(Mk 8:34-35) Living a Cross Shaped Life

From very early on … we are taught by example.

Consider … how examples are pivotal to our life experience and growth.

> My youngest child … baby Abby

learned to drink from a cup by example.

> My two oldest children learned to make their bed by mom and dad showing them how how to put covers on, and fold their blankets.

> I champion missionaries like David Livingston and Jim Elliot, or men of Character like, George Washington and Teddy Roosevelt … because there is something about their example that I want my kids to learn and follow.

> In seminary … it was often said … ministry is caught, not taught.

- As important as theology is … our greatest lessons are often learned by example, not by books and sermons.

- I am the Chaplain I am today not because of extensive reading, but because I watched others minister through the love of Christ.

I did not grow up in a Christian home or going to church … so I learned what it means to be a Christian by watching others.

- By watching others pray,

- worship,

- read their Bibles,

- pray through difficult decisions,

- have family devotions

… and I am the Christian I am today because of the examples many other Christians gave me.

But there is one example by which all others are compared.

There is none greater … than the example of Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the greatest example we could ever know.

To set ourselves according to Jesus … is to imitate perfection.

- There is no greater example of humanity, than the example of Jesus.

- There is no greater submission, than the example of Jesus.

- There is no greater humility, than the example of Jesus.

- There is no greater suffering, than the suffering of Jesus.

- There is no greater love, than the love of Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the greatest example we could ever know.

And what if I told you,

that the greatest example we could know, Jesus, … told us how we should follow him.

And this is precisely what Jesus has done in Mark 8:34.

And it’s fitting to look at this example, the week after good Friday.

If you recall, before Easter I preached to you Mark 8:31.

In Mark 8:31, Jesus predicted his death and resurrection.

Mark 8:31 ESV

And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.

From that text I taught that Jesus death and resurrection was no accident.

That the cross was intentional, necessary, costly, and victorious.

And right after Jesus, predicted his death,

he turned to the crowd and said this.

Mark 8:34 ESV

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Your see … according to Jesus … we are not only to believe in his death and resurrection,

but to follow his example on the cross.

According to Mark 8:34 -

We must follow the example of the Cross.

And this text gives us 3 ways for how to follow the example of the Cross.

This morning .... we will follow the Words of Jesus as our outline.

Mark 8:34 (ESV)

“let him deny himself”

“take up his cross”

“and follow me”

What Jesus is saying in the text

is that he is going to give us such an example … that it will become the standard by which we measure obedience to God.

It is such an example … that it becomes the blue print for how we are to follow Christ.

So lets look at the first way Jesus tells us how to follow his example on the Cross.

The first way we follow Jesus is to -

(1) Deny our own dreams and comforts.

“Deny himself”

Mark 8:34 (ESV)

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

The first part of following Jesus is to deny yourself.

EXHORTATION:

To deny yourself - is tell your self - NO.

Now that is a counter intuitive thought.

Our culture is built on saying yes, not saying no.

We live in a culture where

the banking system empowers us to say yes - with credit and debt.

Business’s are all about telling us how we should say yes.

We live in a culture where indulgence … is the sign of the good life.

This can be said about -

Food

cars

houses

vacations

And how do we as Americans act when were are told no?

We become angry and disgruntle.

You want to create a riot in America … all you have to do is tell us no … and we become angry.

Much of American politics in the last few decades have been about people being angry they were told no.

CAVEAT:

I am not making a political statement about any particular issue or party.

I am just saying … in general politics have been about people becoming angry over the word No.

> It doesn’t matter if it hurts the country.

> It doesn’t matter if it hurts people.

> It doesn’t matter if it is evil and wicked.

Just don’t tell me no.

Because it is not about logic … or what is wise and good.

Because indulgence is the name of the game.

But Jesus says -

Mark 8:34 (ESV)

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Jesus says - if you are going to follow me … then you are going to have to tell yourself NO

And this is more than just saying I will practice self-control.

This is to say that I am going to give up what personally gratifies me.

And dreams and comforts … are generally what gratifies us.

Jesus is saying that we should deny our dreams, comforts .... ourselves.

And instead … follow him.

ILLUSTRATION:

I can’t help … but think about how missionaries deny themselves …

their dreams and comforts … to go to foreign country and share the Gospel.

David Livingston had a term for Christians who weren’t willing to deny themselves their dreams and comforts …

He called them veranda Christians ...

because they were willing to serve Jesus so long as they didn’t have to give up their dreams and comforts.

They were Christians who went to the missions field … but would never leave the comforts of the mission house porch.

Let me ask you … when you reflect on your own life …

do you live a life in which following Jesus Christ matters so much - you will deny yourself....your own comforts and dreams.

To follow Jesus is to Deny yourself.

Second part,

Mark 8:34 (ESV)

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

The second way we follow the example of the Cross - is to

(2) Submit ourselves to God, regardless of the cost .

“take up his cross”

When Jesus says “take up your cross” - What does he mean?

Sometimes people miss understand this verse …

believing Jesus is saying we need to be a Martyr.

But that is not what he meant.

It doesn’t mean we need to go out of our way … to find ways to be executed, in Jesus’s name.

We don’t need to find ways to be persecuted.

We don’t need to pray for persecution to come to America … so we can take up crosses.

Even Jesus prayed that God would allow the cross to pass.

If you recall Jesus’s prayer in the garden in -

Matthew 26:39 ESV

And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

Thus, the example of Jesus … is not telling us to be Martyr's … it is telling us to submit to the plan of God.

To take up your cross, and follows Jesus, means I am willing to submit to God’s plan for my life … even if it costs me my greatest earthly possession … my life.

Now, I understand the challenge of applying this … when we live in a country where following Christ is a Constitutionally protected God given right.

One commentator said it this way

Such a concept of discipleship is so radical that many contemporary Christians in the West have difficulty relating to it.

James A. Brooks, Mark, vol. 23, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1991), 137.

And it’s true … it is hard to understand what it means to take up your cross, when we are not threatened by open persecution.

But remember … what is at the heart of what Jesus is asking of us.

Deny yourself … and follow him.

Taking up the cross doesn’t meant I must die a martyr’s death.

It means I must Deny myself, and submit to God’s plan.

George Mueller, an 19th century evangelist, once was asked about his secret to living the Christian life said this …

“There was a day when I died; utterly died,” “Died to George Müller, his opinions, preferences, tastes and will; died to the world, its approval or censure; died to the approval or blame even of my brethren and friends and, since then, I have studied only to show myself approved unto God.” Source: W. E. Sangster, The Pure in Heart (Epworth, 1954), 141.

John Stott, The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott, ed. Mark Meynell (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2018).

How do we follow the example of Christ …

We submit ourselves to God, regardless of if we are called to die on a cross.

We are to take up our cross.

And the the third, and final way we are to follow the example of the cross.

Mark 8:34 (ESV)

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

We are too -

(3) Follow Jesus until we are in His presence.

“and follow me”

The , Greg Ogden .... is well known Pastor and scholar, out of Chicago … who is now retired.

But he has long been a major scholar on discipleship.

And one of the critiques he has about how we share Salvation with others …

is that we fail to teach that true salvation in Christ

>>> must include becoming followers of Christ.

We talk about believing in Christ,

but we don’t talk about following Christ.

ILLUSTRATION:

Like many people - I came to Christ when someone shared the Romans road with me.

Which out of the book of Romans teaches me ..

I am I sinner.

The wage of sin is death.

The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus.

And that we receive this gift by believing him.

But no one ever emphasized … that it is not just about believing, but also about following.

Jesus says in Mark 8:34

Mark 8:34 (ESV)

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Which is almost redundant.

If you are coming after Christ, than you are following Christ.

If you taking your cross, than your are following the example of Jesus.

But then he still tells us - and follow me.

What does it mean to follow Jesus?

That is a simple answer … but then also a complicated answer.

because in just a few short words I am trying to define the entire teachings of the New Testament.

In short … following Jesus means following Jesus teachings.

> I believe the Crowd would have understood, “follow me”, as referring to his teachings.

> What he publicly taught to the Crowds.

And thus is consistent with the Gospel of Matthew.

The Gospel of Matthew says in Matthew 28:19-20 …

Matthew 28:19–20 (ESV)

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Disciple is a title that essentially means following a master.

And it tells us to follow all that Jesus has taught.

Thus, I submit to you … that to follow Jesus is to follow and obey the teachings of Jesus.

That is essentially - What Jesus means by follow me.

And so I ask - Do you follow the teachings of Jesus?

Following of Jesus … means we are committing ourselves to the New life found in Christ.

It means no longer serve old sin nature,

but we live grounded in the cross, and its transformation.

I would not be much of a preacher … If I did not ask you -

Is there any part of your life … in which you are neglecting to follow Jesus in?

Is there any area you hold back?

Is there an area that doesn’t match what Jesus would do?

We follow the example of the cross … by following the teachings of Jesus.

CONCLUSION:

So as we wrap up this morning. - I want you to really consider what Jesus is teaching here.

Mark 8:34 ESV

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

According to Jesus:

We must follow his example of the Cross.

And we do this by:

(1) Deny our own dreams and comforts. “Deny himself”

(2) Submit ourselves to God, regardless of the cost. “take up his cross”

(3) Follow Jesus until we are in His presence. “and follow me”

I ask -

Is your life cross shaped or self shaped?

Who shapes your life?

That question is important …

> whether we are talking about life changing decisions …

> or we are talking about the everyday decisions I make through a course of a day.

The greatest example to follow in this life is Jesus Christ.

As Easter concludes, and we move on to the rest of the year -

I pray that we live the Cross shaped life that Jesus teaches us in Mark 8:34.