Download Not About Me 10.18.16

10/18/2016
Danforth Chapel Service
Jamie Boggs, Director of Emerging Scholars Program
It’s Not About Me
You know, sometimes I catch myself sounding more and more like my father.
Lately, I have heard myself complaining about the younger generation. We all know millennials are
entitled, right? That’s what everybody says. Well, that’s also what my parents said about my friends and
my generation. “You don’t know how good you have it,” they said. “You should be more grateful.” And
their parents said it about them, and theirs about them, and so on. Basically, it seems that the only thing
we can agree on is that we are all pretty selfish. Unfortunately, I’m afraid there is a great deal of
evidence that backs that up. I’m not saying that any generation is worse than another, but it does seem
to be a perpetual problem that goes along with the human condition.
Sadly, Christians are not exempt from the condition of trying to focus the universe about ourselves.
In fact, a lot of us have gotten pretty good at it. You know, Loretta asked me to do this several months
ago. So I immediately began praying about what to share today. I prayed regularly for a message to
deliver. Just a couple of weeks ago, I was starting to squirm a little. I didn’t have anything at all in mind.
Last week, in the middle of a prayer, I felt the Lord saying “it’s not about you.” I said, sweet! I agree that
my faith should not be about me. I can go several different ways with that topic that should flow well.
Let’s do that. For a little more perspective, let’s just say I wasn’t having the best week. Work was
stressful, there were health issues, life was hectic, whatever. Regardless of what was happening, I was
not a pleasant person to be around. I was snappy toward my kids, quick to get frustrated, and generally
hateful, which I like to think is not my typical demeanor.
Every time I said down to type out my message, I got nothing. It was very frustrating.
Fast forward to Sunday…just two days ago. I was sitting on my riding lawn mower for a few hours,
thinking about what to say today. As I was praying, it was as if God kept saying louder and louder, “it’s
not about you. It’s not about you. Jamie, it’s not about you.” It was only then that I realized that this
message was not just one that I was supposed to share today, but one that I needed to hear given my
attitude about the various things going on in my life. Thankfully, I have a wonderful family that was
quick to forgive when I went back into my house and apologized for being a jerk.
Now, I want to share with you all the lessons that God was trying to get through to me over the last
couple of weeks.
If you have a Bible or want to turn one to follow along, I’ll mostly be working from Matthew 16:24.
24
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up
their cross and follow me.” I feel like this passage is quoted pretty often, but like many that we hear
regularly I think the impact of Jesus’ words do not always hit home. Basically, there are three huge
messages in this one sentence that I would like to break down a little bit: Jesus says that we are to deny
ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him.
The hardest part of this message, in my opinion, and the one that we tend to ignore when discussing
this passage, is denying yourself.
According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, deny means to “to restrain (oneself) from
gratification of desires.” In other words, to deny yourself means to avoid getting the things you
want…on purpose. How often do you see people doing that? Have you ever asked anybody if they plan
to get the new iPhone and they respond by saying, “Nah, I don’t think I will. I want one too much.”? No
chance. Our society tells us that if we want something and have access to it, we should have it.
Many Christians will even say that there's nothing wrong with having what we want as long as put Christ
first. I disagree. Based on this scripture, I think it is impossible to put Jesus first and still have all the
things we want. There are times that we need to not have what we want on purpose. Isn’t that what
fasting is all about? We fast to deny ourselves access to something – food, technology, or whatever – to
help us put more focus on our relationship with Christ. Denying ourselves makes it easier for us to take
up our cross and truly follow Jesus. Every time we actively choose “not me,” we shed a layer of
selfishness that holds us back from being the disciple that Christ wants us to be. Following His example
of fasting and avoiding temptation in the desert, we are called to say no to things we want sometimes
just because we can. We are called to live life as if it is not about us.
While taking up your cross has almost become a badge of honor for us, as we wear cross jewelry and
put the image almost everywhere, for the individuals hearing Jesus deliver this message it was a very
scary venture.
Matthew 10:39 – “Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find
it.” Jesus is literally asking His followers to be willing to die for His cause.
But I actually believe Jesus meant more than that. If you read the story of the Christ’s crucifixion, you
will see that it was not a quick execution. He was beaten. He was tortured. He suffered greatly for a
very long time before He proclaimed, “It is finished.” The pain He endured on the cross cannot be
comprehended by someone that has not experienced it. “The pain was absolutely unbearable. In fact,
it was literally beyond words to describe; they had to invent a new word: excruciating. Literally,
excruciating means ‘out of the cross.’ Think of that; they needed to create a new word, because there
was nothing in the language that could describe the intense anguish caused during the crucifixion.”
(Dr. Alexander Metherell in Lee Strobel’s “The Case for Christ”)
So if we start to look at our call to die as also a call to suffer, does that change anything? Isn’t dying
worse than suffering? People would be much more willing to suffer than die if given the choice, right? I
wouldn’t. It's like Woody Allen once said, “Dying is one of the few things that can be done as easily lying
down.” We are called to suffer. And that is not something we really want to hear, let alone put into
action every day. But apparently…it’s really not about us.
So far Jesus has called us to deny ourselves and to be willing to suffer. But what does it mean to
follow Him?
That is pretty much what the entire gospel is about, right? Everything in this book shows us how to do
that. Unfortunately, many of us tend to manipulate the Bible to justify our selfish tendencies. I just want
to talk quickly about a couple of passages we commonly use to make our faith about us. Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.” That sounds great, doesn’t it? God has plans to prosper me?
That’s pretty awesome. Now, I believe the Bible to be the Holy word of God. This books tells us what
we need to know about the character of God so that we can relate to Him in the best ways our human
existence will allow. However, I also believe that we must understand each scripture in context and also
understand the specific audience to which it is written.
We often take this passage from Jeremiah and others like it and read it as though it was written directly
to us. We use it to encourage others and find comfort during difficult times. We say, “Look! God has
plans to prosper you and not to harm you.” However, this passage wasn’t written directly to you and
me, but to the Israelites after they were sent into exile by the Babylonians. They were under the
oppression of Babylon for 70 years, and during that time several prophets came along and told God’s
people that he would soon deliver them…and those prophecies were not fulfilled. So then, through
Jeremiah, God did send a message of hope. God did want them to know that he had a plan of
redemption for them, that they would be restored…eventually. And that is a message that is echoed
throughout the Bible: God has a plan for redeeming His people. We see time and again in this book.
However, to interpret this passage as God having a plan to prosper me, my family, or even my church is
short-sided and can establish a dangerous mentality of equating God’s love to prosperity and
selfishness. Instead, putting this or any other passage in context of the entire Bible gives us an
understanding of His love and His even greater plan for His people as a whole. There are so many
passages that we do this with, like Philippians 4:13: “I can do all this through him who gives me
strength.” We use this to convince ourselves we can dominate the sports field or ace a test when God is
on our side. Yet, in verses 11-12 Paul says “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned
to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have
plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry,
whether living in plenty or in want.” So putting Philippians 4:13 in context, it seems pretty clear that
Paul is saying he can find contentment in any situation through Christ. This verse has nothing to do with
success or overcoming the odds, but with being content no matter what. That should change the way
many of us use that verse and share it with others. Now, what does it really mean to follow Jesus? What
did He do that we should emulate? Jesus lived a perfect life. He dedicated Himself to humble service.
He sought justice for those that couldn’t defend themselves. He spent his time with those that others
did not deem worthy of love and attention. He gave every part of Himself for us.
He lived His life as if it was not about Him. His life was about us.
If we are to truly follow Him, our lives can’t be.