Pastor Tom Johnson, August 28, 2011
Jesus asks a penetrating question in our Gospel reading this morning: “What will it profit [you] if [you] gain the whole world but forfeit [your] soul? Or what will [you] give in return for [your] soul?”
Jesus just dropped a bomb on his disciples. He tells his disciples that he must suffer greatly, die, and rise again. Peter thinks this is an outrageous plan. He loves Jesus. He says, “God forbid it! This will never happen to you.” Jesus tells Peter to get out of his way. And he calls Peter “Satan”—which means “the adversary.” Peter has set him self against God’s will and plan for humanity. He is being an obstacle—adversarial to Jesus’ journey toward Jerusalem and his ultimate death and resurrection.
Peter is thinking about self-preservation. It is a completely natural human response. We burn our hand on the strove and we quickly pull it away and nurse it. We lock our doors at night. We walk the other direction if we see danger. mPeter heard Jesus talk about great suffering and death. I’m not sure if he quite heard Jesus speak about resurrection. But Peter cared about the welfare of Jesus. But it is through Peter’s rebuking of Jesus that Jesus hears the Adversary’s voice trying to keep him from giving his life for the world. Peter wants Jesus to tighten his grip on the things of the world and on his own self-preservation. And Jesus responds with the proverb, “What will it profit [you] if [you] gain the whole world but forfeit [your] soul? Or what will [you] give in return for [your] soul?”
How valuable is human life? What is your soul worth? What is your life worth? Jesus is remarkably current in understanding the importance of self-worth. How much do you value your own existence? At what price will you sell yourself on the auction block of the world?
Sin is like the the antigospel—the antithesis of the good news of Jesus Christ. Sin is pursuing our own unhealthy appetites at all costs. Our energy, our attention, and our time is consumed by whatever it is that we want and desire. And if we are really selfish we forget or stop caring how it effects others. One individual’s greed can destroy a whole corporation. One person’s addiction can destroy families and carreers. Personal vengeance can leave a trail of casualties a mile long. Jesus reminds us that it is in the pursuit of the world that we can forfeit our souls. We do spiritual harm to ourselves and others. We fixate on the world to the detriment of our spiritual well-being. As Jesus says earlier in Matthew’s Gospel:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
The truth is that when we fixate on ourselves and our own wants and needs, we are not helping ourselves at all. God wants us to trust him as not only our Creator but also our Sustainer. If Jesus embraced Peter’s rebuke—if Jesus tried to avoid suffering and death—Jesus never would have triumphed over death and the grave. He never would have been able to bring us forgiveness and eternal life. He never would have risen victoriously from the grave. Peter’s plan would have robbed the world of a Savior. Imagine if Jesus was more concerned about his own self-preservation than the humanity’s salvation—if he was more driven by wordly ambition than by eternal redemption. He would not be the Christ but the Antichrist.
Jesus’ mission was so entrenched in his mind and spirit that he would not even allow Peter or the Adversary to put an obstacle before him for a second. Jesus came into the world to bring forgiveness, life, and salvation.
Jesus wants it not only to be his own personal mission but our mission as well. “What will it profit [you] if [you] gain the whole world but forfeit [your] soul? Or what will [you] give in return for [your] soul?”
This is a radical understanding of what it means to love God with all of your heart, mind, soul, and strength—and to love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus is calling us to drastically rearrange our priorities. Its all too natural to put ourselves first and let our relationship with others and God fall by the wayside. But Jesus is calling us to put him first—to take up our cross and follow him—to make him the head and captain of our souls. And when we do give up trying to gain the world and its treasures for ourselves—when we lose ourselves in Jesus and others—the irony is that we haven’t forfeited our souls but rather that our souls have been redeemed by God.
“What profit is it to gain the whole world but forfeit your soul?” Ironically, Jesus turns this question on its head: He forfeits his life to gain the world. What will you give in return for your soul?” Jesus turns this question on its head also: Jesus gives his life on the cross and rises from the dead not for himself but for us,
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