Deny Yourself?

Father, we ask that the Holy Spirit would fall with fresh power upon us this morning

as we now spend some time listening to what Jesus taught us.

And Father, everything in the world and everything in our flesh

and everything about the devil would say that what Jesus says is just wrong.

And Father, you know how hard it is for us to deny ourselves

and pick up our cross and follow you.

But we ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would do a wonderful work

in each of our lives,

that not only would we see the beauty and the wisdom of his words,

but that we move forward in doing them.

That today and every day we will be more deeply convinced of the gospel

and more deeply trusting and loving of Jesus,

that we would be willing to deny ourselves and to take up our cross and to follow him.

And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.

Please be seated.

So, if I was to say, I have some really good news.

You know, one of my nephews has been out of work for a while

and he just got a really, really great job.

And the commissions are through the roof

and his job is to sell Russian war bonds here in Ottawa.

Russian war bonds, if you didn't hear that.

So, if I said that, you'd all go,

George, have you been smoking some of those no longer controlled substances

that you can buy everywhere or doing some other type of thing?

That's just wrong.

It's just evil.

It's just wrong.

And, in fact, actually, now that you've said it on YouTube Live,

the police or CSIS will probably be checking up on this person

to see if we can throw them in jail.

Or maybe they'll let him sell the bonds for a while

so they can figure out who'd actually want to buy them

and throw everybody in jail.

But it would be something which is completely and utterly opposed

to what Canadians believe, what Canadians value.

It's almost definitely illegal.

And nobody would do it.

Now, we have the exact same problem today with the words of Jesus.

I don't know how many of you picked it up,

but if you get your Bibles and you turn to verses,

if you turn to verse 34,

those of you who don't have your Bibles will be on the screen,

but it's always good to follow along in your Bibles

and maybe potentially make notes or other types of things

that helps to bring the word more home to you.

But so remember the thing is about selling Russian war bonds,

completely wrong.

Nobody in Canada would like it.

And if they do like it, they're suspect.

They should probably be thrown in jail.

I mean, that's how most Canadians would say.

And just listen to what Jesus says in verse 34 again.

And by the way, if you're watching this online,

this is one of the problems that,

I mean, it's going to be very offensive,

what I'm about to read.

Sort of in an odd way,

not offensive when the Bible talks about some of the things

about money or sexuality,

but offensive at a...

See, here's the problem.

Often people just go,

oh yeah, yeah, it's religious stuff,

yada, yada, yada, yada, yada, yada,

and it doesn't really mean anything.

But no, no, no, no, no, no.

Jesus means this.

So Jesus means this.

And that's why it's in this ancient biography

recording the words of Jesus.

And listen to what it says in verse 34.

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples,

he said to them,

if anyone, if anyone would come after me,

let him deny himself

and take up his cross and follow me.

Let's say that again.

If anyone would come after me,

let him deny himself

and take up his cross and follow me.

For whoever would save his life will lose it,

but whoever loses his life for my sake

and the gospel's will save it.

Now, frankly,

to just about every Canadian,

this is just wrong.

In fact, actually,

I think if people had the courage

to say it to our eyes,

they'd say,

George, if you push this,

if you push this,

you need to deny yourself,

you need to die yourself,

you need to pick up your cross

and follow Jesus,

if you push this language

of denying yourself,

more trans people will commit suicide.

More wives and children will be abused.

The poor will be kept poor.

And the power will run roughshod

over those who do not have power.

Everything that Jesus just said is wrong.

Why is it wrong?

Well, because what do we know is wisdom?

You know what wisdom is?

You be you.

Not you deny you.

That's foolishness.

That will lead to trans people committing suicide.

What leads to wisdom is you be you.

Only you can and must be you and do you.

No one else can do you.

No one else can really speak into it.

Only you know who you really are

and you have to do you.

And on top of that,

mixed in with that is,

you know what,

when you're thinking of the holiday,

when you're thinking of some quiet time,

when you're thinking of your need to exercise,

when you're thinking of your need to buy that handbag

or that car or that boat,

you know what,

you deserve it.

You deserve it.

You've been working really, really hard

and you deserve,

you deserve that purse,

you deserve those shoes,

you deserve that car,

you deserve it.

You deserve that time off.

You deserve it.

In fact, the matter is, George,

that rather than telling people

that they have to deny themselves

and die to themselves,

that they have to pick up and cross

and follow me,

what you should really be saying

is not only you do you

and you deserve these good things in life,

you deserve those good things in life.

And since you deserve it,

you have to grab those good things in life

by your hands.

And if you're having problems doing that,

what you need to do

is you need to grow in self-esteem.

That's the way of wisdom.

More self-esteem.

More learning that you are worth it.

You're a good person.

You deserve these things.

You be you.

That's what people need to hear.

For not,

if anyone would come after me,

let him deny himself

and take up his cross and follow me.

For whoever would save his life will lose it.

Whoever loses his life for my sake

and the gospels will save it.

And then, George,

just listen to what he goes on to say.

For what does it profit a man,

verse 36,

to gain the whole world

and forfeit his soul?

For what can a man give

in return for his soul?

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

We want to teach

that you get both your soul and the world.

That's the way of wisdom.

You get your soul and the world.

You get your life

and you make your life.

And then in verse 38,

for whoever is ashamed of me

and of my words

in this adulterous and sinful generation,

like how dare him refer

to Canadian culture

as adulterous and sinful?

For whoever is ashamed of me

and of my words

in this adulterous and sinful generation,

of him will the Son of Man

be ashamed when he comes

in the glory of his Father

and the Holy Angels?

George, this is the big problem

with religious people.

This guy is a raging narcissist.

And somehow or another,

religion is all about

raging narcissists,

getting away with

their raging narcissism

and encouraging people

to deny themselves

and give up the good things.

Like, George,

you shouldn't be telling people

the wisdom of tithing.

Like, what sense does it make

to give away money?

You should be talking about

how to make more money,

how to build self-esteem.

Nothing in this text

makes sense

to most Canadians

and most Canadian Christians,

which is why we spiritualize it.

So what do we do?

Well, first of all,

we have to acknowledge,

we have to acknowledge

that the average Canadian way

of understanding these things,

that there's a lot to say for it

that's very good.

Like, I can speak

very personally about this.

I can tell you

that my parents

were very, very, very disappointed

when I chose

to become an Anglican minister.

They wanted me to be an engineer

and make good money.

I was good at math.

It might be hard

for some of you to believe,

but I can figure things out

occasionally and be practical

like engineers can.

And I had the aptitude for it.

I was good at school.

I'd have the marks

to get into an engineering school.

I was going that direction

when I changed

for a variety of things.

But they were very disappointed

when, first of all,

I wanted to become a minister.

And then to make matters worse,

it was an Anglican minister.

Because at least

if I'd become a Baptist minister

or an associated gospel minister,

at least those are Christians.

I mean, Anglicans

aren't even Christians

from their point of view

back then.

So it was just

a terrible decision

that I was making.

And just to top it off,

just one more example,

they would never have picked

Louise to be my wife.

They did not approve.

Now, just to be fair,

I was maybe close

to the bottom of the barrel.

Like Louise's parents

definitely did not approve of me.

They would never have picked

either me

or someone like me

for their daughter.

And Louise's status

in the family

dropped lots and lots

and lots of steps

by choosing to marry me.

So you know what?

There's something to be said

about the fact

that one of the problems

is that society

or family,

that people can be squeezing

you into their molds.

I mean, you know,

basically Louise,

my parents would never

have picked Louise

because at the time

Louise was a Roman Catholic.

And Louise's family

would never have picked me.

I mean,

they actually once said

we were overheard

for one of the family members

saying to Louise's parents

about the fact

that she was marrying me,

they said literally,

it could be worse,

he could be a Baptist.

So they definitely

wouldn't have picked me, right?

So sometimes,

and you know,

my parents desire,

and my parents are immigrants

and you know,

they want their,

they come to a country

for opportunity

and they want to see

their kids make more money

and all of that type of stuff.

But you know,

there is something

to what Canadians say

about the fact that,

you know,

family and culture

and society can,

people can want to live

their lives

through their children

and there's all these,

there's something

to what Canadians say

which we need

to take seriously.

And if in fact

what Jesus means

is something

which denies those things,

then there is some problem

with Jesus' teaching

if we're honest.

But what there is,

what Canadians

don't want to acknowledge

is it's as if

often in Canada

there's these two types

of conversations

that go on

and people never realize

that they're actually

working in conflict

with each other.

That to pursue one

means you won't get the other.

It somehow feels

as if they can get both

and often when there's

this particular thing

that they really want,

they double down,

Canadians double down

on this

to try to get this.

And what are the two things?

Well, most people,

what most people in Canada want

is they really would love,

they want love.

Like love is very important.

When you see the slogan

love is love,

that resonates very deeply

as it should

with Canadians.

And it doesn't,

they don't just want,

most Canadians,

most of us don't just want,

like it's,

romantic love of course

is good,

but a stable relationship

to find another person

that they could have

a stable relationship with,

to have a family

that's not broken

and divided

and severed,

to have friends

that last,

that these things

are very, very important

to Canadians.

I, you know,

I talked to some young people

and it's,

and probably some of you here

who don't just have one dad,

they have two or three dads.

And I'm not talking,

but a same-sex couple,

I just mean their mom

has been married

two or three times

and that's not counting boyfriends

and they have stepchildren

and stepbrothers and sisters

and they're all not together.

And you can tell in talking

that on one hand

they deeply long

that as they move forward

they will have a partnership,

a marriage that will last

and that their family will last

and that there will be

something enduring

because there is this

deep hunger and desire for love.

But think about it for a second.

You do you.

You deserve it.

self-esteem.

You do you

is in fact

the attitude and slogan

for entitlement.

Isn't it?

And you deserve it.

That's the language of entitlement.

Entitlement ruins romantic love.

Entitlement ruins marriages.

It ruins families.

It ruins workplaces.

It ruins friendships.

You do you

is the language of entitlement.

Listen,

you can't tell me

to come home

at a certain particular time

because

I gotta be me.

I gotta be me.

You can't tell me

who I am.

I know who I am.

I gotta do me.

I gotta develop me.

I deserve this.

It is the language

of entitlement

and it's also

the language of narcissism.

It's the language

of narcissism.

And this is what I mean.

Like if you look

even within Canadian literature

and if you wanted

I could find examples

in movies.

I could find things

in newspapers.

On one hand

the language is

you do you,

you do you,

you do you.

Work on your self-esteem.

You deserve it.

At the same time

why do we have

all these problems

with narcissism?

This person,

this politician,

this leader,

this boss,

this, you know,

you're looking

at your marriage

and trying to give

your advice

to your friend

and you just realize

that the person

that your friend

is married to

is a raging narcissist

who feels

completely and utterly

and completely

and utterly entitled

and they're ruining

the marriage,

they're ruining

the family,

they're ruining

their workplace

and yet this person

that we're complaining

about when he's

getting counseling

they're saying

you do you.

And we wonder

why workplaces

and politics

and media

and family

and friendships

are so impermanent

and begin

so beautifully

and quickly

become so toxic.

We long for love

and are committed

to the belief

of you do you

which kills love.

and we are often

completely and utterly

blind to this.

Friends,

brothers and sisters,

only the gospel

can provide a way

that you can really

be yourself

in a way

which isn't entitled

and which isn't

narcissistic.

Only the gospel,

only the words

of Jesus.

So let's look again

at what Jesus says

and let's begin

by looking at the things

just before it

because if the things

before it weren't there

then I would agree

with Canadians

that you should disregard

what Jesus says.

But look what goes on

before it.

If you turn in your Bibles

to verse 27

and we looked at 27 to 30

last week,

I'm just going to give you

a very,

and if you're interested

more in understanding

27 to 30,

you can look at

last week's sermon.

But listen to what

Jesus says

just before this.

And Jesus went

with his disciples

to the villages

of Caesarea Philippi

and on the way

he asked his disciples

who do people

say that I am?

And they told him

John the Baptist,

Elijah,

one of the prophets.

And Jesus asked them

and this is the beginning

of the Christian life.

It's not the Christian life,

it's the beginning

of the Christian life.

The beginning

of the Christian life,

if you're here as a seeker,

if you're watching this

and you're curious,

the beginning of the Christian life

is when Christ asked you,

he's asking you right now,

but who do you say

that I am?

Who do you say

that I am?

Peter answered him,

you are the Christ.

And Jesus strictly charged them

to tell no one about him.

And as I sort of tried

to show in last week

and develop,

but basically what

we have here

is this moment

of Holy Spirit-driven,

birthed insight

that all of these

different threads

of what our Jewish friends

call the Tanakh

and we call the Old Testament,

all the Jewish threads

of prophet

and prophecy

of king

and dominion

and proper authority

of priests

and being connected

to God

and all of the longings

and the yearnings

for deliverance,

for redemption,

for freedom,

for being at one

with God

and at one with others

and at one

with the creation

and all of these

other mysteries

and riddles

that are posed

in the Old Testament,

that all of these

separate disparate threads,

in this one moment

of illumination,

Peter realized

that they all

actually point to

and are weaving

a picture

of the person

of Jesus

who is the Christ.

He is where

they all come

to.

And in this moment

of illumination,

Peter gets that.

And in the language

of it,

the disciples get it.

It's not Peter voices it

and as he voices it,

it's as if there's

this collective

illumination of yes.

You know,

we've seen him

raise the dead,

we've seen him

heal the sick,

we've seen him

make matter

out of nothing,

we've seen him

calm the storm,

we've seen him

stop the waves,

we've seen him

do all of these things,

we've heard his teaching

and yes,

all of these

different threads

which nobody

had ever put together

into one

is pointing to him,

this man,

right here,

this man,

Jesus,

the Christ.

And if

it just ended there,

we would be

in very comfortable

territory.

We would be fine.

The language of longing,

the language of yearning,

the language of mystery,

the language of riddle,

the language of illumination,

we'd be fine.

That's actually very good.

It's very Canadian,

it's very human,

we'd all be fine with it.

Ah,

a moment of illumination

for us to

contemplate

and meditate upon

in those quiet moments,

maybe with us

having that glass

of red wine

at the end of the day

or that cup of coffee

in the middle of the morning

or the cup of tea

in the afternoon

with the cookie

and those moments

of quiet illumination,

that's very good.

But then Jesus

does something

that shocks Peter

to the point

that he is going to use

the same language

when sometimes

in the Gospels

Jesus rebukes a demon.

The same language

of rebuke

is what comes on

Peter's lips

to speak to Jesus.

When Jesus says this,

look what he says

in verse 31,

immediately after this moment

of illumination.

For Peter,

he says in verse 31,

and he began

to teach them

that the Son of Man

must suffer many things

and be rejected

by the elders

and the chief priests

and the scribes.

And here,

the version that we're using,

some of you,

I know there's

some of you here

who speak two languages,

some three,

I know of at least

one person in the room

who speaks four languages.

And so you know

that sometimes

when you're translating

from one language

into another,

to make it,

the thing smooth,

you need to smooth off

some of the translation

and that's what's

being done here.

But there's a second must.

And so here's,

I'm going to read it again

as it is in the original language.

Verse 31,

and he began to teach them

that the Son of Man

must suffer many things

and be rejected

by the elders

and the chief priests

and the scribes

and must be killed

and after three days

rise again.

Must,

said twice,

to bring home

the emphasis.

He must die.

He must be rejected.

He must suffer.

He must rise.

This little sentence

is profoundly important.

And if we don't get

the full force

of the must,

then the language

that Jesus is going

to use in a moment,

if anyone would come

after me,

let him deny himself

and take up his cross

and follow me,

makes no sense.

But when you understand

the must,

you understand the beauty

and the wisdom

of what Jesus

is just inviting us to.

You see,

Christianity

is the religion

and the spirituality

and the philosophy

of love.

no other philosophy,

no other spirituality,

no other religion.

I don't mean

to offend

any Buddhist

or Hindu

or Muslim friends

who might be watching this.

I don't mean

to offend you.

But just think about it.

You need another

to love.

Whether it's romantic love

where you need

an other,

whether it's

familial love

where you need

another,

whether it's

friendship love

where you need

a friend.

A person who says

he loves his friends

but has no friends

isn't talking about

anything that makes

any sense.

In fact,

you'd think

they're delusional.

But you see,

all of the religions

and spiritualities

of the world,

they posit either

that everything

is God

in some type of way

but then where's

the other?

Or they posit

something like Allah

but Allah is all

by himself

so how can Allah

actually be a God

of love?

But only the Christian

faith teaches us

that before anything

was created,

before there was

anything at all

other than God

from all eternity

the Father has loved

the Son

and the Son

has loved the Father

and the Holy Spirit

has loved the Father

and the Son

and the Son

has loved the Holy Spirit

and the Father

and there has been this

in a sense

eternal dance

of love,

of giving

and receiving,

of true love,

of all that is

implied with love,

of the desire

for the best

of the other,

of affection,

of delight,

of the delight

of giving

and the delight

of receiving

and from all eternity

there was love

and so when God

the Father,

the Son,

and the Holy Spirit

three persons

one God

when that God

when he creates

he does not create

out of any need

whatsoever

he has no

you see when you

and I love

we can't love

purely and utterly

I mean

here's the thing

if we're always

just loving our family

and we never get

anything out of it

at all

at some point in time

and I'm not just saying

it has to always be

a quid pro quo

that you know

for every

every you know

ten bits of love

that we get

we get ten bits back

but if we get

bit after bit

after bit

after bit

after bit

after bit

after bit

and there's never

any response

from the child

or from the friend

or from the husband

or the wife

or the beloved

at some point in time

we realize

they are too entitled

and too narcissistic

and this love

just isn't going to work

because we understand

that we still have

some type of a need love

but even at the same time

that we have a need love

for those who are

the best of us

the greatest of us

you have this sense

that probably the greatest

type of love

at all

that could possibly be

is a love

that has no need

that's pure gift

pure giving

that needs nothing

in return

and that only describes

God the Father

God the Son

God the Holy Spirit

three persons

one God

and so that

when God the Father

the Son

and the Holy Spirit

when God

creates human beings

it is pure gift

pure giving

pure grace

God has no need

of us

no need

to receive from us

it is pure gift

and it is this God

who acts

to create human beings

and to save us

and so the first must

is a must of love

love

love

must

bestow love

and deliverance

upon those

who are needy

and the love

that Jesus offers

that the Father

the Son

and the Holy Spirit

offers

is a love towards us

that has no need

that's pure

gift

and grace

and the love

and the love

that he

and his death

and his resurrection

which flows out of love

and actually just one more thing

sorry before I move on

to the next two things

right

and this is part of the mystery

I pointed out occasionally

as we've been going through

the Gospel of Mark

if you go back now

and you read the Gospel of Mark

and you just think about this

this is part of the reason

why it's such a shock

to Peter to hear this

and it's going to be a shock

that even when it comes time

for Jesus to get captured

they don't actually believe

that he's actually going to be captured

he's actually going to be rejected

he's actually going to die

why?

how can a man

who can heal a paralyzed man

die?

how can a person

who can create fish

and bread out of nothing

how can he die?

how can a person

who can stop the wind

by his mere word

or thought

how could he die?

how could a person

who could take

waves that are going

like this

higher than these posters

and all of a sudden

it goes flat

how could he die?

how could someone

who raises the dead

how could he die?

like how could he?

they could stick spears

up to a side of him

all day

he'll

steer in

he'll

steer in

he

nails pop out

wind to blow

the soldiers away

or just to levitate them away

or just to annihilate them

he can do all of that

only

pure love

can hold him

to the cross

only pure love

only

pure love

can hold him

to the cross

why else

must he die?

we human beings

the language

of entitlement

you know

you do you

you deserve this

work on your

self-esteem

there is something

bent in human

beings

that's out of shape

and that bent

is towards

pride

it's towards

being a god

or a goddess

and we can't

seem to fix

that bent

even

amongst the most

holiest of people

who

in the eastern

religions

who desire

who've lost

their desire

in a sense

they never really

lose their desires

because they still

desire

to get out

of the cycle

of birth

and rebirth

and to merge

with the one

like there's just

and so Jesus

lives the life

that we could

never live

and he

and it's

the whole story

of Jesus

is the opposite

of the bent

of our life

in the glory

of the father

and the holy

spirit

with his majesty

and with his love

and setting aside

everything that makes

him god

except his very

nature of god

but all of the

appearance

all of that

he sets it aside

and he takes into

himself our human

nature

and he's described

as Emmanuel

he walks amongst

us

he doesn't come

as a king

or as a brilliant

athlete

or a brilliant

philosopher

or a powerful

person

he comes

to a conquered

people

and he comes

to a lower

working class

existence

and he lives

a life

without owning

anything

or any property

and I can't

because I'm on a

mic I'm not

mic like this

I can't keep

going down

and down

and down

and down

but he goes

down further

to being

rejected

he goes

down further

to being killed

in the most

shameful

type of

embarrassing

way

and the bible

says he even

tastes all there

is to taste

of death

and it's as if

the thing

within us

human beings

which is

bending us

out of shape

and bends

us out of shape

and the only way

that we can begin

to be truly

reconciled to God

and reconciled

to each other

is to begin

to have that

bend fixed

and we can't

live that life

and so what we

see in Jesus

is the complete

opposite

to straighten us

to heal us

he lives the life

that we cannot

live ourselves

and when we put

our hands

in the hands

of Jesus

when we follow

him

we're receiving

from him

the life

that we

could not

live

that we

need to

live

to be

straight

and to be

free

and to live

with God

we receive

that from him

out of pure

gift love

and the fact

of the matter

is is that

forgiveness

always requires

that the person

to forgive

bears a cost

if in a

over the

next couple

of months

we invite

somebody over

to our

house

and somebody

comes to

our house

and they

do something

they cause

some damage

to the wall

maybe

or they break

something which

is expensive

they break

our TVs

we don't really

have any expensive

things but we'll

pretend that we

have something

expensive

an antique

lamp or something

like that

and it's broken

and the person

that we've

invited over

it's somebody

who has very

very little

money

and so

if we're

going to

forgive them

we're still

out that

broken thing

let's say

it's a

let's say

it's a

very expensive

sound system

five

five ten

thousand

dollars

I have to

be careful

somebody say

five thousand

dollars not

an expensive

sound system

like for me

probably two

hundred dollars

is expensive

because I'm

cheap about

that type

of stuff

you know

but you know

your ten

thousand dollar

sound system

is broken

well

who's going

to pay

well if I

forgive the

other person

I'm still

out a

ten thousand

dollar

sound system

like I

either have

to live

without it

which still

means the

loss

or I

have to

replace it

which means

I pay

the price

now the

opposite of

trying to

forgive them

is to

pursue them

to pursue

them and

pursue them

pursue them

to get

that money

back

to require

them to

take a

loan

to get

mad at

them if

we don't

receive the

payments

or if

it's

something

else

if there's

something

that they've

done

that's not

just material

it's maybe

they've done

something to

hurt my

reputation

they've said

some lies

about me

or slandered

me or done

something which

has hurt me

maybe in the

congregation or

some other type

of place or in my

family or whatever

and I have to

either decide that

I'm going to

sort of just

swallow the cost

of this

that I'm in a

sense going to

pay the price

of this because

I want to be

free or

I need to try to

get it from

them and if I

can't maybe get

it from them

then maybe I

you know maybe

what I have to

do is I have to

start telling bad

things about them

and I have to do

bad things to them

so they're belittled

and they come down

to my level so

that we're equal

and I can feel

justified but the

problem is when I

do all of those

things I'm becoming

like them

how do I not

become like them

and how do I be

free and the only

way to do that is

often to absorb the

cost yourself

and that's what

forgiveness is

amongst other

things and so

that's what we see

here on the cross

that the debt

that we

justice properly

says that we

should pay

and God the

father God the

son God the

holy spirit

seen our

profound need

and knowing

that we could

never pay it

because they

are pure gift

love

the cost

of our

forgiveness

of our

offenses

is borne by

God himself

and so that

when we see

Jesus dying

upon the cross

for us

we see pure

gift love

in action

and we see

pure gift love

that lives the

life that we

cannot live

that is offered

to us as a

gift to clothe

us and to

stand for us

and we see

pure gift love

which we can

never pay

paying that

which we can

never pay

and not because

God needs

anything from

you or me

but just because

God is

love

I began by

saying about

the Russian

war bonds

in light of

all this

let's listen

again to what

Jesus says

in verse

34

in calling

the crowd

to him with

his disciples

that means

you know

what

he wants

people like

you and

me to

come to

him and

follow him

he summons

us

that's the

language

there's an

urgency in

the original

language

an urgency

he's summoning

you

he's summoning

me

if anyone

if anyone

would come

to come

after me

because that's

what he

wants

let him

deny

himself

and take

up his

cross

and follow

me

whoever

would

save

his life

will lose

it

but whoever

loses his

life for my

sake in the

gospels will

save it

for what does it

profit a man

to gain the

whole world

and forfeit

his soul

for what can

a man give

in return

for his soul

for whoever

is ashamed

of me

and of my

words in this

adulterous and

sinful generation

of him

will the son of

man also be

ashamed when he

comes in the

glory of his

father with the

holy angels

but it doesn't

end with this

it ends with

and he said

to them truly

I say to you

there are some

standing here

who will not

taste death

until they see

the kingdom of

God after it

has come with

power and he's

not referring to

the second coming

he's referring to

his death upon

the cross and

his resurrection

they will see

this

they will see

the resurrected

Jesus

they will see

him

death does not

have the final

word

injustice

and rejection

and sin

does not

have the final

word

they will see

him

so what does

it mean to

deny himself

in this context

the best analogy

that I can give

is this

and I don't

think we have

a young enough

baby in the

room

but some of

us who are

parents

and maybe

you're not

like me

but this was

what my wife

and I were

like you get

these little

tiny toddlers

who can just

barely stand

you know

they can just

barely stand

like this

and you put

them on the

edge of a

stair

and they have

a very healthy

fear of

stairs

and you say

jump to me

and so at

first for the

little kids

the distance

you can't

see this

it might just

be this far

just this far

and the little

kid

you know

totters

and looks

down and

looks around

and everything

within them

says you

don't

get too

far from

vertical

and jump

they look

down

they look

at their

mom

or their

dad

they look

down

they look

at their

mom

and their

dad

they look

around

they look

at their

mom

and their

dad

and then

while they

look at

their mom

and dad

they do

this

and they

jump

and then

after

they've done

it a little

bit for

this distance

it can be

this distance

between

this distance

and before

you know

it

if you're

not careful

you're

going up

the stairs

and your

kid jumps

six feet

and you

hope you can

catch them

and they

don't knock

you down

the stairs, but that's good. But you see, you don't tell the kid, go to the top of the stairs and jump.

And that's what we hear when we hear these words of Jesus. Go to the top of stairs and jump. That's

killing yourself. That's just denying everything about you and it's talking about your

ruination. No, what is Jesus saying? Look at me. Pure love. Pure love. Live the life that you cannot live

so that you can live, that paid the price you cannot pay so that you can live in me with me.

I am here. It is love calling. Jump. You know what the world's going to tell you?

Yeah, don't give 10% of your money to the church and to the poor and to missions. That's foolishness.

Deny yourself, is Jesus saying, and trust me. Don't forgive. Fight. Jesus says, jump. Don't be generous.

Go into debt because you deserve it. Jesus says, don't listen to the world.

This is love calling and love speaking. I want you to jump and trust me that I'll catch you.

And you'll have the wonder of the jump, that feeling of flying, and it ends with being caught

in your father's arms.

And so when you learn to stop, to listen to everything the world says and keep your eyes

on Jesus and pick up your cross and follow him.

Contrary to the advice of the world, there is a thrill, there is a beauty, and it ends in far more.

And a kid jumping into the arms of his mom or his dad is not a kid demeaned, but a kid alive.

And secure and loved.

And brothers and sisters and friends, this is what Jesus is calling you and me for today.

Just want to end with a quote just to seal the whole deal.

If you could put the final quote up, it's famous words by Jim Elliott.

Here's the thing.

Hold on to money, you're going to lose all your money.

Hold on to your looks, you're going to lose all your looks.

Hold on to your life, you're going to lose all your life.

Hold on to your power, you're going to lose all your power.

How do I know this?

It is 100% guaranteed.

What does Jim Elliott say, who died a martyr's death?

He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep in order to gain what he cannot lose.

If you're watching this and you have not given your life to Jesus, there's no better time right now.

In a sense, the Christian life begins with this jump.

And it grows with learning to just being so trusting in the love and the eyes and the message of the gospel

that more and more and more you are willing to deny yourself and to jump.

And so if you have not given your life to Christ, there's no better time now.

He is calling you.

Jump into his arms.

I invite you to stand.

Just bow our heads in prayer.

Father, in times like this and days like this, we realize that there are two parts within us.

One part that says, I don't want to.

Father, it's scary and it's hard.

And another part that makes us realize that, in fact, this call of Jesus to himself, this call of love,

is in fact the longing and the yearning of our hearts.

And that in him, we can be fully ourselves.

And fulfilling that desire we have to be really and fully ourselves.

In the thrill of the flying, in the thrill of the landing, in the new arms, your arms of love.

The arms of our crucified Savior, who is love.

And so, Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit would move and work deeply within us.

In the context of our own lives.

Father, whatever the specific thing is today that we feel that we must have, that we have to have,

that we can't let go of, that, Father, that your Holy Spirit would bring before us those ways that,

right today and these days this week, that we need to deny ourselves and to pick up our cross

and to come following you.

And we give you thanks and praise, Father, that we follow Jesus because he's with us.

He's with us.

He doesn't go so far ahead to leave us behind.

He helps us to carry the cross as we follow him.

And that we only know, Father, help us to know that we only know that when we embark with Jesus to follow him.

And help us to keep our eyes on him, both as individuals and as a church.

And we ask all these things in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior.

And all God's people said, Amen.

Amen.