Sunday, 22nd Week – A: Offer
Yourself as a Living Sacrifice
Summary:
1. Christian discipleship consists of
a) Letting go of oneself,
b) Taking up one’s cross and
c) Following the Lord in his footsteps
2. The Path to Personal Success Is that of Self-Denial.
3. Losing is gaining: Offering yourselves as living sacrifices
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Anecdote 1: Jacqueline Kennedy was the most admired beauty in the 20th century. Like Helen of Troy, her face could have launched a thousand ships. But all her beauty, elegance, and wealth could not save her from a disfiguring cancer and ugly death in 1994. Obviously her beauty was not free. It came with an expensive price tag.
But, if it was true for Jacqueline, so was it true for Jesus the Nazarene. How
much easier it would have been if Jesus could have continued to tell pithy
parables, heal the sick, go fishing with his buddies, pray a lot, and die at an
advanced old age. (Daniel Durken) That
was not in the cards. His down days were approaching. Today's Gospel points up
a forgotten Christian truth. It would not be far off base to say it is one we
want to forget. We enter here the strange world of denial.
Anecdote 2: Valerie Price: Here is a story of a Christian who accepted the challenge of Christian discipleship given in today’s gospel, by “denying themselves, taking up their crosses and following Jesus." Twenty-three year-old Valerie Price went to Somalia to work as a nurse. She wanted to help people who had nothing. She wanted to offer them a better way of life. Valerie was concerned about her safety, but nothing could stop her from doing her work. She was put in charge of a feeding center in Mogadishu. Through her efforts, children who had been near starvation were fed. Valerie even established a school so the children could learn and have some hope for the future. She became nationally known for her committed service. Valerie, however, was killed by armed bandits outside the school she had started. She was willing to risk her life to help other people.
Valerie did not choose to suffer – she chose to live the Gospel – to be true to the covenant God offered them. Valerie wanted to serve the poor – she didn’t want to be shot to death.
Anecdote 3: You Can't Take the Cross: Recently I ran across a story that absolutely amazed me. and yet it's a story that may well represent the "cater-culture-give-'em-what-they-want world" in which we now live. A church wanted to improve attendance at their major worship services, so they hired a powerful advertising agency to come in, study their situation, and make recommendations. The ad agency did their research. and then suggested to the church that they should get rid of all the crosses in the church. Because the crosses might send a negative message to prospective young worshippers!
The cross is the powerful reminder of God's sacrificial and redemptive love for us. And the cross is the constant signal to us of how God wants us to live and love today. as sacrificial servants. We are not called to be prima donnas. We are called to be servants. We are called to take up the mission of Christ. and to emulate the servant spirit of our Lord.
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Introduction
Living the example of Jesus Christ, fidelity to
our commitment as Christians, will lead to the cross. Jesus himself told us
that following him is reduced to three things: letting go ourselves, taking up
our cross, and following him. The cross is not merely a possibility in our
life, or even a probability; it is inevitability.
Our experiences of the cross, we realize, are
often unannounced and cause us to question their object, form, or timing in our
life. We wonder, 'why me?', 'why this?' or 'why now?'. There are no
pre-packaged answers to these questions. However we know from Jesus that to the
degree that we embrace the cross in our own life, to that degree we can provide
the perspective of faith to others, in family or work.
Exegesis
"Get behind me, Satan!” Jesus realized that although he had predicted his suffering and death three times, his disciples were still thinking in terms of a conquering Messiah, a warrior king, who would sweep the Romans from Palestine and lead Israel to power. That is why Peter could not tolerate the idea of a suffering messiah. It was then that Jesus rebuked him so sternly, "Get behind me, Satan,” in an attempt to nullify this temptation to shrink from the work for which He had come. It was the same kind of rebuke as those He had delivered to Satan in the wilderness. Origen suggested that Jesus was saying to Peter: "Peter, your place is behind me, not in front of me. It is your place to follow me in the way I choose, not to try to lead me in the way you would like me to go."
Three conditions of Christian discipleship: After correcting Peter for trying to divert him from his way of the cross, Jesus declares thee conditions for his disciples to follow: a) deny yourself b) take up your cross and c) follow me. A) Self denial means evicting selfish thoughts, desires and tendencies from our hearts and letting God fill our hearts. It also means being cleansed of all evil habits, enthroning God in in our hearts and sharing that God with others. B) Carrying the cross with Jesus always means pain and suffering. But our sufferings become the cross of Jesus only when we suffer by serving others selflessly or when we give ourselves- our health, wealth, time and talents – to others until it hurts us, or when we work with the Spirit purifying us through penitential practices. C) Following Jesus means that as disciples of Christ we should live our lives according to the word of God, by obeying what is commanded by Jesus. To follow someone who has asked us to "take up our cross" daily seems foolish. But in the words of the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen, “to be a Fool for Christ is the greatest compliment the world can give. You and I are in good company, because most of the saints embraced the Cross of Christ and were considered fools for doing so.”
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Messages
1) Losing life, finding life: Matthew was writing to the Christian community during the bitterest days of persecution--A.D. 80--90. Hence, he emphasizes Jesus’ teaching that a man who is faithful may die for his faith in Jesus, but in dying he will live. The man who risks everything for Christ finds life. On the other hand the man who abandons his faith for safety or security may live, but he is actually dying.
2) Costly Grace: Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ living and incarnate. Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all he his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble, it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him. Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: "ye were bought at a price," and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God. (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship)
3) Questions to ask: We need to ask these questions as we examine our conscience. Do today's churches offer a faith strong enough to command a sacrifice? Do I have enough faith to offer up a genuine sacrifice for Christ's sake? Can a church in today's self-centered culture ask its people to sacrifice something for the sake of the gospel? Jesus' challenge to all would-be disciples requires more than a "feel-good" spirituality. A true disciple asks, "Am I willing to sacrifice something for the kingdom?" What made it possible for first-century Christians to choose a martyr's death? What has kept generations of Christians from losing faith and falling apart when confronted by the violence and hatred of this world? How can I offer even the day-to-day sacrifices of my faith that demand things I don't want to do? Can I sacrifice some of my time in order to visit a homeless shelter or soup kitchen? Can I sacrifice my job security and refuse to "go along" with a policy that is unjust? Can I sacrifice my need to be in control and let Christ do with me whatever he may will? Can I refuse to let my children watch television programs filled with sex and violence?
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Poem:
Until it is heated, the wax will not yield to
the signet of gold.
Until it is kneaded the dough will not rest in
the shape of the mould.
Until it is headed, God's word cannot fill empty
hearts stony cold.
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Prayer: Jesus with us in our sufferings
You are the friend who holds me tenderly in the
palm of your wounded hand.
You share my sadness with moist eyes and gentle
smile.
You grieve with me in my distress; you share your
life laid down and spent for me.
You split apart the shell that shields my heart.
You shed my wasted days like used up skin.
Embrace with me the suffering that bearing fruit
entails.
This barren branch in slow decay begins to bear
again the grapes
that make a wine which stirs the heart, the grace
which makes divine.
God, mysterious and hidden, it is in our
captivity
that you reveal yourself as the open door,
it is in the midst of our pain that your
suffering love heals us,
and it is in the depths of our despair that you
shine upon us as the morning star of hope.
God crucified, God risen: come, transform the
necessities that are laid upon us into freedom, joy and love. Amen
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Prayer: Offering our
sufferings
Here we are before you, Lord, grains of wheat
buried in the ground, dying in the indifference of this world. Help us to rise
with you in the spring of your grace. Here we are before you, Lord, grain
milled in the sufferings of the world. Help us to become bread baked in the
fire of your love.
Redeemer King, you made suffering a high calling for each of
us and taught us to bear our burdens for the sake of those who need to see your
Father's power in their weakness. May we learn anew your lessons of obedience
and trust, and join our sorrows to yours for the salvation of the world. Amen