Matthew 16:24

Exod 3:1-15; Ps 105:1-6,23-26,45c; Rom 12:9-21;Matt 16:21-28.

Matt 16:24 Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.25 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

What is the life we have that Jesus talks about here? What life might we try to save? What life might we allow ourselves to lose?

The word that is translated as ‘life’ is also translated as ‘soul’. It comes from the Greek word ‘psyche’. This is the real us – all our feelings and emotions, our thoughts, our hopes and disappointments. Everything that makes up that inner person.

From the beginning of our lives we respond to the people we come in contact with. If we are neglected, or badly treated, or laughed at, or rejected, or hurt, we build walls to hide behind. We all do it. In time, we become so protective of ourselves, that it’s possible not to let anyone else see who we really are. Or we can be so lost behind these walls that we, ourselves, lose sight of who we are. We make a life for ourselves built up on the person we allow others to see.

I wonder how many of you are aware of this in your own life. Think of someone who has hurt or rejected you ….. Can you feel the tension that exists, and the determination not to be hurt or rejected again? How do you prevent it happening again? Take a simple example… If someone calls you names it might begin as hurtful. Then you decide that ‘sticks and stones might break your bones but names will never hurt you’, and you hide determinedly behind a wall of bravado. Sometimes we are hurt by sarcasm or criticism from someone close – a parent, a sibling or a spouse, and we handle it by becoming emotionally withdrawn or cold toward that person.

And so though the years, over and over again, we add to the walls we build. The real you, inside this protective covering, is the person God created you to be.

So what is the life we might try to save? It’s the life we have with the walls all in position. If we choose to allow Jesus in there, he will gradually take those walls down. But Jesus says if we save that life, hold on to those walls, we will lose the opportunity of knowing who we really are. It’s not something we can do ourselves. Only Jesus can take those walls down. This is salvation! We are saved from being the people we have become (with the front we present to the world), and if, for Jesus’ sake, we allow him into our lives, we will find who it is that we were intended to be.

I am finding in my own life that not only does Jesus take walls down, but he does it one at a time, and in the order that is best for me. And how does this happen? For me it is the constant prayer “Lord teach me to love more deeply, and conform me to the image of Christ.” You see, God is love. Jesus is love. The Holy Spirit is love. As we allow ourselves to be open to God’s love, and desire to be responsive, he guides us into new thoughts, attitudes or actions. How? Sometimes through our thoughts. Sometimes through a book we’re reading, sometimes through a movie, through nature, through other people – friends or strangers. If we are responsive to Him, a few bricks are removed. But - being responsive may mean we become very vulnerable. After all, we put the walls there for a purpose, and to remove them means risking more hurt, doesn’t it? I know that from my own experience, but I also know that it is a risk that is worth taking.

Let me give you an example: One day as I was talking with an older person who was in range of my “Lord teach me…” prayers, I had the thought to act in a small, gentle and loving way, but I had a wall up between me and this person, so I remained my stoic, in-control self and did nothing. Immediately I knew that I had missed an opportunity. Did I fail? Did God condemn me for my lack of response? No. He kept on loving me, regardless. The next time I saw this person, he asked me if I would mind cutting his toenails. Now the challenge was on! I’ve had an abhorrence of cutting toenails for years and years. I don’t know why. Here was God suggesting something oh so much harder than the first time. I almost laughed out loud as I saw a funny side to it. I cut that man’s toenails, and it was unbelievably easy, - and some bricks fell off the wall. You see, God gives us second and third and tenth chances. He doesn’t condemn us, and he doesn’t give up on us. His desire is that we respond to the extraordinary love he has for each one of us. More than anything he wants a relationship with us. And if we respond, then the love that he gives us moves outward - towards him, towards others, and to the earth itself.

As Jesus removes the walls we begin to feel a new freedom – a freedom in Christ. And slowly (oh so slowly it sometimes feels) our lives are changed.

So – we lose our life, find our life, and ….take up our cross and follow Jesus. What does that mean?

We heard in the reading from Romans a list of the behaviours others should see in us. Do a mental check as I read the list…………………….

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good;

Love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour.

Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord.

Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.

Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.

If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."

No, "if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads."

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

How many would give themselves, today, 100% for that? 90%? 75%? 50%?…

So – put that list on your fridge and do a check every day for a year to see how you are going….. Do you think that by this time next year you would score higher?

Personally I doubt it. You would be trying to make yourself better in your own strength – and that won’t work. Only Jesus can change you. You may ask God to help restrain you from some action, but if your heart isn’t in the right place, it won’t make much difference. Actions that happen out of Love make a difference. Love comes from God. How do we get it? We’re back round the circle again, asking God to teach us to love more deeply. Out of His love will come the sort of actions and attitudes Paul talks about. .

Jesus came to show us what life in the Kingdom of Heaven would be like. Our task as Christians is to grow the kingdom – here and now. It is a kingdom of extravagant love. I believe that one day Jesus will return to earth to reign over his kingdom, which will be perfected and fulfilled at that time. Meanwhile, if we are going to follow Jesus, we need to understand how he lived - bringing life and love and joy to those around us. How? Read the scriptures and become familiar with how Jesus lived. But just imitating won’t be enough. Your actions – our actions – must be grounded in love.

Eddie Askew wrote this prayer:

Lord, it’s easy setting up rules.
Easy to persuade myself
that if only I could live by them you’d be pleased.
And I’d be happy.
The trouble is I can’t even live by my own rules.
It doesn’t work out.
It’s not that my standards are too high, too stringent.
It’s just that I don’t have the strength, the consistency.
Not on my own.
And no matter how hard I try,
the love, joy, peace
and all the rest of it
is pretty thin on the ground.

Lord, help me to realise I’m starting at the wrong end.
When I look at you, Lord,
I can’t quite tell if you are crying at my misery
or laughing at my foolishness.
Because you are offering me the answer.
Free.
Yourself.
All I have to do is open up my life
and let you in.
It’s not all that easy, Lord,
because when I do I’ve got to let everything else go.
But it’s good, Lord.
Because when you take over my world changes.
The rules don’t matter anymore.
And the life I live is your life.

You living in me.
Working in me.
Changing me.
Watering the seeds of love, joy, peace,
which you brought in and planted.
They grow slowly, in fits and starts.
Sometimes the dark turns their leaves yellow and limp.
But they do grow.

Surely.
Because you are there, working.
Not from outside, but from within.
Gradually building me
in your own image.
Eddie Askew

So back we come to that prayer – Lord, teach me to love more deeply; help me to be responsive to you; and conform me to the image of Christ.

Amen