Luke 9:23-25 Choose the Zero

Rev. David Holwick T

First Baptist Church

Ledgewood, New Jersey

June 3, 2018

Luke 9:23-25

CHOOSE THE ZERO

I. Sacrificing the self.

A. How greedy are you?

Dylan Selterman teaches undergraduate psychology courses at the

University of Maryland.

His students always perk up when he poses this question: Do you

want two extra-credit points on your term paper, or 6 points?

He tells his students that the extra-credit offer is to

illustrate the interconnectedness of choices individuals

make in communities.

Because there is a catch to his offer - if more than 10% of

the student chose 6 points, all the students get zero points.

The exercise was inspired by a talk given 50 years ago by an

ecologist named Garrett Hardin.

Hardin's topic was what he called "the tragedy of the commons."

A common is a pasture that all the villagers shared.

Every New England town has a vestige of one near their center.

The tragedy is that if each individual only thinks of themselves

and puts too many sheep in the commons, the pasture is soon

destroyed and no one benefits from it.

And so Selterman offers his extra points on the final paper to

see if they can control their personal greed so that

everyone comes out ahead.

Maybe it is too severe to call it greed - getting more points

to help your grade is strategic. It makes sense.

But if everyone does it, the pump runs dry.

What do the students choose?

After eight years and dozens of classes, only one, a single one,

got the two extra points.

In all the others, more than 10% chose the six points for

themselves.

For the majority of the students who chose the modest 2 points,

this was very frustrating.

So Selterman came up with a tweak - he added the option of

choosing zero points.

If someone chooses zero, they get no added points.

In addition, someone who chose 6 points is canceled out.

So the group is more likely to win their 2 extra points each.

But since you choose the zero option, you get no points.

(That six-pointer you bumped doesn't either.)

The zero-point option is self-sacrificial; students forgo

points for themselves in order to help the group by

restraining those who take too much.

Usually only a few of his students each semester choose the

zero-point option, but sometimes that's all it takes.

About half of his classes now win the 2 extra points because

a few self-sacrificers balance out enough greedy ones.

If you were in that class, how many points would YOU choose?

#66084

B. Self-sacrifice is at the heart of Christianity.

1) Jesus himself exemplified it.

a) He was the only perfect human, so he didn't need saving.

b) But he sacrificed himself so we could be saved.

2) Here is the rub - he expects us to sacrifice as well.

a) Put others first.

b) Serve with no thought of a payback.

c) Be treated unfairly so others can get ahead of you.

3) It sounds nice, but does it make any sense?

a) Those "zero" people may save the class but they don't

help themselves.

b) Rational people want to help themselves.

c) Why are Christians different?

II. The radical teaching of Jesus of Nazareth.

A. Jesus knew all about selfishness. Matthew 5:46-47

1) Even tax collectors will love those who love them back!

2) He knew religious people had a weakness here.

3) Much "Christian love" is not that sacrificial.

a) We love because we want to be loved. "Tit for tat."

b) We want to love those who are beautiful, who are rich,

who can offer us something and make us look good.

c) The Bible says we tend to assess people by their outward

appearances.

1> That's where we focus our love, too.

B. Jesus says the best love is sacrificial love.

1) Giving love to those who can't, or won't, love us back.

a) Outcasts, like lepers and foreigners.

b) The weak, like children and the poor.

c) Enemies.

2) Some professionals say this is nuts.

According to Philip Yancey, a British psychologist said in

a speech for the Royal Society of Medicine:

"The spirit of self-sacrifice which permeates Christianity,

and is so highly prized in the Christian religious life,

is masochism moderately indulged.

A much stronger expression of it is to be found in Christ's

teaching in the Sermon on the Mount.

This blesses the poor, the meek, the persecuted;

exhorts us not to resist evil but to offer the other

cheek to the smiter;

and to do good to them that hate you and forgive men

their trespasses.

All this breathes masochism."

#27929

3) Christians are not self-hating, but other-seeking.

a) Focus is on other person, not us.

b) Focus is on loving actions more than warm feelings.

1> This is how we can love an enemy.

III. Jesus modeled sacrificial love throughout his life.

A. The ultimate love is giving your life for a friend.

1) He taught it. John 15:13

"Greater love has no one than this:

to lay down one's life for one's friends."

2) Jesus did this, literally.

B. Jesus' death on the cross was the epitome of love.

1) We don't deserve it, but he offers it anyway. Romans 5:8

"God demonstrates his own love for us in this:

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

2) This love has the power to change us.

IV. Sacrificial love ultimately does make sense.

A. Selfishness fails in the end.

1) As Jesus says, what good is it if you gain the world but

lose your soul?

2) By giving of yourself - and expecting nothing in return -

you gain God's approval and an eternal reward.

3) This makes sense even if carrying that cross results in

your death.

a) Death is just a speed bump for Christians.

B. By sacrificing everything, we gain everything.

1) So don't be afraid to sacrifice.

It was February in 1945 - just 3 months before the end of

World War II in Europe.

18-year-old Sergeant Joseph George of Waynesboro, Pennsylvania,

was stationed in Lorient, France.

It was evening, and George was preparing to go on patrol.

The Americans were hoping to locate landmines buried by the

Germans.

Sergeant George had been on patrol duty the night before.

As he told his friend Private James Caudill, he was tired -

tired and scared.

Private Caudill offered to take the patrol on his behalf.

He pointed out that, at age 36, he was nearly two decades older

than George.

He told George, "You're young. Go home. Get married.

Live a rich, full life."

And then Private Caudill went out on patrol in his place.

A few hours later, Caudill was killed by a German sniper.

The actions of Private Caudill echo the values we honor on

Memorial Day.

So what became of Sgt. Joseph George?

He returned home safely.

He married and had five sons.

One of them is Princeton Professor Robert George, who the

New York Times called "the most influential Christian

thinker in the United States."

He's devoted much of his life to fighting the moral evils of

our time: abortion, embryo-destructive research, and efforts

to redefine marriage in a way that would destroy it.

If it hadn't been for one man's sacrifice, Robert George

wouldn't be here.

#66083

V. How much have you sacrificed for Jesus?

A. It is shown in daily actions more than physical dying.

1) It is shown in dying to sin as well.

2) This is not a popular theme in modern Christianity.

Five year ago, Rod Dreher wrote about his experience in

the Catholic church.

He had grown up in the church, then left, then came back

as an adult.

He wanted to learn what the faith was really about so he

went to a university church.

After three months of endless "God is love" lectures, he

dropped out.

Dreher agreed that God is love, but that didn't tell him

what God would expect of him if he became a Christian.

The good people who told him God is love never challenged

Rod to change his life.

He knew a lot needed to change.

His own brokenness was plain to him, and he was ready to

turn from his destructive sins and become a new person.

The one thing he didn't want to surrender was his sexual

freedom.

But he knew that without fully giving over his will to

God, any conversion would be phony.

The English philosopher Roger Scruton says the greatest

problem in the modern world is the "loss of the habit

of repentance."

We are not interested in repentance because we are not

interested in the reality of sin.

Flannery O'Connor, one of Rod Dreher's Catholic heroes,

famously said, "Push back against the age as hard as

it pushes against you.

What people don't realize is how much religion costs.

They think faith is a big electric blanket, when of course

it is the cross."

Rod Dreher ended up leaving Catholicism and joined a

church that taught both grace and judgment.

He finally feels he is hearing the truth. #7491

B. Carrying a cross is not a small thing.

1) For Jesus, it meant being stripped of everything of value.

a) He made himself nothing.

b) And then he died the most horrible death the Romans

could dish out.

c) He did it for you.

2) Do you believe in him? Are you ready to give up all for him?

C. Do it because we are Christians.

Some of the worst riots in America happened after the Rodney

King trial.

People were rampaging in the streets and beating up people

who were from a different ethnic group.

A Hispanic man by the name of Fidel Lopez was trapped by this

rioting.

He was beaten within an inch of his life, battered by bottles

and bats, punched in the face with angry fists, and kicked

mercilessly.

And then an African American minister, Bernie Newton, threw

himself on top of Lopez.

The preacher yelled at the crowd, "If you kill this man,

you're going to kill me first."

When Bernie Newton finally out-shouted the rioters, he got

Fidel into his car and took him to a local hospital.

Later Mr. Lopez asked Rev. Newton,

"How can I begin to thank you? You saved my life.

Why did you do what you did?

Why did you risk your own life?"

Bernie Newton answered, "Because I am a Christian.

Because I believe in sowing love not hate.

Because I believe in healing and not hurting.

Because I believe in Jesus the Prince of Peace and the

Prince of Love."

#35347

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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:

# 7491 “I’m Still Not Going Back to the Catholic Church,” by Rod Dreher,

September 29, 2013; <link>.

#27929 “The Imbalance of Sacrifice,” by Philip Yancey, from his book

The Jesus I Never Knew (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pub. House,

1995), 109; contributed by Joel Smith in SermonCentral

email newletter on July 5, 2004.

#35347 “You Have To Kill Me First,” by King Duncan, Collected Sermons

from Seven Worlds Publishing, quoting from Dr. Alan J. Meenan,

Hollywood Pulpit, First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood,

sermon031005.

#66083 “Memorial Day - No Greater Love,” by Chuck Colson, BreakPoint

Commentary, May 26, 2006.

#66084 “Would You Choose A Zero?” by Rev. David Holwick, adapted from

"What a Simple Psychological Test Reveals About Climate Change:

If everyone’s success depended on it, would you share — or be

selfish?" by Dylan Selterman, National Geographic, June 2018;

<link>.

These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be

downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html

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