CMLC 2026-08-30 Sermon

Again, it's good to be here with you today as

we take a few moments now to reflect together

on God's Word. In the Word of Jesus that I invite

us to reflect on for a few moments are the words,

some words that we read earlier from Matthew

16. Words that some have called Jesus' great

paradox. It might be his greatest paradox principle

summarized with this. Die to live. You want to

live? You gotta die. He's not talking about after

we physically die. You want to live now? Today?

Die. What? It's based on Matthew chapter 16,

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

these two verses, to start with, verses 24 and

25. We heard Jesus say, if anyone would come

after me, he must deny himself and take up his

cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save

his life will lose it. But whoever loses his

life from me will find it. What? Lose life? To

find life? I mean, we're trying to prolong life,

not lose life. It's a great paradox. paradoxical

statement of Jesus here. A paradox if you look

up the word paradox in the Webster's dictionary

the definition of a paradox is a statement that

is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common

sense and yet perhaps is true. In other words

a paradox is a statement that doesn't make sense

to us. In fact, it could be totally opposite

of the way we think, opposite of what we strive

for, what we live for. It's totally counter -intuitive,

counter -cultural. It goes against human nature

itself. Die to live? We try to live longer, prolong

our lives. in whatever way we can, not die. So

on its surface, it sounds like an absurd statement.

But could it be true? Could it be a true statement?

Well, let me ask you this, also based on something

Jesus said that we'll look at. We read earlier

and we'll look at again. How often do I have

in mind the things of God and not the things

of myself? or not the things of this world? Do

I have in mind things of God? Do I even know

the things of God? And this is based on what

we read earlier also from Matthew 16, when Jesus

has to talk, say something to Peter. Now, if

you're Peter, if you were here last Sunday, I

think you read the reading from Matthew about

Peter. But Jesus went out and asked his disciples,

who are people saying I am? What are people saying

out there in the streets? What's the dupe on

me out there? So they decide to say some call

you a prophet, some call you John the Baptist

and so forth. But then Jesus asked a point like,

but you, who do you say I am? And Peter stands

up and says, you are the Christ, the son of the

living God. And then Jesus pats him on the backs

of Peter. You didn't get this on your own. You

got this from above, from God our Father. And

you're Peter now, and on this rock of your confession,

I'm going to build my church. So here Jesus is

honoring Peter for his confession, reminding

him, you got this from God. Right after this

is when we read earlier from Matthew 16 today.

From that time on, after this happened, what

I just said, From that time on, Jesus began to

explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem

and suffer many things at the hands of the elders.

What? Elders? The elders? Chief priests and scribes?

You know who elders are. I think you probably

have some in your church. These are the guys

who work with the priests and the pastors. And

here you're saying you've got to suffer at the

hands of our religious leaders? This does not

compute. Not only that Jesus went on to say he

must that he told them that he must be killed

and on the third day be raised to life Peter

took him aside and began to rebuke Jesus never

Lord he said What this does not make sense? Never

Lord this shall never happen to you Jesus turned

and said to Peter get behind me Satan You are

a stumbling block to me. You do not have in mind

the things of God, but the things of men. So

right after, this is Peter, the one to whom Jesus

said, you have received something from the Father.

My church is going to be built on the rock of

the confession you just made. And now what does

he say to Peter? Get behind me, Satan. You are

a stumbling block to me. This was a huge... temptation

to Jesus. Peter unknowingly and unwittingly said

something that created a temptation from Satan

for Jesus. You see, Jesus' call and mission from

the Father, he was sent here to go to a cross,

to be crucified, cursed to hell in mankind's

place on a cross. Nothing happy or joyful about

that, but it was Jesus' Mission his call to go

there for this salvation of souls out all because

of the father's great love God so loved the world

He gave his one and only son for you and for

me and everybody you know and don't know Even

our enemies even his enemies. He gave his one

and only son and Jesus's willingly went It was

all of God's what the God's love not any human

made -up kind of love God's love, agape love,

it's called, selfless, self -giving, self -sacrificing,

unconditional, forgiving love for all people,

even his enemies. This was Jesus' call, mission,

sent from the Father. The Father has sent me

to seek and to save the lost, ultimately to go

to a cross. That was his mission. And here's

Peter saying, no! You're going to be killed.

You're going to be arrested and tortured and

killed by the religious leaders and the Romans

are arch enemies, political enemies. This will

never be. No way. That was quite tempting. Because

we know Jesus, really humanly speaking, didn't

want to do this. I mean, remember Him in the

Garden of Gethsemane? Falls down face first in

the dirt, sweating blood, crying out, Father.

Let this cup pass from me Nevertheless not my

will but yours be done So Peter unknowingly and

unwittingly didn't get it It said something that

was a temptation to Jesus did not do something

that the father had sent him into the world to

do even Peter You don't have in mind the things

of God but the things of men the confession he

made earlier he had been given from God. He didn't

make this up Himself. It was His gift from the

Father. He didn't get this yet. So how often

do we have in mind the things of God instead

of our own things, what we want? Another story

I'll share. Do you have in mind the things of

God or the things of people, the way of the world?

In Matthew 19, One time, now a man came up to

Jesus and asked, teacher, what good thing must

I do to get eternal life? Jesus replied to him,

why do you ask me what is good? There's only

one who is good. If you want to enter into life,

obey the commandments. And the man inquired further,

which commandments? And then Jesus replied to

the young man, Do not murder. Do not commit adultery.

Do not steal. Do not give false testimony. Honor

your father and mother and love your neighbor

as yourself." And the young man said, all these

I've kept. In other words, he's saying, I've

been good. Don't murder. I haven't murdered anybody.

Don't commit adultery. I haven't gone around

having any affairs or anything. I've been good.

So what do I lack, he asked. And Jesus answered,

if you want to be perfect, He's talking about

this perfect love from God. We don't have it

in and of ourselves. If you want to be perfect,

go sell your possessions and give to the poor,

and you'll have treasure in heaven. Then come

follow me. In essence, he's inviting the young

man, deny yourself, take up a cross, follow me.

Whoever wants to save his life will lose it.

Whoever loses it, follow me, we'll find it. What

did the young man say young man heard that invite

invitation to follow me and Give up all that

he had The young man when the young man heard

this he went away sad Because he had great wealth

So, you know when Jesus said Whoever wants to

save his life will lose it whoever loses it will

find it who what what good does it? What will

it profit a man if he gains the whole world?

And yet forfeits his soul And sadly and tragically,

here's a young man, rich, very wealthy, we're

told, who couldn't give it up to follow Jesus.

In other words, who is his God? Or what is your

God? For this man, maybe it was the love of money.

The love of money is the root of all kinds of

evil, it says. Who or what is your God? Martin

Luther. It was Martin Luther, I think, who once

said, your God is that which you consider to

be the highest good. Your highest good. The one

thing you believe you've got to have in order

to be healthy and happy and whole and have peace.

Your highest good. That's your God. Well, what

is it? Again, do I have in mind the things of

God or what I want? What I think is good and

right and best. What I think I've got to have

to be healthy and happy and whole. That becomes

your God. It could be blessings from God that

get turned into idols. Family. What a wonderful

blessing. The love of family and so forth. But

does family become a love over God? In the case

of this young man who was very rich, and I think

this is especially appropriate and relevant for

those of us who have been privileged to be born

in or be in the richest nation on earth. We have

more than 90 % of the people, no matter how poor

you think you are here, you've got more than

90 % of the people in the world who are what

is your God. Nothing wrong with having money.

Nothing wrong with being rich. The Bible doesn't

say it seems to be rich. But watch out. It's

a temptation. Who or what is your God? The love

of money and all the stuff that money can buy

over and above Jesus, our Savior, God, the Creator.

So do I have in mind the things of God or the

things of people? And when it comes to Jesus'

great paradox principle, it doesn't compute.

Doesn't make sense. Die to live. But could it

be true? Whoever wants to save his life will

lose it. Whoever loses his life for me will find

it. Doesn't do any good. No profit in gaining

earthly riches. It ain't getting you nowhere.

You're not taking a U -Haul to heaven. What does

it gain? Who is your God? And so the invitation

to Peter and to all the disciples was die to

live. If anyone comes after me and I yourself

take up a cross, follow me. Whoever loses his

life for me will find it, die to live. So how

does this apply to us today as hopefully learning

and growing and being followers of Jesus? His

disciples. Can we apply this paradox principle?

Because it's not just talking about dying physically,

and then we'll live. We know, because Jesus died

and rose. We have everlasting life. It's all

about right now. Dying to live. How can I apply

that to life today? So there's a couple of questions

I invited you to. We can ask ourselves as we

seek to try to apply this to our lives. First

question is, do I get it? Do I get it? I mean

what I mean is do I get how best to live in Dating

if I'm dating or in marriage if I'm married or

in parenting if I'm parenting or in getting along

with classmates at school if I'm in school or

in co -workers or Or work and relationships and

so forth do I get it? And the best answer for

all of us if we're honest is not nearly enough.

I don't always get it Not fully and completely.

And so Jesus says, deny yourself. Deny yourself.

In other words, don't trust your instincts, your

assumptions every time. Don't trust your basic

human nature and intuitions which are selfish.

We're born with that selfish nature. It's all

about me, me, me. I'm hungry and I'm cold mommy,

feed me. I don't care about you're going through

labor. It's all about me. That's basic human

nature, what the Bible calls sin. So deny yourself.

Don't just put your trust in your own instincts,

your own assumptions. Deny yourself to live.

Another question we can ask ourselves in this

trying to apply the die to live principle is

can I see it? Do I see it? A better, the better

way to live, a vision preferably of God, an image

in your mind's eye of a better future, a preferred

future in your life. Can I see it? And really

the best answer is not without humility, denying

self. The most important attitude or attribute

that allows one to see the alternatives that

help me to do better and give me a better future

is humility. Jesus' words to this would be, take

up your cross daily. Now we all know the cross

is a symbol. It was a symbol then. We use it

as decoration today. But back in the first century,

the cross was a symbol of execution. Yes, it

was murderers and thieves who were crucified

on crosses, executed with that death penalty.

But in the first century, the cross was also

a symbol for a posture of humility and a posture

of total commitment and total surrender, like

Jesus did. Can I see it? It starts in a cross,

the cross of Jesus. Again, Jesus was committed

to His Father's mission. He was sent to go to

the cross for you and for me. And then resurrection,

like He told Peter and the disciples three days

later, I'm going to rise. But now, the total

surrender, again seen in Jesus in the Garden

of Gethsemane. Every bone in His body was crying

out, I don't want to go there. humanly speaking,

when he got down in that prayer in the garden

of Gethsemane and prayed, Father, let this cup

pass from me. But then the surrender. Nevertheless,

not my will, but yours be done. Total surrender,

total commitment, total humility. He humbled

himself and became obedient to death. As Paul

says in Philippians 2, even death on a cross.

So the die to live principle, another question

we can ask ourselves is, well, do I know what

to do? Do I know what God wants me to do? And

the best answer is, not without learning. So

Jesus said, follow me to his disciples, and he

says the same thing to us. Follow me. We learn

by following him. We don't just learn by reading

the Bible, but we hope you do. Bible studies,

talking about it in Bible studies, watching,

listening to it in sermons or whatever. We don't

just learn from that. We really don't learn or

experience what God is saying until you do it.

Doing. I've often thought maybe instead of calling

them Bible studies, that all we do is get together

to study the Bible, they should be called Bible

doings. Because Jesus once said, whoever hears

these words of mine and puts them into practice

is like the wise man who built his house on the

rock. He said, blessed are those who hear the

word of God and obey it. Do it. So that's how

Jesus taught. Follow me. He would say to his

disciples that he would teach and preach. Yes,

he'd heard them. They listened and all of that.

But he in a sense as in essence said I'll do

and what I do you watch So yes, the disciples

watched everything he was doing in his teaching

healing ministry and the great wonders and miracles

and power and all that They watched all that

and then Jesus would say I do and You do it with

me They would come and do things with Jesus and

they learned that way and then Jesus taught them

by saying, by doing, saying, you do and I'll

watch. So, you know, he does things like sends

them out, two by two, to proclaim the kingdom.

And they learned by doing, doing it. And he's

watching and observing and supporting and helping

them along the way and guiding them and so forth.

And what he's teaching them is this great life.

Die to live. It's an abundant life. It's a quality

of life. Jesus once said, I came that they may

have life and have it to the full. An abundant

life, a life of this love that he has sent from

the Father and brought into the world of selfless,

self -giving, self -sacrificing, unconditional,

gracious, and forgiving love. Do I know what

to do? Follow me, Jesus invites. And then one

last question we can ask ourselves in an attempt

to apply a die to live paradox of Jesus. Ask

yourself, will I get it done? Will I do it? And

the bottom line answer from all of this is not

without dying some to self. Dying to what I want,

what I think is right. It's dying to self. But

there's a promise. There's a promise from Jesus,

whoever loses his life will find it. This quality,

abundant life of mission and purpose from Jesus,

from God through Jesus that he has for us. You

know, someone once said, to execute anything

godly, noble, worthy of praise, I have to execute

parts of myself. Deny myself. Like Jesus did

for us. When he went all the way to that cross

in his great love for us. As innocent as he was.

Selfless, self -giving, self -sacrificing. We're

giving love for you, me, everyone we know. Because

of this you're covered, you're forgiven. But

he did it for everybody you know who doesn't

have him. That's who we're here for. Can we live

for them? Live by this paradox? Die to live life

from God? with God for our Savior Jesus Christ.

So do I have in mind the things of God and not

myself, not in and of myself? This is all, but

nothing's impossible with God, prompted and empowered

and enabled by His Spirit. Do I have in mind

the things of God when it comes to His mission

and purpose for my life, for me personally? Do

I get it? Do I see it? Will I do it? But also

as a church even. Who are we here for as our

churches? Preserve, protect and maintain what

I've always done, the way I like it, my comfort

zones. Jesus said the Son of Man came to seek

and to save the lost. We're here for them. Bring

God's love and life and Jesus Christ to them.

The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve

and to give his life. as a ransom for many. Can

we be here for him? For his church? Well, I like

to say maybe sometimes, this is my church. Sorry,

I'm the one that's got to tell you, no, it's

not. It's not yours. It's his. It's his church.

And may God grant and grant us grace in his spirit

to take up our cross, deny ourselves, take up

the cross as he has for us and for our salvation.