Stay on Mission – 9th April 2018

Discipleship 4 – ‘Exchange’
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. Matthew 16:23-27

In the famous story of Aladdin and the lamp the wicked merchant tries to trick Aladdin by offering ‘new lamps for old’. He wants the ‘magic’ lamp so he offers a brand new one to replace it in the hope that Aladdin will be tempted and deceived.
His motives were self-centred and power seeking but the phrase ‘new lamps for old’ is, I find, a helpful way of thinking about what it means to become a disciple of Jesus and Join Him in His Mission. As I mentioned last time, Jesus doesn’t offer us an ‘improved life’ he offers us a new life. He doesn’t add to the life we have, He asks us to exchange our life for the gift of eternal life. This means that we have to be willing to ‘give up the old life’ so that we can receive the new – it is a replacement, not an addition! He offers ‘New life for old’.
As Jesus says: For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.
I find these to be hugely challenging words because it is so tempting to want to live my life, in my way, where I decide what I will or will not do and then, have the bonus of a relationship with Jesus who is always there to provide what I need when things don’t work out. I think this is what Jesus is referring to when He says ‘whoever wants to ‘save’ their life. He is addressing a trait that exists in all of us – self interest! His stark warning is that if we only want Him in our life to make it better than we will not receive the life He wants to give us.
He says we must ‘lose’ our life so that we can truly ‘find’ it. But please note the two critically important words that Jesus uses regarding the ‘losing’ of our life, He says, whoever loses their life for me.
As the Apostle Paul writes:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17
The OLD is a me-centred life, the NEW is a Christ centered life!
If we are to join Jesus in His Mission we must receive the new life that He wants to give to us. We must not simply ask Him into our lives, rather we must give our lives to him ‘lock, stock and barrel’! Everything!!
This week, as you consider how you will live for Jesus, ensure that you take some time to give Him any of the things that you are holding onto – ‘New life for old’ – what an exchange!
Dennis