Mark 8:27-38

Mark 8:27-38

Jesus Helps Us Give Of Ourselves

March 15, 2009

Part 3 of Lenten “Who Do You Say Jesus Is?” series

We are using the season of Lent this year to think about who Jesus is – and what Jesus means to us.

I’m asking you to focus on one basic question:

Who do you say that Jesus is?

Who do you say that Jesus is?

Who is Jesus – for you?

Remember that in Mark 8:27-29 Jesus questions the disciples about who “people” said that He was. They came up with a list of things people said about Jesus – that He was Elijah, that He was John the Baptist, or that He was another of the Old Testament prophets who had risen from the dead.

Jesus then made the question more personal by asking who they said that He was.

That’s when Peter made His confession that Jesus was the Christ.

You know – it didn’t really matter what others said about Jesus – did it?

What mattered was who Jesus was to the disciples.

What mattered was who they said Jesus was.

What mattered was that Jesus was the Christ. – the Savior – the only way to salvation – for them.

What mattered was that they said Jesus was their Lord and Savior.

The same is true for you.

You can listen to me talk about who Jesus is – or listen to others tell who they think Jesus is – but what really matters is who you say that Jesus is – who is Jesus for you.

Who do you say that Jesus is?

Who is Jesus – for you?

We’re looking at several answers to that question during Lent.

2 weeks ago we saw that the most important answer you can give to this question is that Jesus is your Savior.

Until you can say that Jesus is your Savior it doesn’t matter what else we say about Him – but once we can say that Jesus is our Savior – we can say other things about Him – things like:

1. Jesus is the one who helps me resist temptation

2. Jesus is the one who gave of Himself for me

3. Jesus is the one who keeps me holy

4. Jesus is the one I want to tell others about

5. Jesus is the one I follow

Last week we saw how Jesus can help you fight temptation.

Today I want us to look at what happened immediately after Peter confessed Jesus as Christ – as Jesus began teaching the disciples that He was going to suffer and die – giving of Himself for the world – and calling the disciples – including those of us who follow Him here and now – to give of ourselves.

You see – one thing you need to be able to say about Jesus is that Jesus is the one who helps you give of yourself.

Listen to God’s word from Mark 8:27-38

Read Scripture

Maximilian Kolbe was a Catholic priest, who was put in a Nazi concentration camp for his faith. On May 28, 1941, he was transferred to the concentration camp at Auschwitz. During his time there, he would share his meager rations of food with those around him – who were hungry.

One day a man in Kolbe’s block escaped. All of the men from that block were brought out into the hot sun and made to stand there all day with no food or drink.
At the end of the day, the man that had escaped was not found and so the Nazi commandant told the prisoners that ten men would be selected to die in the starvation cell because one had escaped. The first to be selected begged to be spared because he was worried that his family would not be able to survive without him. As he was pleading with the commandant, Maximilian Kolbe silently stepped forward and said: “I am a Catholic priest. I have no wife or children. I would like to take the place of this man, because he has a wife and children.” The commandant stood silent in disbelief for a moment. He then allowed the first one chosen to go back to his place in the ranks and Kolbe took his place in the starvation bunker.
Each day when the guards checked the prisoners, instead being greeted by the usual sounds of screaming, all they would hear was the sounds of Kolbe and the others in the bunker singing hymns and praying. When Kolbe could no longer speak due to hunger and lack of energy, he would whisper his prayers. At the end of two weeks, the cell had to be cleared out for more prisoners. Only four prisoners were left alive and Kolbe was one of them. The guards came in and gave each a lethal injection and on August 14, 1941, Kolbe died.

Kolbe took his faith in Christ very seriously.

Kolbe was committed to living the life Jesus called him to live – giving of himself for Christ – the one who died for him – and called him to give of himself for others.

For Kolbe – Jesus was the one who called him – and strengthened him – to give of himself.

What about you?

Can you say:

“Jesus is the one who helps me give of myself”?

After you say that Jesus is your Lord and Savior, one of the things you should be able to say about Jesus is:

“Jesus is the one who helps me give of myself”

We are in the season of Lent and I think Lent is a good time to think about our commitment to following Jesus.
In this passage before us, we can see what Jesus himself had to say about discipleship – and giving of ourselves.

If anyone will follow me, let him take up his cross and follow me. (Mk. 8:34)
I doubt any of us will be ask to pay the ultimate price – as Maximilian Kolbe did in taking up our Cross –but I do wonder how “taking up one’s cross” might be relevant to us today. We live in a post Christian culture. Choosing to lead a Christian life is not easy. It runs contrary to our culture. Jesus recognized this when he said:

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that All of us here today are Christians – so in some way or another we have chosen to follow the Christian way of life.
But – here’s a question for you to consider;
Having decided to follow Christ, what is the level of your commitment?
In other words, what does it mean to “take up your Cross and follow Him”

Can you say:

“Jesus is the one who helps me give of myself”?

Once you say;

“Jesus is my Lord and Savior”

One thing you need to be able to say is:

“Jesus helps me give of myself”

Can you say that?

To explore this a little further, I would like to suggest that you have three choices in your level of commitment to Christ – three choices for “giving of yourself “ as Christ calls you to give of yourself.

1. You can decide to give of yourself and follow Him some of the time
2. You can decide to give of yourself and follow Him most of the time
3. You can decide to give of yourself and follow Him all of the time.
Jesus says:

If anyone will follow me, let him take up his cross and follow me. (Mk. 8:34)

Can you say that you follow Jesus and give of yourself some of the time – most of the time – or all of the time?

You know – I believe that Peter made each of these choices at different stages of his Christian life.
1. The first choice is –

You can decide to give of ourselves and follow Him some of the time

In today’s Gospel reading Peter rebukes Jesus when Jesus told His disciples that He (Jesus) must suffer and die. At this point in his life, it seems that Peter wanted a comfortable Christianity to follow. He loved Jesus – but he wanted only the nice things associated with Christianity – for example he liked the miracles Jesus performed — Jesus’ beautiful teachings – and being around Jesus as his follower.
All these things were comfortable for Peter and did not ask much of him.

Believing that Jesus was going to pay the ultimate price and die for Peter’s sins – and called Peter to give of himself also – did not fit comfortably into Peter’s idea of who Christ was – and who Christ called him to be.

You know – you can be like St. Peter at this time of his life.

You can have two spheres of life – your Christian life and your life away from Christ.

Let me ask you –
How often do you fear that following Christ in all times of your life would make you look too fanatical by your friends and neighbors?
Are there times when you are ashamed of being Christians – that you don’t want to “stand out in the crowd” and be different – because you follow Christ?

Are there times you say:

“OK –Jesus – I’ll give of myself this much – but that’s my limit!” ?
But — Jesus says:

“If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
Jesus says:

If anyone will follow me, let him take up his cross and follow me. (Mk. 8:34)

Once you say;

“Jesus is my Lord and Savior”

One thing you need to be able to say is:

“Jesus helps me give of myself”

Can you say that?

You have 3 choices here.

The first is you can choose to give of yourself and follow Him some of the time.

2. The second choice is you can decide to give of yourself and follow Him most of the time.
The Gospels tell of how Peter denied Christ 3 times between Jesus’ trial before the Sanhedrin and his trial before Pilate. Then, as Matthew records it:

“Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the words Jesus had spoken; ‘Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times’. And he went outside and wept bitterly” (Mt. 26:74&75)
I believe that Peter wanted to follow Jesus totally, but when it came to step up for Christ and claim Him in a hostile situation – he couldn’t do it.
Most of us would have the same problem Peter had.

Most of us have areas in our lives which we cannot completely give over.

How about it?

Can you say that you will follow Christ – give of yourself – and do what Jesus calls you to do – all the time – or just most of the time?

If you are like me, you probably want to be totally committed – and yet there are times you hold back.

But — Jesus says:

If anyone will follow me, let him take up his cross and follow me. (Mk. 8:34)

Once you say;

“Jesus is my Lord and Savior”

One thing you need to be able to say is:

“Jesus helps me give of myself”

Can you say that?

You have 3 choices here.

The first is you can choose to give of yourself and follow Him some of the time. The second choice is you can give of yourself most of the time.

Then – there’s the third choice:

3. You can decide to give of yourself and follow Him all of the time.
`Before the Crucifixion, Peter denied Christ before a servant girl of the High Priest. After the Resurrection and following the Baptism in the Holy Spirit in Acts 2, we see a totally different Peter. He was bold to preach the risen Lord, even before the High Priest and the Sanhedrin. When they threatened to beat him he replied:
“Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have heard” (Acts 4:19)
Here we see a very different Peter. A strong Peter. A committed Peter. A Peter who now was willing to give of himself and follow Christ – all the time.

Jesus calls us to follow Him and give of ourselves.

You can decide to do this some of the time – most of the time – or all of the time.

Jesus calls us to do this – all of the time.

So – are you willing to say:

I want to give of myself for Jesus??

Are you willing to say:

“I want to give of myself for others – because Jesus calls me to do that”?

Are you willing to do this – and not some of the time – or most of the time – but all of the time?

Once you say;

“Jesus is my Lord and Savior”

One thing you need to be able to say is:

“Jesus helps me give of myself”

Can you say that – not some of the time – or most of the time – but all of the time?

I told the story of Maximilian Kolbe – a man who gave his life so that one man might live. But this wasn’t a momentary act of bravery. Kolbe’s life was exemplary . A doctor who treated the patients in Kolbe’s block had this to say about Kolbe:
“From my observations, the virtues in the Servant of God were no momentary impulse such as are often found in men. They sprang from a habitual practice, deeply woven into his personality.”
When you make a wholehearted commitment to God’s will in your life you –can – as did Peter — move from following Him and giving of yourself some of the time – to following Him and giving of yourself most of the time – to following Him and giving of yourself all of the time.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta is another example of what it means to follow give of yourself and follow Christ – all of the time. As a young woman, she heard Christ ask who He was for her – and she replied by giving of herself for His service.

She served the poor — just as Christ served!

She gave her life for the poor and needy — just as Christ did.

She heard Christ call — and followed in her own, special, loving way.

She didn’t give of herself some of the time – or most of the time – but all of the time.

Once she was asked who Christ was for her — and she said:

“He is my Savior and Lord –

He is the one I follow as I serve others.

He gave of Himself for me – so I give of myself for Him.”

Saying that Jesus is the one who helps you give of yourself – and give of yourself all the time – is pretty easy.

Living it is hard.

Peter found out through his life how hard it is.

You and I find it hard too.

But – once you take Jesus as your Lord and Savior – you need to also take Him as your example for living – and follow Him – all the time.

Mother Teresa understood how hard this is – but how necessary it is also.

If you go into my office – and look on the edge of the bookcase that I face when I am typing – you’ll find a quote from Mother Teresa that says:

People are often unreasonable,
illogical and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind,
People may accuse you
of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be Kind anyway.

If you are successful,
you will win some false friends and
some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank,

the people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building,
someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway

If you find serenity and happiness,
they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today,
people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have,
and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis.
it is between you and God;
It is never between you and them anyway.

Once you say that Jesus is your Lord and Savior, you also need to be able to say that Jesus strengthens you to give of yourself – to forgive – be kind – be honest – build – be happy – do good – and give the world the best you’ve got. You can do this because Jesus gave for you – and can strengthen you to give – not some of the time – not most of the time – but all of the time. Amen.