Magyar Egyház, 1973 (52. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1973-02-01 / 2. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 9 MAGYAR CHURCH SELF DENIAL . . . “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23 Christianity is a “way of life”; as the Lord Jesus Christ lived and walked here on earth, so the disciples followed him and accepted his way as a “pattern” for their life. The early Christians lived and worked as their Master would have liked them to live. In the Middle Ages many Christians thought, that they must “imitate” our Lord and exercise all kinds of self-disciple, self denial and fasting so that they, may please the Lord. The book of Thomas Kempis: “De Imitatione Christi” became a best seller, in it Christians were able to read suggestions how to live as our Lord would tvant them to live. Our Savior himself never denied this aspect of life, as he went up and down the dusty roads of Palestine. For he called his disciples with these words of the Bible: “Follow Me!” This indicates, that people from the cradle to the grave are on a journey and as they travel on life’s pathway, they fulfill this purpose in life, thus when they arrive to the end of their journey, they shall receive their reward, eternal life or everlasting damnation. I. The Lord poses a question here: “if any man will come after me?,” is there anyone who wishes to follow him? For he came from our Heavenly Father, as the Teacher of the revelation of God, and head of the church, but what would have happened if no one, not one person would have chosen to be a follower of Christ. Thanks be to Almighty God who knew long before the disciples obeyed the call, that there will be many in those days, as there were millions throughout the ages, who will be willing to be dis ciples of the Lord. But the question is timely again if we look around in our modern world today. See how many are still worshipping idols, and others who turned to he agnostics. If Jesus would live today he would have to challenge the multitude: “is there any man who would like to follow me?” For we were able to see in our generation people who followed political leaders and marched after generals chanting slogans and singing their songs. After the modem dictators vanished newer leaders came who were demanding that people should follow them. There seems to be many directions and movements where our youth is attracted but before the bitter disillusionment follows such human folly, let us all turn to our Lord and decide to follow him, who came from our Heavenly Father to lead his people in holiness and righteousness. II. But those who would like to go after the light and not stumble in darkness must deny themselves, take up their crosses and follow the Lord Jesus Christ. The Master showed us the way: he practiced self denial, he withdrew from the crowds into the quiet mountainside and meditated and prayed and fasted. For 40 days he lived in the wilderness praying and fasting, thus he prepared himself for the trials and tribulations in life, which were waiting for him. For 40 days during Lent we should especially meditate upon the life of our Lord, think upon his sacrifice and make plans for our own self-denial, that we may come closer to him and follow for ever. The problem with our affluent generation seems to be, that people do not like to practice self-denial. Many only laugh and ridicule such biblical ideas. Some even come out with their thoughts and say: “I will do as I please, and no one can tell me, what to do!” Naturally such men and women are not true disciples of Christ. To be his followers we must change our minds and become children of our Heavenly Father, and seek the will of God and do what he commands us to do. Jesus’s self denial had a purpose, and in every Lenten season Christians should deny themselves in order to be ready to serve God, to run our race, which he sat before us, and to accomplish the goal which he intended for our life.
