When Will You Lose Your Life? (Mark 8.10-30)
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton is said to have placed an advertisement in a newspaper that read:
Seeking men for uncertain journey, low pay, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, uncertain return. Honour and recognition in the event of success.
This was no exaggeration. His ship the Endurance was stuck in the ice for 9 months. When the ice began to melt, the ship sank. The crew then spent several months camping on the ice floes before sending a small group in a lifeboat, through wind and tide, to seek help at a whaling station more than 1,000 kilometres away.
The least we can say is that the crew had been warned. They knew what they were signing up for by following this man.
Here’s our question this morning: do we know what we have signed up to by choosing to follow Jesus?
Not everyone will remember a specific moment when they made this choice.
For many of us, the choice came gradually. You heard yesterday how Christophe, Claire, Marthe and Mikael came to want to follow Jesus.
The same question applies to everyone: when we chose to follow Jesus Christ, what did we sign up to? What did we say yes to? Perhaps you're here because you have questions and want to know what commitment Jesus is asking of you.
I'm delighted that you want to think about these issues.
I don't think I'm getting ahead of myself if I say that it's better to present the commitment honestly, à la Shackleton, than to have a tempting advertisement that spells out the conditions only in the small print.
The same question arises if you have already chosen to follow Jesus.
What have we signed up for?
If you're like me, it's so easy to lose sight of him. Work, leisure and worries cloud our vision.
What have we signed up for?
To understand the answer, we need to understand what kind of king Jesus is. That's what we're going to look at this morning.
When we read Mark's Gospel, one of the four accounts of Jesus' life, we saw how difficult it was for his disciples to understand who he was.
They are so blind that they need a miracle to open their eyes.
That's what we saw last week.
Jesus asks, "Who do you think I am?”
Peter finally replied, "You are the Christ.”
A miracle. He sees at last. Jesus has opened his eyes.
You can imagine the disciples about to uncork the champagne.
We've got it! We've found the king! He's going to march on Jerusalem, take power, maybe use his miraculous powers to beat up the enemies and since we're his closest friends - jackpot - he's going to install us in the places of honour!
Jesus, we're following you!
In last week's passage, there were signs that the disciples did not yet understand everything.
This blind man, brought to Jesus, touches him but at first sees only partially. He sees as 'trees that walk'.
Mark recounts this miracle to illustrate what happened to Peter. Jesus opened his eyes to understand who he was.
But why this two-stage healing? What if it meant that Peter, too, could only see partially for the time being?
Another surprise. Verse 30.
Peter has just acknowledged that Jesus is the Christ but: "Jesus sternly warned them not to tell anyone."
Why is that? Isn't this news you should be shouting from the rooftops?
What if it was because they only had part of the truth for the moment?
This morning's passage confirms that there is more to understand.
It contains two shocking statements that are hard to digest, but which we must digest if we are to understand what we are signing up for with Jesus.
The first ...
Christ must lose his life
Mark first shows that Jesus is a king whose mission ... is to die.
Mark 8 verse 31
"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 be killed, and after three days rise again."
If you grew up going to church, you probably take Jesus' death for granted.
Not the disciples. For them it was just the opposite.
They were under Roman occupation.
Many Jews expected a king who would drive out the invaders and who would be stained with the blood of victory, not with the blood of his own death, still less at the hands of his own people!
This expectation was not unfounded. Jesus introduces himself in this text under the somewhat enigmatic title of "Son of Man".
This title comes from the Old Testament book of Daniel, where the "Son of Man" is a figure who receives absolute and eternal authority over the whole earth from God.
So if Jesus is God's chosen king, the son of man, the Christ, it was almost incomprehensible that he should have to be killed by the people he was supposed to save.
It's as if it's the evening of a presidential election and the results have just been announced.
The winner gets into a car.
Driver, let's go. We're off! Off to Fresnes prison!
His assistants laugh. He is in a good mood. On your way to the press conference, please.
No, no, we're going to prison!
They ask themselves: “Who is this man we're following?”
Let's ask ourselves the same question.
Which Jesus are we following?
A king who chooses the cross before the crown, shame before honour and losing his life before regaining his life ... or another Jesus?
What other Jesus could we follow?
Maybe a Jesus life coach ... who helps us realise our projects.
Or a philosopher Jesus ... who just wants to help us think more deeply about life.
We have a Jesus life insurance policy. We sign, we don't have to worry about death, and then we go on with our lives.
“Which Jesus are you?” Some of us are still looking for the answer to this question.
Great if you're still thinking about it. It really is the most important question in the world.
Our understanding of Jesus' next shock statement depends on it, and the stakes are literally vital.
First shocking statement - Christ must lose his life
Second shocking statement ...
Following Christ means losing your life
Mark 8 verse 34
"34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.”
The German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, killed for resisting the Nazis during the 2nd World War, said, "When Christ calls a man, he says to him: come and die!"
Waiting for Jesus to say this, the disciples understood.
Come and die!
Let's not forget that when Jesus invited us to take up his cross, it was not yet a religious symbol.
It's just a method of execution.
It's a bit like Jesus saying: you want to be my disciple? Dig your own grave!
Or even: get your electric chair ready!
We must be wary of watering down these words too quickly
Most of his disciples were killed for their faith.
It wasn't a metaphor for them.
In the same way, when Jesus invites us to "give up ourselves", it is not an invitation to give up things for him - to eat chocolate during Lent, to sleep in on Sundays or to give up part of our income to give it away.
It's about giving up on yourself.
To give up your life. To lose it. To write it off.
It makes sense. If we recognise as king someone who is knowingly walking towards his death, if we swear allegiance to him and commit ourselves to following him, of course that also means losing our lives.
Like king, like subject.
By committing myself to follow Jesus, I'm saying to him: I'm no longer the king, you are, and I'll follow you wherever that leads me.
We're like Ernest Shackleton's crew, only they knew they were risking their lives.
The disciple of Jesus must lose his life.
I wonder if we are aware that we have made this choice.
To have said to Jesus - ok, my life is over.
You're the king, a dying king, I'm following you.
Jesus is not talking here about what you have to do to be a good disciple.
This is not the premium level of Christian commitment.
He simply talks about what you have to do to become his disciple, pure and simple.
Look again at verse 35
"For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.”
Jesus talks about what we have to do to be saved.
Losing your life is the first step, not the second or third.
Christ must lose his life ... following Christ means losing my life.
The question is why? Why do we have to lose our lives?
Jesus and us.
The message is radical. We won't accept it unless we understand the reasons behind it.
Why do you have to lose your life?
Why can't we just let Jesus die for us, enjoy the benefits and then get on with our little lives?
Why can't yesterday's baptized just say thank you Jesus for forgiving me? Now I'm carrying on as before.
Next item
Why you should lose your life
It is striking that Jesus does not say in this passage that he must die to pay for the sins of the world. He is going to say it. We'll see in a few weeks.
He doesn't mention it here yet.
No, if we dig deeper into this passage, we find two reasons why Jesus and we who follow him must lose our lives.
Here they are:
The hostility of the present world towards King Jesus ...
... and the priority of the next world for King Jesus
First and foremost
the hostility of the present world towards King Jesus
Verse 31 again:
“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 be killed, and after three days rise again.”
We have just marked 80 years since the end of the Second World War in Europe.
Last year was the 80th anniversary of the landings, and as a Connexion couple were getting married in Normandy, my family and I took the opportunity to visit the beaches.
I'm no historian, but it seems that once the Allied armies had set foot on French soil, victory was almost certain.
This is also where the enemies fought most fiercely.
The arrival of King Jesus in our world is like the Normandy landings.
The beginning of the end for the forces of evil ... but also what provokes their most hostile reaction.
If you choose to side with him, you expose yourself to the same hostility as he does.
From the beginning of Mark's Gospel, the authority of King Jesus is contested.
Religious leaders are the most openly hostile.
They are plotting his execution.
But, and this is crucial to understand, hostility is not limited to a few bad guys.
It's in all of us.
Look at verse 38.
Jesus speaks of an "adulterous and sinful generation". He's talking about Israel, but what can be said about Israel can all the more be said about the pagan nations, including us.
What does adultery and sin mean?
Adultery means unfaithfulness. I was created for a relationship with God, I give my first love to something other than him.
Sinful means rebellious. I live in independence from my creator.
What do these two words have in common? Well, it's 'me'. Living for me.
I have in my bones the desire to live for myself first...and so by default I'm on the side of the army fighting against King Jesus.
Ever since Adam and Eve sinned, we've all been like that. "You shall be as gods," says the devil.
As long as we're on that side, there's nothing to risk from this world. We go with the flow! We go with the flow.
But King Jesus is coming to liberate this world, and he's inviting us to change sides. If we do, we'll be on the side that wins in the end ...
... but before that... we confront with him the hostility of the present world and the resistance that still exists within ourselves.
Losing one's life means leaving the ranks of the army opposed to King Jesus and siding with him, accepting the cost.
For some, the cost will be hostility from those around them.
A family that opposes our faith. A sister with a Muslim background who is harassed by those close to her. A brother called intolerant because of his beliefs.
Elsewhere the Bible says that all those who want to live godly lives in Jesus Christ will be persecuted.
If we never want to have problems with others, never want to lose face or lose a relationship, let's not follow Jesus Christ.
For all of us, this means recognising that the hostility of the present world is not just outside, but that it begins within "me", within us, with our desire for independence.
This desire can take blatant forms, just as it can take innocent, bourgeois forms.
The desire to follow our body's desires.
The desire to do everything we can to enjoy well-being and comfort above all else.
Doing everything to be praised and admired by others.
Doing everything we can to make our personal dreams come true.
The forms are diverse. The centre is me.
Jesus says renounce yourself.
Give up being king.
You're not cut out for it and it's not going to give you what you think it will.
I am the king. Follow me.
Why do you have to lose your life?
Firstly, because of the hostility of the present world towards King Jesus. Secondly, because of the priority of the next world for King Jesus.
The priority of the next world for King Jesus
Let's get back to Ernest Shackleton.
Why did his crew agree to join him?
They weren't masochists. They were convinced that the future promise - honour and recognition if they succeeded - outweighed the cost beforehand.
It's the same with Jesus. He lost his life and we must lose our lives because we understand that the next world takes precedence over the present.
In my group this week, we used a diagram to illustrate this passage.
The two boxes on the left correspond to the choices we make here and now. Save our life, keep it for ourselves, or lose our life for Jesus.
The two boxes on the right are the future consequences.
If we save our lives today, we will lose them one day. If we lose it today, we'll save it tomorrow.
At one point, someone took a napkin and covered the right side, saying that if this is all you have, of course you choose to save your own life. Carpe diem, as they say!
If you take off the towel and look at the right-hand column, it changes everything.
Why is this?
Jesus explains why in verse 36:
36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul?
A former pastor of mine often told the story of a businessman who had made a fortune, sold his company, retired at the age of 40 and moved into a luxury villa in Portugal next to a golf course. What a dream!
No sooner had he settled in than he died of a heart attack in his kitchen.
What's the point of winning the whole world if you lose your soul?
Someone will reply: "But why is it a question of losing your soul?"
Verse 38
38 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.”
Jesus is coming back.
He will return to judge the world.
It will judge him according to what has been done to him and what he has said.
Were we ashamed to follow him, or did we follow him despite the price we had to pay?
And just in case some people are thinking: the return of Jesus, the final judgement, the end of the world, it all seems too far away to influence my choices today ...
... we have to recognise that this ultimate deadline is no further away from our point of view than our own death.
So Jesus is calling us to be clear-headed.
How long do we spend in the present world? 80 years, 90 if we're lucky.
How long will the next world last? It will never end.
Let's be clear.
Of course the next world takes precedence over the present. Of course it's better to lose your life now than later.
And that's not all.
We must also waste our lives in the present world by pursuing the priorities that flow from the next world.
I don't know if you noticed that in verse 35.
Jesus talks about "whoever loses his life for my sake and for the sake of the good news".
Some people here are thinking about the question of mission. Proclaiming the good news of Jesus in parts of the world where he is not known.
Why accept the sacrifices and discomfort involved?
Because the next world takes precedence over the present.
Some people here go out into the neighbourhood to try and talk to passers-by about Jesus. Why if we risk being insulted?
Because the next world takes precedence over the present.
Why waste your money, your time, your energy, your life promoting the proclamation of the good news, starting with the ministry of your local church?
Because the next world takes precedence over the present.
Does that mean we can't enjoy ourselves in life?
Of course He does! God gives us great freedom and he showers us with good things to be thankful for ...
But ... losing one's life means that all our choices, all our projects, must be subject to, oriented, shaped by the priority of the next world.
All this forces us to ask ourselves a question: what is our reason for living today?
Talking about renunciation and loss has always hurt people's ears. In our culture, it really hurts the ears.
These days, giving up on our desires, our dreams and our heart is seen as almost abusive.
The worst kind of violence.
If you're like me, we're hard-wired to live for the present and for our own little selves.
Going against that can feel like missing out on your life.
And it is ... if our only horizon is our little navel and our little life here and now.
The reality is that there's a lot more to life than getting the best education, the best job, the best salary, the best house, the best pension, dying in the best hospital, being buried in the best cemetery, with the best grave and the best daisies growing next to it.
But to understand that life is much more than that, we have to understand that King Jesus and the kingdom of King Jesus are so much better that they deserve every sacrifice.
Is that too much?
Giving up, losing your life, isn't that overzealous? Isn't that a bit extreme?
I'm fine with my little life, maybe with a bit of Jesus as long as he doesn't take up too much space.
But the question Jesus is asking us is not: are you going to lose your life?
When will it be?
That's the end of the story.
Dear friends ...
When will we lose our lives?
Verse 35 one last time:
For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.
There are just two options.
Either we lose it in this world, or we lose it in the next.
Everyone has to lose their life at some point.
The question is when.
In this passage, Jesus wants us to be clear about the cost of following him.
The cost is real. Giving up our independence, joining the king's ranks, suffering the same resistance as he does and giving everything for his good news.
The cost is real.
But Jesus also wants us to be clear about the cost of choosing not to follow him.
What good is it for a man to win the whole world if he loses his soul?
When are you going to lose your life?
It's not if. It's when.
A few footnotes before I finish.
What Jesus is asking here is not just difficult. It's impossible ... without his help.
In the coming weeks, we'll see just how many of the disciples are out on the streets. Far from the call to lose their lives.
It will take a miracle for them to be able to do that ... just as it took a miracle for them to see that Jesus is the Christ.
There's plenty to reassure us. If Jesus can open our eyes to see who he is, he can also open our eyes to see how to follow him.
Other footnote.
By asking us to lose our lives for him, Jesus is not asking us to do something that he has not done for us.
He's not a sadistic king.
By dying on the cross for us, Jesus shows that everything he asks us to accept as a cost, he asks because he loves us.
In fact, he dies to pay for all the times we have failed to obey his call.
Where are we at with all this?
Maybe you're here because you're wondering about the Christian faith.
Jesus doesn't advertise falsely! There's no trap written in the small print!
He says it straight. Here's the invitation, here's the cost, here's the only two options. You decide!
Or maybe you've been coming here for a while, you've learnt all about Jesus but you're afraid to commit yourself.
You're reluctant to follow Jesus.
If that's you, my dear friend, I have to ask: when are you going to lose your life?
It will have to be done. The only question is when.
Take the time you need to think.
But the deadline for making a commitment is not infinite.
Many of us have already chosen to follow Jesus.
But if you're like me, it's so easy to forget what you've signed up for.
Help me with my life, Jesus!
'OK, but first lose it!'
Could it be, dear Connexion church, that we need to take some time out this week to reflect on what our lives are really about?
Could it be that we need to spend some time on our knees in repentance?
This call from Jesus affects everything.
I think about what this means for our children. There are a lot of new parents here.
What should we wish for our children's lives?
That they succeed in their studies, that they find a good job, that they get married?
I don't see why not.
But what I really should wish for Lucie, Emma and Charlotte is that they lose their lives for Jesus.
Because losing their lives is the way to real life.
In case you find all this a bit heavy-handed, I like this quote from Jim Elliot.
Jim Elliot was a missionary who went to preach the good news in Ecuador in the 1950s.
It was dangerous. The tribe he had been preparing to reach for 4 years was notorious for attacking those who came close.
Only a few days after arriving, Elliot was killed.
But before he left, knowing the cost he might have to pay, he left this note in his diary.
"He is not so foolish who loses what he cannot keep in order to gain what he cannot lose".
“And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “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.”