Sometimes we talk about ‘great’ Christians, you know,
- people who are totally committed to God
- people who have given their whole lives to serve God
- people who have suffered for their commitment
What names come to mind for you, either from the New Testament or church history?
The book – The Martyr’s Mirror contains thousands of stories of ‘great’ Christians. Two of my favorites are Dirk Willems and Anneken Heyndricks, both of whom died for their faith. And there are other similar books with such stories.
It will be interesting to see on the final day who are honored. I think so many will be people we have never heard of, thousands and thousands of faithful ones that lived without recognition or human honor. Just ordinary people like you and me.
We are celebrating the Lord’s supper today. It symbolically portrays the fact that Jesus was totally committed to God and gave everything to serve God. Right? Here is a picture of his broken body and his blood poured out for us. He gave all for God and the kingdom.
Today I want you to think about yourself, and ask – What’s holding you back from being a ‘great’ Christian? What’s keeping you from being like Jesus in giving yourself fully to God?
I’m not talking about in a dream world, you know, in a different and easier set of life circumstances. So that you could say, “If this were different, if I didn’t have these obligations, boy I could really serve God!” I mean in your current situation in life.
And I don’t mean being well known for your faith or famous. I just mean being faithful to do what God has called you to do in your place in life, with the gifts he has given you.
What’s holding you back from being all that God wants you to be and doing all that God wants you to do?
If we are indeed going to be like Jesus; if we are going to be a ‘great Christian,’ what I want to say today is that –
We have to make sacrifices
This is the bottom line. We want what is peaceful, comfortable and easy. Its just human nature. But often God does not call us to this, but just the opposite; to what is hard and what that takes us out of where we are comfortable and stretches us.
And it is because of this that we shy away from full commitment; from giving ourselves fully to God. We hold back.
Let’s look at some examples of sacrifice: 1) You might have your life reordered by God; that is your plans changed around.
Jesus didn’t have a ‘normal’ life. He forsook marriage and kids and had no home. He was a traveling teacher, preaching the message of the kingdom. And all this is what God asked him to do.
Are you willing to let God reorder your life? You have your own plans for your life, if or where you go to school, career, if you will marry, who you marry, family, a normal peaceful life. But what if God wants you to move overseas to serve him? What if God asks you to change your career? To lower your standard of living?
We want what is peaceful, comfortable and easy. But God doesn’t always call us to this.
2) You will be asked to minister to people’s needs. That’s because God loves people and wants to touch lives through us.
Jesus worked with people day in and day out. He dealt with people who had desperate needs and problems. Those that needed healing, freedom from demons, the poor and oppressed, those that didn’t know God’s way. He could barely get any rest since so many looked to him for help.
Are you willing to minister to people’s needs? To give up your privacy and get involved in other people’s lives and concerns and problems? To give of yourself to meet the needs of others?
We want what is peaceful, comfortable and easy. But God doesn’t always call us to this.
3) You might experience opposition and rejection. This is the opposite of having peace.
Jesus had his share of this. He was criticized unfairly. Even as he healed people who suffered their whole lives, some could only see it as a chance to pick at him – ‘Why are you doing work on the Sabbath?’ Others sought to test and trap him. ‘Hey Jesus, should we pay taxes to the Romans?’ hoping he would say something that would get him in trouble as the Roman soldiers looked on. And apart from all this his own family thought he was crazy (Mark 3:21).
Are you willing to accept opposition and rejection? To be hassled? To have people push you away and think less of you?
We want what is peaceful, comfortable and easy. But God doesn’t always call us to this.
4) You might lose your reputation. Nobody wants this.
Jesus was called a glutton and a drunkard and a friend of sinners (Luke 17:34) all because he spent time with those who were looked down on as failures and rejects. Those whom others said had their chance and failed, but Jesus didn’t give up on them. He was also called possessed by Satan (Mark 3:22). How would you like that?
Are you willing to lose your reputation? To be slandered, intentionally misrepresented or called names?
We want what is peaceful, comfortable and easy. But God doesn’t always call us to this.
5) You will suffer.
Jesus suffered. He was let down by Peter and betrayed by Judas which must have really hurt. He was mocked, humiliated, beaten and killed.
Are you willing to suffer? You may well not suffer physically, but you will suffer if you want to be like Jesus.
We want what is peaceful, comfortable and easy. But God doesn’t always call us to this.
It is just as Jesus said in Mark 8:35, “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” We try to save our earthly lives, we cling to them, when we:
- don’t let God reorder our lives
- refuse to minister to people’s needs
- hold back because we don’t want to be rejected
- are afraid to lose our reputation
- run from suffering
We lose our lives when put all this on the altar; when give it all up to God; when we sacrifice it all.
Jesus lost his life, and he saved it. God raised him from the dead and gave him so much more than he gave up.
If we lose our lives; if we sacrifice in all these ways; if we don’t allow these things to hold us back – we also will save our lives and we will be like Jesus. We will be great in our faithfulness and blessed by God.
William Higgins
Christian teaching 