If asked to explain why I trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior my quickest answer is usually something along the lines of, “Jesus is the one thing that helps me make sense of my life.” There is a great deal more to it, of course, but that is what I might call a “Twitter-length” response. But then we have a gospel reading like the one today, and to some my answer may seem to lose validity. “Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?’” (Matthew 16:24-26). Why worry about making sense of my life if I am only going to give it away?
Well, that’s the whole point. Jesus says my life is of no value unless and until I am willing to let go of it. By taking up my cross, by following Jesus on the difficult path of discipleship, by giving up on who I am as an individual I become what God created me to be. A recent cartoon showed the character Dilbert being asked to contribute to a co-worker’s birthday gift. In the end Dilbert adds half a piece of chewed gum to a collection that already includes lint and used staples. In cultural terms this is the value of the co-worker’s life: trash. But when we turn from the culture and instead embrace God’s will in Jesus Christ we find our lives to be altogether more important, so valuable that they are actually worth giving away.
Following Jesus Christ, then, gives meaning—and value—to my life. To some I may amount to office debris, but according to God I matter. My life is a precious gift that I have to offer, and that helps me to make sense of things.
Prayer: Lord, grant us the strength to follow Jesus Christ, to live our faith, and to share our lives to your glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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