Making Sacrifices

so who is Jesus our passage this morning was Jesus asking who who do people say I am

who do people say I am I wonder what the answer would be in our world today who do people think

Jesus is the alpha course and which some of you may have heard of has gone around the whole world

asking people who is Jesus and there are clips of some of their answers some of them saying he's a

religious man some of them saying he's a god of many one person said he's a cool guy that gave great

advice and a long time ago and it kind of snowballed from there maybe just a cool guy then

I wonder who you would say Jesus is to you today and my next question for you to think on your own is

whoever whatever your answer was or if you're maybe still thinking about it I wonder how that answer

carries out into your everyday life what does that actually mean for Jesus to be who you say he is

for Peter in this passage he says Jesus you're the Messiah the son of God

and what does he mean by that well Messiah means someone chosen from God as someone anointed to

come and redeem the world to come and take on all of the wrongdoings and the iniquities and bear them

in order that others can have a relationship with God to bear all of those pains those sins

that's what Messiah is but do you think Peter really understood what that meant perhaps when he was saying

when he was rebuking Jesus for saying what he was going to do

he didn't seem to truly understand the meaning of what he was claiming Jesus to be

now today and we're talking about sacrifice as Clive has mentioned

and which is in our series of covenant meaning making commitment a commitment to God

and throughout the Bible sacrifice is is shown through that from the very beginning all the way through

to Revelation there are stories of what sacrifice really means and I'd describe it as being to fully

surrender something as an offering in order for for a cause so in other words to fully give something

in order that that cause can be made aligned

for example when Jesus died on the cross his sacrifice was to pay the ultimate price for the world's sins

for the world's wrongdoings in order that we might come into a right relationship with God again

that was his sacrifice for us

now in the book of Mark and and as a side note if you haven't read the whole book of Mark all the way

through or even listened to it on an audiobook I'd really encourage you to do so because the whole of it

is like a dramatic kind of reading of revealing who Jesus is and on this kind of journey to the cross

and but that's the side note go and do that because it's great

and but at this point in Mark's gospel in chapter 8 there's there's been all of this lead up to kind of

wondering who is Jesus who is this man that's doing all of these miracles and healing people and

feeding so many people and and his identity has been concealed but here Peter kind of reveals who he is

and so Jesus sort of explains what that truly means what the cost might be for his followers

Jesus says if you want to become my follower you must deny yourselves take up your cross and follow me

now this is a really hard message to give today and I don't give it at all as a

sense of knowing the answers it's a struggle for me to hear but here we are there's there's truth here

there's Jesus's words saying come and follow me at this cost at this sacrifice

now I've tried to written a bit of a poem to help us kind of engage in the tension of what's going on in

this passage so I wonder as I read it perhaps put yourself in the position of one of Jesus's disciples

one of his followers or maybe even Peter

Jesus explains the suffering and pain he must face that he is called to make a sacrifice in our place

before he is raised to life again

Peter doesn't like what he hears so tries to stop Jesus in his flow saying no

why should the Messiah die and suffer

Peter, Peter, Peter

Jesus has eyes fixed on the future

where more than just Peter and his friends need a saviour

Peter, this battle is for life eternal

for the faithful

Peter, your eyes are narrow to desires merely human

but Jesus sees through the divine lens of the kingdom

now perhaps you can empathise with Peter or to his

to the listeners around there

of this kind of wrestling of what it means

for Jesus to suffer

why should the Messiah suffer

or even

why will we suffer

and Jesus's response is

you're setting your mind

not on

the divine things

but on human things

on frail things

that will soon fade away

how often is it

I wonder

that the world tells us

to earn big

to spend

huge

or to be motivated

on pleasures

that are just small and instant

or to settle for comfort

well

this is not the words of the kingdom

Christ calls us to have

our minds set on divine things

he is inviting us

to put on

like kingdom lenses

goggles where we

see things of the

a bit like the upside down

it's a bit backwards

a bit back to front

he says

to have life

deny yourselves

take up your cross

and follow me

so what's the hope

here

that we're

hearing today

well

the hope

is a promise

of life

promise of

life eternal

life to the full

life

so greater

than we could imagine

the world

groans

and longs

for a restored

order

in creation

I'm sure

it's not difficult

to look at the news

and to hear

the groans

of earth

the groans

of people

that there's just

something not quite right

we're broken

and we're fragile

but

we were made

for more

than this

we were made

for more

than this

we were made

for an eternal

relationship

with God

for a restored

order

with him

and Jesus

is offering

that hope

of restored

life with God

he's offering it

he's saying

come and follow me

come into the way

of life eternal

but

it comes

with a cost

and we can

trust

in God's

promise

for the future

that we can't

quite fathom

and understand

today

even

sometimes

in his

creation

we see

those glimmers

of beauty

I don't know

if you managed

to get outside

in the snow

and you saw

the kind of

glimmers

of the snow

before anyone

had set foot

on it

just a little

glimpse

of God's

glory

God's

beauty

in creation

and his

beauty

in us

so we hope

for life

eternal

for his

glorious

restored

kingdom

and the

action

and response

to this

is

us

is sacrifice

and sacrifice

is to

fully surrender

not just

to dip

our toes

in

and have

a little

taster

or to

peer in

from the

room

on the

other side

of the

house

it's to

fully

submerse

to fully

give

ourselves

so he

says to

deny

yourself

and to

take up

your

cross

what does

it mean

to deny

ourselves

what is

that

it's

something

about being

less of us

and more

of God

more of

Jesus

and less

of us

and our

worldly

lens

limits

our view

of God

limits our

understanding

of what

that means

and I

think it's

something about

our heart

attitude

today

to deny

ourselves

is something

about our

heart

attitude

to following

Jesus

and how it

flows into

our actions

so

what if our

heart's desire

is to be

the best

business

person

to climb

the ladder

and reach

for promotion

to get

public

affirmation

or to

reach for

those big

profits

but then

our heart

forgets the

neighbour

who is a

single parent

who's struggling

to pay

for their

next meal

or what if

our heart's

desire is

to live in

comfort

to be the

best host

to max out

on your

Netflix

subscription

but then

your heart

forgets

the person

at work

who lives

alone

or the

person down

the street

who has

no home

sometimes

we need

to put

on our

kingdom

lenses

and to

lay down

those desires

that we

as humans

have

in order

to live

for the

sake of

God's

love

for his

world

so here's

our first

challenge

what are

our

heart's

desires

what is

it that

we really

go after

what are

we striving

for

is it

in line

with God's

kingdom

and then

he says

take up

your cross

what does

that mean

well

as we

know

from

Jesus

the cross

is a

symbol

of

suffering

like

Jesus

he

must

undergo

suffering

and

so we

may also

find

ourselves

following

Jesus

at a

cost

there is

hope for

life eternal

but we

still live

in a

broken

world

therefore

Jesus

says

to have

life to

the full

you must

lose your

life

kind of

sounds so

hard and

hard to

hear

but the

question is

are you

willing to

perhaps be

ridiculed

at work

for

for knowing

that you

follow Jesus

and others

don't quite

understand

or are you

willing to

give up

something of

your own

because you

know that

someone else

could benefit

from it

more greatly

or are you

willing to

stop watching

a TV series

because you

know it's

really not

healthy for

your relationship

with God

the question

is what is

that number

one thing

that perhaps

is a

stumbling

block

from

Jesus

being the

number one

person in

our lives

this is a

really hard

message

but it

has hope

and it's

especially

challenging

when we

truly open

our hands

to God

and say

to him

okay God

what is it

allow him

fully in

it's a

little

I've got a

little story

just to

kind of help

us along

the way

of being

reminded of

what it

looks like

to follow

along this

journey

John and

I went

hiking up

Crib Goch

in Snowdon

I don't know

if any of you

have heard of

it before

this was

about a

year or

two ago

and I

would generally

call myself

a keen

hiker

someone who

likes fair

weather hiking

likes the

views

likes to

take in

the fresh

air

and I

was told

that there

would be

lots of

this up

Crib Goch

so I

was keen

I was keen

to go along

with the

journey

perhaps wasn't

quite aware

of the

challenges

that I

might face

and the

perilous

danger

that there

may be

along the

journey

and when

we arrived

John said

that's the

mountain we're

going to

climb so I

was like

great okay

I'm imagining

there's going

to be a

kind of

smooth ascent

at some

point somewhere

along the

journey

but no no

we went

straight for

the direct

hill

or rock

face is

probably more

of the

one

and I

must admit

I was not

too happy

on the

journey

and was

grumbling

a little

bit

saying

this

surely

cannot

be

the

way

surely

there's

a

different

way

an easier

path

but

John

affirmed

me

that

he said

no this

is definitely

the way

as there

were some

five and six

year old

children

going the

same path

so I was

like right

okay

I probably

should follow

the way

and trust

and once

we were

beginning to

climb to

the top

we came

to this

knife edge

ridge

is what

they call

it

which you

can probably

imagine

means

literally

you're walking

on a

tiny little

pathway

with a

sheer drop

face

at either

side

you don't

even dare

think how

far it

is

and the

rain actually

started falling

as we were

just about

to go

along

this

rock

slippery

face

with sheer

drops

either side

I don't know

if that was

what you were

supposed to do

or not

but John

assured me

that this

is the

right way

to go

so on

I went

feeling like

a mountain

goat

but using

all fours

to try

not to

fall

and we

made it

I don't

want to

tell you

what kind

of language

I found

myself in

as we

were going

along

but we

did make

it and

we made

it to

the top

now the

reason for

me saying

this is

that the

journey was

hard

I knew

where we

were going

and I

knew that

it was

going to

be amazing

but the

journey was

really hard

and was it

worth it

yeah it

actually

absolutely

was it

was absolutely

worth it

getting to

the top

and seeing

how we

had been

held

and how

we were

actually

safe

all the

way

it was

worth it

the fresh

air was

there

the view

came out

eventually

after the

cloud lifted

following

Jesus can

sometimes feel

like you're

climbing this

mountain

you know

that there's

a glorious

hope at

the top

but the

journey there

is really

hard

the journey

there can

be

faithful

we can

be striving

on to

Jesus

but we

still find

it hard

we still

find rocky

patches

and yet

the promise

of Jesus

is he

says I've

been there

I've climbed

that mountain

as well

I've paid

the price

and I've

suffered

greatly

I know

the pain

you're

going

through

and so

in those

moments

when we're

on our

journey

he sits

with us

he holds

our hand

and he

takes us

along

so that's

the hope

that we

hold on

to for

today

when we

struggle

when it's

hard

when we

forget

God

Jesus

is always

there for

us to

turn to

for us

to question

he is

always

there

so as

I come

to close

now

it is

a hard

message

it can't

really be

vamped up

with a cherry

on top

but the fact

is that there

is a hope

there's a

hilltop

with a gorgeous

view

and that's

what we're

striving for

in and

amongst

where we

find

ourselves

but we're

going to

take a

moment

in a

minute

and perhaps

the band

might come

up as

well

and I'd

love just

to invite

us to

let God

speak to

us today

I can't

tell us

how to

live a

sacrificial

life

that's

for you

and for

God

to decide

what that

looks like

and today

it might

be about

starting

small

it might

be about

giving a

little

or perhaps

you know

that there

is something

for you

that is

actually a

stumbling

block

that's really

stopping you

from fully

immersing

yourself

in Jesus

or maybe

it's that you

feel actually

that you are

in the midst

of that

suffering

that you are

in the midst

of the pain

and perhaps

you need to

be reminded

again by

Jesus that

he is there

sat with you

walking along

the journey

with you

taking you

to the

glorious life

that's ahead

of that

you

to the

you

to go

to the

what

the

do

as

or

as

or

the

you

you