FIRST READING Exodus 34:29-35
29When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. 30Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. 31But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. 32Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. 33And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. 34Whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, 35the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face was shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him.
PSALM Psalm 50:1-6
1The Lord, the God of gods, has spoken; he has called the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. 2Out of Zion, perfect in its beauty, God reveals himself in glory. 3Our God will come and will not keep silence; before him there is a consuming flame, and round about him a raging storm. 4He calls the heavens and the earth from above to witness the judgment of his people. 5“Gather before me my loyal followers, those who have made a covenant with me and sealed it with sacrifice.” 6Let the heavens declare the rightness of his cause; for God himself is judge.
SECOND READING 2 Corinthians 3:12-13, 4:1-6
12Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, 13not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end.
41Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. 2But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
GOSPEL Mark 9:2-9
2After six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. 4And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 5And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” 8And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only. 9And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP
If you were to ask, Terry will tell you one of the things I hate is stickers; stickers of any kind. If given the chance, I’ll even tell a dealership to not put a sticker on a car that I plan to purchase. Needless to say, I forgot this aversion until it was too late when we recently bought the Equinox. It was also the first thing I noticed when we went to take delivery of the vehicle. I just hate stickers! However, this dislike for adhesive signs is also a love/hate eccentricity, because I do get a kick out of bumper stickers, especially when they’re on someone else’s car.
Bumper stickers, of course, fall into several categories, from political, to ones advocating a cause, to those meant to be humorous. It’s the ones intended to be funny that I pay attention to the most, and whenever I see an interesting one, I also take a glance at the person driving the car. I want to see what kind of person would drive around with a crazy bumper sticker attached to their vehicle. I’m sure I’m not the only one who does this! Anyway, here are a few of the bumper stickers I have seen or heard about over the years that always make me laugh:
• What if the Hokey Pokey is What it’s All About?
• Driver Carries No Cash — He’s Married!
• I’m Retired — Go Around Me!
• Normal People Scare Me!
• I Believe in the Big Bang. God Said it and Bang it Happened!
• Save Our Planet — It’s the Only One With Chocolate!
• I Get Along with God Just Fine; It’s His Fan Clubs I Can’t Stand!
• Do You Follow Jesus This Close? (for our English teachers, it should read “closely”)
The last one is a good one. It’s funny, but like all good humor there’s an element of truth to it. From time to time we need to examine how closely we’re following Jesus. A good many people talk a big game when it come to their relationship to God. We ask ourselves, “What would Jesus do?” We tell people we want to be like Christ. We claim to be followers of Jesus, but how closely are we following Him, and what does it mean to be His disciple?
Mark’s account of the Transfiguration is a good example of how misguided we can sometimes be about following Jesus. It’s a story we hear at the end of Epiphany each year: Jesus took Peter, James, and John up a mountain for a spiritual retreat. Jesus is transfigured, and Elijah and Moses appeared to them. Peter thought it would be a good idea for all of them to stay up on that mountain, and in Matthew’s account, (Matt. 17) Peter even offers to help build a shelter for each of them. Peter’s response, while understandable, is also kind of funny when you think about it.
Peter must have thought it was cool to be up there with Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. So why not stay there forever and not deal with the realities of life? But what Peter didn’t realize was, that the special moment on that mountain was not about escaping the world on a retreat; it was about God confirming, once again, that Jesus was His Son and He would die and then be raised from the dead. As they followed Jesus back down that mountain He tried to tell them, but they just couldn’t get it. They didn’t understand that they were following a Man who would die and then live again, and if they were serious about following Him, they too would have to die.
Following Jesus is the greatest thing in the world, but it’s also the hardest thing in the world to do. Following Jesus is more than simply showing up to worship one hour a week. Following Jesus is more than throwing money in the offering plate on a regular basis. Following Jesus is more than reading the Bible occasionally. Following Jesus is more than letting someone in front of you in traffic. Most folks don’t realize that when Christ calls people, He calls them to come and die. What many don’t understand is, that to experience the abundant life in Christ, we have to take up a cross and follow Him, no matter where He leads us. Following Jesus is about dying to one’s self and living for God. Jesus was clear about this from the very beginning.
Huge crowds followed Jesus wherever He went. There was this certain energy about Him. Undoubtedly, He was a very charismatic teacher. He had a way with words. He performed miracles. He challenged people in authority. He even drove the animal venders and money changers out of the Temple. Yet, He loved everyone, especially the left out, thrown out, and the down and out. Who couldn’t love a guy like that?
One day Jesus looked over a huge crowd that was following Him and He wondered if they really knew what it meant to follow Him. Then with no regard for what is taught in a Dale Carnegie course on “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” Jesus spoke some of the hardest words we find anywhere in the gospels. He said, “Do you really want to follow me? Consider what it’s going to cost you. You must give up everything that is dearest to you, take up a cross, and follow me. Unless you do that, you cannot be my disciples” (Matt. 16:24-25.) But that’s not what the crowd wanted to hear.
The crowds who followed Him thought this magnetic man was on His way to His own empire. They hoped that if they followed Him, they would share in His power and glory. What they didn’t realize was, that when Jesus said these words He was on His way to Jerusalem — to the cross, and to follow Him meant you were also willing to take up a cross. The Bible doesn’t mention it one way or the other, but I imagine that after Jesus spoke these words, a good many in the crowd fell back from Jesus, disappointed and dejected.
I suspect that most Christians today are like that crowd. Most often they want to follow Jesus from a distance. They seek Jesus only for the perks and benefits. They want to be on the hopeful side of things. They want to have good morals and values. They want to have someone they can pray to when they need help or need a miracle. They want their eternal salvation to be secure with minimal effort and commitment. And to be sure, there’s nothing wrong with many of these things: but are we always prepared to follow Jesus as closely as we should, for fear of what it will cost us?
The truth is, that the important, sacred, and virtuous things in this life come at a cost. The glowing bride and excited groom stand before me at the altar. The bride is thinking, “Oh, this is the man of my dreams. He’s going to bring me flowers every day. He’s going to know what I’m thinking and know exactly what to say. He’s going to hang on my every word and always be patient with me. He’s going to rub my feet whenever I ask and surprise me with breakfast in bed.”
The groom is standing there thinking, “Oh, this is the woman of my dreams. She’s always going to look this young and beautiful. She will always meet my needs. She will always greet me when I get home with a wink, my favorite meal next to my lazy boy, and ESPN on the television. She’ll always tell me how strong, brilliant, and gifted I am. And she’ll never nag me.”
As the bride and groom are having these thoughts they’re paying no attention to me when I say, “Marriage is not to be entered unto unadvisedly, but soberly, reverently, and in the fear of God.” The bride and groom are not really paying attention when I ask them to repeat the words, “for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health.” Then, sooner or later, one of them disappoints the other by not living up to one of these unrealistic expectations and the real marriage begins. One of them gets sick or one of them becomes difficult to live with and then the real love and commitment begins. Acceptance, forgiveness, and mutual understanding are born. Perhaps the couple dreams about having children.
They think about the little people who will look just like them. They think of the giggles and bubble gum breath. They think of Christmas, ball games, and ballet classes. They think of their need of being needed. Then the children come, and they find they are definitely needed, and the real sacrifice of parenthood is required. They must get up in the middle of the night with a crying baby. They lose sleep. Their children develop minds of their own, they talk back, and rebel. Their children stay out all night and worry mom and dad sick. Shallow illusions die, and real love is born. All the really important things in life come at a cost.
Therefore, we shouldn’t be surprised to find that when the most important person who ever lived, spoke about the most important thing we could ever do, He said that sacrifice is required, a cross is required, and death is required. And why? Jesus put it poignantly, “Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24). What did Jesus mean by that? What did Jesus mean by all this death business? What He means is, that until you’re ready to let go of what you are, you’ll never be able to become what God intended you to be.
One of the best illustrations of this, for me, is seen through an experience of another pastor. Pastor Allen happens to be married to another minister. But, there was a time when Pastor Allen had other plans for his life. He thought of being a vet. He thought of the kind of woman he would marry, the kind of money he would make, and the kind of life he would lead. None of these thoughts ever included being a pastor, or being married to one either!
Pastor Allen’s life took a different path than he had anticipated. He gave up his plans to be a vet. He gave up his ideas on the money he wanted to make, and the lifestyle he would have, and he became an ordained minister. You would think that would be the end of the story. Many would think that he made a good decision and was happy and fulfilled. Allen felt the cost of his decision one day.
He was serving in his second call as a chaplain of Florida Southern College. He was walking around a lake one day and said to himself, “I’m in my mid-thirties. I didn’t go to vet school. I’m not married. I’m not making any money. Here I am, a chaplain of this school — a pastor. I’m listening to kids complain about life.” Then Allen, who isn’t one to go on about such experiences, said that he felt God speak to him in that moment. After all his complaining about all the things he had given up, Allen said he heard God say, “Allen, now we can get started.”
Jesus said, “If a grain of wheat does not fall on the ground and die, it will not bear fruit.” Jesus said, “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” You see, real life begins when we die to ourselves — when we die to control — when we die to our selfish desires and trivial plans. Real life in Christ begins when we surrender our ego, our pride, and our stubbornness. God can get started on us when we come to the place where we’re free from the bondage of trite preoccupations and recognize that our only need is God. This is what it means to die. Yet, there are many who never accept this.
This is why there are so many people, who have been Christians all their lives, who are never spiritually fulfilled. This is why there are Christians who never grow in their faith. They’ve never made the commitment to be a disciple. Until you become a committed disciple you’ll never experience the abundant life. Until you carry a cross and die you can never really live.
If we want God to use us, we must make ourselves available, empty our lives of the things that have become more important than God, and allow God to cleanse us and renew us. We must come to the place where we pray, “God, I am tired of doing things on my own. I am tired of thinking I know what’s best. I’m tired of doing the same things expecting to get different results. I want and need to follow you. I hand my life over to you. Help me let go of the things that I have made more important than you, and I ask you to fill me up. Use me!” If this is your honest prayer, God will move like a tidal wave in your life!
I remember doing a hospital visit while I was in CPE that reminded me of the spiritual death that’s required of all disciples. I had just started CPE and was visiting patients with a supervisor who was rather unorthodox. He had a way of getting to the truth of things without being abrasive, which is good, if you’re making your living as a chaplain! We were visiting a patient who was recovering from a drug overdose. The patient was a prominent man in the community.
He said to my supervisor, “I’ve lost everything — my job, my reputation, my livelihood… I’ve lost it all. This is the end for me.” My supervisor responded, “Oh, that’s interesting, because I see this as just the beginning.” The patient responded, “What do you mean, the beginning?” My supervisor said, “Well, you said you’ve lost everything? Everything?” The patient said, “Yes, everything that really mattered to me.” My supervisor replied, “Well, that means God now has you all to Himself. God no longer has to share you with the stuff in your life. And without all that stuff to distract you from serving God, just think what He can do with you now.”
Jesus bids us to come and die. To commit ourselves to truly being His disciple. If we’re willing to commit, our life is waiting.
Amen.
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