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September 1, 2002
15th Sunday of Pentecost
Matthew 16:21-26
Pastor Joel Zank

No Pain, No Gain!

(Matthew 16:21-26) From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!" Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." Then Jesus said to his disciples, "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 will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

In Christ Jesus who bore our pain on the tree of the cross, dear fellow redeemed,

Coach Brandt sure loved slogans. He was my freshman football coach. He was forever saying things like "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." Or if we started to drag at the end of our two-a-day football practices he would holler, "Winners never quit and quitters never win." But his all time favorite slogan had to be, "No pain, no gain!" He wanted us to know that first downs and touchdowns were going to cost us. We could expect sore muscles, sprained fingers and bruised knees. These were the price of victory. No pain, no gain.

Jesus says that very same thing. We who want to be his followers should know that our discipleship comes at a cost-a cost to us. But we should also know that the price we disciples will incur would never be more costly than the price Jesus paid to have us as his people. With this in mind we take as our theme today that old slogan, "No Pain, No Gain!"

Pain was the farthest thing from the disciples' minds. God the Holy Spirit had just led them to make a beautiful profession of faith. Speaking on behalf of the twelve, Peter confessed Jesus to be "...the Christ, the Son of the living God"(Matthew 16:16). But it was not enough for the disciples to know who Jesus is. They needed to better understand his mission. Up till now they had heard Jesus speak in veiled references about the temple of his body being destroyed and then raised again in three days. But they always let such unpleasant talk pass through one ear and out the other. They could no longer afford to do so. Jesus was entering the last year of his earthly life and mission. The cross was looming larger and larger on the horizon. It was time for the disciples to understand clearly the part that cross would play in the Savior's future and theirs. So, "From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life" (v.21).

There was going to be pain in Jesus' future-a lot of it. Peter didn't like the sound of that so he took Jesus "..aside and began to rebuke him. 'Never, Lord!' he said. 'This shall never happen to you!'" (v.22). Can you imagine it-the student correcting his Master? I think we can understand why. Peter and the others loved Jesus. They didn't want him to suffer. But I'm afraid in addition to the love, there was something far less noble behind Peter's scolding-something downright sinful. Now of course I can't look into Peter's heart. But Jesus can and does and what he finds there prompts him to say, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men"(v.23).

The things of God are nothing less than those things that Jesus was sent to do. He was sent to point out sin and do battle with it as the number one enemy of mankind. Peter, on the other hand, had in mind the things of men. He was thinking, "No pain is gain." Rather than being concerned about the guilt of his sin before God, he was troubled only by the discomfort sin brought to his life on earth. You know what I mean. Sin causes hunger and disease and homelessness and war. But Peter and the others had seen what Jesus, the Son of the living God could do with those things. With no more than the wave of his hand, Jesus could feed five thousand people with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish. Jesus could heal the lame, restore sight to the blind, why, he could even raise the dead. "Don't talk about sin. Don't talk about suffering and death, Jesus. Feed us, heal us, defend us and will be yours forever!" That's what Peter was thinking.

Those same "things of men" often occupy our thoughts. How easy for us it is to convince ourselves no pain is gain. We're so ready to spare ourselves the pain of looking at our own sinfulness. We don't want to think about how it leaves us worthless and damned before God our Judge. We don't want to take ownership of our guilt. We don't want to confess to God we've made a sinful mess of things. That's too painful. Jesus, let's not talk about sin or about the cross, let's just help me keep my job. Let's just get me healthy again. Let's just help me find a new love in my life. Let's just get me financially set for the future. And if Jesus doesn't seem to be offering his assistance in these matters, well we're not beyond pulling him aside and giving him the same kind of lecture Peter did. It goes something like this, "Look Lord, if you want me to keep following you, there are going to have to be a few changes around here!" And to that, Jesus says, "Amen." But they're not the changes we have in mind. They're the changes God has in mind-the ones Jesus calls the "things of God", namely the understanding that gain comes only through pain.

To help Peter come to this understanding, Jesus condemned his disciple's selfishness in the harshest of terms. He called Peter Satan and with good reason. Satan had once tempted Jesus to disobey his Father by sidestepping the cross. At the same time, Satan offered Jesus the world if he would just bow down and worship him. Serving as the devil's spokesmen, Peter was making Jesus the same selfish offer. He deserved the Savior's condemnation and so do we.

Today Jesus calls us devils because of all the times we've tried to cut a deal with him, promising him our allegiance in exchange for his help. Today he tells us to get away from him for all the times we've minimized the meaning of his cross, by being more concerned about our pain than our sin, more interested in our earthly comfort than in our spiritual character. Don't let his words pass through one ear and out the other. His words are stern but they're spoken in love. He wants to remind us that a day is coming in the not so distant future when he will say to selfish sinners one last time, "Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41). Pray that he will not have to say those words to us, for on that day it will be too late to repent, too late to think on the things of God. But it's not too late right now. The Savior's words convict us. By their power we are led to say with David of old, "I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight..." (Psalm 51:3-4).

Our Savior's words inflict pain, but it's only momentary. Just when it seems that we will be crushed by our sin-guilt, Jesus comes to our rescue. He lifts us up and turns us toward Jerusalem. He points us to the suffering he endured for us. He reminds us today that the cross was always part of his eternal plan for us. He went to Calvary not as a helpless victim of the Jews, but as a willing sacrifice before God. He knew of the pain that awaited him there, but he went anyway in your place and mine. He hung there beneath the burden of our sin. He bore our selfishness and even our sinful contempt for him and his cross. He took the blame for all the evil we do and for all the good we leave undone. He became the lightning rod of God's anger toward us. When God saw Jesus hanging on that cross, he was looking at a whole world of sin and sinners. And so in his justice he banished Jesus from his presence, shouting "Away from me." Guilty of our sin as charged, Jesus went in our place, forsaken by God to the eternal punishment prepared for the devil, his angels and all us sinners. Jesus took the pain, but always with his eyes on our gain. He knew he must be killed for sinners, but he also knew that he must be raised on the third day and this too for us sinners, because his resurrection means that God has accepted Jesus' sacrifice on our behalf and declares us innocent of all sin for his sake.

Jesus' victory is ours as a free gift through faith. There is nothing we must do to earn it. But there's plenty we can do to throw it away. For this reason our loving Lord cautions, "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 will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Vv. 24-26)

Think of what these words would soon mean to Peter. In a year's time Peter would find himself in the very situation Jesus describes - standing in the courtyard of the high priest, accused of being a follower of Jesus. Afraid for his life Peter would deny Jesus, saying, "I don't know the man" (Matthew 26:74). And then with a look of sadness and concern Jesus would tell his disciple "No Peter! Don't deny me. You'll forfeit all I've won for you. It will cost you your soul in hell. Deny self instead. Put aside the urge to disown me. Cling to me, to my cross, to the victory I've secured for you and have life with me to the fullest in heaven!" That look of Jesus proved powerful. Peter saw his sin. He came to understand that the comfort he was trying to buy himself that evening would mean nothing come Judgment day. He wouldn't be able to trade it in on life eternal. Nothing he had could earn him that. So he turned to Jesus in repentance and by faith claimed the Savior's blood-bought forgiveness as his very own, forgiveness that moved him to spend his life thankfully proclaiming the very cross he once urged Jesus to avoid. As he followed his Savior, more troubles came his way. He faced hatred and persecution, but these were crosses he bore patiently, even joyfully knowing the things of God-that gain comes only through pain.

Like Peter we are often tempted to deny Jesus to save ourselves from embarrassment, shame and pain. Rather than be identified as one of his followers by pointing out people's sin and speaking of God's grace, we disown Jesus, pretending we don't even know him. Do you see the danger in that? Our desire to play it safe, our fear of what others may think or say of us, wars against our faith. Denial breeds doubt. Doubt gives way to unbelief. Unbelief damns. Rather than deny Jesus, we want to deny ourselves. When we find ourselves ashamed of knowing the Savior and too embarrassed to speak his Word, we want to stop and bring those sinful feelings to him in repentance. We want to tell Jesus that we can't stand that part of us that we don't want to know that part of us that produces such thoughts. Jesus will forgive us every time and with his forgiveness he will empower us to go back out and face whatever crosses may come our way as his disciples, assuring us that any trouble we experience as we proclaim his Word will be turned into the greatest good for us and for the kingdom of God.

Can we count on this promise? You know we can because of all that Jesus has accomplished for us. He's already turned his thorns into our throne, his cross into our crown, his pain into our gain. All that we need to live for him now and with him forever is ours for Jesus' sake. Amen.