Thinking toward Sunday

Mark 8:34-38
34He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Our congregation is entering an interesting time during Lent. Together we are "taking up" a responsibility -- the responsibility of sharing God's love with our neighbors. But we're really not quite sure how to do that. We can talk about it with each other. We can listen to sermons about it. But when it comes down to it, we're not quite sure "how" to do it. Which is why we are entering into this discipline of evangelism together.

I have been the pastor of the Spring Lake Presbyterian Church for five years and in that amount of time we have seen a lot of people come in and join with us as fellow members or friends. Some have wandered in, looking for a Presbyterian church. Others have come because a neighbor invited them or because a church member cared for them and left an impression upon their lives. Still others have come because they recently moved into the neighborhood. But people have come, and as they have come and the love of God has been shared, the Spirit of God has begun to fill this place. People sense that when they walk into worship on Sunday morning. On more than one occasion I have heard the words, "God is here." And I believe them.

As this is week one of this emphasis where we will slowly learn "how" to share God's love, we are starting simply, focusing on what it is about this particular church that drew us in and kept us here. You've heard a few testimonials from members of the "A Team" -- our ministry team for membership, outreach, and evangelism. You've heard about the friendliness of the congregation. You've heard about how the people and the rituals tend to grow richer with age. You've heard about the welcome. And you've heard that someone felt God's presence when they walked into this space. Personally, as you know, I came because it was a job . . . but realize something else. I came because God called me here. I have never doubted that. No, I take that back. It was five years ago and I walked into this space as your new pastor during a Lenten meal and I must have had a look of fear on my face because one of the PNC members turned to me and asked, "you didn't realize how old we were, did you?" For a brief moment, I suppose I did wonder what was on God's mind when calling me here. But all it took was a conversation here, an invitation there, a visit here, a comment there, a conflict here, a resolution there and suddenly I realized that I was in a sacred place . . . with sacred people -- the children of God. For in the time I have been here, I have grown in my faith as I have watched you grow in your faith. I have seen God at work in ordinary places I had forgotten to look in the past. I have learned to lead you -- God's people -- as you have made a place for me just as I am. And in this dance of learning to lead and learning from leaders, we have together discovered the secret to this hallowed place is that God is here . . . with us. In the sorrows we share together -- like Skip's funeral yesterday. In the joys we celebrate -- like cancer free anniversaries. And in those in-between times when God holds our hands as we face whatever will come. In all of this . . . God has been here and God will be here. So as we begin this journey of Lent together, as we reflect upon why we are here and how God reveals God's self to us in fellowship with one another, we are beginning to become Christ's disciples together.

In Mark's gospel today we hear those words -- If anyone would want to follow me, he or she must deny themselves and take up their crosses and follow me. We are asked to willingly take up a death sentence to follow this One called Jesus, the Christ. This isn't a shallow game about looking good before others or even feeling good about what we are doing; if we take Mark's words seriously then we must be willing to give up anything that leaves us looking rosy for the sake of following Christ. It's not about us anymore. It's about denying ourselves so that God can fill us. It's about listening to the wants, the needs, the whines, the aches that drown out God and saying -- Be gone! -- so that we can hear the One who speaks our name.

Mark speaks, 35For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? As we, in the Membership, Outreach, and Evanglism "A Team" met to talk about what this church needed to do, we realized that we must take Mark's gospel seriously -- that we, as a church, needed to be willing to share the gospel with others. We realized that there is no profit in wondering how God will provide for our church if we are not willing to do what has been asked of us. God asks for us to be willing to lose our life for the sake of the gospel. We are not to be ashamed to tell friends and neighbors what God has done for us. We are not to be ashamed to tell acquaintances how God has changed peoples' lives in our church. We are not to be ashamed to look deep within our own hearts and say, "Yes, God, begin with me. I want to follow you. I don't want to be ashamed."

We're going to take things one step at a time. And we are going to enter what might be a little uncomfortable territory -- we're going to ask you to invite a friend to church. But we are going to help you along the way because it's a little uncomfortable for us too. We know what it's like to take that risk and talk about God in a world that doesn't talk about such things. But we also know that we're willing to take that risk because God is the Source of our life, the Reason we are alive, the Presence we can not escape, the Love that fills our souls.

Let us not be ashamed of the Gospel. For it is a Gospel -- a good news -- just waiting to be shared. Amen.