in

Jewish culture,

it was the

student,

the learner,

who chose

their

master,

their rabbi,

the person

that they

were following.

And so

there was a

saying that

a disciple

should become

dusty with

the dust

of their

rabbi,

dusty with

the dust

of their

rabbi.

That is to

follow them

so closely

in all

of life

that they

would be

covered in

the dust

that was

stirred up

from the

feet of

their teacher

because they

were just

with them

all the

time.

And that

concept has

been flown

over into

the New

Testament.

the word

Christian

which was

first used

in the

book of

Acts

to try

and capture

these

people who

were following

Jesus and

committed to

Jesus.

What do we

call them?

And the word

Christian is a

combination of

two words

from Latin

and from

Greek

which means

Christiane,

followers of

the Christ.

That's what

the word

Christian is.

Followers of

the Christ.

And it

speaks of a

lifelong journey

of following

Jesus and

a 100%

dedication to

him.

That's how

he describes

it in verse

34.

Whoever wants

to be my

disciple must

deny themselves,

take a

follow me.

For whoever

wants to

save their

life or

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?

This is

crucial.

In this

whole section

of Mark

8, we are

told that

Jesus must

die.

And then

Jesus says,

well,

actually,

you must

die if

you follow

me.

Now, the

word that

is translated

life, verse

35, let's

just hone in

there for a

moment, is

a word that

means your

identity, your

personality, your

selfhood.

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?

self?

Now, every

culture in

our world

throughout

history has

pointed to

certain things

and says

that if you

gain those

things or

if you

acquire those

things, if

you achieve

those things

or if you

become like

those things,

then you

will know

who you

truly are

and you'll

become valuable

to us in

this culture.

every culture

says it

differently, what

those things

are, but

ultimately they

say exactly

the same

thing, no

matter what

culture you

come from,

it says

exactly the

same things.

Your sense

of self, of

who you

are, your

identity is

performance

based.

You achieve

your identity.

and if you

perform well

enough, you

will find the

love and the

approval you

desperately need

to feel secure

and valuable

within that

system.

And Jesus

says here,

if you gain

the whole

world, it

will never be

enough.

Because as

you are gaining

the whole world

to pursue

your sense

of self,

you will

entirely lose

your sense

of self

in the

process.

It's

never going

to be

enough to

make you

know who

you are

because

ultimately

you're

pursuing

God.

You're not

pursuing God

who has

made you

and relationship

with him.

You're

pursuing

everything

else, the

whole world.

Jesus

did not

come to

recruit

followers

from one

performance

based

identity

into

another

performance

based

identity

that's

centered

on him.

He

wants us

to lose

the old

performance

based

identity

and base

our sense

of worth

and value

and self

on him

and what

he has

achieved

for us.

Fundamental

to the

Christian

faith

is a

solid

secure

identity

that we

are God's

much loved

children

through

Jesus

Christ

and what

he's

achieved

for us.

That is

the Christian

faith

is a

secure

sense

of self

that is

received.

It's

not

achieved

by

religious

performance.

Notice

verse 35

for whoever

wants to

save their

life will

lose it

but whoever

loses

their life

for me

and for

the gospel

will save

it.

You see

the foundation

of following

Jesus

is the

good news

of Jesus

Christ.

It is

the gospel.

The gospel

is something

that is done

for us

in Jesus.

It is

God's

grace

to us

from

beginning

to end.

We

believe

and we

receive

and we

live

as followers

of Jesus

in the

light

of what

he has

100%

fully

completely

achieved

for us.

It's

essential

to see

Jesus

Christ

as the

king

of

kings

the

son

of

man

the

divine

the

God

the

creator

dying

for

us.

If

we

simply

just

see

him

as

a

king

on

a

throne

who's

calling

us

to

obey

then we

will

obey

purely

because

it will

be

an

obedience

out of

fear.

That

is just

performance

based

religion

and it

is not

the

Christian

faith.

the

Christian

follows

Jesus

because

they

have

received

complete

acceptance

in

him

not

because

we're

hoping

to

achieve

it

and

receive

it

in

the

end.

He

is the

king

who

went

to

the

cross

for

us

and

therefore

we

submit

to

him

out

of

love

trust

and

reverence.

instead

of

negotiating

with

him

what

following

him

looks

like

we

simply

say

Lord

whatever

you

ask

I

will

do

whatever

you

send

I

will

accept.

So

that's

who

he

is

that's

what

he's

called

us

to

do

what's

his

goal

what's

his

goal

verse

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

what

he's

saying

in

this

context

of

calling

his

disciples

to

fully

commit

to

him

and

to

follow

him

he's

saying

there

is

an

end

of

all

this

there

is

a

goal

to

it

all

and

it's

wrapped

up

in

those

words

for

the

father's

glory

for

the

father's

glory

it

gives

us

the

goal

of

Jesus

entire

mission

and

the

goal

of

his

entire

mission

is

not

first

and

foremost

about

sinners

being

saved

it's

about

sinners

being

saved

for

God's

glory

maybe

you've

never

thought

about

it

all

at

all

before

but

Jesus

going

to

the

cross

was

first

and

foremost

not

about

you

or

me

or

humanity

it

was

first

and

foremost

about

God's

glory

it

was

about

his

character

being

displayed

to

all

the

world

Jesus

came

into

the

world

to

reveal

the

glorious

character

of

God

to

a

world