The Second Sunday of Lent, Year B

Deny Yourself

Readings: Genesis 17:1-7, 15-19; Romans 4:13-25; Mark 8:31-38

In an old cartoon, B.C. is down on his knees. “God,” he says, “If you’re up there, give me a sign.” Suddenly something falls from the Heavens right in front of him. A neon sign flashing, “I’m up here!” If only faith were that easy! If only God could give us a sign once and for all! If only it meant giving intellectual assent without worrying about its connection to our daily lives! If only it meant never doubting! But the problem is that real faith involves passionate engagement. It involves entering a relationship with God. It involves giving one’s heart to God and holding it actively with love. It means having enough confidence in its reality to act on it, as incredible as it may seem.

And when all is said and done, the way we come to faith is by trusting in the promises of God. We look at our past history and see where God has been at work in our lives, and use that knowledge to bring meaning to our existence. Faith is, after all, intended to be reasonable.

That seems fine until we come to the difficult choices and tests of life. When we face times of tragedy, everything we know about faith can simply vanish. How do we achieve a vision of faith that sustains us through such times? It is the reality of the cross that needs to be behind everything that we do to give us that sense of wholeness, of holiness, that carries us when nothing else will.

Abraham had to come to that point. At the age of ninety, he questioned the possibility of making a covenant with God. “How can I,” he asks, “believe that at my age I can still become the ancestor of a multitude of nations?” He is asked to simply believe that God keeps promises. God has made that promise to Abram and sealed it with a new name. God promises also that Sarah, his wife, will bear a son. Abraham takes God’s word and makes that commitment. He embraces the gift that God has promised. And of course, God makes good on the promise.

Paul in writing to the church at Rome acknowledges that faith is anything but easy. Then he reminds them that faith brings new life, in Sarah’s case, a new life from a barren womb, and in the case of Jesus, resurrection from the dead. He goes on to remind them of the necessity of taking up the cross, not in order to earn salvation. Paul knows that Jesus has already done that. They must take up the cross in response to God’s salvation. That is what leads them, and ultimately us, to the possibility of resurrection.

But does that possibility even occur to us? We think about it at Easter, of course. But what does the risen life of Christ mean in our everyday existence? How do we allow its truth to speak to us?

Jesus reminds his disciples of the cost of following him. It is a reminder of what living in covenant with God means. He reminds them that it begins with denying themselves, taking up the cross and following him. As soon as Jesus begins to talk about the cost, about the possibility of suffering, rejection and ultimately death, the disciples change their tune. Like us, they like to hear the comfortable words, but when it comes to cross bearing and dying to sin, then they miss the real point of their faith.

Let’s face it! Self-denial is not big on any of our lists. We have all kinds of questions about what it means. What self am I denying? Is it a matter of not doing what I want to do for a while during Lent, and then going back to what I want to do? Is it about putting myself down? What are the rules anyway? Why should we “give up” during the season of Lent, or indeed at any time?

The cross is at the heart of our Christian faith. We were signed with the sign of the cross at Baptism. What did it mean for us, both as individuals and as a community? What a paradox it is! For it helps us to understand that dying is the step we must take in order to really live. It reminds us that we are called to offer the self to be formed by God for God’s purposes.

Self-denial, then, is about an alternative way of being. It is not about giving up for the sake of giving up something. It is not about giving up for a period of time, like Lent and then going back to the same way of being. It is a challenge to want something different. Instead of thinking only of ourselves and believing that it is to our good to gain wealth and avoid any path that may lead to suffering, we are challenged to be generous. We are challenged to give of ourselves, even when it may mean suffering on our part. We are reminded that all of that comes at great cost! There are times when love, if it is to mean anything, will expose us to grave danger. We are challenged nevertheless to embrace the way of Jesus. And in doing so, we will find ourselves. We will become truly human.

Christ’s message is inescapable. Self-denial is not about the good it does for me. The sort of giving up that works best is that which has a deeper purpose behind it. If you want to give to others, it will almost always involve giving up something you would rather keep for yourself. Caring for a sick or elderly family member will almost certainly involve a loss of time and freedom. And yet that may be what God is calling you to do. Giving through the church or other charities means not spending money on something you might otherwise be able to afford. Being a good steward of God’s creation may mean taking the time to walk instead of using your car. It may mean doing menial labour like picking up garbage. Being an advocate for the poor and disadvantaged in our community may mean giving up time to lobby our politicians.

We in this congregation live a comfortable existence. We may not be wealthy in Canadian standards, but we have central heating and hot running water. We do not go to bed hungry like much of the world. We dress well. We live in relative luxury. And I for one have no real desire to give up any of those things. The closest I have ever come to being a missionary was teaching in an Indian Residential school on James Bay. Even there, when I think about it, the only thing I really gave up was easy access to the telephone. However, I would like to think that if God called me to go to some Third World country to feed refugees or to help grandmothers look after their grandchildren, orphaned through AIDS, or to bring relief to people made homeless through some natural disaster, that I would do it. I would like to think that I am not so accustomed to my lifestyle that I could not meet that kind of challenge. The question is, am I so addicted to the comfortable existence I live, that I have already missed such opportunities? All I can do is to trust that when God calls I will respond.

Our mission as Christians is to permeate and transform the world. Our Lenten journey is about seeking that kind of transformation in our own spiritual lives so that the transformation can begin with us. It requires examining our lives for the things that keep us from changing. May God grant us grace to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Jesus!