Mark 8:34-37 (NIV) 34Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
When we hold on tightly and try to stay in control we may do well in our work, but something is lost to our spirit. Vitality is lost. An exuberance and deep sense of gratitude for life seems to seep out of our soul. We pay a price for ignoring God’s call in our work.
And, we pay a price for answering God’s call. If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. To deny ourselves is to say “no” to self and “yes” to Jesus. To deny ourselves is learning to say no to the false promises at work that tell us if we just work hard we will be successful and happy. To deny ourselves is also to say no to the voice of futility that says it does not matter what we do, it will not make a difference.
But to just say no will not last by itself. We not only must say no to self, but also yes to Jesus. The lifestyle of saying no to self and yes to Jesus often feels like risk. It feels like walking on a tightrope without a net. And it is always tempting to rush back to whatever pole of security we have.
But whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. This is the paradox. As we say no to self and yes to God, we begin to live in self-surrendered trust in God, and we find life. When we live in self-surrendered trust in God, we discover that there is harmony between our life and God’s call. We enjoy work without being dominated by it. We visibly show the grace of God by the way we do our work. We can be calm in the midst of the storms around us.
Whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. That’s the promise. But is it worth it? Is a life of self-surrender worth the agony of saying no to self? Is it worth the risk of saying yes to Jesus and not having the slightest idea what we are to do? Is it worth the perseverance in such a life when nothing seems to be happening?
I hear the promise, but the promise is out there somewhere. If this life of self-surrender is really like walking a tight rope, it is that first step that worries me. What is there that will help me take that first step on the tight rope of self-surrender? Take up a cross. Life demands sacrifices of us. Jesus took up a cross for us because He felt we were worth it. He went to His death as an act of love for you and me. We who are stubborn and afraid, we who are pre-occupied with other things and alone, we who are busy and important and afraid were bought for a price. Is it worth it to us to live in self-surrender to the One who died for us?
From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope September 20, 1998
© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles
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