God's Call to Self-Denial

Exodus 19:1-9; Romans 12:1-13, 29-32; Matthew 15:21-28

There is a story that comes from the Chinese missions of the early 20th century: In a Chinese school for blind children there was one girl who seemed too dull and stupid to be taught anything. A lady visitor asked how she might help. The nurse said: "Give that poor little girl a piece of money; she has never possessed a coin of her own." So the child received a five-cent piece, to her great delight. Each day she planned some fresh way of spending it, sometimes keeping it herself, and sometimes giving it to the nurse to take care of for her. Nor a meeting was to be held at Foochow for the Bible Society, and this child knew that the Bible Society supplied the school with Chinese Gospels in embossed type for the blind. She was too ill to go to the meeting, but she asked the nurse to take her five-cent piece and put it in the collection. The nurse said: "Half of it would be enough. It is all you have. Let me change it, and then you can give part and keep part." But the blind child insisted on giving all she had. She said, "No, I have never been able to give God anything before; I want to give it all."

No doubt, most of us have heard many stories like this -- stories of how persons selflessly denied themselves so that they might serve the Lord. Such stories have been told and retold throughout the history of the Christian faith.

Yet, no one likes to be told that they must deny themselves. No one likes to be told that they need to sacrifice. In fact, having to give things up is one of those things which may determine the outcome of the conflict presently underway in the Persian Gulf. Certainly, it is very expensive for our troops to be occupying the desserts of Saudi Arabia, and our ships patrolling the Gulf. And people back here at home are beginning to feel the crunch of higher gasoline prices because of the boycott. And then there are the Iraqi people who are now looking at the grim prospect of empty grocery shelves and children, not to mention adults, going hungry. The question is: Who will have the greater resolve to bear the burden of sacrifice and self denial, the American people or the Iraqi people? Certainly, what the president of Iraq is asking of his people is a far greater sacrifice than what our president is asking us to make. Nevertheless, I wonder how long the American people will put up with higher prices at the gas pump before they start to complain.

I was once told by an expert in church growth that the last thing a pastor should tell his congregation is that the Christian life involves sacrifice and self denial. His reasoning for saying this was that if a person who was thinking of joining a church was told that they'd have to give things up to be a Christian that person would probably not want to join. After all, all of us want to have the best things in life, right? And, as the beer commercial once said, "You only go around once in life!" right?

So, if you want a church to grow the pastor shouldn't tell his or her congregation that sharing the gospel costs. If a pastor wants his church to grow he shouldn't tell his congregation that the witness of Jesus Christ puts demands upon those who have promised to be his disciples. But, of course, if this is true then it goes against everything Jesus told his disciples when he said, "If anyone would come after me he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me."

And, yet, the claims being made today by many of the preachers of popular Christianity fly in the face of these words of Jesus to his disciples. One of these popular preachers tells his flock that when you follow Jesus you will be successful in life. In fact, another one of them, who appears on television every day out of Dallas Texas, plays on the greed of the American people by telling his viewers that if they send an offering to him they will receive a multitude of blessings in return; that poor people who send offerings can and have become millionaires in a matter of days.

It was this sort of philosophy that got people to send thousands and thousands of dollars to Jim and Tammi Bakker. For, if you remember, they told television viewers that if they sent a thousand dollars to support their theme park they could spend several days a year at the park, absolutely free. It was the American dream! Spend just a little bit, put out a minimum of effort, and your prayers would be answered.

Indeed, this does fly in the face of what Jesus told his disciples. For Jesus knew that the things which are truly of value in this life and the next are only those things which must be worked for and sacrificed for. This is why Jesus said, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."

Those of you who have been United Methodists for many years will know that one of the historical stands of our church has been against gambling, lotteries, Bingo, and other games of chance wherein people have to place a bet of some kind. In fact, the discipline of the United Methodist Church clearly states, and I quote: "Gambling is a menace to society, deadly to the best interests of moral, social, economic, and spiritual life, and destructive of good government. As an act of faith and love, Christians should abstain from gambling, and should strive to minister to those victimized by the practice. . . . Community standards and personal life styles should be such as would make unnecessary and undesirable the resort to commercial gambling, including public lotteries, as a recreation, as an escape, or as a means of producing public revenue or funds for support of charities or government." And you're looking at a person who has never bought a state lottery ticket and never will. You're looking at a person who has never paid a penny to play Bingo. And if you're trying to raise money for a good cause, you're looking at a person who'd much rather give a five dollar donation than buy a chance for a dollar.

The thing that many people can't understand is why the United Methodist Church has taken this position against gambling. And the reason is this: We believe that too many people in our society have gotten it into their heads that they don't need to rely upon hard work to get ahead. Too many people think that they can get a free ride. Too many people think that they can get something for nothing. Gone are the days when people could be relied upon for an honest day's work for an honest day's wage. And gambling, lotteries, and so on, only promote this undesirable ethic, an ethic which stands in direct contradiction to the very high ideals of self denial and self sacrifice.

When Jesus took his disciples off, alone, to find out what kind of a church he was starting, he didn't ask them to put down their money and take their chances. He didn't wish them luck as he ascended into the heavens. No. Rather, Jesus looked each one of them in the eye and said, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."

Over the past few days we've heard a lot about lines being drawn in the sand. Well, this is one of those places where Jesus drew the line. One's willingness to give of one's time, talent, and treasure, of one's prayers, presence, gifts, and service is one of those ways by which faith is measured. As John Wayne would say, without meaning to exclude the women and the girls, "It's what separates the men from the boys."

There is the story told by a minister about how, one day, he was riding a train and met a porter who told of how he had felt called into the ministry but had ignored the call because his brother also had received a similar call. They were poor boys and couldn't see how they could both afford to go to school and seminary. The porter said that they decided to work together. He would work and send his money to his brother so that he could go to school. As it turned out the porter's brother became Bishop Scott, an outstanding bishop of the Methodist Church.

Now, the minister who was riding the train and hearing the porter's story took it to heart. And it so happened that several months later actually had the opportunity to meet Bishop Scott. And in their conversation the minister mentioned to the bishop how he had met his brother, a porter on a train. "Yes," said the bishop, and the tears ran down his cheeks as he continued, "he is my brother, and may God bless him. I owe everything to him."

In today's lesson from the book of Romans the apostle Paul encouraged Christians to use their god-given gifts for the growth of God's kingdom. Certainly burning in his heart were the words of Jesus: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Amen.