SPECIAL DAYS: Second Sunday in Lent

March 19, 2000 - LESSON: Mark 8.31-38

SERMON TITLE: Greed Kills

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INTRODUCTION:
  1. There is a searching question in Mark's record of an experience between Jesus and the disciples.
    1. "[31] Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
      1. Jesus is speaking of his impending trial
      2. He is foretelling his death
      3. He is proclaiming his resurrection.
    2. "[32] He said all this quite openly.
      1. Up to know he has avoided plain speaking.
      2. His time had not yet come.
      3. Now it has come.
      4. It is time to speak plainly so that his disciples may have the opportunity to understand and prepare for the coming events.
MAIN BODY:
  1. The exchange that follows is significant for the place to which it brings not only the immediate disciples, but also those who follow them.
    1. "And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
      1. Rebuke = To admonish, to correct
      2. Peter had recently declared that Jesus was the Messiah.
        1. (Mark 8:27-29 NRSV) Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" [28] And they answered him, "John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." [29] He asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Messiah."
        2. Peter declares that Jesus is the Messiah
      3. It is as if Peter did not want to embarrass Jesus by speaking to him in the company of the disciples.
        1. Peter takes Jesus aside and tells him that he is mistaken.
        2. This declaration by Jesus does not fit with the concept of Peter's messiah.
    2. [33] But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."
      1. Jesus attempts to correct Peter's and the disciple's view of the messiah.
      2. It is as if Jesus is not only speaking to Peter and the disciples, but also to Satan.
    3. "[34] He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them,
    4. 'If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
      1. Renounce the selfishness of the self.
      2. To live according to divine rather than human principles.
      3. To accept the responsibilities that come with such an action.
    5. '[35] For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.
      1. To save one's life is to seek first the things of the present life instead of the kingdom of God and God's righteousness
      2. To lose one's life for Christ's sake and for the sake of the gospel is to make God's purposes and God's kingdom paramount in life.
    6. '[36] For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?
    7. '[37] Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?
  2. Here is the question that still haunts us.
    1. What will it profit us if we gain the whole world and forfeit our life.
    2. What will we give in exchange for our life?
      1. Paul Gray, "A $2 Million Question," Time, November 8, 1999, describes the creation of the television program Greed.(1)
      2. On Aug. 19, when he noted the smash overnight ratings for ABC's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Dick Clark had an idea.
        1. "Not a stroke of genius," he admits.
        2. But as someone who remembers and starred on '50s network TV (American Bandstand), when such quiz programs as The $64,000 Question and 21 mesmerized viewers, Clark could recognize history repeating itself: "Game shows are so old they are new again."
      3. His team's one-page proposal quickly appealed to Fox executive vice president Mike Darnell, who oversees the network's successful reality-based programming, such as World's Scariest Police Chases and When Good Pets Go Bad.
      4. In the market for a quiz show to pep up Fox's increasingly anemic-looking fall lineup, Darnell thought Clark's idea would work if it employed an edgier title and execution - contestants not only cooperating but also competing with one another.
        1. A team of six people tries to move up the "Tower of Greed," rising from $25,000 to $2 million questions.
        2. Chuck Woolery, the host, treats the cash like eye candy.
        3. Along the way they are encouraged to smell and feel the money.
        4. One wrong answer and the team loses everything.
        5. As the prize money goes up, "terminator rounds" pit contestants against each other.
        6. On the Thursday night Greed was introduced, Fox doubled its normal viewing audience.
      5. In a sermon, Regis and Jesus: Same Questions, Different Answers the writer comments:
        1. "So we got Greed, one of the Seven Deadly Sins on the Fox Network.
        2. "What's next? Lust? Gluttony? Sloth? Don't be surprised."
        3. It is no secret that these other sins are there as well.
    3. We ought not to be shocked what James Patterson and Peter Kim in The Day America Told the Truth, learned when they ask the question What Would You Do?(2)
      1. What are you willing to do for $10,000,000?
      2. Two-thirds of Americans polled would agree to at least one, some to several of the following:
        1. Would abandon their entire family (25%)
        2. Would abandon their church (25%)
        3. Would become prostitutes for a week or more (23%)
        4. Would give up their American citizenship (16%)
        5. Would leave their spouses (16%)
        6. Would withhold testimony and let a murderer go free (10%)
        7. Would kill a stranger (7%)
        8. Would put their children up for adoption (3%)
      3. What would you give in exchange for your life, your soul?
  3. What would you give in exchange for your life, your soul?
    1. Life (Soul) can refer not only to the individual, but also to a community.
      1. The soul of Mukwonago.
        1. The health of a community.
        2. The ways in which a community functions.
        3. The underlying principles by which the community operates.
      2. Consider the soul of a church.
      3. Kel Groseclose, in Lent 2000, Tidings of Hope(3), relates a story which clearly illustrates the soul condition of a congregation.
      4. Once upon a time, so the story goes, a congregation removed all the windows of its church building and replaced them with mirrors.
      5. The recommendation came from the Beautification Committee.
        1. "Being able to see outside when we're worshiping is such a distraction," they said.
        2. "We gather to praise and glorify God, not to see poor children in our neighborhood playing in the street, homeless people wandering by, or even ambulances rushing on their way to the hospital."
        3. Heads nodded, and somebody suggested a solution: replace the clear glass with mirrors.
        4. After a brief discussion, the vote was unanimously in favor of the motion.
      6. When the work was completed, the congregation was quite pleased with the results.
        1. It enabled them to appreciate the full beauty of their sanctuary: the wonderful grain of the oak pews, the rich highlights of the plush red carpet, and especially the polished brass of the huge cross that hung suspended above the altar.
        2. As an additional benefit, with but a glance they could admire their own Sunday finery, make certain their hair was perfectly in place, and secretly watch other parishioners to see who was not paying attention to the sermon or whose children were misbehaving.
        3. Perhaps best of all, no one outside could look inside and make them feel uncomfortable.
        4. The mirrors worked so well that they soon put them in all the Sunday school rooms, the fellowship hall, and the pastor's office.
      7. What was the color of their soul?
      8. What is the purpose of the church?
      9. How close does it come to the purposes of those called out as annunciated by Jesus Christ?

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CONCLUSION:

  1. We ought not to let ourselves be distracted from the searching question posed by Jesus.
    1. "[36] For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? [37] Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?"
    2. The American businessman was at the pier of a small, coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked.
      1. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna.
      2. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.
      3. The Mexican replied only a little while.(4)
      4. The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish?
      5. The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs.
      6. The American then asked, but what do you do with the rest of your time?
      7. The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late; fish a little; play with my children; take siesta with my wife, Maria; stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos; I have a full and busy life, senior."
      8. The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you.
        1. You should spend more time fishing; and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat; with the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats; eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats.
        2. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman, you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery.
        3. You would control the product, processing and distribution.
        4. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise."
      9. The Mexican fisherman asked, "But, senior, how long will this all take?"
      10. To which the American replied, "Fifteen to 20 years."
      11. "But what then, senior?"
      12. The American laughed and said that's the best part. "When the time is right, you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich; you would make millions."
      13. "Millions, senior? Then what?"
      14. The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."
  2. What if you followed this sage advice?
    1. Once you had made your millions, what then?
    2. Would you be conditioned with the desire to maintain or expand your empire?
  3. Remember the words of Jesus.
    1. '[38] Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.'"
    2. No one really needs the sense of shame which will result if we fail to understand and measure up the standard that Christ has lived and died for.
    3. What would you give in exchange for your life (same word for soul)?
1. Paul Gray, "A $2 Million Question," Time, November 8, 1999

2. James Patterson and Peter Kim, The Day America Told the Truth, 1991.

3. Kel Groseclose, Lent 2000, Tidings of Hope, (Abingdon Press, 1999), page 18

4. Quoted in Homiletics Magazine, March 19, 2000, pages 28-29, (Source unknown). Used with permission.

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