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Guaranteed Satisfaction
Gen 17:1-7, Gen
17:15-16, Rom 4:13-25,
Mk 8:31-38
March 12, 2006
The Rev. Kong Namkung
In our culture, we are constantly bombarded with products and systems that promise us guaranteed satisfaction. Whenever we turn the TV or Radio on, we hear, “100 %” satisfaction guaranteed, or your money back. “Please, pick up the phone right now, and call 1-800-000-0000.” Infomercials and advertisements offer us “proof-tested” ways to make more money, lose weight within 2 weeks, look great to get your bodies in shape, or boost self- esteem. We know some TV commercials distort and manipulate the truth of their advertisements. By doing this, their major goal is to empty our purses or wallets, rather than to guarantee satisfaction.
As Christians, we should know that anything the world offers cannot bring us true fulfillment and satisfaction. We can struggle with the prospect of living a meaningful Christian life. There are three false satisfactions. Often, we think of our busyness, belongingship, and business, but we fall into the trap of believing that these can bring us fulfillment.
Then, the question is, “Where do we find the guaranteed satisfaction?” Today’s gospel lesson tells us that we will have guaranteed satisfaction, not by what the world suggests to us, but by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are living by the words that Jesus teaches us. True and guaranteed satisfaction comes from
1. Deny Yourself. It means “to give yourself wholly to Christ and share in His shame and death.”
Richard J. Foster, I think, is one of the most spiritual persons in this country, who is the founder of Renovaré, and testifies to the freedom Jesus gives when we come to Him in true self-denial.
Right Denial:
a. Yourself (MK 8:34)
b. fleshly Desire
c. earthly Desire
One of my friend’s wives, who used to teach at a private school near her home and was paid a good salary, was willing to drive 80 miles to a public school, where she receives less salary, to teach disabled children. She wanted to do this because she believes that God gives her passion for the disabled children and to help the disabled children is the ministry that God has given to her. She, like you and I, knows the power of money, but she is willing to help the children because God loves them and Jesus Christ died for them too. To teach the disabled children and receiving a less salary is one way to deny herself.
d. Adulterous and sinful generation (Mk 8:38)
Wrong Denial
a. Jesus Christ (MK8:38)
b. Word(MK 8:38)
c. Spiritual desire
d. Heavenly desire
When we deny Jesus Christ and His words in our lives, we will pay the price, maybe not today, but when Jesus comes back again in glory and power. “The Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (MK 8:38)
2. Take up your cross. It means to identify yourself with Christ in His rejection, shame, suffering, and death”
Christians have a cross and non-Christians do not have a cross to carry. Jesus took his own cross and walked with his cross on Calvary. He suffered on the cross and finally he died on the cross. To be like Jesus means to “take up our own cross.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship: “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die”
We live in a society in which, as someone said, “We know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.” In his book, Living Above The Level of Mediocrity, Charles Swindoll writes, “The world system is committed to at least four major objectives, which I can summarize in four words: fortune, fame, power, pleasure. First and foremost: Fortune, money. The world system is driven by money; it feeds on materialism. Second: Fame. That is another word for popularity. Fame is the longing to be known, to be somebody in someone else’s eyes. Third: Power. This is having influence, maintaining control over individuals or groups or companies or whatever. It is the desire to manipulate and maneuver others to do something for one’s own benefit. Fourth: Pleasure. At its basic level, pleasure has to do with fulfilling one’s sensual desires. It’s the same mindset that’s behind the slogan: "If it feels good, do it."
Billy Graham wrote in Decision magazine, “I find that I can preach on any subject other than the cross, and it does not seem as offensive to people as the cross does. I can preach on doing good works, on social improvement, on all kinds of things, and people will applaud me. But when I preach on the cross and the blood of Christ, there is an offense.
The offense of the cross arises chiefly from the fact that the cross condemns every other way of salvation ‘There is only one way,’ said Jesus, ‘one road, one gate to the kingdom; and that is the way of the cross.’”
Martin Luther, who was the Reformer in the 17 Century, in his book, Two Kingdoms, says, “No Cross- No crown, No fasting- No feast.” The world says, “Do whatever pleases you, you don’t have to go through pain or struggling. If you do not take cross, you will get a crown, don’t you know we are living in a pleasure seeking society? Eat as much as you can, go to Super King Buffet. What is Lent? Do what you want!” But I want to tell you that the one, who studies hard is the one who brings good grades. The solider who trained hard is the one, who knows how to defeat the enemy, and the one who practiced hard is the one who brought a gold medal from the winter Olympic game.
Cross-bearing Christians are committed
disciples, not “Christaholics.” Calvin Miller challenges us at this point of
discipleship in The Taste of Joy: “Many Christians are only “Christaholics” and
not disciples at all. Disciples are cross-bearers; they seek Christ.
Christaholics seek happiness and richness. Disciples dare to discipline
themselves, and the demands they place on themselves leave them enjoying the
happiness of their growth. Christaholics are escapists looking for a shortcut to
nirvana. Like drug addicts, they are trying to “bomb out” of their depressing
world.
“There is no automatic joy. Christ is not a happiness capsule; He is the way to
the Father. But the way to the Father is not a carnival ride in which we sit and
do nothing while we are whisked through various spiritual sensations.”
Do you believe that Jesus is the same yesterday,
today, and tomorrow? Then what Jesus said to us 2,000 ago, “Take your own
cross,” we identify ourselves with Jesus Christ in the USA today so that we may
be shamed, rejected, and die for others salvation. At the close of life, the
question will not be, "How much have you gotten?" but "How much have you given?"
Not "How much have you won?" but "How much have you done?" Not "How much have
you saved?" but "How much have you sacrificed?" It will be "How much have you
loved and served," not "How much were you honored?" -- Nathan C. Schaeffer.
3. Follow Jesus It means I imitate Him completely and continuously
consecrate my life to Him. Some want to follow Bill Gates, Tiger Woods, Michael
Jordan, J.J. Riddick, and other famous people, while others follow Jennifer
Lopez and Mel Gibson. All these people are maybe good to follow. But I want to
tell you, if you want to have satisfaction guaranteed, then follow Jesus. The
song tells us what it means to follow Jesus.
ALL IN ALL
“You are my strength when I am weak;
you are the treasure that I seek;
you are my all in all.
Seeking you as a Precious Jewel,
Lord to give up, I’d be a fool
you are my all in all.”
Following Christ is not a promise of
1. good things all the time
2. joyful life
3. Plenty of money, time and happiness.
I told you before. I made much more money when I had my own business. I had a plenty time to play golf. In fact, I played three times a week when I had my own business. But after I decided to follow Jesus and to work full time on God’s business, I had less money than before, and I didn’t have time play golf that I used to have. But I have a great joy in my heart and I have a more meaningful life because I am following him always.
These three: 1. Deny yourself; 2. take up your cross; and 3. follow Jesus are imperative. Jesus commands us to do these when we follow Him. The conscious choices are before us. You can have the guaranteed Satisfaction in Christ, or you can pretend to have it.
Maximilian Kolbe was a Catholic priest, who was put in a Nazi concentration camp for his faith. On May 28, 1941, he was transferred to the concentration camp at Auschwitz. During his time there, he would share his meager rations of food with those around him - who were hungry.
One day a man in Kolbe’s block escaped. All of the men from that block were brought out into the hot sun and made to stand there all day with no food or drink. At the end of the day, the man that had escaped was not found and so Fritsch, the Nazi commandant told the prisoners that ten men would be selected to die - in the starvation cell - in place of the one that had escaped. One of those ten selected was a polish sergeant (Francis Gajowniczek). He begged to be spared because he was worried that his family would not be able to survive without him. As he was pleading with the commandant, Maximilian Kolbe silently stepped forward. The commandant turned to him and asked, "What does this Polish pig want?" Kolbe pointed to the polish sergeant and said, "I am a Catholic priest from Poland; I would like to take his place, because he has a wife and children." The commandant stood silent in disbelief for a moment. He then allowed the sergeant to go back to his place in the ranks and Kolbe took his place in the starvation bunker. Each day the guards used to remove the bodies of those who had died. However instead being greeted by the usual sounds of screaming, all they would hear was the sounds of Kolbe and the others in the bunker singing hymns and praying. When Kolbe could no longer speak due to hunger and lack of energy, he would whisper his prayers. At the end of two weeks, the cell had to be cleared out for more prisoners. Only four prisoners were left alive and Kolbe was one of them. The guards came in and gave each a lethal injection and on August 14, 1941, Kolbe paid the ultimate price for following his Master.
We are in the season of Lent and I think Lent is a good time to think about our commitment to follow Jesus. In this morning’s reading, we can see what Jesus himself had to say about discipleship. If anyone will follow me, deny yourself, let him take up his cross and follow me. (Mk. 8:34)
Martin Luther, “A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing, and suffers nothing, is worth nothing.”
“A young couple, fresh in the ministry, sat at their piano and composed the melody and words to this well-known and loved invitational hymn, ‘Room at the Cross.’ The husband, Ira Stanphill, went on to write many gospel songs; but, the bride who sat next to him that day, Zelma—herself a preacher’s daughter—soon began to frequently visit nightclubs. Five years after leaving Ira, driving with her manager after a late nightclub singing engagement, she was killed in an auto accident. We don’t know if, in her dying moments, she made it back to the Cross, the place ‘where there’s still room for one.’ From all appearances, she stayed too long in the wrong location.’” (Wood, 179)
Her life and death stands as one more reminder of why we should always live in the shadow of the cross. Why not make the commitment today to live continually in the shadow of the cross and only follow Jesus Christ?
17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years
old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me
and be blameless. 2 I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will
greatly increase your numbers."
3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 "As for me, this is my
covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer
will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a
father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make
nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my
covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your
descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the
God of your descendants after you.
NIV
Genesis 17:15-16
15 God also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to
call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will
surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the
mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her."
NIV
Romans 4:13-25
13 It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise
that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by
faith. 14 For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the
promise is worthless, 15 because law brings wrath. And where there is no law
there is no transgression.
16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be
guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring — not only to those who are of the law but
also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17 As
it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations." He is our father in
the sight of God, in whom he believed — the God who gives life to the dead and
calls things that are not as though they were.
18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many
nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." 19
Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as
dead — since he was about a hundred years old — and that Sarah's womb was also
dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but
was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded
that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why "it was credited
to him as righteousness." 23 The words "it was credited to him" were written not
for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness — for
us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was
delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our
justification.
NIV
Mark 8:31-38
31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and
be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he
must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this,
and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get
behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the
things of men."
34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone
would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life
for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for a man to gain the
whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37 Or what can a man give in exchange for his
soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful
generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's
glory with the holy angels."
NIV
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