If you've been watching Wall Street this week, you've seen one of the greatest rides in its history.  It's been going up and down like a yo-yo, leaving investors in its wake who aren't sure whether to laugh or cry.  One day they're elated and the next day they're shocked.  People who seek their wealth in the stock market don't know from day to day whether to be happy or sad because they don't know what the day will cost them.  And many who aren't in it wish they were.  It's a paradox of our times.

          A paradox is something that contradicts itself.  For example, as Christians we're saints and yet sinners.  As Christians our life is full of paradoxes.  We're citizens of earth, yet citizens of heaven.  We can do nothing to earn heaven, yet we must have faith to receive it.  Jesus says in today's text if a Christian loses his life then he'll find it.  Being saved costs us nothing, yet the Gospel lesson tells us being a Christian costs us our life.  The Christian life is full of paradoxes.

          Our Lord Jesus told His disciples they couldn't be a disciple and a do-nothing at the same time.  Their faith had to show itself in what they did.  Though salvation is free, there is cost to being a disciple.  And I'm not referring to the financial cost of offerings.  They're only a small part.  If people were made Christians by their offerings, heaven would be filled with rich hypocrites and hell with poor believers.  No, the cost of being a disciple goes far beyond our offerings.  It goes to the heart of what it means to be a Christian - denying self and committing life to Jesus.  Christianity means commitment.

          A chicken and a pig are walking down the street past a restaurant.  In the window is a sign offering bacon and eggs for $2.99.  The chicken says, "Isn't it wonderful mankind is able to use the things we give them?"  "Yes," says the pig, "but don't forget - you're just giving them an offering.  With me it's total commitment."  Being a disciple of Jesus means giving up everything to get everything;  it means being willing to die to self in order to live with God.

          Jesus once said, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it."  To be Christian means to deny yourself.  Not deny who you are - you're a child of God - but to deny making yourself the center of your existence.  Denying self means committing one's self to Jesus, to serving others, and to obeying God and His Word each day.

          We've seen a miracle of God this morning in Holy Baptism.  God has adopted three precious children into His Kingdom.  When we're young, we are very self-centered and think only of what we want.  As we grow older, we think we're Superman.  We can run faster, jump higher, look prettier and be smarter than anyone else.  We believe nothing can harm us and we will live forever.  The young girl wants to live a thousand years, and the young boy wants boatloads of money.  The young man wants to retire at 40 and the young woman wants to be both an executive and Supermom.

          But as we grow up we find we're not the center of the universe.  We're not as talented or as smart as we thought.  We find others at the center of the universe, and we must consider them, too.  Money doesn't bring us what we hoped it would, and achieving goals in our work is a hollow substitute for a loving family and friends.

          The idea of denying self seems quaint but out-of-date today.  A commentary of our times seems to come in ad slogans:  You're #1!  You're worth it!  Grab for the gusto!  Who wants to be a millionaire?  Children, youth and even adults are taken in by the ads, music and movies that equate happiness with success and success with the right to practice excess.  As country western singer C. W. McCall says, "Faster horses, younger women, older whiskey, more money!"

          But all that doesn't last long.  Money doesn't bring happiness, beauty fades, gadgets grow old, and the fun life becomes empty.  Maturity comes when we realize life is in our serving, not being served;  it's putting others first, not self;  it's relationships, not real estate.  Maturity means thinking of others, not just yourself.  Maturity is denying yourself so that Someone greater can lead us.  Maturity is acknowledging God and letting Him show you the way through life.

          Sometime last fall the electricity went off and Carol and I were left in the dark.  You and I get nervous when that happens for more than few minutes.  Before long, we were groping through cupboards and drawers, trying to remember where we put the flashlights and candles.  You see, when the lights go out, finding a source of light becomes top priority.

          So also in life.  Whether we're stumbling in the dark or groping through a life that's out of focus, we need the light on and we need God's guidance.  We need to know who we are and where we're going.  How much safer we feel when the lights come on!  And when we commit to following Jesus, that's exactly what happens - the lights come on.  He is the lamp for our feet and the light for our path.  He is the Light of the World.  We may not always know what path He wants us to take, but any path is okay when He's with us, leading the way.

          Our Lord Jesus gave His life that you and I might know the way to the Father.  He walked the way of Calvary, hung on the cross six hours in darkness that we might live in the light.  He did all that was necessary for us to be saved from our selfishness.  He died that we might live, and now He lives that we might be with Him in heaven.  When you give your life to Jesus, the Light of the World, He'll keep you from stumbling.

          Jesus calls us to be His disciples.  To stay a disciple we must be connected to the power of His Word.  Last Friday Brian came home and mentioned the battery light in his car was on.  I tested a few things and found the battery was good but the alternator was no good.  You see, the alternator puts electricity back into the battery while the car is running and drawing it from the battery.  Without the alternator, the car may run awhile, but the battery will eventually go dead.  In the same way, you and I use spiritual energy as we live and work, and unless we're constantly connected to God through His Word, our faith will run out.

          The best way to be connected to God is through regular worship.  Too many Christians today seem to think Sunday church is something you do when there's nothing else to do Sunday morning.  But regular worship should be the first thing we put in our Daytimers.  If we do, then the rest of life will work better.  Regular worship charges our spiritual batteries and keeps us going in stress and hard work.  Don't over-schedule your life and then short-change your need for spiritual recharging.  Keep your Sunday mornings open for worship.

          We Americans pride ourselves in being able to make choices.  But it's possible to have too many choices.  We have lived in peace and affluence for so long we don't know what it means to be in want.  We're becoming like children who think this will all last forever.  And in times of prosperity, it's easy to get used to doing the wrong thing.

          I have this squirrel who discovered we have a box of dried bread in our garage for the birds.  It used to come in only when we weren't there and the door was open, and I could see its trail of bread crumbs.  But now it's gotten bold.  When we were fixing that alternator, it came into the garage, walked in around our feet, got a piece of bread and left, paying no attention to us at all.  It thinks it owns that box of bread, and maybe the whole garage.

          We, too, can get brazen about doing the wrong things.  At first we may do it secretly when no one sees us, but after awhile we get bold.  And soon we're so used to doing the wrong thing that we no longer realize it's wrong.

          Jesus said, "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it."  Dear friends, do not to hold on to things of this world too tightly.  Putting yourself first can have dire consequences.  The world will not last, but His love will.  The world will fail you, but Jesus won't.  Trust in Him and let Him lead you.  Deny yourself and learn the joys of following Him.  Amen!

Copyright © 2000 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.