Hey, LOOK!! Two days in a row again!! Whoo hoo!! 🥳🥳

Nothing new since yesterday, so we'll get right into it...

Expectations have been defined by some as "premeditated resentments". I disagree. At least in a general sense. I feel that there are more scenarios in which certain expectations are perfectly reasonable than not. For example, most workplaces have a specific schedule they appreciate their employees to adhere to. Show up late too many times (without good reason), and you'll lose your job, right?? In our relationship with our significant other, we expect them to be faithful, as we intend to be (hopefully). At the same time, I saw a post the other day where this woman was questioning whether or not to insist that her boyfriend fold her shirts the way she likes them, or to just be grateful he's helping around the house. Of course, the majority of answers suggested the latter. Including my own. Early on when I was married to my ex, we had our pastor over for some counselling. He told each of us to write down our expectations of both ourselves and of each other. We were then to exchange lists and discuss any discrepancies. For the most part, there were none. And yet, around 15 yrs later, we divorced. It was a mutual decision due to mistakes made on both our parts. We're still amicable, but not in the same way as before.

In today's passage, we will explore the expectations Jesus had/has of His Disciples. (Sort of a Part 2 from yesterday)

Turn with me, if you will, to Mark 8:34-38 --

Mark 8:34-38

New International Version

The Way of the Cross

³⁴ Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ³⁵ For whoever wants to save their life^[a] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. ³⁶ What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? ³⁷ Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? ³⁸ If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

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Pastor Matt's opening commentary that week was that expectations are like on ramps to the highway. They are the starting point of the journey. As suggested by my example above, where the woman was asking advice about her relationship in relation to her shirts was concerned, the potential of her wrong expectation was that it could turn the relationship "sideways". If she were to insist that her BF fold her shirts her way, he could end up resenting her for it and not be willing to help anymore if she was going to micro-manage how he did it.*

Just as the original 12, and other early followers of Jesus, we all have our expectations of Jesus. For them, these were based on a combination of Ancient Stories about the Messiah and Christ. (same thing, as both indicate one with a Special Assignment) In spending nearly 3 1/2 years with them, He came to understand these expectations and did what He could to meet the Disciples where they were at. At the same time, as seen in our passage from yesterday, He also had moments where He had to manage these expectations and set them on the right path.

No matter if you're talking about the 12, or about Believers in today's Church, Jesus sees, knows, heals, and provides for each one. While He was confirming their expectations of Messiah, He was also shaping them to reflect the true nature of His purposes. Likewise, He meets each of us, confirming accurate expectations and correcting wrong ones.

In looking at our Scripture above, we see that Jesus has finished His somewhat private conversation with the 12, and now opens His comments to the crowd at large. He says, "Whoever wants to follow...".* It's important to clarify expectations in all of our relationships. Are you just acquaintances who may offer a brief greeting?? Are you friends?? Are you BF/GF?? These distinctions dictate acceptable boundaries, both for ourselves and for others. This becomes a "comfort zone" of behavior that both can live peaceably with.

The key to a successful relationship with Jesus lies in releasing old habits and ways of thinking that were really not productive; and embracing the new ways of life with Jesus, as guided by the Holy Spirit to the glory of the Father.

Some of us just want enough of Jesus to make our thing better. (like sprinkles on an ice cream cone, or condiments on a hot dog) But that's not what He wants for us. He wants to be the entire menu!! His invitation is to have His presence in every. single. area. of our lives. It's like a coach who shouts at the team, "I want you to eat, breathe, and sleep football!!" "You are in TRAINING, gentlemen!!" This is what Jesus is saying here, in essence.*

The expectations Jesus lays out here are 3-fold --

• Deny yourself. Full force, 100%.*

• Take up your cross. The word used here is really "stake", like you would use to anchor a tent. The Cross itself had not come yet. The idea here is to pull up the "stakes" of our old life. Whatever we had previously considered for our belonging and protection should be set aside. (Only if it does not mesh with God's plans. Family and friends who are Believers are still safe here.)*

• Follow Me -- If you look at the original language here, you'll find that the same wording is used here as Jesus had just used earlier in rebuking Peter. The phrase, "Get behind Me, Satan" has the same meaning here. In this case, "get behind Me" would be akin to "follow Me", or another way to say it may be "support Me".*

Whatever wording you use, Jesus' invitation is to join Him in opposing the Elite by self-sacrifice. Jesus' Way, not our way. This brings up a major theme used at CenterPoint to illustrate the Christian life as it should look. Rather than showing the usual pendulum of this rhythm of receiving abundantly and giving generously, however, Pastor Matt gave us a portion of this quote from Christian Author, William M. Lane. It reads: "... those who wish to follow Him must be prepared to shift the center of gravity in their lives from a concern for self to a reckless abandon to the will of God." This was taken from his book on the Gospel of Mark. While we desire to receive and keep, Jesus calls us to abandon all for Him.

Finally, Pastor Matt noted that Jesus' quote from Psalm 22:5, when He talks about how the Father will be ashamed of anyone who is ashamed of Him. What the Jewish audience understood here is that quoting one line from a Psalm would call up the entire chapter, thus leading to a greater understanding of His Words, both currently and in hindsight.

The truth is that nothing we can build on our own holds the power of Eternal Life. What are we continuing to hold on to in resisting Jesus??

(Remember to check out the "Diving In with Matt and Joe" podcast for more!! This one is on the Transfiguration. I haven't watched it myself, but part of my recent blog article on the Trinity includes verses and commentary on this, as does the supplemental post focusing on Moses and Elijah. Both of these, along with other articles, can be found on the Reflections page here on my site.)

-- God Bless!!

Footnotes:

1. The point of "micro-managing" how things are done reminds me of a story from when my son, Benjamin, was little. He was around 5 or 6 years old at the time. It was his turn on the Chore Chart to vacuum the living room. A few days prior, I had used it to clean out the car. I hadn't bothered to put the power head back on the hose. Ben proceeds to vacuum the living room with out it. He was just placing the end of the hose on the floor in close, but random spots!! I couldn't watch for more than a few minutes before I had to go upstairs. He was doing his chore. That was the important thing. From that point on, however, I always made sure the power head was on before weekend chores were about to be done!! LOL

2. In saying, "Whoever wants to follow...", Jesus was inherently debunking all those who came later suggesting Predestination of the Believer. He also rejects this idea in John 3:16, as does Paul in Romans 10:8-10. The word "whosoever" automatically includes everyone. The point Calvinists are missing is that it's not the individual who is Predestined; but the CHURCH. God is Omniscient because He exists outside of time and space. It's like this... He's already seen the "movie" of humanity. He is now tasked with making it true. The Spirit only calls those He has already seen respond well. Besides which, true love requires a choice. God gave us Free Will for this reason. He didn't want a bunch of robots who were only programmed to obey. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that He wants our hearts. This means we need to be free to offer them. Robots would be no better than the Pharisees and Sadducees Jesus was always admonishing for their hypocritical Legalism. They obeyed, but there hearts were not in it. (Of course, robots don't HAVE hearts, but you get the point, right??)

3. Everything here, starting with the bit about the sprinkles, is mine to the end of the paragraph.

4. The idea of denying ourselves 100% puts me in mind of a recent Quora post I responded to. The gist was whether or not Christians should love ourselves. While others were saying no, in light of verses/passages where someone was ashamed of themselves for their sin, and feeling that they deserved to die; I said, "Yes. Of course we should." After all, when Jesus was questioned about the Greatest Commandment, didn't He tell us to "love your neighbor AS YOURSELF."?? I also brought up 1 John 3:2 where he talks about wishing for his audience to be "in good health and prosperity, even as YOUR SOUL prospers." (Emphasis mine, on both) Another thing I said was that we couldn't desire what's best for ourselves if we DIDN'T love ourselves. What I should have included, but didn't think of until later was the CS Lewis quote where he said something about not thinking less OF ourselves, but thinking of ourselves LESS. (Again, emphasis is mine) Self-esteem is important, it's just as Paul said, which I also forgot to mention in my comment, "Don't think of yourselves more highly than you should; but using sober judgement..." (Rom. 12:3) He's not saying that we shouldn't have a decent respect for ourselves. He's saying that our opinions of ourselves should be humbled in light of God's grace.

5. As always, parenthetical commentary is mine.

6. The idea of phrasing it as "support Me" is my own.

7. In the process of this post, I was reminded of a recent conversation with my father's brother, Gordon, who posed the question, "What's the difference between a Disciple and an Apostle." I gave him my initials thoughts, but haven't gotten back to him about the rest. I think I'll just do a short article instead. Look for it soon, on the Reflections page.

Music -- Never a right in sight!!