4 March 2014 - worth the sacrifice

4 March 2014 - worth the sacrifice

The readings today are helping us prepare to follow Jesus more radically this Lent.

Peter began to say to Jesus,
“We have given up everything and followed you.”

Peter is being Peter again.  Listen to that bravado.  Yet Jesus does not discount what he says.  The disciples have indeed given up their former lives to follow Jesus.  But they are not finished yet.  He affirms what Peter says and helps him to understand just why it is worth it to give these things up.

Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you,
there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters
or mother or father or children or lands
for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel
who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:
houses and brothers and sisters
and mothers and children and lands,

Even in this life the kingdom is a much greater treasure than whatever we have to give up to seek it.  Jesus tempers this with realism.  There are indeed "persecutions" as well.  We are going out into the desert with Jesus to divest ourselves of the non-essential.  We want to become more and more attuned to the leading of the Spirit.  We want to rely more and more on God for our fulfillment.  We want him to be our treasure, our portion, the delight of our soul.  We want to find our nourishment in doing his will.  But Satan does not leave Jesus alone in the desert.  And he does not with us, either.  Even having said that, these persecutions are only one bullet point in a list that is otherwise blessings: a hundreds times more than what we give up.  And that is just here and now.  Eternal life awaits.

No wonder the Good News is said to be "things into which angels longed to look."  The prophets announce it, but not for themselves, nor their contemporaries.  They are serving us.  They are helping to prepare us to recognize the significance of this revelation.

the Spirit of Christ within them indicated
when it testified in advance
to the sufferings destined for Christ
and the glories to follow them.

We should therefore appreciate that this is a big deal.  And understanding that importance should motivate us to give up anything we are called to give up to follow Jesus.  It is so important that the first part of human history was simply a preparation for it.  That preparation was for us precisely so that we might understand the magnitude of the thing now that it has happened.  Understanding that significance we are able to believe that what it offers us is much greater than what we give up.

This is why we sing that, "The LORD has made his salvation known".  This is not an abstraction.  As the author of history he makes salvation known to us.  And he does not do this so that we may have it as head knowledge. He makes his salvation known so that we can stake our very lives on it.

Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.

The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.

All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.