THE ONLY WAY

A Sermon On:

HEIDELBERG CATECHISM Q/A 29, 30

LUKE 9.23-36


PREPARED BY

KEN GEHRELS

PASTOR

CALVIN CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH

NEPEAN, ONTARIO



I want to talk with you this evening about names.
Names. New parents deliberate carefully before hanging a label around the neck of their child, a label that will be there for life.
Names. Sometimes we use them in an offhand sort of way and don't think twice about it. A name is simply an identifier, just a basic label. I say my name is "Ken." Quite frankly, I'm not even sure what it means. "Ken" is me. That's all.

Sometimes names are important because they identify our family connections -- where we come from, who we are associated with.
Sometimes names tell something about us - complementary or otherwise. "Dear..." - means we're valued, loved.
"Geek..." - people think we're out of step with the rest of society.
Give the name and it tells what that person is to you.

Names.
One name in particular -- Jesus.
What's that mean? What does it tell us? What's this name worth?
Do we know...... really?

Jesus - technically it's an old Hebrew name, Y'shua, what we translate sometimes as Joshua. It means "One who saves -- Saviour."
Saviour....Saves who?
From what?
So what?
Jesus - Saviour from sin - what does it mean to me?
What does it mean as I prepare to approach the communion table?

Says the Catechism, "He is called saviour because he saves us from our sins..."
Sin is death.
Bluntly put, Jesus saves us from death to life.
"Think of a person drowning or in a burning house: a hero or a lover jumps into the water or dashes through the flames and pulls that drowning or burning person away from certain death. That's salvation" [Kuyvenhoven p.72]. Jesus saves us from the flames of hell, from drowning in the flood of eternal outer darkness. The tentacles of life-warping sin reach out to grab us, to seize us and pull us away from the God who made us and calls us to Himself. Or, to use another picture, sin is like a giant undertow that sucks unsuspecting swimmers down and out, pulling them away from the beach and towards deadly deeper waters.
Sin - when we disobey and violate the will and the law of the Lord.It separates us from Him. From His care. From His home. From His peace-giving, joy-inspiring presence. It kills us.
Jesus comes to free us from that sin. Where guilt stains our life's record and threatens us with eternal condemnation on judgement day, Jesus comes to take the guilt in our place.
Where sin's forces strive to alienate us in day to day routine from God's presence, Jesus sends His Spirit to be the comforter for all who believe in Him.
Where sin's destructive reach enters the life of a believer with hurt and pain and brokenness, Jesus reaches out His hand giving comfort, strength to endure, and sometimes miracles of supernatural healing.
Where sin seeks to lure us down paths of life that are harmful, Jesus speaks through His Word and Spirit to guide and direct us in the ways of truth and wholeness.
Jesus - our Saviour.
Where sin seeks to destroy Jesus says, "I have come that they may have life and have it to the full." (Jn 10.10)

And how does He give that life?
Well, it happens in a definite order. You see that in the many accounts of Jesus bringing healing and hope to hurting, outcast people. He gives sight to the blind, allows the lame to walk, casts out demons. But before those amazing acts there is often something else he does first.
Very often we read that first he says, "Your sins are forgiven." The biggest miracle of life - giving that Jesus does is not in the body. It's in the heart. For it is in the heart, where sin has its deepest roots, that the saving work of Jesus must begin." Your sins are forgiven."
Only after that can the other things be properly cared for.
That's how it was in Bible days.
That's how it remains for you and I.

Until we can admit that in our deepest, innermost self,
- in our heart of hearts -
we need restoring....... saving.....
nothing else can happen.

And that's a hard admission to make.
It's hard for self-made, self-reliant Canadian folk like you and I.
We don't like to think of ourselves as messed up, weak, black-listed.
We like to think we still have a future. Still have something to contribute.
Still can get somewhere with what we've got.

Jesus - can you say it.... and mean it? From the heart mean it?
Recall the words of Jesus in Luke 9.
Did you catch the full weight of their meaning? What he is talking about is all or nothing commitment. Those who wish to experience life instead of death - both in this life and in the life to come - must be willing to identify, fully identify with Jesus Christ. He must be the central focus, the most important element in our lives.
This is what he meant by "if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."

We often think that "take up a cross" means having to endure suffering of one sort or another. "Every person has their cross to bear" we say. Sometimes meaning struggling with ears that are too big, or with illness, or a troublesome family member.
That's not what Jesus meant.
In His day the cross was the execution instrument reserved for rebels, brigands. If you passed a cross with someone on it, you knew who they were -- rebels against Rome. It clearly identified them.

To take up our cross means that we rebel against attitudes of self-reliance and self-confidence and identify fully, clearly, openly with Jesus Christ. Whatever else anyone else may say -- Jesus -- my saviour, my life.
My all!!
It is hard to say, "I am no better than the thief on the cross. I deserve no more than that murderer. I need the saving work of the cross as much as they do. I need Jesus - the saviour from sin."

"Losing your life... take up your cross" -- this is what it's all about! Do we listen?

Tonight I invite you to join me in accepting all at the communion table, where we remember how Jesus gave up all for us. Come again to the communion table where we can know the name of Jesus - truly know it, lean on it with the mind.... and the heart.
Come and meet him whose name is Jesus - Saviour from Sin
Come - listen to him - and accept what he has to give to you!