This Sunday we will be wrapping up our “Things We Wish Jesus Hadn’t Said” sermon series. Over the past several weeks (including our online-only worship service from this past Sunday – make sure to watch it if you haven’t yet!), we’ve been reflecting on some of the difficult things that Jesus calls us to do: loving our enemies, turning the other cheek, giving away all that we have, changing how we think about our family. This weekend, we will hear Jesus tell us to “take up our cross and follow him” and that “those who want to save their lives will lose them, but those who lose their lives for the sake of the gospel will find them.”
None of this sounds easy. It’s not very comforting. In fact, it can (and maybe should) feel downright impossible.
We say that the story we tell about Jesus is “Good News” (that’s what “gospel” means). But, how can these difficult words be good news? How can they be a source of hope? How can they be anything other than overwhelming and sources of despair and disappointment due to our inability to live up to them?
The reality is that Jesus calls us to do hard things. Being a Christian can be described as “following Jesus” – and following him means seeking to walk the road he walked and live as he lived. And he got crucified (which means that following him might just be difficult.) Jesus is the one who loves us even when we aren’t worthy, who shows up for us when we are stuck in a ditch, and who insists on working for our good no matter who we are or what we have done. Jesus loves his enemies (even the people who sought to kill him), prays for those who persecute him, gives everything away for the sake of others, and shows us how true life looks like a willingness to humbly serve.
I have heard the Good News of Jesus described as “God loves us just as we are, but God loves us too much to leave us as we are.” Jesus embraces us with love no matter what we’ve done – whether we get it right or get it wrong. But he also invites us to spend our lives slowly learning to “get it right” – to slowly, over the course of a lifetime, begin to reshape our lives around his way of mercy, grace, justice, peace, and love.
One way of saying that is to say that, in Jesus Christ, God is inviting us to become who we were always meant to be. We are invited to discover the abundant life that Jesus offers. The story we tell is both a challenge and a comfort. It is an invitation to step into the better life that Jesus has in store for us – and it is a reminder that, even when we don’t, Jesus still loves us, and still promises to be faithful to us.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that following Jesus, if we’re doing it right, should make us uncomfortable. The words of Jesus should confront us – and force us to ask ourselves is we are really living the way of love that he calls us to live, if we are really willing to make the sacrifices that he calls us to make. As people who are seeking to live the way of Jesus, we have to ask whether our life – and our church – really reflects the One who has given everything out of love for the whole world.
And, it should also be Good News. The challenge isn’t the final word – because, this side of the resurrection, we will never fully live up to what Jesus tells us to do. We will always stumble, fall short, and have room to grow. So, following Jesus can’t just be about all the stuff we are called to do in order to live like him. It’s also about all the good he does for us – no matter what we do or have done.
So, I hope that you will end this sermon series feeling challenged – being invited to grow in your faith and discovering new ways to walk in the way of Jesus. I also hope that you’ll remember the Good News that Jesus is faithful, that he meets every challenge (even when we don’t), and that he is with us in all things – even in the discomfort that comes from following him faithfully.
Jesus calls us to grow. He calls us to love like he loves. He calls us to learn to live his way of mercy. He calls us to be who we were always meant to be. And, when we get it wrong, he is still faithful to us. That’s the (sometimes uncomfortable) Good News.
