The Message That The Church Must Keep Conveying To The World

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The Message That The Church Must Keep Conveying To The World

(Mark 8:31-35)

Mari Ikeda

As it is the first service of the new year, perhaps the message should be uplifting to help us walk the new year positively. But considering the disaster caused by the recent earthquake in Ishikawa, in addition to the world situation and the walk of this church over the past few years, I thought I should talk about what I made as the title of the message today. Namely, what message the church must keep conveying to the world. Whether in the crisis like war and disaster, or in personal hardships in our everyday life, the church has something that no other human groups can provide. However, we can easily forget that and lose hope in a crisis, because we who gather in churches are also human beings. In order for the church to continue to be the church, each of us who gathers there needs to repeatedly remember what the foundation of our hope is. I hope you don’t take me wrong, but it is not, to put it bluntly, in human bonds or an environment in which we love each other. Instead, the foundation of our hope is simply the fact of the Cross, that God suffered and died for us. That is also the foundation on which we can truly love each other.

I’d like to read Mark 8:31-35. Let’s read through it.

31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this,

1. The suffering and death of God (31-32a)

This is the scene where Jesus clearly foretells his disciples for the first time about His suffering, death, and resurrection. He knew that He must suffer, be killed, and be resurrected. Because it was exactly for that purpose He came to this world, and also because it was the only way and plan that God could do to save this world.

It is this fact that the Christian Church has been telling to the world for two thousand years. It is the fact that God, who created this world, became a man, came to this world, suffered much from people and was killed, but was resurrected after three days, which was all for the purpose of saving us. Therefore, when the church tells, “God loves us,” it is not an ideal or desire that has no foundation. Rather, it means that, “God loves us so much that He suffered and died for us.” This can be put in many other ways. If we think in the midst of our suffering that God has abandoned us, we must remember Jesus and know that Jesus knows that same feeling, because He Himself got despaired of being abandoned by God on the cross. If we suffer from social injustice, we must remind of ourselves that Jesus also got angry about it and actually got killed for it. But He never gave up on correcting social injustices anyway. Moreover, more than anything else, He taught us that true love demands nothing in return from others but is willing to sacrifice oneself for others.

However, both in Jesus’ time and today, it is absurd and inexplicable to people that God would suffer or that God would be abandoned by God or killed by people. Resultantly, we are tempted to deny the Cross of Jesus or to emphasize His resurrection over His death. Let’s read the second half of v.32 and v.33 again.

2. Our sinful nature (32b-33)

Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Here Jesus calls Peter “Satan,” and harshly rebukes him, saying, “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” Because to deny Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross is to deny God’s will and hinder His plan.

So then, why did Peter deny Jesus’ words? The reason has something to do with the sinful nature we human beings all have. If we say what our sinful nature is in a short phrase, it is that we don’t see our sin as sin. As a result, we don’t believe that God would have to die for our sins. In a same way, we never believe that our sins have grieved God so terribly. Moreover, we are insensitive to other people’s pains and may not even realize that we are making unconscious discriminations against someone.We cannot blame the tragedies happening in Ukraine and Gaza on the sins of a few wicked people. Even if there were those who created the cause, blamed are all those who neglect or are indifferent to the problem, including us.

Another aspect of our sin is to try to use God for our own convenience. Most of the disciples, including Peter, expected Jesus to become their new king and to make the position of their people strong politically and socially. So, they will be in a trouble, if Jesus gets arrested or killed. This is a mistake we also fall into. It is to try to use God for our own material prosperity and victory over our enemies.

Church is a place where we praise God’s glory, but it is not a place for us to seek our own prosperity. God’s glory lies in His love that He made the decision to die for us in order to forgive our sins. Therefore, if we praise God, it is not because He brings us prosperity or success, but first of all because He has forgiven our sins and poured out His mercy on us. No matter how serious our sins are, no matter how much suffering abounds in the world because of our foolishness, the fact remains that Jesus has already come and died for us. That is the only place where we can put our hope, but that hope will never disappear.

Finally, let’s read v.34-35 again.

3. The life beyond physical life (34-35)

34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.

“To deny oneself and take up one’s cross and follow Jesus” means to deny our self-centered way of life and take up our cross of wanting to deny that way of life but not being able to stop, and follow Jesus. Although we have been forgiven of our sins by Jesus’ death on the cross, as we only have been forgiven, our sinful nature will never disappear for life.We continue to hurt people, even if we don’t want to. We may not be able to forgive others, even if we want to. Even though we want to love people without expecting anything in return like Jesus does to us, we soon realize our love is so poor that we quickly reach our limits. Although we strive to share in the suffering of others, it is not easy. Moreover, we ourselves have our own worries and pains that we each have to deal with, and we also have to go about our daily lives. We make many failures and wrong decisions. Yet, we can continue this way of life without giving up, only because, after all, Jesus has already died on the cross for us. He knew from the beginning that we make mistakes, and still said to us all, “It doesn’t matter, just follow me.” That’s why we can keep moving forward without hiding our mistakes and failures, just by putting our trust in Jesus.

This also leads to what it means, “whoever wants to save their life will lose it.” If we think we can save ourselves by our own strength, that in itself is arrogant and wrong. At the same time, while it is not wrong to seek resolution to one’s suffering, it is not the highest priority. We are told to follow Jesus carrying our respective sufferings, and it is the cross of Jesus that made this possible.

Believing these things and living in the security and joy of following Jesus is what it means to “lose one’s life for Jesus and for the gospel.” Giving one’s life for Jesus and for the gospel does not mean to dying a martyr’s death by throwing oneself into some special missionary work. Sometimes that may be the case, but more than that, it is to trust Jesus more than anyone else and to rejoice more than anything else in living with Him. If we live that way, our very way of life will show the greatness of Jesus, and that is how we will share the gospel with others.

In addition, we can rejoice in Jesus, whether while we live in this world with our physical body or after our physical death. Whoever rejoices in Jesus can look forward to living with Him eternally beyond our physical life. That joy does not start only after our physical death, but instead it already starts during our physical life.

The Church has a responsibility to continue to tell the world that there is such a way of life, such joy, such hope. Again, it is a responsibility that can only be fulfilled by showing that each of us, who met Jesus first, lives joyfully and trusts in Him. A 30 or 40 minute message at one service a week is hardly enough to fulfill that responsibility. Please, each and every one of you listening to this, return once again to the fact that Jesus suffered and died for us. And confirm the joy and awe of being forgiven of your sins, and confirm the joy and hope of living in trust in Jesus.

(Prayer) Dear Lord, please pour out Your Spirit on us abundantly. Help us understand your sorrows and sufferings more. As you suffered on the cross, you are still suffering today in every part of the world. Please let us share in your suffering so that you can use us to convey your comfort and peace to those who need them. Teach us what to pray, what to think, what to act.Also you know well our own sufferings. You know well that we are weak, too. So help us focus on and look forward to what you will do and show us, instead of what we can do. Dear Lord Jesus, we remember now your pain on the cross. May we always come back to your cross, as we walk through this year.Dear Lord Jesus, we pray this in your name, Amen.

Summary

In emergencies such as wars and disasters, as well as in peaceful everyday life, we face a lot of suffering. Words like “let us love one another” or “let us support one another” can become empty slogans. The church is no exception. If we rely only on human bonds and love, instead of on the fact that God suffered and died to save this world, the church will cease to be the church. On the contrary, if we do not forget the meaning of God’s suffering and death, the church will be able to give hope and joy to people’s hearts in any emergency and in the midst of any hardship.

For Discussion

What do you think Jesus’ word of v.33 means?
What is church (or YC) to you?