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Over a nine year period, Ray Romano, star of the sitcom, Everybody Loves Raymond, rose from struggling comedian to one of the highest paid actors on television. After the taping of the last show, in May 2005, Romano came out and spoke to the studio audience and reflected on his past and future, now that the show had finished its run. He took out a piece of paper, a note his brothers had stuck in his luggage the day he moved from New York to Hollywood to pursue fame and fortune, nine years earlier. He read from the note, “My older brother Richard wrote, ‘What does it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and loses his soul?’” Choking back tears, Romano continued, “Now I’m going to work on my soul.”
I don't know if Ray Romano ever did work on his soul, but I know where that verse came from. It was from our passage on Sunday, Mark 8.34-38. I also know that the choice between "working on our soul" or pursuing the best that this life has to offer, is a choice each of us has to make, not just those of us who are pursuing fame and fortune. The better choice, by far, is in favor of the life God has to offer us in Christ Jesus, the life of discipleship.
An interesting note about our passage on Sunday is that, although some form of these three verses appears in every gospel, Mark has one detail the others don’t. In the other places where these verses appear, Jesus says, “but whoever loses their life for my sake will save it.” In Mark's version, however, Jesus says, “but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.” What an interesting detail. It’s not only for Jesus’ sake that we must be willing to deny ourselves, take up our crosses and follow him. It is also for the sake of the gospel, or, more literally, the “Good News.” And what is that Good News?
The Good News is salvation by grace through faith in Christ. The Good News is the mission of Jesus, God’s purposes in the world. The Good News is intentional lives lived by faithful, missional followers of Jesus in the 97% of our waking hours lived outside of church and church related activities. And the good news is not just about where we go when we die. It’s also about how we live while we’re here. We need good news here and now, not just in the hereafter. Working on our soul, as Romano put it, is about the mission to which God calls us as well as our own personal relationships with Christ.
Some scholars believe that Mark's version of Jesus' words, here, became a rallying cry for the Early Church, especially when facing persecution: "For Christ and for the gospel!" What a fitting cry for our lives of discipleship today and for the mission to which God calls us. May that be your cry and mine as we seek to know God, follow Jesus and pursue God's purposes in the world, this week and always. Amen.
For me, living this scripture and following Jesus is a frightening calling. Afshin Ziafat was speaking at a youth conference where I was teaching youth workers. As a muslim teenager, he began following Christ. When his father found out he was a Christian, he was disowned. Following Christ is costly. (btw, Afshin describes what following Christ means in his book.) Thanks for calling us to conform to the scripture even though it is difficult.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your thoughts, Tim. We really don't know how dangerous following Jesus can be for some, and how painful the costs must be. Thanks for the reminder.
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