Dear friends in Christ.
Just a little over 25 years ago, Warner Brothers Studios released a movie about a little boy named Ralphie Parker—a little boy who wanted nothing more than a Red Rider BB gun with a compass in the stock and this thing which tells time. As the movie progresses, we follow Ralphie’s life as he struggles to give just the right BB gun hints to his parents, as his brother struggles to put his arms down, as he and his friends run from the neighborhood bully, and how he finally gets the gift he’s been dreaming of for the whole movie. Yet, out of all the fun this movie has to offer, there is one scene that always stands out in my mind when I think about this movie, and that is the school scene with the flag pole and the exchange between Flick and Schwartz. You may remember how it happened, all the boys standing around a flag pole during recess and Schwartz begins to dare Flick to stick his tongue to the pole. He dares Flick, he double dares him, he double dog dares him, and finally after Flick receives the triple dog dare, he gives in to the dare and stick his tongue to the pole. Though he knew he should have just walked away, rather than backing down, Flick dared to stick his tongue to a flag pole, got stuck, and as the movie goes, had to be rescued by the police and the fire department! Well, as Christians, our Savior is in some ways playing the role of Schwartz as he dares us to be his disciples. But rather than daring us to do something foolish, he is daring us to screw our courage to its sticking place as we dare to be his disciples who boldly confess his name, who boldly believe in his mission and who boldly follow him carrying our own crosses. In fact, listen to the beginning of Jesus daring us to be his disciples, Mark records, “Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ.” (Mark 8:27-29)
In his characteristically bold manor, Peter jumped forward and answered Jesus’ question for all the disciples who were there. He demonstrated that he understood who Jesus was and confessed him as the Christ. Though he didn’t fully understand what it meant for Jesus to be the Christ, Peter placed his faith in Jesus none-the-less. Though he had recently seen crowds of people turn away from Jesus and stop following him, Peter was the one who stated, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Though they had seen some of the more sever persecution that Jesus had lately faced, Peter still dared to be a disciple of Christ!
Well, this is what the Lord Jesus would have each and every one of us do. He would have us dare to be his disciples who boldly and proudly confess his name. He would have us confess our faith in him before our friends and family; before our neighbors and co-workers. In fact, our Savior would have us boldly confess his name in any and every situation in our lives. But how often aren’t we simply afraid to do that very thing? Though here in church we boldly sing our Alleluias and confess the name of Jesus Christ our Savior, how often doesn’t it happen that as soon as we walk out those doors, our daring goes away? How often hasn’t it happened that we were afraid to share our faith with our friends because we are worried that they might ridicule us for what we believe? How often haven’t we walked away from a religious conversation because we were too afraid we might say the wrong thing? How often hasn’t our courage failed us so that rather than daring to stand out as Jesus’ disciples we seek to simply blend in with the rest of humanity and hope that no one will notice who whom we belong? Sadly, these are the things that happen far too often, and I know this from experience, because I too have let my courage waver and have not dared to be a disciple of Christ or to boldly confess his name when the situation warranted.
But even though we have all faced times when our courage has failed us and we have joined Peter in denying our Savior, our Savior still offers his forgiveness. Just as the Lord forgave Peter and publicly reinstated him as a disciple after his resurrection, so also when we turn to the Lord in repentance, he is the one who forgives us. He is the one who reinstates us as his disciples. He is the one who bolsters our courage through the Holy Spirit whom he has sent to live in our hearts, and he is the one whose love emboldens our daring so that we eagerly show ourselves as his disciples who are not only bold to confess his name, but who also boldly believe in his mission.
Now, in the movie, when Flick finally stuck his tongue to the pole, he was surprised that it stuck. In fact, when you watch the movie, you will hear a couple of boys say something like, “Wow! It actually worked.” Though Flick started his mission of tongue sticking with disbelieve, he quickly began to believe from experience that a warm wet tongue will quickly freeze to a flag pole. Well, in our text today, as Jesus dares us to be his disciples, he doesn’t ask us to blindly follow him in his mission. Rather, he begins to clearly and fully lay out his mission as the Christ to his daring disciples. Though he had spoken to them many times about how his mission was to suffer many things, to die on the cross, and then be raised to life on the third day, he had always spoken about these things in a veiled manner. However, as Mark tells us “Jesus then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. ‘Get behind me, Satan!’ he said. ‘You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.’” (Mark 8:31-33)
Though moments earlier, Peter had confessed Jesus as the Christ, and all the disciples had agreed with him, they still didn’t fully understand what Jesus mission was. Though they had been with Jesus for a little over two years, they still had the false idea that the Christ was to come and be an earthly Messiah. The Christ was to come and overthrow the Roman Government, establishing an earthly kingdom which he would reign over from Jerusalem. In the disciples minds, suffering and death simply didn’t fit, and that is why Peter took Jesus aside. He took Jesus aside to try to reason with him, show him, and convince him that there was no need for him to do these. But suffering at the hands of the religious leaders and dying for the sins of the world was the very reason that Jesus had come. This was the mission he was on and this is why he answered Peter as he did.
Sadly, this is how the unbelieving world views our Savior. Very few know who he truly was or understand or believe in his mission as we, his daring disciples do. In fact, if you were to ask the people of the world you would find out that many of them think that Jesus was nothing more than a prophet who conveyed a radically new message about loving each other. Others think of him as nothing more than a good man who lived a good live and gave us a good example to follow. But when it comes right down to it, if you asked people why Jesus willingly went to the cross to die, at best most people will think that Jesus was nothing more than a martyr who so believed his message of love that he was willing to show the greatest example of love by dying for his teaching.
It is because of this that Jesus is speaking so clearly about his mission as the Christ here on earth so that we, his daring disciples, might boldly believe that his mission on earth was to suffer for the sins of the world, endure the flames of hell in our place as he was rejected by God himself, pour out his blood to atone for the sins of the world, give up his life to pay the penalty that Almighty God had demanded for our sins, and then, when all hope seemed to be lost, rise again on the third day to assure us that he had completed his mission and that our sins have been paid for! This is why Jesus speaks so clearly about his mission so that we might boldly believe in it and what he accomplished for us. For when we are reminded of Christ’s willing sacrifice for us, we who are his daring disciples, are emboldened in our faith, strengthened in our courage, and ready to go forward, boldly following him while carrying our cross.
When flick stuck his tongue to the flag pole, he quickly discovered that his daring had given him a great number of hardships, as the movie showed, he remained stuck to that flag pole while all the other children ran inside. Well the same thing is true for you and me who willingly dare to be Christ’s disciples! As soon as we put on that robe of righteousness that marks us as one of his followers, we find ourselves facing any number of hardships as we boldly follow after Christ, carrying the cross that he has given us. This, in fact, is exactly what Jesus is talking about as he says, “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 and for the gospel will save it.” (Mark 8:34, 35)
For the disciples this was the first time that Jesus clearly spoken about what was ahead for them. Though they had seen opposition as the religious leaders did everything they could to oppose him, more was to come. Though they had seen rejection as crowds of people stopped following Jesus, this was only a taste of what was to come in the future. For when they were out on their own, the disciples would face stoning, prison time, beatings, and hardships all for the name of Jesus whom they proclaimed.
As Christ’s daring disciples, we boldly follow him as we carry our own cross. We dare to follow him as disciples even though we know we may have to carry a cross of rejection. We dare to follow him even though we may face a cross of ridicule. We dare to follow him even though we may have to carry a cross of lost friends. We dare to follow him even though we might have to carry a cross of financial hardship because of what we believe. We dare to follow him even though we might have to carry a cross of being hated by our friends or even family because we have spoken up and said what was right when no one else would. We dare to follow him even though we may one day have to carry a cross of prison time because God’s Word has become hate speech. WE dare to follow him even though we may one day have to carry the cross of going underground because the world simply will not put up with the truth of God’s Word. We dare to follow Christ as his disciples no matter what type of cross we might one day have to carry, because we understand what Jesus meant when he said, “whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.” (Mark 8:35)
No matter what cross the Lord would have us carry it is designed to draw us closer to him. It is designed to make us place daring disciples who place our trust in him not relying on the things of this world, but looking to the Lord our God, trusting that one day he will deliver us from this life to our heavenly home.
Though Flick may have taken a foolish dare in the movie I’ve been describing, as Christians, we have not foolishly taken our Savior’s dare. Rather, we have boldly dared to be his disciples who willingly confess his name, believe his mission, and even carry the crosses which he, himself, has assigned to us.
Amen.
Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church -Le Sueur, MN
