Making Less of myself

Introduction

A. If this is your first time with us, we are continuing a series we started two weeks ago called “Four-Letter Words.”

1. In our first and second sessions together, we said that a four-letter word is usually a reference to an expletive, a curse word, or a swear word. Yes, THOSE words. The no-no words. Foul language. The words that can quickly get you in trouble at school with your teachers or at home with your parents.

2. We were clear from the start that this series is NOT about THOSE kinds of four-letter words, even though our world and our current culture often encourage, promote, and even celebrates their use.

3. However, as we live in a world and within a culture that has such an ever-widening gap between the things it promotes, celebrates, or says are true versus what God’s Word promotes, celebrates, and says is true; there are four particular four-letter words that our world (our culture) considers to be foul or offensive language because they are so counter-cultural.

4. This series is about those four-letter words: VIEW, MORE, LESS, and HOPE.

5. In our four sessions together, we are digging into God's Word and seeing what it has to teach us about each of these four-letter words and just how crucial each is to our faith, our worldview, and our following Jesus. Each of these four-letter words will challenge everything we are seeing or hearing concerning what our worldview should be and challenge us to take bold steps in our faith by making more of Jesus and less of ourselves. 

A. In session one, we looked at the four-letter word VIEW.

1. We live in a world and within a culture that teaches us to put ourselves first. We are told often and loudly that it is OUR wants, OUR desires, OUR truth, and OUR happiness in the moment that should be our focus and should take priority over everything else.

2. The Bible, however, teaches a very different way of living life, one that is entirely counter-cultural to this type of thinking. According to the Bible, it is Jesus who should always be our focus and priority.

3. We looked into God’s Word in John 3:22-30 at the story of John the Baptist (the Baptizer). We also spend some time clarifying the definitions of a worldview, an all about me worldview, and a biblical worldview. We said:

a) MY VIEW IS BASED UPON MY WORLDVIEW, WHICH COLORS HOW I SEE EVERYTHING.

b) A WORLDVIEW IS A FRAMEWORK (LENS) FROM WHICH WE VIEW REALITY AND MAKE SENSE OF LIFE AND THE WORLD. 

c) AN ‘IT’S ALL ABOUT ME AND MY HAPPINESS’ WORLDVIEW MEANS THAT I VIEW MYSELF, MY NEEDS, MY WANTS, AND MY DESIRES AS THE MOST IMPORTANT. THEREFORE, I AM ALWAYS THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON IN THE ROOM.

d) A BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW MEANS THAT THE FRAMEWORK (LENSE) WE USE TO VIEW REALITY AND MAKE SENSE OF LIFE AND THE WORLD IS GOD’S WORD.

4. We ended session one with the thought; JESUS IS ALWAYS THE PRIORITY.

A. In our second session together, we looked at the four-letter word MORE.

1. We opened God’s Word to Luke 19: 1-10, where we explored the story of Zacchaeus who was a short tax collector who climbed into a sycamore tree to get to see Jesus.

2.  As Jesus is passing thought a city called Jericho, He sees Zacchaeus in the tree and calls him out, and eats dinner with him at his house. The people in the crowd who heard this interaction between Zacchaeus and Jesus grumbled and took offense. They said something like, “Hang on a minute! Why is Jesus going to be the guest of a man as dirty and crooked as that guy?

3. Jesus ate with Zacchaeus because Jesus was here for all people, not just the ‘good’ people. Jesus’s teachings and actions were turning everything upside down. Jesus had come as Savior for all because Jesus knew that all people matter to God because all people are created in the very image of God. Jesus knew that all people have sinned and fallen short of God’s Glory therefore, all people need a savior. This includes the unclean, the unlikeable, the hated tax collectors like Zacchaeus, and even the religious leaders who Jesus is continually exposing for their hypocrisy.

4. We said that if we are going to make MORE of Jesus and put Him first in our lives, we have to take a page from the playbook of Zacchaeus.

a) WE HAVE TO SEEK HIM OUT.

(1) Zacchaeus didn’t sit around and listen to secondhand Jesus stories. He went seeking after Jesus.

b) WE MUST SEEK TO REMOVE EVERY OBSTACLE BETWEEN US AND JESUS.

(1) You have countless things fighting for your attention right now. Some of them are great things, some are not so great, and some have become addictions. But it’s imperative; it’s crucial for us to push those things aside so that our eyes, our minds, and our hearts are focused on Jesus. And through Jesus, we now have the wisdom and capacity to deal with all that other stuff because in Him, we know what’s right and true.

c) WE HAVE TO SUBMIT TO HIS WILL.

(1) When Zacchaeus realized that Jesus was the real deal, he was willing to do anything and everything to say YES to following Jesus. 

5. We ended session two saying FOR JESUS TO ALWAYS BE OUR PRIORITY, WE MUST MAKE MORE OF HIM AND LESS OF OURSELVES.

A. Here in this third session, where we are going to open God’s Word together and take a look at our next four-letter word: LESS.

II. Words To Live By:

A. Scripture Background

1. The best way we can learn about being a follower of Jesus is to read and study Jesus’ own words concerning what it looks like to follow Him. So to learn how to make LESS of ourselves as we make more of Him, we are going to read Jesus’ words on how to do just that.  

2. Let me take a moment to set up this passage of Scripture that we are about to read together.

a) Jesus is talking to His disciples. While He is teaching and performing miracles, He is still highly intentional when it comes to taking the time to teach His disciples what they need to know.

(1) It’s easy to forget that these guys following Jesus were brand new Christians. In fact, most of them were uneducated and not much older than you are right now. They weren’t pros at this; they were just as new to the faith as the people they were now leading.  

(2) If that’s not encouraging to you about leading others to Jesus, it should be! The disciples were normal everyday young guys (teenage to early twenties) who Jesus chose to help Him spread the Gospel (Good News) message.

(3) It didn’t matter if they were fifteen or twenty-two. It didn’t matter if they were His followers for a week or three years. Jesus was pouring into these young people and equipping them to go out and share the Good News of God’s Kingdom with others. This means that you can too; no matter if you started following Jesus this a week or since you were five years old.

b) Jesus, in this moment, is preparing His disciples for what is to come. Things are really heating up in His public ministry. Jesus is preaching and performing miracles. The people are talking, and the news of Jesus is spreading from town to town. Jesus is starting to draw large crowds, and people are traveling great distances to see this teacher and miracle worker who they have heard so much about. Religious leaders are starting to become more and more upset with what Jesus is teaching to the people. And the days leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion are winding down.

c) So, Jesus shares with His disciples that His suffering is coming soon. But they don’t get it. This isn’t the first time that Jesus has said something that His followers didn’t understand, and it won’t be the last.

d) Peter, like he normally does, responds with emotion and says that there is no way any of that could happen. Jesus is ready to correct him, stop any chance of doubt in His disciples’ minds, and prepare their hearts to be steady in the coming days.

e) What does it look like to be steady in the coming days? What does it mean to have calm in the awful things to come? Remember that Jesus is doing all of this for you as well as for His followers, so you’ll experience life to the full with Him. This moment and every moment is about Jesus and His sacrifice for us. 

A. MATTHEW 16:24-27

Matthew 16:24–27 ESV

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.

1. Jesus tells His disciples to deny themselves.

a) Deny your own self-interest, your own wants, and desires in favor of God’s will in your life.  

b) God has a best for you. Don’t settle for something less than His best for you just because it’s available or might provide temporary happiness.

2. Jesus says to take up their cross and follow Him.

a) The key word here is follow.

b) Follow Jesus. Don’t run in front of Him and try to lead. Don’t fall behind or be hesitant to follow where He is trying to take you.  

3. Jesus says that whoever loses their life for His sake will find it.

a) The world says, “Be your own god. Get what you can get. Do whatever makes you happy.” Some of you listening to me might be living that life right now. You bought what our culture is selling. My question for you is, how’s that working out for you? Have you started to notice yet that no matter how much you grab or what all you try to be happy in the moment or live your best life that you still find yourself unsatisfied? Have you noticed yet that no matter how good your life might look to those around you, when you’re in your bed at night (still, quiet, and all alone) you know just how empty you still are?

b) Giving up lordship of our life (giving up trying to be our own god) actually allows us to walk in freedom and into peace, fulfillment, and a life to the full that is offered only through Jesus.

4. Jesus asks them if it’s really worth it to gain everything but lose your soul in the process.

a) The satisfaction of living for yourself is short-lived.

b) Is a temporary pleasure or your chasing happiness really worth selling yourself out for?

5. Finally, Jesus tells them that He will return and repay each person according to the life they have lived.

a) Jesus hands out the rewards and the rebukes at the end.

b) We can’t grasp hold of what God offers; only Jesus can bless us when our lives line up with His will.

Application

A. In our passage, Jesus gives us examples of what being LESS so that He can be more looks like.

B. THE COST OF OUR DISCIPLESHIP IS DENYING OURSELVES.

1. Make no mistakes about it, your salvation and my salvation are a free gift from Jesus. There is nothing we can do to earn that gift. Jesus being loving, gracious, and abounding in mercy like He is, gave Himself as a sacrifice to pay for our sins so we could have salvation and be made right with God. And when you give lordship and control of your life over to Jesus and experience salvation in Him, it is now your responsibility to live a life worthy of that cost. You are not your own. You have been bought with a price. Your eternal life cost Jesus His life.

2. Our faith in Jesus is what saves us. But our discipleship, growing to become more like Jesus, is something we have to work on.

3. Later in the New Testament James 2:14 says, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” Then, it gives all these examples of people who have lived out their faith by their works (how they acted, talked, treated others, worshipped, and lived a life that glorified God). Then wraps up in verse 26: “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”

4. Let’s be very clear; the works do not save anyone; only Jesus saves. The works are the product of a changed life.

5. Our discipleship (following Jesus) requires us to deny ourselves. We are to give up the desires of our own sinful selves and give into allowing Jesus to mold us (along with our desires) into His likeness.

6. Denying yourself is giving up the way you want to live, giving up the idea that your wants are the most important thing in your life, that living your truth is the only way to live, and accepting that there is a God who loves you, who wants His best for you, and who knows better than you do. Trusting God when he tells us that his plan is better for us.

7. This isn’t an easy thing in life when we are constantly being told that living for ourselves is the only key to happiness. But that sentiment is wrong. That key only unlocks death, destruction, and emptiness. It’s fun in the moment, but the bill always comes due. Seek to deny your sinful desires, and you’ll be removing the things that get in the way of your growing to look more like Jesus.  

A. THE WORLD WILL NEVER BE ENOUGH.

[Talk about the persona that if you have a lot of money you’ll be satisfied.] [2.8 billion heart beats in a lifetime]

2. Similarly what this world has to offer me is never going to be enough for me. I’m always going to want and need more money. I’m always going to want more likes or followers online. I’m always going to want more stuff. I’m always going to want more things to do. I’m always going to need more affirmation. I’m always going to want more success. So on and so forth. I’m always going to need and want more because what this world has to offer is never going to satisfy a hunger that only Jesus can fill.

a) Think of it like this, if you want chicken nuggets for dinner, eating a stalk of broccoli isn’t going to make you satisfied; you wanted nuggets! Your desire for more in life is because you have a God-sized hunger in life, and anything short of a thriving relationship with Jesus will leave you hungry?

2. Jesus says in Matthew 16:26, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?”

a)  You can literally own the whole world, go where you want, do whatever you want, and it will never satisfy your needs because your soul, my soul, we need Jesus.

A. DENYING YOURSELF IS A DAILY DECISION.

1. It’s no wonder that the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:11says, “Give us this day our daily bread.” God, give us the strength we need every day to live our lives for You.

2. This is so important for all of us to remember. And if you make this your mantra now, you’ll be set up so much better as you get older.

a) Your faith, your walk, your discipleship, and your focus on making less of yourself and more of Jesus is a daily decision you have to make. You have to wake up every morning and decide who you are going to serve. You have to approach every decision by asking who the result is going to glorify. You have to approach every personal interaction (dating, friendships, people you like, people you don’t like, total strangers) through the lens of God’s Word.

3. Joshua 24:15 says, “Choose this day whom you will serve.” You have to decide if you are going to chase after the sentiment of this world and our culture, that you only need to live for your self, or live by the biblical worldview that living for Jesus is a better way.

4. Deny yourself, take up your cross, and take on the sacrifice of giving up your own desires to live for Jesus.

A. The biggest way for us to make LESS of ourselves is to understand that we can’t do this on our own. We were created to have a close relationship with God, and we need Him constantly in this life to overcome the things of this world. Do you have a relationship with Him?

1. Every person on this Earth shares the same great need. We all need a Savior in our lives, and His name is Jesus.  

Conclusion

A. We’ve been talking for several sessions now about some four-letter words that our world and current culture consider to be foul or offensive language because they are so counter-cultural. Each of these four-letter words we’ve explored so far is crucial to our faith, our worldview, and our following Jesus. Each of these four-letter words has challenged everything we see or hear concerning what our worldview should be and has prompted us to take bold steps in our faith by making more of Jesus and less of ourselves. 

B. As all of us continue to navigate all the hardships in our own lives and throughout our circumstances, we as followers of Jesus Christ need to strive to live, think, act, serve, and love different than what this world’s current expectation is right now.

C. We need to have a VIEW of everything and everyone that is grounded in Jesus being the priority.

D. We need to make MORE of Jesus. More of His peace. More of His grace. More of His mercy. More of His love.

E. Making more of Jesus means that He must increase, and we must decrease. Therefore, we need to make LESS of ourselves and our own sinful desires in order to make more of Him. You can see what the world looks like when it’s run by our sinful desires, and it’s an ugly and selfish place. Imagine what your family, your friendships, our community, our world if Jesus was the primary focus of our lives.

F. Next time together, we will close out this series by talking about one last four-letter word. It might be the most needed and yet misunderstood four-letter word of them all. The four-letter word for next week: HOPE.

[Close in Prayer]