You Must Lose It, To Really Use It
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls
into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life
in this world will keep it for eternal life.” – John 12:24-25
You must lose it, to really use it.
“While serving as a Sniper Team
Leader, United States Army Special Operations Command with Task Force
Ranger…Master Sergeant Gordon’s sniper team provided precision fires from the
lead helicopter during an assault and at two helicopter crash sites, while
subjected to intense automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenade fires. When
Master Sergeant Gordon learned that ground forces were not immediately available to secure the second crash site, he and another sniper unhesitatingly volunteered to be inserted to protect the four critically wounded personnel, despite being well aware of the growing number of enemy personnel closing in on the site. After his third request to be inserted, Master Sergeant Gordon received permission to perform his volunteer mission. When debris and enemy ground fires at the site caused them to abort the first attempt, Master Sergeant Gordon was inserted one hundred meters south of the crash site. Equipped with only his sniper rifle and a pistol, Master Sergeant Gordon and his fellow sniper, while under intense small arms fire from the enemy, fought their way through a dense maze of shanties and shacks to reach the critically injured crew members. Master Sergeant Gordon immediately pulled the pilot and the other crew members from the aircraft, establishing a perimeter which placed him and his fellow sniper in the most vulnerable position. Master Sergeant Gordon used his long range rifle and side arm to kill an undetermined number of attackers until he depleted his ammunition. Master Sergeant Gordon then went back to the wreckage, recovering some of the crew’s weapons and ammunition. Despite the fact he was critically low on ammunition, he provided some of it to the dazed pilot and then radioed for help. Master Sergeant continued to travel the perimeter, protecting the downed crew. After his team member was fatally wounded and his own rifle ammunition exhausted, Master Sergeant Gordon returned to the wreckage, recovering a rifle with the last five rounds of ammunition and gave it to the pilot with the words “good luck.” Then, armed only with his pistol, Master Sergeant Gordon continued to fight until he was fatally wounded. His actions saved the pilot’s life.”
We are drawn to these people, to this virtue of selflessness, of sacrifice. Just look at the valiant deeds of our national heroes, the Medal of Honor recipients, well at least in our mind. But how many of us actually seek this type of life? Not many right. So it begs the question…
What are we doing with our lives? Really think about it. When we wake up in the morning, what is our motivation for the day? Maybe it’s to make money and get wealthy or to buy nice things, to gain notoriety, or maybe it’s just to make it through the day? We all want something and strive for greatness, but at what cost?
Context. Jesus spoke these words to two of his disciples; Andrew and Philip, after a few Greeks came to them asking to speak to Jesus. This was at a point in His ministry when He knew that his time had come to fulfill his mission. The words he spoke to these two disciples were words of life and how to really grasp it. This was not the comfortable life that today we think is best, but the blessed and more abundant life that is full of meaning, adventure, and passion. As He often did, Jesus used an agricultural analogy because he knew his audience would be familiar with it. Even though we’re not farmers we know this analogy to be true. I remember in grade school taking a small bean, wrapping it in a wet paper towel and then sealing it in a Ziploc bag. And what happened? The single lonely bean “died,” and from it grew sprouts and it began to bear even more beans. What Jesus is saying is that we must die to ourselves, to our selfish ambition, to that self-centered need to constantly feed numero uno. Close your fist and what does it look like, a big bean or seed right. It’s closed in on itself with each finger pointing to itself, to its center. What can you do with a fist compared to an open hand, or to use Jesus analogy, what can a single seed do that hasn’t died? Not much right. Anything that steals our focus from God is an idol. One commentary I read said that, “Anything in life can become an idol including goals, interests, and loves.” Even your family can become an all-consuming passion and idol. You hear that, our families can become an idol, a stumbling block to living a truly free and passionate life for Christ.
Look what Jesus says in Luke 14:26, ““If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.” There’s that word hate again. It does not mean we are to literally hate our family or ourselves, but in comparison to loving and following Jesus that’s what it should look like. Think about it. Jesus was talking to 1st century Jews whose family identity meant everything, it was all about whom your father or mother was, that’s why there’s so many genealogies in scripture. So this would have been a preposterous statement to make. With that, they also thought it blasphemous that Jesus was equating himself with God. Being a follower of Jesus then, as is true in many countries today, meant being ostracized or even killed. There is a cost to turning to Jesus.
Just 3 weeks ago I received an urgent request to prayer from a gal at church whose friend’s brother is a missionary in Northern Iraq. Here it is…
“A friend just got a text message from her brother asking her to shower him and his parish in prayer. He is part of a mission and ISIS has taken over the town they are in today. He said ISIS is systematically going house to house to all the Christians and asking the children to denounce Jesus. He said so far not one child has. And so far all have consequently been killed. But not the parents.
The UN has withdrawn and the missionaries are on their own. They are determined to stick it out for the sake of the families - even if it means their own deaths. He is very afraid, has no idea how to even begin ministering to these families who have seen their children martyred. Yet he says he knows God has called him for some reason to be his voice and hands at this place at this time. Even so, he is begging prayers for his courage to live out his vocation in such dire circumstances. And like the children accept martyrdom if he is called to do so.
She asked me to ask everyone we know to please pray for them. These brave parents instilled such a fervent faith in their children that they chose martyrdom. Please surround them in their loss with your prayers for hope and perseverance.
She was able to talk to her brother briefly by phone. She didn't say it but I believe she believes it will be their last conversation. Pray for her too. She said he just kept asking her to help him know what to do and do it. She told him to tell the families we ARE praying for them and they are not alone or forgotten -- no matter what. Her email broke my heart. Please keep all in your prayers. Thanks.”
What are we living for, if not to glorify God in all we do and to edify others? Do you really think money, possessions, career success or the like really matter eternally? These parents and these children obviously don’t think so. They know the life we have now is but a dot compared to eternity. And as they confess Jesus as Lord, they know where they are going. Their actions proclaim to whom their allegiance lays; do ours?
What do we squabble over, who do we gossip about, where or to whom is all of our energy being devoted to? “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” Jesus wants us to see that life is about humbling ourselves and serving others, not our own desires. Do we love our own lives so much and have such a tight grip on it that it strangles our freedom to truly live? If I am all about being known and wealthy and admired, how do I act? Am I not a slave to the criticism and thoughts of others? Do I not change the way I dress or talk or think to gain the adoration of people I look up to? We are only as free as our greatest idol allows us.
But what if I dismiss those peripheral things and instead focus vertically on God and what he did for me? What if I just did what He did and served the greater community, the greater world, so that His name can be known? How freeing would it be to not have to continually check Facebook to see if anyone commented on your post or to spend tireless hours in the mirror to impress others?
What does this look like? What does hating ones life and dying to it really mean? It means killing that self-centeredness, absolutely gutting it from our lives. But whenever we get rid of something, a bad habit or the like, we have to replace it with something otherwise that old self will just reappear. So as we gut ourselves of that cancerous “me” attitude, of that voice that says, “where’s mine, why not me, it’s not fair?” we do what? In the following verse Jesus says that, “If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.” What I hear Jesus saying is that to hate ones life is to love Him, to hate ones life is to serve Him, which means to serve those in our community. What would it look like if every Christian served in his or her community? Think of the love and witness we could generate. It’s just mind boggling to think of what could be done if we just died to ourselves and put on Christ.
Jesus has saved countless numbers eternally and in this life. Master Sergeant Gary Gordon saved a man’s life, so that he could go home to his family. The disciples in dying to self in the matter of months and years were on a whirlwind adventure, speaking and proclaiming the gospel to kings and rulers. How will you die to self, to self-centeredness, so that others can experience God’s love and splendor and you can live a more abundant life? You must lose it, to really use it.
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