June 26, 2010

Give Jesus the Confession He's Asking For!

5th Sunday after Pentecost, 6/27/10
Luke 9:18-24


Give Jesus the Confession He’s Asking For!
I. The spoken confession of his person and work
II. The daily confession of your life


How many opportunities do you give someone to give you what you’re asking for? Well, that depends on the person and the situation. For instance, if you’re paying good money to have your lawn mowed and you have to ask twice to get it mowed a certain way or at a certain time, that’s probably the limit. If you don’t get what you’re asking for after that, you terminate the service.

But you’re probably much more patient when it comes to asking your employer for something. For instance, you may repeatedly ask for a raise in pay or time off or a lighter work schedule, but your employer doesn’t respond, at least not right away. Since you need the job, you probably aren’t going to do anything rash or hasty. So you keep asking.

In this morning’s text Jesus is the one doing the asking. He’s having a conversation with his disciples and he asks them, “Who do you say I am?” This wasn’t a moment of insecurity for Jesus as if he needed the reassurance of his identity. Nor was it his attempt to find out something he didn’t know. He knew exactly what the crowds and the disciples thought about him.

He asked the question in order to get a confession from them. Not a confession of sin, but a confession of what they thought and believed.

And he asks that very same question of every human being. It’s the most important question he can ask. It’s the most important answer we can give. So let’s get it right the very first time. Let’s give Jesus the confession he’s asking for. May the Holy Spirit lead us to it as he nurtures our faith in Jesus through his word.

Part I.

How often do you ask others what they think about you? I tried to think of the last time I asked that question and came to the conclusion I had never asked it. We ask others how they feel about us but not what they think of us. We may hear a teacher or an employer evaluate us, but usually they’re evaluating your performance; they aren’t telling you what they think of you as a person. Perhaps the only ones asking that question are little children at the end of the ABC song—“Now I know my ABCs. Tell me what you think of me.”

But Jesus asked that very question. He asked it first regarding the masses of the Jews. “Who do the crowds say I am?” “The crowds” were the people who had come out to hear him preach. Many of them did so hoping to watch him perform a miracle. Again, Jesus wasn’t asking this question because he wanted to measure his popularity. He wasn’t having a moment of insecurity. He knew what the crowds thought about him.

And so did the disciples. They answered, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.” Those were some impressive people. They had accomplished great things in the kingdom of God. But that wasn’t the confession Jesus was looking for. So why did Jesus ask for it? Because he wanted to contrast the confession of the crowds with the confession of the disciples.

And so he asked them, “But what about you? Who do you say I am?” He was asking each of them to make a confession of him, to tell him what they thought about him. Peter answered for them all, “The Christ of God.” That sounds odd to our ears, but it’s actually a very accurate confession of Jesus. Peter’s confession was that Jesus was the promised Savior and the very Son of God. And that’s exactly who Jesus is. In essence it’s the same confession we make of Jesus in the creeds we speak each Sunday.

And for the time being, Jesus wanted them to keep this confession to themselves. He didn’t want any hostile reactions from the crowds of people while he finished his work as Savior.

And that’s exactly what Jesus spoke about next with his disciples. He said, “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.” Twice Jesus used the word “must.” These things must happen because this was God’s plan of salvation. This was the work Jesus came to do.

First he speaks about suffering. The concept of a suffering Messiah was completely foreign to the Jews. Their Messiah wouldn’t suffer; he would conquer and make the enemies of the Jews suffer. But Jesus tells them plainly that he will suffer.

In fact, his sufferings will end in his death. He’ll be killed. Murdered. By his own people in league with the hated Romans. Again, that thought was completely foreign to the Jews. This couldn’t happen to the Messiah! But that was the plan.

But his death wasn’t the end of the plan or of him. He would rise from the dead. How amazing! He lays it all out for them. He tells them exactly where his work as the Savior will take him and them—to his empty tomb. Empty, because he has risen from the dead. So why does he tell his disciples all this? Because he wants them to confess that this is the work he came to do—to suffer, die and rise again.

That’s the confession Jesus is asking for—a spoken confession of his person and work.

In a few minutes we’ll give Jesus the confession he’s asking for. In the words of the Nicene Creed we’ll confess that Jesus is true God from true God, that he became fully human, that he was crucified, died, buried and yet on the third day he rose again from the dead. We believe those saving truths because God the Holy Spirit has worked saving faith in our hearts and enables us to make that confession of Jesus. But a confession of Jesus isn’t limited to those few truths. A confession of Jesus involves all of what he says in his word. And that’s where we often have trouble. We know what Jesus says in his word, but we want to think and feel and say and do as we please, at least for the moment. We’re going to indulge ourselves in a certain sin, at least for awhile, and then we’ll get back to what Jesus says. That’s a rather pitiful confession of Jesus, isn’t it? It shows just how much we need Jesus to be our Savior and to do the work he did—living a holy life for us and suffering and dying for our sins. Trust him for that forgiveness and in doing so, give him the confession he asking for—a spoken confession of his person and work.


Part II.

You’ve heard the saying that talk is cheap. You’ve probably said it yourself. While Jesus highly values our spoken confession of him, he also wants us to live according to that confession. In other words, he wants our confession to be evident by our life.

The words we speak can have profound implications on our lives. This past week General McChrystal found that out in a big way. He said some things about our president and others that weren’t very flattering. Those words got him relieved of his command.

In a positive way Jesus wants our spoken confession of him to have a major effect on our daily lives. He said, “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.”

First he tells us to deny ourselves. How do you do that? How do you deny yourself? Jesus is speaking about our old self, our sinful nature. It wants the very opposite of what Jesus wants. So, if we’re going to confess Jesus with the way that we live, we’re going to have to deny that sinful nature.

Second, he tells us to take up our cross. Many Christians misunderstand what that cross is. The cross is not every problem or difficulty that Christians face in their daily lives. The cross Jesus speaks of here is the suffering, persecution and ridicule that we face because of our connection with Jesus. The unbelieving world hates us. It wants to stamp Christianity out. Our confession of Jesus means we’ll face such opposition daily.

And then follow Jesus. Not just when we feel like it or once a week on a Sunday morning. Jesus wants us to follow him every second of our lives here on earth. Do you understand what he asking you for?

Just so that he makes sure you do, he adds these words, “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it.” In other words, if you try to hold on to a life without Jesus—a life with this world—you’ll lose your life with Jesus. In another place Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters” (Mt. 6:24). You can’t serve your sinful self and the holy Jesus. He won’t put up with a half-hearted allegiance and he won’t take second place in your life.

When you confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior, that has huge implications for your daily life. Jesus is asking for you to make a daily confession of him with your life.

So, do you have trouble at times living your daily confession of Jesus as your Savior? We all do. Even the apostles to whom Jesus spoke these words had trouble. Paul called it a daily struggle that made him miserable. We want to do what’s good and right, but instead we do the evil thing we don’t want to do. We lose our patience or our temper or both. We fail to support our loves ones as they need. We aren’t the spouse or parent or son or daughter that Jesus wants us to be. What’s a wretched sinner to do? Go back to your confession of Jesus. He’s your Savior from sin. That’s what he’s all about—forgiving you. And with that forgiveness he empowers you to live for him. As you live for him you are giving Jesus what he’s asking for—a confession of him. Make that confession with your mouth and your life every day! Amen.