Mark 8:27-38
Think with me about what we can learn from the life that Jesus lived.
- I believe that there is no one who has ever walked this earth who has lived a more meaningful life.
- Jesus knew who he was and what he wanted.
- And he lived the life that he knew he was supposed to live.
- The life that he was born to live.
- Jesus was not disappointed in himself or in his life.
- It was just the way it was meant to be.
- It was not always easy…but it was always right.
- Jesus never got it wrong.
- And he lived his life exactly as God wanted him to.
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
How many of us can say that?
- If we are being honest…none of us.
- But think again about the life that Jesus lived.
- As meaningful as it was…and as fulfilled a life as he had…think about what he did not
Jesus never owned a home.
- The Son of Man had nowhere to lay his head.
- Jesus never traveled the world.
- He spent his whole life within walking distance of where he was born.
- He never married. Never had children.
- He was neither a husband nor a father.
- Jesus never drove in a car…or flew in an airplane.
- He never watched television…or rode a roller-coaster…or played a video game.
- And not only that…but his life was cut short when he was just 33 years old.
Jesus did not live a complete life…by the measure of our world.
- But without a doubt…he lived a meaningful
- So…if Jesus is any guide…none of those things that he missed out on are necessary to live a meaningful life.
Let’s think about this a little.
- What gave meaning to Jesus’ life?
- Well…let’s look at today’s gospel reading.
- Jesus lived his life based on his teachings in our gospel reading.
- He told Peter to set his mind on divine things…not on human things.
- And that is what Jesus did.
- He lived every day with his mind set on his divine purpose…on his relationship with his Heavenly Father.
And then he told the crowd that the only way to save their life is by losing it…
- For his sake…and for the sake of the gospel.
- I think what that means is that the only way to live a life of real meaning…
- Is by giving up on the life that this world thinks matters…
- And instead living the life that matters to God.
That is what Jesus did.
- And that is what he invites us to do.
- He invites us to find the only life that matters by losing the life our world thinks matters.
- He invites us to deny ourselves…and take up our cross…and follow him.
- Why? To save our lives. To find our true lives.
- The life that he died to give us.
- Not just eternal life in heaven.
- But a meaningful…purposeful life here and now.
- A wonderful…grace-filled…abundant life.
It is not easy to do this…though.
- Because the world constantly persuades us to place our hope in the stuff of this world.
- Hope that we can purchase…or achieve.
- Not hope that depends on someone else.
- It is tempting to place our hope in the stuff of this world.
- And we are bombarded with it.
- Every day in countless different ways.
Susan Ritz taught me this lesson in a powerful way 27 years.
- Susan was a member of St. Matthew Lutheran church…a congregation I served in Wilmington, NC.
- One day over coffee she shared this with me:
- “I grew up on a lovely dairy farm in Michigan.
- And when I was 12 years old…I crouched in a ditch along with my mother and father and brother…
- We hunkered down in the ditch that ran alongside the road that led to the farm.
- And we watched in fear and trembling.
- We watched a mighty tornado that engulfed and destroyed our home and barn and outbuildings.
- Helpless to stop it.”
“The home I grew up in was a beautiful…very large historic classic farmhouse.
- It had a small lake where we swam and fished…and ice skated in the winter.
- It was a wonderful place to grow up.
- I loved my bedroom…and I loved that house.”
“And it was a difficult…sad day…the day that I stood there and saw the rubble of what was.
- But it was an important day in my life.
- And especially in my life of faith.
- Because by God’s grace…I began to learn…that day…the lesson that Jesus teaches in the Gospel of Mark chapter eight.
- That the most important stuff in this life is not found in the stuff of this life.”
“In the rubble that was our home we found a few items.
- The most important being the pearl necklace that my father gave my mother on their wedding day.
- I found my old piggy bank…broken…with some coins in it.
- I keep the piggy bank…in my den…at home…
- As a reminder that the most important stuff in this life is not found in the stuff of this life.
- It is a lesson I learned the hard way…and one that I keep needing to be reminded of.
- I do not believe that it was God’s will that my family home was destroyed.
- I do not believe that God causes natural disasters to punish us or teach us.
- But I do believe that God can bring good things out of bad situations.
- And so…when I was 12 years old…God helped me rearrange my priorities in life.”
“I went back to my Bible in the days and weeks after the tornado.
- And I looked at Jesus and his life.
- I was reminded then that Jesus never even owned a home.
- Never married. And lived only 33 short years.
- But there was no doubt in my mind that he lived a fulfilled…meaningful life.
- Why? Because he set his mind on divine things.
- He lived his life constantly aware of His Heavenly Father’s loving presence in his life.
- He knew that nothing else really mattered.”
Well…that is what Susan shared with me that day we had coffee together.
- And so…today…Jesus is inviting us to once again let go of human things…and set our minds again on divine things.
- He is inviting us to lose the only life that the world believes matters.
- For his sake and for the sake of the gospel.
- And by doing so save the only life that really matters.
Finally…Susan said: “I must be honest with you.
- I still miss that house.
- I miss all the stuff from my childhood that was lost.
- I miss it all.
- But even when I am missing it…I am reminded that the life that really matters is not there.
- The life that really matters is only found in Jesus.
- Our way…our truth…and our life.
- And when I forget…I am thankful to have my little piggy bank to remind me.
- If I want to save my life…I must lose it…for Jesus’ sake…and for the sake of the gospel.
- For what will it profit me to gain the whole world…
- But forfeit the only life that really matters?”