Death & Discipleship
This morning we remember those who served, and who gave their lives, in not just the Great War, but in all wars. We remember and give thanks for their dedication and service, their bravery and commitment. I know there are some here who have lost friends or family to war, or who have experienced it firsthand for themselves. I know it's a little early, but let's stop and take a minute of silence to reflect, to remember and to pray.
But it's not just those men and women that we remember this morning. We remember that Jesus also made the ultimate sacrifice for us. We do this especially as we celebrate Communion together don't we? Part of it is remembering Jesus' victory over sin and death. In verse 31, we're reminded that Jesus didn't come to earth for the fun of it,
“The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.”
Jesus makes it clear to the disciples that it was no accident or failure. In the war against sin and death the Cross was God’s master plan. From a human point of view it might look like a massive defeat. Jesus was betrayed and beaten. But the opposite is true! It wasn’t something that caught Jesus by surprise. He knew exactly what was ahead of him. Even the ‘betrayal’ was part of God’s plan, that Jesus be handed over in our place. The Cross was God’s great victory!
Do you remember what happened though, the last time Jesus spoke of the Cross? Peter reprimanded him for it! It was clear then that the disciples just didn’t get it. And this second time, they’re still struggling to understand how and why Jesus must die. They still can’t comprehend why the Messiah should suffer and die, no matter what he says about rising from the dead. Perhaps because they can still remember Jesus’ rebuke to Peter, this time the disciples keep quiet.
At least they keep quiet about their ignorance! As they walk from Galilee to Capernaum the disciples are anything but silent! They’re trying to answer a very important question. Not “Why must the Messiah suffer and die?” but “Who is the Greatest amongst us?”
A few years ago I became hooked on the TV show Survivor. One of these reality shows, where every week someone gets voted off. Before the vote, you see the contestants breaking off into small groups, having whispered conversations, frantically trying to work out the pecking order.
The disciples are doing exactly the same thing! You can imagine them kind of hanging back behind Jesus as they walked, breaking into small groups, trying to work out who’s at the top and who’s at the bottom. I mean, Peter, James & John were the one’s who got to go up the mountain with Jesus. They’re the obvious favourites, but where does everyone else stand?
It could be the disciples are just as obsessed with social standing and importance as everyone else in their, and our, time. It could be that the message about Jesus’ death is starting to sink in and they’re wondering who will take over then? Which ever it is, when Jesus asks them what they’ve been talking about they’re not willing to admit to anything. They decide to keep silent again.
But Jesus isn’t fooled. He knows exactly what they were talking about. He’s got better hearing than any teacher, or parent who can hear the softest whisper under a child’s breath! And so he stops, sits down, gathers them together and teaches what real discipleship is all about. In verse 35 he says,
“Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”
Real discipleship isn’t about glory. It isn’t about what we can get out of it. In fact, it’s a complete reversal of the way we’re taught the world works. There’s no corporate ladder of discipleship. Jesus says if you want to be first, you’ve got to be last. Being a top disciple means denying ourselves as we put into practice the call love one’s neighbour.
The next time the issue of rank and glory comes up, in chapter 10, Jesus drives it home when he says
‘The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.’
Those who want to follow Jesus must follow his example of setting others first.
Jesus demonstrates the radical reversal of rank with a hug. As he wraps his arms around a little child he tells them,
“Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”
In Jewish culture, children were right at the bottom of the totem pole. Just as today, they were under the authority and care of others. They had no standing in society. But Jesus says, being a disciple means welcoming even the lowliest. Not just children, but all who are like children in their smallness and unimportance. Displaying this kind of radical hospitality is part of what it means to receive and welcome Jesus. Welcoming others is another part of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. The disciples go on to show just how welcoming they're prepared to be.
Let me introduce you to the original iPhone. You can imagine when Apple announced they were releasing this, the makers of the original iPhone weren’t too happy. They sued Apple for stealing their name. They didn’t want people getting confused and buying the wrong one!
The disciples have the same concern here. It seems there’s someone else out there casting out demons in Jesus name, but who’s not part of their little group. Like the makers of the iPhone, it could be the disciples didn’t want the crowds getting confused, or worse for this man to steal any of their glory. And no doubt they’re feeling particularly sensitive at this point in time. If you remember from last week, Jesus came down from the Mountain to discover the disciples had failed to cast out a demon. Then here comes this interloper who seems to be having great success. To make it worse, he doesn’t listen when the disciples tell him to stop! So now they want Jesus to step in and deal with this other man.
But once again, Jesus doesn’t respond the way they expected. Instead he uses it to teach them another lesson about discipleship. It begins by realising that this other exorcist was on their side, for as Jesus said, “He’s not against us so he must be for us.” Jesus knows his name isn’t some kind of magic word. There were some Jews in Acts 19 who tried to use it like that, but it didn’t work too well for them! Why not? Because it’s not just about knowing Jesus’ name, it’s about being in a relationship with him. The fact that Jesus’ power is active in this other exorcist, demonstrates that he’s a believer in Jesus. So the disciples should be celebrating his success, rather than trying to stop him.
That’s one of the great things about camping out here at St. James this year. We can see and celebrate each other’s successes, both past and present. We can join together because we serve the one and same Lord Jesus.
Real discipleship involves welcoming others in and serving them. It also involves welcoming, indeed celebrating other people’s ministry. This is especially hard when they seem to be more successful than us. Or when their ministry seems to be more glamorous than ours. But Jesus says, no ministry goes unforgotten or unrewarded. There is no act of discipleship that is lowly and unimportant.
Jesus says even giving a cup of water to someone in his name does not go unnoticed by God. Arranging the flowers, or cleaning the toilets, welcoming people or visiting other in their homes, is no less an important ministry than preaching, or casting out demons! If we do them out of our obedient love for Jesus, then they’re all worthy ministries! They’re all acts of real discipleship and not things we should forsake.
But then Jesus ramps it up a notch. Real discipleship isn’t just about welcoming others, serving them and celebrating their success. Real discipleship involves making some pretty serious sacrifices. Who here’s ready to take Jesus’ commands seriously?
Jesus tells us that we’d be better off taking a long walk off a short pier than causing another to stumble in their faith or ministry. Going swimming in concrete shoes is better than causing another to sin.
But it’s not the faith of other believers that we need to be worried about. It’s better he says to pluck out our eyes, cut of our hands and feet, than to let them lead us astray. Dismemberment is preferred to dud discipleship!
Of course Jesus didn’t mean for us go out and to literally cut of our limbs! I would have run out of hands and feet a long time ago. I warrant we’d all be legless, armless and blind! We know that it’s not our hands or eyes that cause us to sin, it’s what’s inside. It’s our hearts and our minds, our will that causes us to stumble in our faith, and we can’t very well pluck those out.
Why then does Jesus talk like this? It’s because of the seriousness of the situation before us. Jesus is looking at the big picture, and there’s only two options. There’s the entrance into the Kingdom of God, or there’s departure to Gehenna. In Jesus day, Gehenna was a real place. It’s a small valley, outside of Jerusalem. At the worst of times it was the site of despicable practises of idol worship. At the best of times it was the place were rubbish and offal were burnt. It was literally a place where the worms never died, and the flame was never quenched. It’s no surprise that it came to signify a place with another eternal flame. Not the Shrine, where many will be gathered today, but rather Hell, where the flame of God’s judgment and wrath burns forever. Given these are our only two options, it’s no surprise Jesus says we’d be better off going into heaven lame than to be whole in Hell.
Elsewhere Jesus says discipleship involves renouncing possessions, family, even life. Now he demands that we sacrifice anything that will tempt us not to follow him. This is the kind of real, radical, discipleship that Jesus calls us to. The kind that is whole hearted, no holds barred, willing to give everything else up for the sake of following Jesus.
This is the kind of attitude that the men and women in the trenches had to display. They were willing to abandon everything, wealth, health, security, glory, family, and friends, even the creature comforts of this world, all for the sake of saving lives.
This morning, let’s imitate those we remember today. Let’s have the same determination, the same devotion as they did. In following Jesus, let’s hold nothing back. In being radical disciples let’s be full on. Let’s lay aside everything for the sake of following him.
Let’s be real, salty disciples. Salt, as Jesus says, is good. In Israel, it was used to purify sacrifices. And in a world without refrigerators it was used as a preservative. The call for us to have salt in ourselves is not to go out and eat lots of chips. It’s a call for us to persevere as real disciples, who are inwardly pure. Who’ve held nothing back in following Jesus. It’s a call for us to be real disciples who welcome others and who glory in each other’s success. It’s no surprise that if we’re real, salty disciples we will be at peace with one-another.
Let’s pray!