"Denying Self and Follow" on Mark 10:17-27 by Neil and Virginia Lettinga - Sept 20 2026
Intro to us...
Good morning. We are glad to be with you today, even if we aren't physically in the same room. If you haven't met us, we are Neil and Virginia. We became TCC members about 25 years ago, as we switched from job-sharing UNBC chaplaincy to serving churches and ministries in transition or trouble. This Telkwa church has been amazingly willing to keep up with us wherever we were serving. That was a great gift to us. Thank you! And we now enjoy Zooming in for services from Victoria where we are living as retirees.
Intro to the Discipleship Theme
In the last while, our church has been chewing over four invitations that Jesus gives to discipleship.
• "Come and see" Jesus said to the disciples who had heard John the Baptizer call him the Lamb of God.
• "Come be with me" Jesus invited the curious -- and the disciples when they were tired.
• "Come, abide in me" Jesus says to his 1st disciples, stressing connection even when he was about to die.
• "Come and follow me" Jesus says over and over again throughout the gospel stories.
"Come and follow me" is the discipleship focus we're planning to explore in the next few months at TCC.
Jesus' call to discipleship doesn't always follow sequential steps. There's a reason the graphic is a circle! The Lord fleshes out what he's calling us to and what it means to live in his Spirit in different times and ways. Hasn't this been your experience? Our lives are full of moments in which we realize, relate, respond, and remain with Jesus.
All the same, the Teaching Team that met with Mike last Monday to talk about upcoming messages found the "follow me" theme daunting. And I do too. None of us feel like we have mastered this step in discipleship.
We don't think we're doing it wonderfully well.
AND Jesus does NOT present following him as something that is comfortable and easy! Instead, Jesus announces
"Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny them-selves, take up their cross and follow me." (Matt18:24) This is no prosperity gospel message for sure!
Today we'd like to talk about three things:
1 This uncomfortable call
2. An encouraging twist Jesus gives to it
3. Take a few moments to consider where this call might have traction in our own lives.
Insecurities about what it means to follow Jesus has always been a lively issue for Jesus' disciples! Even the 12 handpicked men who walked with Jesus felt daunted by the implications of the call to follow him!
In spite of the fishing nets that Peter and Andrew abandoned when Jesus called them to "follow me," the disciples are not consistently ready to live into that call. Like us?
Scripture shows us that the disciples are seriously daunted when a man who was doing an A-1 job of following God's commandments can't manage to follow Jesus.
You may well know this example as "the story of the rich young ruler." You can read it in Matthew 19, Mark 10 and Luke 18.
Today we are going to read it out of Mark. If you are able, grab a Bible or follow along on your Bible app. Mark 10 starting with verse 17. In Mark's arrangement of the events, Jesus has just finished scolding the disciples for trying to keep parents from bringing babies and kids to him. Then...
17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered.
“No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”
20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
A great day suddenly turned into a sad one for this guy.
"Sell everything and give it to the poor"?!?
Jesus is saying, "Dump your baggage. THEN you can come and follow me." Wow.
This man had been doing everything right.. but he couldn't jump the last hurdle. He had lived into the commandments and longed to follow God. And still he had baggage that held him back.
The man's "face fell..." "He went away sad."
The disciples are seriously shocked.
We'll keep reading at verse 23.
23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”
The disciples are amazed. And then more amazed.
"Who then can be saved?" They ask. Who qualifies?
None of them. They all had baggage.
We have baggage too. All of the folks who share Bible messages at TCC have baggage. We know it. And so we feel daunted as we talk about following Jesus.
BUT instead of focusing on the rich man's qualifications and why a fat bank account is a barrier to the Kingdom of God, let's stay focused on Jesus. What is Jesus doing? What is HIS motivation and emotion?
Q: Look at verse 21. HOW does Jesus look at the man?
A: with LOVE.
The man walks away sad. The disciples are shocked and insecure. But Jesus sees the man, and his disciples -- and us -- with love.
And listen to Jesus' response when the amazed disciples ask one another "So Who can be saved?" Verse 27
27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” Really, "all things are possible with God."
In love, Jesus calls us to follow Him. (Impossible?) AND Jesus calls us to believe in the God who does the impossible IN US.
At this point in the story, Peter (verse 28), indignantly, reminds Jesus of how much he and his friends have given up for Jesus. Jesus both reassures Peter that this is recognized... and yet Jesus implies that it doesn't matter.
Peter and the other disciples are beloved by the God with whom all things are possible. And so are you.
Jesus announces that what we can't do isn't our problem. God is ready to fill in the gap. Jesus Christ, God in human flesh, makes what is impossible for you or me possible. In the Holy Spirit, we can throw off our baggage and follow Jesus. It may be a long, slow process. Our baggage comes in different shapes and different sizes.
Jesus doesn't just call us to impossible things. In love, Jesus shows us how they can be done. Jesus calls us to follow him and see what God does...
27 "... all things are possible with God.”
Jesus repeats the call to follow him throughout the Gospels. Perhaps the rich man that Jesus loved had heard him give the invitation before running up to him on this day. It is given in ALL FOUR of the Gospels. Multiple times. Jesus said it to his inner ring of disciples. AND Jesus calls the crowds over to say it. It's the three-point call that we read from Matthew 18:24 earlier in the message.
1. Deny yourself
2. Take up your cross
3. Follow me
Like the 4 invitations to discipleship that TCC has been considering, I don't think that these three steps that Jesus gives are necessarily sequential. On a good day, you've probably done some measure of each of them multiple times. You've denied yourself. You've picked up your cross. And you've followed Jesus. Most often in little ways. But maybe in big ways too.
And as we think about this call -- recognizing that there are different permutations for different people, we hope you remember how Jesus sees you: He is looking at you in love. That's the way Jesus looked at the command-keeping rich man. Jesus looked at him in love.
Jesus understands that what he told the man to do was humanly impossible. Jesus understood why his disciples were amazed and daunted. Jesus knows that as you and I respond to his call to be disciples, we too are in over our heads.
One of the ways in which some Christians have tried to focus the call to discipleship has been with WWJD bracelets. Remember those? WWJD stands for "What Would Jesus Do?" Did you ever wear one? Are they still a thing? In the late 1980s they popped up among the Christian students at the university where we were teaching. Some of the ideas and conversations that the rubbery bracelets created were profound. And some weren't.
But of course what I remember most clearly were the quirky suggestions and the silly applications. A student hairdresser prayed earnestly as she struggled to do what Jesus would do when it came to choosing "the right colour for the hair dye"!
And always there was the danger that while asking "what would Jesus do," we would miss asking What does Jesus want ME to do? Which is really more to the point. Jesus calls you and me to follow him.
What does it mean to follow him as the people we are, in the places we live, in this particular moment in time. What does it mean in the Bulkley Valley? Driving Hwy 16? We should feel encouraged, SO encouraged, to know that in giving the call Jesus looks at us in love and he asserts that what is impossible for us to do is a gap that the God for whom everything is possible fills.
Perhaps, the WWJD bracelets encouraged people to think about following Jesus on a superficial level without at least making some movement toward the other two steps in the call Jesus gave. Jesus is blunt in calling us to
1) Deny ourselves,
2) To pick up our cross and
3) Follow him.
Let's take time to consider where this call might have traction in our own lives
Wait just a minute before we move on! Aren't we going to talk about the rich man? About his wealth as a barrier. Aren't we going to talk about the camel not going through the eye of a needle?!
Well, our message was getting a little long and discussing the rich man risked distracting us from what Jesus did and said. So I cut.
Let's take a few moments to consider where this call might have traction in our own lives (take time!)
Q: Is there something that comes to your mind regarding denying yourself? Could that be a nudge of the Holy Spirit? Is it something about how you spend your time? Or your energy? Yours space...or your money? Could you move on that nudge today, at least in a small way? Or is there a smaller prelude step to try first?
Q: What do you think might be the cross that Jesus means you to pick up each day? Jesus' initial audience would have seen convicted men dragging crossbeams for their execution. This must have been a gut-grabbing metaphor for them! In contrast, I'm not sure that I have a cross. I mostly pick up small, uncomfortable repeated challenges. Does that count? Do you recognize a daily cross in your life? Is it something others don't see as a cross? How does God help you pick it up?
We've considered what might be involved in denying ourselves and picking up our cross. What steps can we add to really FOLLOW Jesus?
Q: In what sorts of ways is God calling you to FOLLOW Jesus at this time? Should you sit down with the Bible and read the gospel accounts to see his example more clearly? Should you try praying a little more often in the words and pattern that Jesus gave his disciples -- what we call the Lord's Prayer? Can you think of a few other small, concrete steps you can explore in following Jesus at this time? And because we read about it in today's Scripture text, let me challenge you to follow Jesus' example and try to look at others the way Jesus looked at the rich man. Look at them in love.
Think back on ideas and nudges from the Spirit about where Jesus' call to follow him might have traction in your life. It would be great if you had a small, concrete idea that you could share with someone near you in the room or over coffee.
Prayer
Loving God -- Father, Son and Spirit,
You know the many ways in which we fall short of the call Jesus gives us. We have resisted denying ourselves. We have kicked the crosses you've given us instead of picking them up. We have acted like following you is something that we can do on our own.
Forgive us, we pray.
We are amazed at your look of love. Thank you. We are amazed at the impossible things you somehow make possible in us. Thank you. Peel off our baggage. Open our eyes to see people the way that you see them. Stretch our hearts to love the way you love. Guide our shaky steps as we follow you. Confirm your joy in each step we take, big or small. May your Kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen!
(In John 12:26) 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
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