This May Be Hard to Hear...

By Rev. Heidi L. Barham |  February 26, 2024

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Read Mark 8:31 – 38 (NIV)
 
Have you ever had to tell someone something that you knew they would probably prefer not to hear?  But because you believed it was for their good, you decided to press on and say what needed to be said anyhow?
 
Perhaps you even went so far as to preface your statement with the subject of today’s sermon… THIS MAY BE HARD TO HEAR…
 
And so, this morning, as we reflect on our New Testament lesson, let me suggest that there are a few things that can be found in the text that may have been hard for the disciples to hear… but that did not stop Jesus from saying what needed to be said anyhow.
 
Now, one of the first things that may have been hard for the disciples to hear was that Jesus was going to suffer and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law. 
 
And if the thought of Jesus suffering and being rejected by those who were in authority was hard for them to hear… just imagine what they must have felt when Jesus went on to predict His own death…
 
And not a peaceful death that one might expect or anticipate… but a death in which Jesus said He was going to be killed… Who would have wanted to hear that from a beloved friend and cherished companion?
 
Now despite the fact that Jesus declared that He would rise again after three days… the Scriptures tell us that Peter took it upon himself to pull Jesus to the side and rebuke Him. 
 
In his telling of the incident, Mark does not provide us with any details regarding what Peter said.   But we do find Peter’s strongly worded response in Matthew’s account, “Never, Lord! …This shall never happen to you! (Matthew 16:22).
 
Peter, THIS MAY BE HARD TO HEAR, but you are definitely out of line.
 
In fact, Peter was so out of line that Jesus responded, “Get behind me, Satan! …You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
 
And as harsh as that rebuke may have been for Peter to hear in that moment… Jesus had even more things to say that would have been hard for all of His disciples to hear…
 
And let me just say that what Jesus said to the disciples back then… may be just as hard for us to hear now as well… because they are words that paint a picture of what life will be like for anyone who makes the choice to follow Jesus.
 
Listen again to verses 34 – 37 of our text as they appear in the Message Paraphrase:

Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for?"

Jesus called the disciples… and us… to follow Him into a life characterized by surrender, suffering, and sacrifice… all of which ultimately leads to salvation… and what more could we want?  What could the world possibly offer that would be better than eternal life with Christ? 
 
Not a thing.  Nothing this world has to offer could possibly surpass the greatest gift ever given to us…
 
However, and THIS MAY BE HARD TO HEAR… that does not mean that there won’t be enticements and temptations that come our way…
 
It does not mean that there won’t be shiny objects dangled in front of us that are designed to turn our attention away from the One who should be the ultimate object of our affection…
 
If we look at the advertisements and marketing campaigns that flood our TV screens or pop up each time we look at our phones or the Internet… that there is no shortage of encouragement to upgrade to the biggest, brightest and best of whatever… whether it is a car, a house, or a vacation package… we are being led to believe that whatever it is that we already have… it is not enough.
 
This past week, as part of the course that I am teaching for Indiana Wesleyan, one of the discussion questions the students had to answer was, “How do you know when you have enough?”
 
Now, just to give that question some context, the course looks at Personal Finance from a Biblical Perspective… so it was not too surprising that most of the students’ answers focused on what dollar amount they thought would be “enough” as they reflected on their future.
 
However, as I shared with the students… there is no dollar amount that we will ever be able to equate with the concept of “enough,” because most of us have become conditioned to always thinking that we need just a little bit more than what we already have.
 
But if we look at Paul’s letter to the Philippians, we will find these words:

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength (Philippians 4:12 – 13).

THIS MAY BE HARD TO HEAR… but the people, places, and things that we tend to put our trust in… that we think will bring us satisfaction and contentment… all of those things will eventually pass away…
 
As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount:

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

The things of this world won’t last… but our treasure in heaven is for eternity.
 
Coupled with what Jesus said, Paul’s words of encouragement to the Philippians serve as a reminder to us that contentment does not come from the amassing of things… and it is not based on the size of our bank accounts…
 
No, true contentment comes from having faith in the One who gives us the strength to endure “in any and every situation.”
 
True contentment is found by placing our trust in the One who is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20).
 
True contentment is found by holding onto Jesus’ promise that He will be with us “always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
 
And that promise comes at the close of what is commonly referred to as The Great Commission… which is Jesus’ charge to His disciples (and by extension to us) that is found at the end of Matthew’s Gospel.
 
Looking at the Message Paraphrase, we read:

God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.

Now THIS MAY BE HARD TO HEAR… but all of us… as disciples of Christ… whether that is small “d” disciples as in the followers of Jesus… or big “D” disciples as in name of the denomination… all of us have been called to go out into the world and spread the Good News… not just the pastors, preachers, elders, and deacons.
 
It is a call, a command, and a commission, that is extended to each one of us… without exception… regardless of how inadequate and ill-equipped we may feel for the task or how fearful we may be… we are still called to “… go and make disciples.”
 
And that brings us to the last verse of our text for this morning that may be really hard to hear… because Jesus says without hesitation or reservation, “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
 
Or as it reads in the Message Paraphrase:

If any of you are embarrassed over me and the way I’m leading you when you get around your fickle and unfocused friends, know that you’ll be an even greater embarrassment to the Son of Man when he arrives in all the splendor of God, his Father, with an army of the holy angels.

In other words, if you are ashamed of knowing me now, I will be ashamed of knowing you then…
 
And who wants to be the one that Jesus is ashamed of knowing?
 
Now, Peter was ashamed and tried that denial thing when it came to Jesus.
 
In fact, Peter actually denied knowing Jesus three times (see Mark 16:66 – 72; John 18: 15 – 18, 25 – 27) just as Jesus had warned he would do. 
 
But this is the amazing thing about Jesus… in spite of Peter’s denials and the response they rightfully deserved… Jesus still showed Him love, grace, and forgiveness.  He still allowed Peter to be part of His inner circle, along with fellow disciples, James, and John.  He still used Peter as the rock upon which He built His church.
 
Even Peter’s denials were not enough to put him outside the bounds of Jesus’ love for him… for as Paul wrote in his letter to the Roman church:

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And hopefully that is not hard for us to hear at all… because no matter what we have done in the past or what we may yet do in the future… none of that can ever separate us from God’s love.
 
We need only to keep our eyes open to see the truth of God’s love that is found in His word… that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
 
We need only to keep our ears open to the truth that is not hard to hear at all… that God loves us so much that He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life (see John 3:16).
 
And with eyes and ears that are open to the truth, we can in turn open our mouths to share the Good News of Jesus anywhere and everywhere we go.
 
And if you are willing to do just that then hopefully it won’t be hard for you to hear the invitation for us to stand and join in singing our Hymn of Discipleship: Open My Eyes #586.

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