|
DATE |
CHURCH |
SUBJECT |
PREACHER |
BIBLE
REF. |
|
02.11.08 |
All Saints Church |
Living by Faith |
Tony Higton |
Luke 9:18-27 |
|
The popular British definition of a
“Christian” is “a good person.” Obviously, Christians are
called to be good people. But what is often forgotten is the
statement of the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews: “Without
faith it is impossible to please God.” (Hebrews 11:6).
Loving your neighbour is very important but
it is not enough.
Being decent and respectable is very
important but it is not enough.
If you were to say to me: “Tony, I like you
but I don’t trust you,” how do you think I would feel? Trust is
fundamental to good relationships. If I don’t think you trust me
that will undermine our relationship. Whatever you do for me,
whatever compliment you pay me, our relationship will be ruined.
This is a simple illustration of the
important of trust (faith) in our relationship with God. He is
looking for trust (or faith). Christianity is a relationship of
trust in God.
We need faith right at the beginning. We
need to:
Recognise Jesus by
faith
Luke writes: “Once when Jesus was praying
in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, ‘Who
do the crowds say I am?’ They replied, ‘Some say John the
Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the
prophets of long ago has come back to life.’ ‘But what about
you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ Peter answered, ‘The
Christ of God.’” (Luke 9:18-20).
The disciples had to take a step of faith,
and there was a risk involved. The religious authorities of the
time did not accept Jesus. In fact they sometime disciplined
people who followed him. But the disciples were so impressed
with him that they put their faith in him despite the religious
authorities’ negative opinion.
But there is another interesting fact in
this passage. The disciples believed Jesus was the Messiah but
“Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone.” (verse
21). This is sometimes called The Messianic Secret. Why did
Jesus say such an odd thing? It seems as if he was trying to
discourage people from following him.
In one sense, that is true. Jesus didn’t
want people following him on a superficial basis – just to
experience miracles. He wanted disciples who had thought through
the issue of following him seriously. So he didn’t put it on a
plate for them. He said enough to intrigue those who were really
interested. He wanted them to go away, think seriously, then
make a considered decision to follow him, i.e. to take an
intelligent step of faith.
Having started in faith we then need to:
Follow Jesus by
faith
Jesus was quite honest with people. He
didn’t paint a rosy picture of what following him would mean. He
told them: “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be
rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law,
and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life."
(verse 22).
He was to be a suffering Messiah and this
was not an acceptable idea to Jewish people. Jesus didn’t live
up to their expectations of the Messiah. Similarly, Jesus
sometimes does not act as we would like him to. Christian
discipleship is no guarantee that all our prayers will be
answered in the way we like. Far from it: sometimes he
appears to let us down. But that is only because we don’t
fully understand God’s purposes.
“Then he said to them all: "If anyone would
come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily
and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it
for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his
very self?” (verses 23-25)
Jesus calls us all to a life of
self-denial. We like popularity, comfort, affluence, autonomy.
He may well lead us into unpopularity, discomfort, financial
challenge and to having to go his way rather than ours. He
makes that clear at the outset and when it happens we can’t go
back and say that he has broken contract with us.
Finally, we need to:
Confess Jesus by
faith
Jesus challenges us deeply: “If anyone is
ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of
him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father
and of the holy angels.” (verse 26) . What a prospect – Jesus
being ashamed of us!
We can find many excuses for not speaking
about our faith in Christ sensitively but boldly:
·
British reserve and embarrassment (but we’d be
embarrassed if Jesus were ashamed of us on his return!).
·
Fear of being thought extreme (but we are talking
about the most important good news in the world).
·
Fear of criticism (but that’s just ungrateful
cowardice: Jesus went through a terrible death for us).
·
Fear of rejection (but we should value acceptance
by God much higher than rejection by people).
·
We don’t want to interfere in other people’s lives
(but we’re not interfering, we are telling people good news
which is essential to their enjoying eternal salvation).
Are you really trusting in Christ? If not
why not put your trust in him today – and tell him about it in a
simply prayer.
What excuses are you making for not
speaking about your faith in Christ to others, and what are you
going to do about it? |
