Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Mark 8:27-35
Pastor: Pastor Berg
Sermon Date:  September 16, 2018

It happens to all of us. We fail a test. We don’t get the girl or guy. We drop the ball, lose a job, or lose a significant amount of money. At some point, we all lose. Sometimes, even if we make all the right choices, we still lose. Captain Jean-Luc Picard, said in Star Trek: The Next Generation, “It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life.” Indeed. That is life. But we don’t like it, right? Unless we’re talking about dropping a few pounds, our goal is never to lose. I don’t like to lose. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a simple card game, a video game, or a highly intense baseball game. And while everyone is not as competitive as I am, I can’t imagine there are many people who like to lose. We’re always trying to win, to succeed. We don’t want to fail that test. We don’t want to drop the ball or miss the shot or lose the job. We want to succeed. Even the Bible talks about winning being the goal. Paul says in Philippians 3: “I press on toward the goal to win the prize…”

So, perhaps, at the very least we are confused but more likely we are downright dumbfounded when we hear Jesus say: “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.” In other words, The Only Way to Win is to Lose! Friends, this may sound completely counterintuitive, but the Holy Spirit is here with us to help. I pray that as we explore this section of God’s Word, we will be led to understand just how critical it is for us to lose. Because, The Only Way to Win is to Lose!

“Jesus went away with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi.” Continuing in the pattern that we saw last week, Jesus is spending most of his time outside of the nation of Israel. The events here in Mark chapter 8 take place near the end of Jesus’ three-year public ministry. It was during this time that Jesus withdrew from Israel. The majority of Israel had already rejected him. The Pharisees and Teachers of the Law were increasing their efforts to find fault with him and oppose him. Right after this event, we see Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, and from there Jesus would make his way to Jerusalem for the events of Holy Week. Things were about to get very real.

And so it makes sense that Jesus would want to avoid the masses of Israel. It’s logical that he would want to be with his disciples, preparing them for what was about to take place. So he goes up north, away from the masses and he asks: “Who do people say that I am? They told him, “John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others say one of the prophets.” The popular opinion was varied, but one thing was clear: people knew Jesus was someone important. True, but incomplete. Those answers all missed the point. And so Jesus continues: “But who do you say I am?” he asked them. Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” The perfect answer, right? Jesus is the Christ! He is the Anointed One, the One God promised to send. He was the one everyone was waiting for. So then, why would Mark tells us right after Peter gave the perfect answer: “Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him.”

It was clear from the answers the disciples gave that the general public didn’t understand who Jesus was. We know from their words and actions they were looking for a political savior, not a spiritual one. So Jesus told them not to tell anyone because he didn’t want or need that kind of attention right now. But there was more to it than that. Even though Peter used the right words and gave the right answer, it turns out, he didn’t get it either.

“Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things; be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the experts in the law; be killed; and after three days rise again. He was speaking plainly to them.” After hearing Jesus speak in parables so often, this must have been quite the change for those disciples. Mark says “He was speaking plainly to them.”  No word pictures, no stories. He gives it to them straight. He held nothing back. This was the real purpose of his ministry. He has come to die for all, and to rise for all. God had foreordained this rescue mission and had promised it immediately after man’s rebellion. The prophets had foretold all of this throughout the Old Testament. The key word in this whole section is must. There was no other way. He must suffer many things. He must be rejected. He must be killed. And he must rise again. It was absolutely necessary that God’s plan would be carried out for our salvation. To change his plan or to fail to carry it through would mean the damnation of every man, woman, and child. To keep Christ from the cross would achieve Satan’s ultimate victory. That’s a heavy message. You can imagine the emotion that must have been in Jesus’ voice. I imagine it to be like the conversation I had with my dad when he told me my mom only had a short time left to live. This was so serious and so surreal and so unlike the glory that people associated with the Messiah. People like Peter.

“Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.” This was not the plan that Peter was imagining. This was not the path that he was planning on following. Even though Jesus said clearly and plainly that he would rise from the dead, Peter didn’t hear it. He couldn’t see the rainbow of the resurrection on the cloud of suffering and death. Peter wasn’t going to let Jesus go down this path and take them all down with him. Not when there was glory to be had.

“But after turning around and looking at his disciples, Jesus rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! You do not have your mind set on the things of God, but the things of men.”  I don’t know if any English translation can really capture the picture here. Imagine Jesus has finished this very serious discussion and now he’s walking a ways ahead of the disciples with his back to them. Peter catches up to him and starts to try and tell Jesus how wrong he was. But before Peter can get going, Jesus whips around so he’s facing Peter and the rest of the disciples and he let’s Peter have it. This was the very same temptation that Satan had placed before Jesus when he took him up on that high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world. Peter was talking about the easy way out. Avoid the suffering, avoid the pain, seek the glory. And Jesus is clear whose idea this was: “You do not have your mind set on the things of God, but the things of men.”

Doesn’t it seem like Jesus is being a little harsh here with Peter? Who among us could really say that we’d naturally react any differently? If you best friend told you that he was going to be going into a situation that would bring pain and suffering and death, wouldn’t you try to talk him out of it? Wouldn’t you tell him he’s crazy? And especially when you were going to be right there with him? So why does Jesus react so strongly, so emotionally? Listen to what he says when he calls everyone together: “If anyone wants to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.”

There’s an old saying out there that says, “No pain, no gain.” And while there’s truth to it in many aspects, it goes against what our nature wants. Our nature wants glory and power without the suffering. We want the reward without having to put in the work. And to Peter and the disciples, that’s what they seemingly had going. Jesus was a rockstar and they were his groupies soaking up all the attention. So we can understand Peter’s objection because it’s our objection. We can relate to Peter’s desires because they’re our desires. We want the blessings from God, we want earthly success and blessing without any suffering, without any persecution, without any problems. In fact, we think that we deserve those things because of what we’ve done, because we’ve followed Jesus, because we’re Christians. Friends, those thoughts and feelings are what we call a theology of glory. That’s what the devil wants us to believe. That’s what Jesus says to get behind him. No if we truly want to attain the goal, if we want to win and spend our eternity in heaven, The Only Way to Win is to Lose!

And how do we lose? “If anyone wants to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.” We lose by following Jesus. Jesus lost everything so that we can follow him. We lose by denying ourselves, by saying no to ourselves. And that’s impossible without God’s help. Without the forgiveness that Jesus has won for us on the cross, we can’t say no. But God has helped us. He’s called us to himself through his Son. He’s created faith in our hearts, a faith which can say no to sin, no to self. And so that new self can deny our old self. We can say no to our sinful nature. We can so no to anything that tries to take the place of God. We lose by taking up our cross. We take up the suffering, the persecution, the pain, the loss that comes from having a relationship with Jesus. We take it up and we carry it as we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and his cross.

Perhaps you remember the story of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man enjoyed the things of this world while Lazarus suffered. But when they died the roles reversed. As the rich man is begging for mercy from hell he hears these words:  “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. If this life and the things in this life are what’s important, if this is what you are trying to save, you’re going to lose your life eternally. However, if we deny ourselves, through daily contrition and repentance, we put off that old self and carry our crosses behind Jesus, we may look like losers here, but by God’s grace and through God’s promise, we have hope, we have comfort, we have true and lasting peace because we know we will be winners for eternity.

Paul wrote to the Romans: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” No one likes to lose. However, the cloud of suffering and pain that we feel in this life does have a rainbow. That rainbow is the sure and certain promise of heaven that is waiting for us. I pray you won’t fail any upcoming tests, that you’ll get the girl, that you’ll make the shot, and get the job and be successful. May God bless you with those gifts. But I also pray that you’d be willing to lose it all to follow your Savior! Because when it comes to eternity, The Only Way to Win is to Lose! Amen.