Love of the World, an Embarrassment to Jesus

Mark 8 and the Shame of Christ’s Words

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

And now.

Here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. The Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark, the 8th chapter. And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, who do people say that I am?

And they told him, John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others, one of the prophets. And he asked them, but who do you say that I am? Peter answered him, you are the Christ. And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly.

And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, Get behind me, Satan, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.

And he called to him the crowd with his disciples, and he said to them, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Whoever will save his life will lose it.

Whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's sake will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? And what can a man give in return for his life? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

This is the gospel of the Lord. In the name of Jesus. Amen. Are you guys awake today? I have to work on you Norwegians. Get some pep in your step. Today's gospel. Some terrifying words Jesus gives us today.

And here are the words. Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

As we consider our Lenten-tide penitence, looking and examining our lives in light of Christ's commands, we recognize here a major temptation that each and every one of us has given into to one degree or another.

That is being ashamed of the words of Christ. And so let's talk about the different ways in which this happens and note that this is by no means an exhaustive look at the subject. You think back in the history of the church.

The Church’s Shame of Creation, Miracles, and the Resurrection

In the history of the church during the 1900s, Darwin wrote that book, The Origin of Species, and a whole lot of people started believing that rather than being the special creation of God made in his image, although we have fallen into sin, that humanity evolved from apes.

And the church lost its nerve. The church was ashamed of the words of Christ where Christ confirmed that we were created by God in six days. And so the church became ashamed of that. Also, then falling out of that same flow, if you would, of theology, well, people began to deny that miracles were possible.

And so the church ashamed of the words of Scripture that tell us that Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, that Jesus walked on the water, that Jesus healed people of their diseases, and that Jesus physically rose from the grave on the third day after he was crucified.

The church, ashamed of these words, decided that it was best if we find a way to allegorize them instead. And so the resurrection of Jesus, rather than being his victorious bodily resurrection from the grave, turned into an allegory of how God causes the flowers to grow again in the spring.

Have any of you heard sermons like this? And then you think in our day. I grew up during the rise of contemporary Christian music. I remember Petra. I remember Steve Camp and Steve Taylor and all this kind of stuff.

Christian Entertainment, Worldliness, and Gender Confusion

And here's what gave rise to this, by the way. Here's what gave rise to contemporary Christian music. If you all remember the 70s, the 60s, and the 70s, they were a little bit let's just say it this way, debaucherous.

If you know the legendary stories of the parties of Led Zeppelin and bands like that. And then in my time, in my generation, we saw the rise of kind of like the theatrical satanic bands like Metallica and Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne.

And what did the church do? Well, we want to have rock and roll like the world and so what we're going to do is we're going to create an alternative entertainment source where they basically took the chops of the world and then came up with what I would consider to be a really cheap imitation of it and then guilt kids who were attending churches and youth groups and Christian schools, guilt them if they didn't listen to Christian music.

This past week, something interesting happened though. You'll note that the Christian music industry was very high on entertainment, always very thin on sound theology. And this past week, the number one Christian song on the Christian pop charts is sung by somebody who is openly LGBTQXYZ, whatever that alphabet soup is.

What is going on here? And you'll note that in our day, people are ashamed of the words of Christ where Christ says that in the beginning, God created them male and female. Have you all gotten rid of Mr. Potato Head because he's too gender specific?

Right? It's a crazy world we're living in right now, but what's the church doing? They're sticking their fingers in, they're looking at him going, and then sticking it in the wind and going, well, the winds are blowing this way, we better blow that way too.

But this is a form of being ashamed of the words of Christ. And I would remind you what the Apostle John says. John says this, do not love the world or the things in the world. Now, Scripture is clear.

We Christians are in the world, we are not of the world. Jesus in the Gospel of John makes it clear that the reason why the world hates us is because we are not of the world. But have you noticed this about us?

We don't like not being liked. That's just normal human nature. We want to be liked by people. And so what have we as a church done? We've become ashamed of the words of Christ, and we've sought the accolades of the world, and we're fearing who?

The world. We're afraid of being ashamed by the world, but we're not afraid of being ashamed by Christ. We've got our priorities completely backwards, upside down and inside out. And so in our day we've seen this happen with the rise of the mega churches and the diluting of God's word because we're all ashamed of those words.

We want to be liked by the world. Come to our church. We've got a great disco ball. We've got a great praise band. And the good news is we've gotten rid of the cross. We've gotten rid of Jesus. You can come and just have an experience with God, and you can bake in the glory.

And our pastor hasn't even been to seminary, and he's proud of it. In fact, nowadays in so many churches, the only qualifications necessary for a person to become a pastor is they have to be able to fog a mirror, and they have to fit in skinny jeans.

You laugh because it's true. Now, this would mean I'm not qualified to be a pastor, although I can fog a mirror. If you put me in skinny jeans, you would have to call the paramedics and pray they get here quick, otherwise they're going to have to amputate both my legs.

Right? Poor Duane. So here's the thing. Scripture says, do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, the pride of life, it is not from the Father.

It is from the world. The world is passing away along with its desires, and whoever does the will of God abides forever. So note, if you're having a longing eye towards the world, you're having a longing eye towards the world and you're loving what's in the world rather than the things of God, that this is a time for us to recognize that within ourselves and repent.

Whoever does the will of God abides forever, and what is the will of God? That we repent. That we believe. That we trust in Christ. James puts it this way, and by the way, if you've ever heard that Lutherans don't preach from the epistle of James, that's fake news.

It's just really fake news. Listen to what James says. Chapter 4. What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Talking about Christians in the church. Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?

Talking about our sinful passions and our desires. You desire but you don't have, so what do you do? You murder. That makes perfect sense. You covet and you cannot obtain, so you fight and you quarrel, and you do not have because you don't ask.

You don't even pray. But then when you do pray, you ask and you don't receive because you ask wrongly in order to spend what God gives you on your own passions. Reminds me of that song from a while back.

Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz? Right? But here's what James says. You adulterous people. Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? And we're going to note, hindsight being 20 -20, over the past few months, I don't know if you guys have noticed, that the great Christian entertainment empire known as Hillsong has been racked with scandal after scandal after scandal.

Some of them, the details, not even a good idea to mention from a pulpit. Let's just say that it involves sexual relations. And here's the thing. People are shocked. Gasp. We never saw this coming. How could you not see it coming?

Hillsong is the epitome of what it means to be ashamed of the words of Christ and to seek the accolades of the world. Is it any wonder that sin has been rampant among their leaders? No, not at all. So whoever wishes to be a friend of the world, James says, makes himself an enemy of God.

Or do you suppose that it is no reason that Scripture says he yearns jealously over the spirit that he's made to dwell in us? But he gives more grace therefore and says God opposes the proud and he gives grace to the humble.

And that's kind of the point. The one who is embarrassed by the words of Christ is ultimately arrogant and believe that they know better than Jesus. It's a form of pride. And that's the thing. You think you know better than Jesus.

I think I know better than Jesus. And I'm not talking now about people out there. I'm talking about us. All the different ways when we are ashamed of Jesus. We don't want to suffer. We don't want to be ridiculed.

We don't want to be persecuted. We think that we can actually make a bigger difference by finding a way to take the cross that Christ has given to us and put it to the side and instead find a way to make the world happy.

To present them a face of Jesus that they're not ashamed of. But in order to do that you end up having to cut out whole portions of what Jesus taught and said and calls us to do. Kind of a scary proposition, isn't it?

Jesus Refuses a Worldly Messiahship in John 6

Now I would note this. Jesus gives us a great model to follow as it relates to speaking the truth that must be said. A friend of mine, Dr. Michael Horton of the White Horse Inn, he calls the gospel of John chapter 6, he calls this Jesus' great church shrinkage sermon.

And it's something to consider in light of what Jesus says here. You'll note that Christ always practices what he preaches. He's not ashamed of the words that God the Father has given him to preach. And in the gospel of John chapter 6 we can see that Jesus was poised for what we would consider by worldly terms to be absolute greatness.

Jesus could have gone down in the annals of history as being one of the greatest conquerors of all time. The person who led Israel to overthrow the Roman Empire and get out from under their boot. After the feeding of the 5 ,000, notice that's 5 ,000 men.

That doesn't even include the women and the children and the younger folks that were there. It says in the gospel of John that after Jesus had done this, that the people that were there, after they gathered up the leftovers, that when the people saw this, what Jesus had done, they said, this indeed is the prophet who is to come into the world.

And perceiving then that they were about to come and take Jesus and make him king by force, Jesus withdrew to the mountain by himself. I want you to think about this. You've got this crowd here that's just been fed.

They recognize this is the son of David. This is the Messiah. We're going to make him king. And that group would be like the nugget of like what would be necessary to rally the forces of Israel, get the people, the army together and put a fight on.

I mean, the guy who can feed an entire multitude by multiplying loaves and fishes, this same guy could miraculously get rid of the Romans. We're saved. And by human standards, by worldly standards, Jesus would have been one of the greatest generals slash kings of all times.

But that's not why he came. So Jesus then sends his disciples in the boat that they came in across the Sea of Galilee. He spent some time in prayer and then that night Jesus walks on the water to join them.

And the purpose of Jesus doing this was to get the people, the crowd off his trail because they are an obstruction to what it is that he came to do. And so the next day it says in John 6, 22 that the crowd remained on the other side of the sea that they saw that there had only been one boat there and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples.

But the disciples had gone away alone. Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum seeking Jesus.

And you'll note, by worldly standards, Jesus' actions make no sense, none whatsoever. Come on, Jesus, we're ready to follow you. We're ready to make you king. So when they found him on the other side of the sea, they said, Rabbi, when did you come here?

And listen to Jesus' words. Truly, truly, I say to you, you're seeking me not because you saw signs but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures to eternal life.

Your priorities are all wrong, Jesus politely tells them. And the Son of Man will give you this food that endures to eternal life. For on him God the Father has set his seal. So then they asked Jesus, all right, what must we be doing to do the works of God?

And here's the work. This is the work of God that you believe. You believe in the one whom he has sent. Hmm. Really? It doesn't sound like a work to me. And that's kind of the point, is it? So they said to him, all right, what sign do you do so that we may believe you?

Or what work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness. As it is written, he gave them bread from heaven to eat. And Jesus said to them, truly I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.

For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. And they said, sir, okay, give us this bread always. And Jesus said, I am the bread of life. Wait, what? That's not what we're looking for.

We're looking for a real meal here, Jesus. What do you mean you're the bread of life? Jesus says, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger. Whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

But I said that you have seen me, and yet you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me. Whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven to do not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.

And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. And you can see the total disconnect here. They're looking for a bread king.

Jesus, we can get rid of the hunger problem in Israel in like four or five days. It ain't that big of a country. What are you talking about this bread from heaven stuff, Jesus? We need something more practical.

But he continues, this is the will of my Father. Everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life. I will raise him up on the last day. Well, what about today? What about today, Jesus?

So the Jews grumbled. They grumbled because he said, I'm the bread that came down from heaven. And they said, is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, I have come down from heaven?

And Jesus answered, don't grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, and they will all be taught by God.

Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God. He has seen the Father. So truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.

And I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven.

If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. And at this point, now a dispute arises. You'll note that this great multitude ready to make Jesus king yesterday is now going, what is this all about?

So they disputed and said, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? It's not very practical, is it? It's kind of gross if you think about it. And so note that Jesus doesn't say, no, no, no, no, guys, come on.

I'm just talking metaphorically, allegorically here. Let's be practical. No, he doubles and triples down. So Jesus says, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food. My blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him.

As the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father. So whoever feeds on me, he will also live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread that the fathers ate and they died.

Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever. And you're going to note here that having heard these words, Jesus is pointing to his own flesh, the sacrifice for our sins so that we can be reconciled to God so that we can have eternal life.

And that's the issue. What we need is to be forgiven. And that's why Christ goes to the cross. Because the world that we're presently living in is temporal. It's passing away. And so are you. And so Jesus is addressing the bigger issue that we have.

And that is that we're all under a death sentence by God because of our sin. And so is it any wonder then that when Jesus asked the disciples, who do people say that I am? And finally he asked them, who do you say I am?

That Peter answered, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. And then after who he was was revealed and specified and confirmed, then Jesus plainly begins to tell them, boys, here's the plan. Are you ready?

We're going to Jerusalem. They're going to arrest me. They're going to beat me. They're going to flog me. They're going to crucify me. And I'm going to die. And then on the third day, I'm going to rise from the grave.

And you can tell by Peter's rebuke that this isn't exactly what he signed up for. Remember, Peter left his fishing business to follow Jesus. Lord, may it never be. This will never happen to you. Peter's thinking, come on.

We're already working out who the cabinet members are going to be in your administration once you're coronated in Jerusalem. I'm thinking I'm going to be chief of staff here. What do you mean we're going to Jerusalem and you're going to die?

This is nuts. This is not what we need. And what does Peter say? What does Jesus say to Peter? Get behind me, Satan. You don't have the things of God in mind. You have the things of this world in mind.

So after Jesus in John 6 talks about how it's important to eat his flesh and drink his blood, which were broken and shed for our forgiveness, it says this. When many of his disciples heard this saying, they said this is a hard saying.

Who can listen to it? So Jesus hears their grumbling and says, do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? There's a spirit who gives life.

The flesh is of no help at all. The words that I've spoken to you, they are spirit and life. But there are some who do not believe. And verse 66 then says this. After this, many of Jesus' disciples turned back.

They no longer walked with Jesus. So Jesus said to the twelve, do you want to go away as well? The previous day, there were 5 ,000 men ready to make Jesus king. 24 hours later, we're back down to 12. The rest have all gone away, and they're not going to listen to Jesus again.

They're done. The text says they no longer walked with him. That's it. We're done with Rabbi Jesus. So Jesus asked his disciples, do you want to go away also? And here, Simon Peter, I think, redeems himself a little bit.

He says, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. And we have believed that you've come and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God. So brothers and sisters, this Lententide, as we consider our own repentance, let us consider all of the ways in which we're trying to manipulate Jesus.

We're ashamed of what he said. We're ashamed of what he's offering. We're ashamed of his call to repentance. We're ashamed of what he labels sin. We're ashamed of the fact that he is so unbending and unyielding and, well, irrelevant to the world.

And so we find ways to shave off, to ignore, to hide, to obfuscate, to quietly not believe him. Let us repent of that, and then note then the great gift that God has given us in Christ. Because what we all need, because of your sin and mine, is we needed a sacrifice.

We needed God to reconcile us to himself because we cannot reconcile ourselves. This same Jesus who said that he was going to Jerusalem and that he was going to die and rise again did exactly that. And when he was nailed to the cross, all of your sin, in fact, all of the different ways in which you were ashamed, I have been ashamed of Jesus, even those sins have been bled for and died for.

So that on the day of judgment, Christ will not be ashamed of you. And if you don't believe me, I would point you to Peter. That same one who confessed that Jesus is the Christ is also the one who was, well, ashamed of Jesus and his affiliation with him when a slave girl asked about whether or not he was with Jesus while Christ was on trial.

He was so ashamed of Jesus that he didn't even acknowledge that he knew him at all. In fact, denied that he knew him. Not once, not twice, but three times. And do we not also do the same? We do. So let us acknowledge this in ourselves and receive like Peter the forgiveness of this sin and this Lenten tithe.

May Christ, through his Spirit, grant us the strength to carry our cross, to follow Jesus, to endure the suffering and the persecution and the shame of being numbered among those who are in Christ, knowing that when he appears, rather than being ashamed, because of his mercy and grace, we will hear from him, well done.

Not because of our merit, but because of his. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

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