Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church

Dear Friends in Christ Jesus,
Cock-a-doodle-do? A rooster’s call! Was that all it took to bring a grown man, a disciple of Jesus to tears? In the Lenten story we learn of the Apostle Peter’s actions when confronted if he was a follower, a disciple of Jesus. He began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them, "I don't know the man!" Immediately a rooster crowed. Peter remembered the words, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly. You’ve heard the story. You know the story. He denied his Lord, rather than denying himself. In our text today Jesus calls to us his disciples and reminds us to deny ourselves and follow him. There are some real problems and difficulties with our text. The trouble is not with the words, their meaning or with Jesus who said them. The problem how do we put the words of Jesus in action in our lives. The problem lies not with Jesus, but with us. So he calls us to “Deny Ourselves and Follow Me.”
I. The Challenge of Faith
What does it mean, “If anyone would come after me?” Maybe we could word it this way, what does it mean to believe in Jesus? Christianity is more than just a history lesson, a quiz on details of a story. Christianity is a relationship, a faith, a trusting in the person Jesus that affects our walk day by day with the Lord. Many people know the facts. The truth is some atheists could put us to shame with their knowledge of the Bible and Jesus, but they personally have rejected the message for their own hearts and lives. A hymn writer calls us to reflect: Dare we pass that cross unheeding, Breathing no repentant vow, As we see you wounded, bleeding, See your thorn-encircled brow?
Can we travel this Lenten season to the cross on Calvary and not be touched in our hearts? Can we stand beneath the cross and not have an impact on our hearts of the love that kept our Savior on the cross? Can we leave the cross and return to our present day, in the year 2008 and have it make no difference on our lives, our thoughts, our relationships, our activities and actions? We just finished singing the hymn verse
I long to be like Jesus: Meek, loving, lowly, mild;
I long to be like Jesus, The Father's holy child.
Does our faith make a difference? Can people tell we are Christian? Do our words reveal what is in our hearts and the world knows, we are so thankful that Jesus is our Savior? The faith walk though is not just a once in the life time event and then we just go back to our former way of life. Jesus describes the life of a disciple as denying himself. This brings us to the challenge of denying ourselves.
II. The Challenge of Denying Ourselves.
During the Lenten season some people like to give something up. They might deny themselves some treats, such as candy or movies or a glass of wine. But when the 40 days of Lent is over they return to enjoying those things they had denied themselves. When Jesus said, , "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, he was not imply this was for just 40 days. Rather this was to be something from that time on. Perhaps our sinful flesh and the world would have rather had Jesus say, “indulge yourself, rather than deny yourself.” Isn’t that the world’s way? So what is the Lord Jesus asking of us today? The word “Deny” is the same word that Peter used when the rooster crowed. He disown, he refused to acknowledge knowing or having anything to do with Jesus. So Jesus is calling us to refusing to acknowledge knowing, having anything to do with sin, and to abstain from sin. He is calling us not to indulge our flesh but fight the very things that would draw us back into a sinful life.
I came upon a story from the life of Saint Augustine. When he was young he lived a life that was not very saintly. But when he got into the Bible the Holy Spirit changed his heart, his desires and his life. One day he ran into a woman who had been part of his immoral life before he came to faith. He started running away from her. She cried out, “Augustine, Augustine, it is me!” He answered her something like this. “Yes it is you, but it’s no longer me, I am a new man.” He denied his old way of life. He denied his flesh the right to go back to that life.
Each one of us needs to examine what areas of our own lives we have to deny, disown or abstain from certain sins. Does it mean denying time on the computer and certain web sites? Does it mean abstaining from certain beverages? Does it mean staying away from certain people including some friends who lead us astray? Does it mean closing our ears and refusing to hear certain stories or the gossip of the neighborhood? Does it mean shutting our mouths and deny ourselves the telling of that gossip? Does it mean denying our feelings? What I mean is, I know we all have feelings, but do our feelings or does Jesus determine how we act on what we feel or experience? Years past it has been, “if it feels good do it?” Does it mean denying our temper and fighting the feelings of anger? For the Bible says, “be angry, but sin not.” All these areas deal with relationship with others that affect our relationship with God. How about what do we have to deny ourselves so that we worship regularly, commune regularly, and clean up our mouths so that they praise the Lord?
I read that someone put it this way, every time we do not deny our sinful flesh, we end up denying Christ. Think about that for a moment. The rooster crowed and Peter wept. He realized he had promised the Lord, “I will never deny you.” But in just a few hours he had denied his Lord three times. This Lenten season is not good for the flesh, because it causes us to deny everything it wants to do and then change, so that we end up following Jesus, not denying him.
III. The Challenge of Following
In our text Jesus also talks about taking up ones cross. That will be a special focus in the coming weeks. We began our service today with the hymn, “Christ be my leader.” When Jesus calls his disciples to “follow me,” he expects that he will be our leader and we will be the followers. “Follow me,” Jesus said. No doubt many children have played the game follow the leader. That is just a game. This is a matter of spiritual life or death. I wonder if Jesus has ever said, “Follow me” and then turned around and asked, “Where did they all go?”
As much as denying ourselves leaves sins behind, following Jesus leads us into a new way of life. I think of Psalm 23, When we follow him, he leads us in the paths of righteousness. The Apostle Paul expresses something I find challenging: (1 Cor 11:1 NIV) Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. Doesn’t that raise the question, would you want people to follow your example of Christian faith and life? Can people tell you are following Jesus and want to imitate your way of life because they know you are being like Jesus in this world. John writes: (3 John 1:11 NIV) Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.
What our society needs is examples of husbands and wives following Jesus, so that others would want their homes to be the Christian homes. What children need are parents whose lives have set examples of mothers and fathers following Jesus so that they to want to be like Jesus. What a congregation needs are members in the community who by word and example live such good lives that people talk about the Christians that are at Salem Lutheran Church. There are many in this valley that will not hear this sermon nor will they know the Bible verse from which it was based, but the way we all leave this church today will be the sermon they see and hear. For those who are wondering if our God lives, may they see us following Jesus and want to follow us as we follow Jesus. Amen.

My Father's home of light, My rainbow-circled throne,
I left for earthly night, For wand'rings sad and lone.
I left it all for thee; Come now and follow me!