Let Go of Self
Introduction:
I heard a story about a group that went white water rafting on a particularly dangerous stretch of river. The raft came to a spot known as “the hole,” where a powerful whirlpool threatened to spin and spill the raft. Sure enough the raft overturned and everyone inside was sucked down by the current. One woman clung tightly to the raft, frantically trying to keep her head above water. What she did not realize was that by doing so she was also in danger of being dragged underneath the raft by the current and smothered by the very thing she was attempting to use to save her life. Her friends, who had let go of the raft made their way to the security of a nearby rock, they pleaded with her to let go of the raft and let the current and her life jacket do the work. At first she was unwilling to do so. Finally, she decided to let go, she released her grip and disappeared under the water. A few moments later she popped up further down the river and was pulled to safety.
Letting go can be a very difficult thing. When we let go we become vulnerable. Many people refuse to let go of things in their life because they are afraid of doing so. Whether it be a sin, some negative trait, bitterness, pride or worry we are often reluctant to simply let go. Sometimes we feel much safer holding on, but we do not realize, like the woman holding onto the raft that the thing we are holding onto is a great danger to us. I am reminded of the story of when the disciples were out at sea and a great storm came. The Bible tells us that the disciples were afraid, they feared for their lives. At that moment they became even more afraid because they saw what looked to them like a ghost walking out on the water towards them. As the figure drew closer they saw that it was not a ghost, but it was in fact Jesus. Then Peter asked the Lord to allow him to come to him on the water. Peter climbed out of the boat and walked on the water towards Jesus. Peter is often criticized for his over-zealous moments, but Peter had the faith to let go of the comfort of the boat and come to Jesus.
We all have our boats. We have those things we are clinging to and refuse to let go of, however before we can get to Jesus we must let go. What is it today that is holding you back from letting go? Is it fear of the unknown? Is it a fear of what others may think of you? Perhaps some never change because they don’t want others to think less of them. Is it an unwillingness to change? Is it your pride?
I have saved the most important thing that we ought to let go of for last. I believe this encompasses everything and I believe we will see the importance of it as we go along. I want to call us this morning to let go of ourselves. This morning I am asking that we all die to ourselves. Yes, I hope you all die this morning! All throughout the book of Acts we see what God can do with people who have died to themselves. Jesus taught that anyone who wants to save his life must first lose it. Is this saying that each of us must die for our faith? Not necessarily. I believe that before Christ can reign in our lives we must step down. Before we can find true life, we must deny ourselves.
This morning’s message is a question of Lordship. Who is Lord of your life? Perhaps we know the textbook answer. Perhaps we would all say that Jesus is Lord of our lives, but if He really is we must die to ourselves. If Jesus is Lord then that means that we are not Lord of our own lives.
Text: Matthew 16:24-26
I. What Does It Mean to Let Go Of Self?
An old farmer frequently described his Christian experience by saying, “Well, I’m not making much progress, but I am established.” One spring while he was hauling some logs his wagon wheels stuck down to the axles in mud. Try as he would he could not get the wheels out of the mud. Defeated he sat a top of the logs viewing the dismal situation. Not long afterwards a neighbor happened to pass by and said to the farmer, “Well, I see you aren’t making much progress, but you must be content because you sure are established.”
Letting go of self is more than just being well established. I believe we have many like that in the church today. There are many who are very well established, they have been there for years, but they are not growing. There are many in the church who refuse to let go of self and take up their cross. I believe the reasoning for that is that many people do not know what it means to deny ourselves and take up our own cross.
We often say if someone gets really sick or diagnosed with a bad disease we say that is the cross they are called to bear. If someone goes through hard times and faces some suffering that is the cross they are called to bear. If someone gets hurt by some natural disaster or event that is called their cross. Let me suggest to you that while those things may be tragic that is not the same as bearing your cross.
a. Jesus Becomes Lord
We talk a lot about Jesus as Lord, but I do not know If we fully grasp the depth of what it means for Jesus to become Lord of our lives. Jesus taught that we cannot serve two masters. A ship cannot fly two country’s flags. When we deny ourselves and take up our cross we are allowing Jesus to take over as Lord of our lives. When Jesus is Lord it means he sets the rules. When Jesus is Lord is means that we are willing to submit ourselves under his authority. When Jesus is Lord is means he has the right to tells us what to do and when to do it. When Jesus is Lord we do not question him. There are many today that want Jesus as their Savior, but do not want him as their Lord. We also need to note that calling Jesus Lord does not make it so. Isn’t that what Jesus taught in Matthew 7 when he said, “Many will say to me on that day Lord, Lord, but not enter the kingdom of Heaven.” When Jesus becomes Lord it means we seed control of our lives over to Him.
b. We are willing to serve
We do not just serve because we have a set of rules and commands to live by, but we serve because we have died to self willingly. In the Old Testament after a slave’s tenure was over the master was forced to free that particular slave. However, if that slave desires to stay there and continue to serve their master they can remain. What they would do was take an awl and have their ear pierced through. The slave then became a willing servant for life. We have become a willing servant for life. When we die to self we become a willing to servant of Christ’s and are willing to do what He asks, when he asks it, they way he asks it.
c. We Do Not Gratify Our Desires
Romans 6:6-7
We learn that at our baptism we not only received the forgiveness of our sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit, but we died. We died with Christ and our old self was crucified in Him. As Christians we do not gratify our sinful desires any longer. In other words as a Christian there are still things that are sinful that I would like to do. I am still tempted to do wrong things, however, I refuse to do them because I am not going to gratify those desires any longer because I am not living to myself. I am not living my life seeking make myself feel good. As Christians this dying to self ought to be marked by an identifiable change in character.
Colossians 3:5-10
If we have really dies to self then we will not always have to give into those temptations and desires we have. The new self should be increasingly more looking like God in its actions.
Ephesians 4:22-24
d. We No Longer Live To Ourselves
Galatians 2:20
We need to understand that we no longer live to ourselves. We have died.
When James Calvert went out as a missionary to the cannibals of the Fiji Islands the captain of the ship tried to turn him back. “You will lose your life and the lives of all those with you if you go” he persisted. Calvert only replied, “We all died before we came here.”
If we have died to ourselves and have Christ living in us then we have a power that is indescribably. That power enables us to live the Christian life. When we live our lives realizing that we have died it changes our mentality. When I want to sin, it does not really matter because I have died. When I don’t feel like serving or doing something I should it does not matter what I want because I have died to myself. We need to learn to give him preeminence in our lives in all things. Let us remember that dying to self means that we no longer live, but it is Christ living in us.
II. Why Is Letting Go Of Self So Difficult?
I heard a story about a man in Jamaica who worked for a banana company. One executive noticed that he was a great worker who had great potential. The executive approached him and said, “You have a great future in our company with great prospects of rapid promotion. But we are looking for committed men. If you are going to be a success in our company, I want you to know that you will have to give your life in exchange for bananas.” The young man thought about it for a few moments and then decided he couldn’t sign away his life for bananas.
The idea of Heaven and eternity with God sounds great and perhaps many would volunteer to receive that, however the idea of signing your life away doesn’t sound too appealing, does it? We love those feel good verses of Scripture, but we begin to squirm a little when we read of the cost of following Jesus.
A. We love to be in control
We get a little uncomfortable when we read of denying ourselves and taking us our cross. That doesn’t sound too appealing. However, the invitation to be a Christian is totally free, but the call us for us to remove ourselves from the controls.
II Timothy 3:2
William Ernest Henley in his famous poem entitled “Invictus” said, “I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.”
Many of us have bought into this philosophy that we are the master of our lives. We like to be in control. I would much rather be in control of a situation than have someone else in control of the situation. I am one of those people that would rather do it myself than entrust it to someone else. That is not a good attribute. We need to learn to allow Jesus to be the master of our fate and the captain of my soul. Perhaps some feel like it is a violation of their freedoms to lay aside themselves and let Jesus take control. Perhaps they feel that is the sign of somebody that is weak and vulnerable.
We are intimidated by the thought that Jesus may ask us to do something we don’t want to do. It is all well and good when we sing, “I’ll go where you want me to go dear Lord” as long as he doesn’t ask us to go where we don’t want to go. The main reason it is so difficult to let go of ourselves is because of our pride and arrogance which does not like seeding control to anyone else.
Jesus taught that we must lose our lives to really find it. By that he means that we give up the project of making ourselves the ultimate reference point in our world. We are foolish to think that we should be treated as God should be treated. We are not God! We are not number one. The universe does not revolve around us. Paul said that our covetousness is idolatry. Covetous is in fact self idolatry, it makes our desires paramount. We must learn to let go of ourselves not matter how hard that may seem and let Jesus take control because he knows what he is doing.
Many people just aren’t comfortable with this. We remember the story of a man that wanted to go bury his father before he followed Jesus. Then another who first wanted to say goodbye to his family. They wanted to follow Jesus on their terms and when it was convenient for them. They did not want a Lord. They didn’t want someone else in control. They wanted control. And so do many today. Those that think they are in control will one day find out that they were not as in control as they thought they were. A life pursuing your own agenda and promoting yourself must be laid aside.
B. We think we know what is best
Returning home from a long journey was a pirate, he had spent many years lying, stealing, and cheating in a far away land. He has accumulated a great chest full of treasure. The pirate held on tightly to that chest because he saw in it, something of much more value than just jewels and gold, rather he saw in that chest the fulfillment of his dreams, hopes and aspirations. He knew that the treasure was the key to his “good life”. Having already obtained a great fortune the pirate decided to return home and after boarding the ship[ and having traveled a great distance from shore a storm arose. It did not take long for the storm to overtake the ship and eventually break the ship into pieces. Eventually, the pirate and his treasure plunged into the sea. He began to sink holding tightly to his treasure. As he was sinking all that went through his mind was how he could get his treasure safely to shore. However, he began to realize that if he continued to hold onto that chest he would not be able to make it to shore, and that same chest which he saw as his life was now causing him to face death. Reluctantly the pirate let go of that chest and began to swim towards shore.
We are a lot like that pirate. We hold on to our agenda and ego thinking that they are bringing us life, however that is not the reality. They are really pulling us towards our death and at some point we must let go. Sometimes we think we know what is best for our lives. Sometimes we think that we do not need someone else to control us because we are capable of making those good decisions on our own. However, I do not think we always know what is best. I believe our idea of good has been tainted by sin. Jeremiah says, “The heart is exceeding deceitful above all things.” I believe it is that deception that allows us to think we on our own can know what is best for our lives. We need to learn plainly that the power of a good and godly life is not in us alone, but it comes from Christ. I cannot on my own will to be a good person. It is only when I die to self and allows Jesus to be Lord of my life, reigning in me that I have a shred of goodness. We need to trust that Jesus know what is best for us even better than we do.
C. We don’t the Idea of denying ourselves anything
We live in a very selfish society. The idea of sacrificing and giving up something doesn’t sound appealing to many people. We are a people that want to know the price of everything and the cost of nothing. We want to get as much as we can while doing little to get it. The idea of delaying gratification seems ridiculous to many. We live by the philosophy, “if it feels good it must be right.” We do not like to deny ourselves any pleasure or anything in the world. We think the more we have and the more we indulge in then the more successful we are.
In Genesis 25 we read a story about two brothers Jacob and Esau. The Bible tells us that Esau was a rugged man who loved the outdoors. He was a Daddy’s boy. Jacob on the other hand was a momma’s boy. One day Esau came home from hunting and was starving. Jacob just happened to be cooking up some stew. He offered him some stew under one condition. He would give him a bowl of stew if he sold him his birthright. Esau agreed. Now, the birthright would have been a big deal. It would have meant an extra portion of inheritance. Esau could not deny himself anything, but could only live for the now. Many of us are like that today.
Jesus cam on the scene and called us to be willing to sacrifice, deny ourselves and give up our fleshly desires. Jim Elliot said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose”
Many of us refuse to deny ourselves because we do not like the idea of making any real sacrifices. Letting go of self is not by any means an easy task, but it is one that must be done. I challenge you today to let go of self and let Jesus take over as Lord of your life.
III. What Must We do to Let go of Self?
a. We must step down
Perhaps we need to have the mentality that John the Baptist had when he said I must decrease and Christ must increase. We must be willing to step aside and let him have the glory and honor of all that we do or accomplish. We must step down from our position of authority over our lived and give him the reins. Let us realize that we are lot the master of our fate or the captain of our soul, but that we have yielded to Jesus.
b. We must train ourselves
I have said before that I do not believe a person becomes evil over night, and likewise I do not believe a person becomes godly over night either. However, I believe we can train ourselves in letting go of ourselves. We can realize it is something we have to remind ourselves on a daily basis.
I Corinthians 15:31
It is a daily process that we go through isn’t it? There are many tools we can use such as prayer, Bible study, service, worship, and fellowship, but the reality is we must train ourselves to b godly. Let us remember every day that we have died.
c. We must understand the reward
Let us understand that the life of denying self and taking up your cross is the good life. It is a better life to live.
Before the days of air travel a man purchased a ticket for his passage for America. He packed his possessions as well as some biscuits and jerky as he prepared for the long boat trip across the ocean. He is so happy to be on board, but he looked with envy at the fancy meals the other more wealthy passengers were eating. He just eats his biscuits and his jerky. A day before reaching port, a steward noticed this man sitting eating his biscuits while the other passengers ate the meals in the dining room. The steward assured the man that when he purchased a ticked that all was included. He was busy eating biscuits when he could have been eating wonderfully prepared meals.
I believe many people in the church are living that life. They are making it by. They are surviving, but they fail to realize that there is something better out there. When we die to self and let Christ have the controls it is a much better life.
Philippians 3:7-9
Paul was able to say looking back on his life that dying to self was the best decision he ever made. Did he make sacrifices? Certainly! Did it cost him? Greatly! However it was worth it. He no longer was living based on his righteousness. When we die to self we lose the righteousness of our own, but we gain the righteousness of Christ.
It is worth the sacrifice because Jesus is Lord no matter what. The reward is great for those who die to self.
Philippians 3:18-20
Don’t ever forget we have changed kingdoms. We have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his marvelous light. That change in kingdoms demands a change in behavior.
