How many of you this morning really looks forward to a vacation? I remember vividly that when on a vacation, I couldn’t wait to come home to rest! So, as you prepare for a vacation, do you look forward to the destination or the journey with anticipation and excitement in knowing where you are going? No doubt you think about what you plan on doing when you get there. What sites are you wanting to see. How much relaxation or good books you plan to read. What shows and restaurants you plan to visit, turning off your cell phones, listening to the quietness of the surroundings, and so much more. It sounds like a great vacation, right? But there is a part of this scenario I would like for you to reflect upon. How did you get to be on the vacation? You prepared for the journey! Did you get that? In order to reap the benefits of the destination, in this case the vacation, you had to work towards it by preparations. Your monies need to be intact; taking time off of work, getting your medicine all lined up, getting your vehicle serviced if needed, getting a dog or babysitter while your away, prepare for emergencies, just to name a few. Lots of prep work must take place to successfully reach the destination. But it is the subject of journey I want to speak about today, in just what challenges do we have in the preparations of life—the challenges in following Christ.
There was a man named Jordan who was of the interracial Christian community in Georgia, just north of Turkey. Jordan suffered for being a Christian, from threats to beatings. But he did once receive a red-carpet treatment from a fellow pastor who showed him a finely decorated church with real wooden pews and lots of rooms. As they traveled outside and the sun was bright, you could not help but notice the gleaming gold cross on the steeple of the church. Jordan inquired about the cross and the pastor said, that cross costed us $10K. Jordan said, “you got cheated! There were times when Christians could get them for free!” In the ancient days, as it is today, if you are a Christian, you were going to suffer—no exception! And the cross, being an acclaimed instrument of death for thousands of people before Christ, it was definitely a known horror, as quite possibly, everyone knew or experienced someone to die on this simple instrument of torture. Yet, we find in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus giving His disciples a test as to help discover the true meaning of following Him, taking his name, by doing the one thing no one wanted to personally experience. Let us start at chapter 8 verse 34. And He summoned the crowd together with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.” If I was to stop here and go no further, I would wager Jesus’s words already has people on edge and uneasy! It’s a harsh reality for carnal man to hear Jesus declaring if you want to follow and know me, in the journey called a relationship, something must give—and we are seeing firsthand the mind of Christ, directly clashing with the sinful mind of mankind. And notice, Jesus said, “Take up your own cross and follow Me!” This depicts a journey, a lifestyle, a decision on the cross bearer to make—meaning us! It’s not negotiable or even an option. In-order to live a life for Christ, we must lose ourselves in order to gain eternity by way of the risen Christ.
I remember when joining the Navy, I seen lots of recruitment posters. The most compelling ones were the pictures of sailors traveling the world, seeing all kinds of wonderful sites, smiling and looking happy. It didn’t take me long to realize the real truth was not exactly as the recruitment posters portrayed! This is one thing that Jesus did do that surprises some people—while serving God is a necessity, Jesus taught that there are challenges in following Him—there is a cost in serving Christ! It’s a price that some are not willing to pay. Yes, as followers, we gain eternal life, but most importantly, we who call Him Lord and Savior worship Him knowing He is everything to us and to all who know him. Everything we think we know about the laws of life are no longer relevant.
Let us continue to verse 36. “For what does it benefit a person to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what could a person give in exchange for his soul?” Now Jesus is giving a more in-depth viewpoint on how we are to carrying the cross in exchange for something else. As Christians, we should realize and believe that in Christ alone we are saved from sin—sin meaning we break God’s laws. Even though we live in a fallen world, live in a sinful body, say and do sinful actions and deed; there is still hope for salvation in Christ. What benefits any one of us this morning to live a life of wealth, popularity, success and security when we are to exchange all of it for our own souls? What earthly values, exchanges or work will gain us favor to God? David McKenna said it this way. In following Christ, what are our present motives? Do we deny the desires for immediate and selfish gratification in order to take up the cross and follow Christ? What are our future aims? Are we working to avoid death or willing to lose our life for the sake of Christ and the Gospel? Where are our eternal values? Is it economic success the priority of our lives or are we putting the premium upon the worth of the soul? What is our ultimate goal? Is it limited to earthly status or projected toward the chief end of glorifying God?
Think about these friends, the mind of man is about self-whereas Christ says take up your cross and follow Him. The mind of man is about security whereas Christ says you must lose your life. The mind of man is about success whereas Christ says you must gain your soul and not earthly values. The mind of man is about status whereas Christ says we must glorify God and not self or others. Are you seeing a pattern here? It’s the journey, the relationship that we need in order to gain Christ and all that he promises—and its this journey that is riddled with challenges—it is not a easy road, but the destination is most assuredly achievable only by way of Jesus the Christ.
While I cannot complete the listing of all challenges associated with following Christ, there are four elements I would like to leave you to help better understand our principles and directions to follow. First, the journey is not only an adventure but it’s a relationship, as I already mentioned. We are not following a list of laws or trudging behind a set of beliefs. We are walking with Christ! “Having a little talk with Jesus” as the Hymn says. The Christian journey is a relationship with Jesus. If you dread the journey, if you have reservations about the journey, you need to be clear on what the journey is. Second, being in a journey, a relationship, implies movement on our part! Whether it’s a long process or short, we must be ready to receive growth—get ready for a surprise! We do NOT have to be fully prepared or fully ready, we come to Christ a willing obedient servant to come to Jesus “Just as I am”, like the hymn tells us. Third, while on this journey (relationship), there will be times when we wonder if its working. We experience setbacks, sufferings and even boredom at times. Don’t fret as this journey will have its peaks as well as valleys. Keep walking! Fourth, The journey, the relationship with Christ (discipleship), requires certain disciplines for keeping at it! God will not set you up for failure in the journey no more than not preparing for it. Like any journey, it will not be easy, however, we must always keep moving forward to Christ in this journey (relationship) as we do not always know where we are headed, but we will know who is leading the way! On this same road, we do not need to know everything about Jesus, but we will know who He is as we are in the journey, a relationship as we grow with the one true God of all creation. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus tells us “Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Even as a child, God says come as you are!
In closing, I would like to say to you this morning, although our lives as Christians have its challenges, just as Jesus told us, it is always worth it! We find TRUE Love, peace, joy, strength, patience, and so much more, when we put our full faith and trust in the living God! And remember friends, no matter what we go through in the challenges of following Christ, nothing, absolutely nothing, will happen without first getting God’s approval!
We do NOT serve a God of failure; we serve a God with full and incomprehensible love! So let me ask you this: If we call ourselves Christians, if we call ourselves his followers, do we live or ignore and dilute The Ultimate Challenge? Are we addicted to the flesh? Are we seeking our own comfort, perhaps even when we do religious things? Are we addicted to safety and security, so much so that it cripples us from living a full life for Christ? Are we addicted to being in control? Do we want Jesus to line up behind us—rather than the other way around? Finally, is our lives marked by joy? Do we know the profit—the ultimate, unquenchable, incorruptible profit—of trusting, savoring, and enjoying Christ? This friends is the question I want you to think about today! Are we truly willing to gain the whole world, but lose, forfeit, extinguish and even disregard our own living soul that God, the creation of all things, design and created in each of us this morning? Yes, there are challenges for us to live in a sin fallen world, but friends listen carefully to the words of Jesus Himself when He says in the Gospel of John, In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world. Amen.