 John Calvin (1509-1564) |
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Greetings!
As soon as Peter first confessed his faith that Jesus was the Christ, Jesus began to redefine being Christ in terms of his suffering, rejection, death, and resurrection. He did this without parables. And he did this in such a way that he pointed out the implications for us:
And he [Jesus] began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man."
And he called to him the crowd with his disciples and said to them, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man give in return for his life? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."
Mark 8:31-38 (English Standard Version)
As we who would follow Jesus think together about the nature and practice of the Christian life, we would do well to hear again Calvin's explication of the Christian life. It consists of three components which may not sound very attractive to us: the denial of ourselves, bearing the cross, and meditation on the future life. But I think we shall find that he has some of the most remarkable and profound things to say in this very pastoral portion of this writing.
The first step of the Christian life and indeed the sum of the Christian life is the denial of the self. This is not for the sake of denial in and of itself but for the sake of serving God instead of self. Listen to what Calvin writes about this, and I think you will catch a sense of Calvin the preacher, which is what all of his theology was meant to serve: |
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We Are Not Our Own
We are not our own: let not our reason nor our will, therefore, sway our plans and deeds. We are not our own: let us therefore not set it as our goal to seek what is expedient for us according to the flesh. We are not our own: in so far as we can, let us therefore forget ourselves and all that is ours.
Conversely, we are God's: let us therefore live for him and die for him. We are God's: let his wisdom and will therefore rule all our actions. We are God's: let all the parts of our life accordingly strive toward him as our only lawful goal. O, how much has that man profited who, having been taught that he is not his own, has taken away dominion and rule from his own reason that he may yield it to God! For, as consulting our self-interest is the pestilence that most effectively leads to our destruction, so the sole haven of salvation is to be wise in nothing and to will nothing through ourselves but to follow the leading of the Lord alone.
Let this therefore be the first step, that a man depart from himself in order that he may apply the whole force of his ability in the service of the Lord.
John Calvin, Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion, trans. from the 1559 Latin ed. by Ford Lewis Battles, 2 vols., in Library of Christian Classics, ed. John T. McNeill (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1960), Book III, chapter 7, section 1, volume 1, page 690.
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So let us take up the cross and follow Jesus!
 Grace and Peace, |
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