The Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee



Proper 17, Year A, August 28, 2011, The Church of the Redeemer Shelbyville

“If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Matt. 16:24).

Denial is our Gospel theme today, and my purpose is to ring the changes on the way we use this word. When we use the term “self-denial,” we’re usually talking about denying ourselves a piece of pie or an extra piece of chocolate or something like that. When the Prayer Book tells us on Ash Wednesday that we’re supposed to practice self-denial during Lent, I think that most of us have this in mind. So, we give up meat or alcohol or what not and we’re practicing self-denial, denying ourselves something for a good cause, as a reminder of holy things.

All well and good, except that it’s not Ash Wednesday today, and that’s not what this sermon is about (though you can tuck that lesson away for another day as a good reminder). “Self-denial” is not what Jesus is talking about in our Gospel today, but about “denying the self.” There’s a difference. He’s not asking the disciples to eat less but to give up more, their very selves in fact. They’re supposed to lose their lives, to take up their own cross and follow Jesus on the road that he himself must walk. What’s “denied” is not the piece of pie or the chocolate dessert but their very own selves.

That’s bracing talk, scandalous as it turns out, when Peter tells Jesus that he’s crazy to be talking about his crucifixion. Jesus however is quick to correct him. “Get behind me, Satan!” (Matt. 16:23). And here we see yet another sense of denial, as Peter denies not just Jesus’ call to give his life, but his own call as a disciple to follow him.

You see, there are other forms of “self-denial.” The word that Jesus uses for “deny” in our Gospel today is the same word used to describe Peter’s denial of him on the night before Jesus’ crucifixion, when a bystander asks him if he is one of Jesus’ followers and Peter denies it. The word means “disown”, to dissolve the ties that bind one person to another, a kind of disinheritance. Here we have denial in all of its negative meaning, Peter denying Jesus and in the process denying his own self, denying who he is and who he has been as Jesus’ follower by a self-serving and self-preserving lie. He’s cutting his ties to Jesus, saving his life, but in the process he’s losing his very own self. He’s disowning Jesus but what’s unraveling is his own identity and self-regard. Maybe no one will ever find out, but Peter knows. So it’s true that “those who want to save their life will lose it” (Matt. 16:25), as our Gospel says. This is the sort of “self-denial” we don’t want in the Christian life.

Our trust as Christians is that by losing our lives we will find them. Here we come to that sense of “self-denial” that Jesus does require, the sense of our call to deny ourselves for the sake of the Gospel. This call runs solidly up against a difficulty, our own human nature which does not want to deny itself. “To thine own self be true”, Polonius tells his son in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, but it’s not really good advice; instead, it’s a warning to look after his own best interests. What he’s really saying is “Look out for Number One!” “Be your own Best Friend!” “Don’t deny who you are!” All of these are maxims by which people live, but Jesus is saying that if we really want to live we need to forget about ourselves, about being “Number One,” and follow him.

Our trust is that by giving ourselves we will receive our own selves back, given new life through Jesus’ death and resurrection. This is the course of carrying the cross that those who are being confirmed and received today are embracing once again. In baptism, they were buried with Christ in his death and raised to new life through his resurrection. We’re all committed to the life already. The take away for them and for all of us is that the opportunities to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow him are all around us.

So let’s listen to St Paul if we are wondering what we must do: “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all" (Rom. 12: 9-18). If you do these things through the grace of God you will be denying yourself and taking up your cross and following Christ, losing your life so that you can find it.

- The Rt. Rev’d John Bauerschmidt, Bishop of Tennessee

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