Monday, June 28, 2010

PENTECOST 5
June 27/28, 2010
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Luke 9:18-24

“A CLEAR CONFESSION OF CHRIST…”
1. Plainly says who He is.
2. Includes cross and loss.
3. Results in great savings.

Luke 9:18-24 (NIV) “Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say I am?" 19They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life." 20"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "The Christ of God." 21Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. 22And he said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life." 23Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.”

But what about you, who do you say I am? That’s the key question in this Word of God before us. It was so important that the Lord Jesus created an opportunity to personally ask his disciples. He included it in His word so He could personally ask each one of you too. Who do you say Jesus is? Your answer to that question reveals not only how you will live your life here but also where you will spend your eternity—in heaven or hell. Children, your parents can’t answer it for you, nor you for them. Peter’s answer to the question was the Christ of God. That’s a good answer, a clear confession of Christ. But as good Lutherans like to do we ask another question. What does this mean? What is a clear confession of Christ?
First of all it’s plainly saying who He is. That certainly was necessary at Jesus’ time right? Look at the answers people gave. "Who do the crowds say I am?" 19They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life." There was great ignorance about Jesus, wasn’t there? Did you notice what all their answers had in common? Just a man. A great prophet, a great teacher. Still just a man.
Are our times really all that different? Brothers and sisters, don’t we live at a time when there is great ignorance about who Jesus really is? Absolutely! You know, you look at that from my perspective, the faithful believers in the visible Christian church have been doing more than ever before to get out the truth of Jesus as Savior. We have more tools available to get that message out when you think of television and internet and so much more. And yet in spite of that, in America anyway, it seems more people are ignorant of who Jesus is than ever before. More people accept Him as a teacher or prophet for the Christian religion like other religions have their prophets. Why is that? The Devil is hard at work, my friends, sowing seeds of confusion, getting the unfaithful in the visible Christian church to proclaim Jesus as one way to heaven rather than the only way. He cannot undo what Jesus has done so he tries to confuse the message about Jesus.
A clear confession of Christ is needed. One that plainly says who He is. Just like Peter said. “But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "The Christ of God." Peter didn’t focus on Jesus as teacher or prophet but only as the Christ. To every Jewish person that meant only one thing. Messiah. Savior. Holy one of God. Only way to heaven. Peter plainly said who Jesus is. We need to as well. We do no one any favors by letting them think there is any way to heaven but Jesus. What are the words that will communicate to people around you? How can you tell them plainly who Jesus is? I would suggest the word Savior. I would find ways to talk about how wonderful it is to have forgiveness for my sins instead of guilt. I would want to be bold about doing that and if I find that my personality finds it hard to tell people what I believe I would pray and ask God to strengthen me and give me opportunities. An example. Recently Chris and I were getting something at Big Lots. The story was busy. The clerk a little harried. In the ringing up banter he used a bad word. Then he signed us up for their rewards program. He asked for my e-mail. I gave it. pastorspaude@hotmail.com. He reddened a little bit and said, “I’m feeling a little embarrassed for my language right about now.” I smiled, was caught off guard. The transaction ended. That would have been a great place to say, “Well that’s why God sent Jesus—to forgive us.” Shoulda, woulda, coulda! It’s good to have forgiveness and now I know what I will say next time. A clear confession of Christ.
Now you have to understand that a clear confession of Christ includes cross and loss. “And he said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life." A clear confession of Christ includes cross and loss first for Jesus. He plainly told the disciples what it meant to be the Christ. It meant that He must suffer, be rejected, be killed and be raised to life. For Jesus being the Christ meant the cross and loss of His life. That was a hard teaching for the disciples to understand. With the Bible completely written we have a better understanding. The cross and loss shows us just how bad sin is. In the Bible God doesn’t use words like mistakes, or boo boos, or “I blew it.” He talks about sin as rebellion, evil, wickedness, perversion, a stench in His nostrils. That’s what made cross and loss a must for Jesus. Sin had to be punished. Jesus was. Cross and loss were a must.
Jesus says cross and loss are a must for those who confess Him by following Him. “Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.” In other Gospel accounts Jesus talks about the necessity of cross carrying. Here He adds the word “daily” which helps us understand what He’s talking about. It’s paired with denying ourselves. That means saying “No” to sinful desires. It means saying “No” when you are prompted to react as your sinful nature wants. It means clearly confessing Christ by living with Him as the Lord of your life. Then it is never a question of what do I want to do with my time, my money, myself, my vocation, my location, but what does Jesus want me to do. That’s a cross that you must carry daily. A cross. Jesus is telling us this won’t be easy. He’s telling us that it calls for sacrifice.
That’s where the loss comes in. Let’s start with the easy ones. If you are able to attend church and you are clearly confessing Christ you will notice a loss of time in your scheduling. There will be some activities you will say “No” to because Jesus is the Lord of your life. If you don’t notice that, you need to ask if you are clearly confessing Christ. If you are worshipping the Lord with your wallet, if you are giving firstfruits with an honorable percentage of your income you will notice a loss in the amount of money available for you to spend. There will be some things you want or activities you or your children want to do that you will deny yourself because Jesus is the Lord of your life. And if you don’t notice any loss, are you clearly confessing Christ? Those are easy ones. Let’s get a little more subtle. When it comes to how believers are to live in this world what one word could you use to describe us? How about the word different? Yes, from Old Testament Israel with their ceremonial laws to New Testament believers with their Gospel motivated choices the Lord calls us to be set apart from the unbelieving world, to act, live, talk and think differently. We are salt and light to clearly confess Christ. But my friends if I go to Summerfest and am just as drunk and immodestly dressed as the next guy or gal am I clearly confessing Christ? If I use foul language at work, am lazy or a backbiter am I clearly confessing Christ? But if I live the Jesus’ way, I may not fit in. They may talk about me. I may not be invited out. Cross and loss. It’s part of clearly confessing Christ.
But let’s not make the mistake of falling into a woe is my mentality. Let’s not huddle together in a little pity part of what a hard lot we Christians have. Clearly confessing Christ results in great savings. The words of Jesus once again. “But whoever loses his life for me will save it.” What a blessing to be counted among the faithful, the ones who confess Christ. The result is great savings. A saved life now by living in a peace relationship with God through Jesus and an eternity of always and only joyful living in heaven. That’s worth any cross and any loss. It’s why Jesus went though His cross and loss, so He could save us for eternity.
As we wait for our own opportunity to experience that we have work to do. We have love to show and the best love we can show to each other, to our families, to our neighbors, to the unbelievers in our communities is to clearly confess Christ. We cannot believe for anyone else but we can make sure they clearly hear their need for Jesus and what He has done. We cannot live for others but we can make sure that the way we live says to those around us, Jesus is the Christ of God, my Savior.” Amen.

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