The Cost of Christ - Mark 9:30-37
The Cost of Christ - Mark 9:30-37
By Pastor Lee Hemen
June 27, 2010 AM
Sometimes we can hear someone say something to us but not understand what they are saying. There are several reasons for this. They could be speaking a foreign language, we could be hard of hearing, we could be distracted, or we could simply be ignoring the other person. Kind of like the old Peanuts cartoons where all the adults sounded like: “Wah, wah, wah, wah, waah!” However, there are times when we hear the other person speak, and we truly do not understand what they are trying to tell us. I had a calculus class like that. My Mother had a favorite expression she often used with me: “Young man, listen to me when I am talking to you! I am not speaking simply to hear myself speak!” It seemed, as I was growing up, she said this a lot to me. Perhaps it was because I was so easily distracted or maybe it was the fact I did not want to hear what she had to say. Whatever the reason, we find that Jesus’ disciples often suffered from this hard of hearing problem as well.
Jesus often taught his disciples that he would have to suffer and die. He also taught them about the cost of following him. But as often as Jesus tried to teach them these things to them, it seemed as if they were just not listening. Now, least we are too harsh with the disciples we need to realize we do the very same thing. We listen to the pastor preach about the cost of following Jesus, we seem to agree with him about it, but then we go our own way instead. “Wah, wah, wah, wah, waah!” Jesus did not give up in helping his followers understand the cost involved in following him and neither will I. Let’s look at what Mark shares concerning the cost of Christ this morning…
READ: Mark 9:30-37
I have learned repeatedly that emailing someone about something is not always the best or clearest way to convey an idea. It is a good way to keep folks informed, but a poor way to explain some things. Here in Mark’s gospel we find Jesus again teaching his closest disciples about his impending death. It was important that they understand what would occur and why. And, for whatever reason…
I. What we have here is a failure to communicate the cost of Christ! (Vv. 30-34)
1. When we are more concerned about ourselves being heard, we will miss Jesus speaking to us! Jesus takes his disciples to where he can be alone with them. Mark relates, “Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, because he was teaching his disciples.” He desires to begin to prepare them for his coming death. His ministry in Galilee is over and his journey to the cross is beginning. We find that his death is a constant theme on this final journey and is continually on his mind. Jesus bluntly tells them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” Surprisingly, Mark writes that the disciples “did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.” (Mark 9:32) Were they that dense? Nope, they were that selfish. They had been so busy arguing about themselves, they had not heard Jesus at all! Can you imagine? I am so glad none of us is like that! Notice what Mark tells us happens next when they get to Capernaum. Evidently, Jesus had heard them arguing, literally “dialoging”, about something as they walked. I love it when people want to “dialog.” What they really mean is, “Be quiet while I tell you what I think.” And, the idea here is that they were so engrossed in their personal diatribe, that they did not care who heard them! Each wanted his position to be heard by the others. So, Jesus asked them, “What were you arguing (dialoging) about on the road?” Just as little children who are caught doing something wrong the disciples are confronted by Jesus. They knew what they were doing, “But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued (dialoged) about who was the greatest.” I believe Jesus knew as well, and in a moment, we will discuss that part. But first, we have to realize that when you are more concerned about yourself being heard, you will miss Jesus speaking to you! Jesus was trying to help his disciples understand what was going to occur and all they cared about was “who was the greatest,” who had the most authority within the circle of disciples. Wow. What we have here is a failure to communicate the cost of Christ.
EXAMPLE: Good communication takes one person speaking and one actually listening. Jesus was doing his part, but the disciples were not doing theirs. Things have not changed much in the past two-thousand years though. How often do we go to God in prayer and all we do is talk and talk and talk and talk, thinking that by the sheer volume of our words, God has got to hear us? We do not shut up long enough for the Lord to get a word in edgewise. And, if he does, we do not understand what he trying to tell us, because we are so caught up in our own “important” little diatribe of what matters most to us, to listen! We can sit listening to a sermon that God desires it to impact our lives with but we are already so involved in some other non-essential daydream that God cannot communicate with us. We search for just the right verses in the Bible to sooth our souls forgetting that God may actually want to speak to us through his word concerning what he desires, but we are so busy with our biblical agenda we fail to hear him speak. Our relationship with the Lord demands sacrifice. When we are more concerned about ourselves being heard, we will miss Jesus speaking to us! What we have then is a failure to communicate the cost of Christ!
The other day, a woman caller to a popular radio talk show pompously declared to the host, “I belong to the Church of Scientology, and this weekend we’re gathering together at the church and we’re going to go to the beach with bags, rakes, and shovels and we're going to collect all the oil that washes up on the shore. My question is what have you done to help protect the environment?” The rest of the story is, in order to get on air; the woman lied about what she would ask. She deliberately misrepresented herself. The disciples kind of do the same thing here in Mark, but Jesus is not fooled. He already knew what was occurring.
II. What we uncover is that the Cost of Christ demands sacrifice! (Vv. 35-37)
1. When we place our selfish selves before the Lord, we are no longer a servant of Christ! I love how Jesus often responds to people’s petty natures. Here he does not openly chide his disciples, instead he uses the occasion of their selfishness to try and teach them a lesson. Perhaps Jesus needed to compose himself first, I am not sure, but Mark tells us that he sat down and then “called the Twelve and said, ‘If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.’” (Mark 9:35) This phrase of Jesus’ has been heard repeatedly, and it has often been misquoted. It isn’t his personal admonishment for everyone to go serve in a soup kitchen. What Jesus means is that if you desire to follow him you had better get this life lesson of his down pat. He sat down to lower himself for a reason, which would become apparent very soon. What he teaches should impact every area of your life every day. It should become so much a part of your spiritual psyche that, like the Marines with their motto “Semper Fidelis,” you eat, breath, and live it. Whoah! Why would I say this? Notice what Jesus does next. “He took a little child and had him stand among them.” Remember, Jesus is sitting. He gives the child center stage. Then, “Taking him in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.’” (Mark 9:36-37) Are we supposed to go out and teach Children’s Sunday School in order for God to “welcome us”? Well, maybe, but that is not what Jesus meant here. Jesus displayed for his followers exactly what he desired of them by taking a child, who was viewed by his culture as the most insignificant person in a household, as an example. In fact, in the language Jesus often spoke, Aramaic, the word for child was the same word used for “slave.” The child represented the lowest, the least, among them. No disciple was/is to “Lord it over” another. In fact, we later find James and John vying for a greater position for themselves and the rest of the disciples becoming indignant. (Mark 10:35-45) Jesus bluntly reminds them, “Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.” (Mark 10:43-44) (Hello! Remember the little child guys?) When we place our selfish selves before the Lord, we are no longer a servant of Christ! What we uncover is that the Cost of Christ demands sacrifice!
EXAMPLE: I remember two brothers, no not Ed and I, who used to go to this church. One day they were kind of getting on one another’s and their parent’s nerves. The father of these boys grabbed both of them for a lecture. Which, they both hated more than anything else he could have done. In fact, one later in life confessed to me that he would have rather had a spanking and gotten it over with than the lecture. The father grabbed the older of the two and said, “Here’s an idea, why not treat your younger brother like you want to be treated?” It did not help when the younger one mockingly responded with “Yeah!” Then they began to make excuses as who started what, when, where and why. Isn’t that the way we often act in our sort of kind of walk with Jesus? Far too often, we act like, well, the disciples! When we should be responding like we are maturing in the Lord. Jesus is headed for his death. His brutal murder at the hands of his fellow countrymen and while he is trying hard to get through to them, all his disciples are concerned with is who gets to be first. Things have not changed much, have they? We truly love ourselves before anything or anyone else, yet for the Christian this is not to be so. The startling fact remains, that when we place our selfish selves before the Lord, we are no longer a servant of Christ! Here in Mark, what we uncover is that the Cost of Christ demands sacrifice!
Conclusion:
The cost of Christ demands that we listen more to him and willingly serve others. That is, if we truly want to be great in his kingdom.
----
Pastor Lee Hemen has been the outspoken pastor of the same church for 25 years in Vancouver, WA. He writes regularly on spirituality and conservative causes and maintains several web blogs. This article is copyrighted © 2010 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission. You now have my permission…
By Pastor Lee Hemen
June 27, 2010 AM
Sometimes we can hear someone say something to us but not understand what they are saying. There are several reasons for this. They could be speaking a foreign language, we could be hard of hearing, we could be distracted, or we could simply be ignoring the other person. Kind of like the old Peanuts cartoons where all the adults sounded like: “Wah, wah, wah, wah, waah!” However, there are times when we hear the other person speak, and we truly do not understand what they are trying to tell us. I had a calculus class like that. My Mother had a favorite expression she often used with me: “Young man, listen to me when I am talking to you! I am not speaking simply to hear myself speak!” It seemed, as I was growing up, she said this a lot to me. Perhaps it was because I was so easily distracted or maybe it was the fact I did not want to hear what she had to say. Whatever the reason, we find that Jesus’ disciples often suffered from this hard of hearing problem as well.
Jesus often taught his disciples that he would have to suffer and die. He also taught them about the cost of following him. But as often as Jesus tried to teach them these things to them, it seemed as if they were just not listening. Now, least we are too harsh with the disciples we need to realize we do the very same thing. We listen to the pastor preach about the cost of following Jesus, we seem to agree with him about it, but then we go our own way instead. “Wah, wah, wah, wah, waah!” Jesus did not give up in helping his followers understand the cost involved in following him and neither will I. Let’s look at what Mark shares concerning the cost of Christ this morning…
READ: Mark 9:30-37
I have learned repeatedly that emailing someone about something is not always the best or clearest way to convey an idea. It is a good way to keep folks informed, but a poor way to explain some things. Here in Mark’s gospel we find Jesus again teaching his closest disciples about his impending death. It was important that they understand what would occur and why. And, for whatever reason…
I. What we have here is a failure to communicate the cost of Christ! (Vv. 30-34)
1. When we are more concerned about ourselves being heard, we will miss Jesus speaking to us! Jesus takes his disciples to where he can be alone with them. Mark relates, “Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, because he was teaching his disciples.” He desires to begin to prepare them for his coming death. His ministry in Galilee is over and his journey to the cross is beginning. We find that his death is a constant theme on this final journey and is continually on his mind. Jesus bluntly tells them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” Surprisingly, Mark writes that the disciples “did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.” (Mark 9:32) Were they that dense? Nope, they were that selfish. They had been so busy arguing about themselves, they had not heard Jesus at all! Can you imagine? I am so glad none of us is like that! Notice what Mark tells us happens next when they get to Capernaum. Evidently, Jesus had heard them arguing, literally “dialoging”, about something as they walked. I love it when people want to “dialog.” What they really mean is, “Be quiet while I tell you what I think.” And, the idea here is that they were so engrossed in their personal diatribe, that they did not care who heard them! Each wanted his position to be heard by the others. So, Jesus asked them, “What were you arguing (dialoging) about on the road?” Just as little children who are caught doing something wrong the disciples are confronted by Jesus. They knew what they were doing, “But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued (dialoged) about who was the greatest.” I believe Jesus knew as well, and in a moment, we will discuss that part. But first, we have to realize that when you are more concerned about yourself being heard, you will miss Jesus speaking to you! Jesus was trying to help his disciples understand what was going to occur and all they cared about was “who was the greatest,” who had the most authority within the circle of disciples. Wow. What we have here is a failure to communicate the cost of Christ.
EXAMPLE: Good communication takes one person speaking and one actually listening. Jesus was doing his part, but the disciples were not doing theirs. Things have not changed much in the past two-thousand years though. How often do we go to God in prayer and all we do is talk and talk and talk and talk, thinking that by the sheer volume of our words, God has got to hear us? We do not shut up long enough for the Lord to get a word in edgewise. And, if he does, we do not understand what he trying to tell us, because we are so caught up in our own “important” little diatribe of what matters most to us, to listen! We can sit listening to a sermon that God desires it to impact our lives with but we are already so involved in some other non-essential daydream that God cannot communicate with us. We search for just the right verses in the Bible to sooth our souls forgetting that God may actually want to speak to us through his word concerning what he desires, but we are so busy with our biblical agenda we fail to hear him speak. Our relationship with the Lord demands sacrifice. When we are more concerned about ourselves being heard, we will miss Jesus speaking to us! What we have then is a failure to communicate the cost of Christ!
The other day, a woman caller to a popular radio talk show pompously declared to the host, “I belong to the Church of Scientology, and this weekend we’re gathering together at the church and we’re going to go to the beach with bags, rakes, and shovels and we're going to collect all the oil that washes up on the shore. My question is what have you done to help protect the environment?” The rest of the story is, in order to get on air; the woman lied about what she would ask. She deliberately misrepresented herself. The disciples kind of do the same thing here in Mark, but Jesus is not fooled. He already knew what was occurring.
II. What we uncover is that the Cost of Christ demands sacrifice! (Vv. 35-37)
1. When we place our selfish selves before the Lord, we are no longer a servant of Christ! I love how Jesus often responds to people’s petty natures. Here he does not openly chide his disciples, instead he uses the occasion of their selfishness to try and teach them a lesson. Perhaps Jesus needed to compose himself first, I am not sure, but Mark tells us that he sat down and then “called the Twelve and said, ‘If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.’” (Mark 9:35) This phrase of Jesus’ has been heard repeatedly, and it has often been misquoted. It isn’t his personal admonishment for everyone to go serve in a soup kitchen. What Jesus means is that if you desire to follow him you had better get this life lesson of his down pat. He sat down to lower himself for a reason, which would become apparent very soon. What he teaches should impact every area of your life every day. It should become so much a part of your spiritual psyche that, like the Marines with their motto “Semper Fidelis,” you eat, breath, and live it. Whoah! Why would I say this? Notice what Jesus does next. “He took a little child and had him stand among them.” Remember, Jesus is sitting. He gives the child center stage. Then, “Taking him in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.’” (Mark 9:36-37) Are we supposed to go out and teach Children’s Sunday School in order for God to “welcome us”? Well, maybe, but that is not what Jesus meant here. Jesus displayed for his followers exactly what he desired of them by taking a child, who was viewed by his culture as the most insignificant person in a household, as an example. In fact, in the language Jesus often spoke, Aramaic, the word for child was the same word used for “slave.” The child represented the lowest, the least, among them. No disciple was/is to “Lord it over” another. In fact, we later find James and John vying for a greater position for themselves and the rest of the disciples becoming indignant. (Mark 10:35-45) Jesus bluntly reminds them, “Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.” (Mark 10:43-44) (Hello! Remember the little child guys?) When we place our selfish selves before the Lord, we are no longer a servant of Christ! What we uncover is that the Cost of Christ demands sacrifice!
EXAMPLE: I remember two brothers, no not Ed and I, who used to go to this church. One day they were kind of getting on one another’s and their parent’s nerves. The father of these boys grabbed both of them for a lecture. Which, they both hated more than anything else he could have done. In fact, one later in life confessed to me that he would have rather had a spanking and gotten it over with than the lecture. The father grabbed the older of the two and said, “Here’s an idea, why not treat your younger brother like you want to be treated?” It did not help when the younger one mockingly responded with “Yeah!” Then they began to make excuses as who started what, when, where and why. Isn’t that the way we often act in our sort of kind of walk with Jesus? Far too often, we act like, well, the disciples! When we should be responding like we are maturing in the Lord. Jesus is headed for his death. His brutal murder at the hands of his fellow countrymen and while he is trying hard to get through to them, all his disciples are concerned with is who gets to be first. Things have not changed much, have they? We truly love ourselves before anything or anyone else, yet for the Christian this is not to be so. The startling fact remains, that when we place our selfish selves before the Lord, we are no longer a servant of Christ! Here in Mark, what we uncover is that the Cost of Christ demands sacrifice!
Conclusion:
The cost of Christ demands that we listen more to him and willingly serve others. That is, if we truly want to be great in his kingdom.
----
Pastor Lee Hemen has been the outspoken pastor of the same church for 25 years in Vancouver, WA. He writes regularly on spirituality and conservative causes and maintains several web blogs. This article is copyrighted © 2010 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission. You now have my permission…
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