What’s the value of your life? If you had to put a dollar amount on the value of your life what would that amount be and how would you calculate that amount? I suppose you could calculate your earning potential; multiply your yearly salary times the number of years you have left to work and assuming you have at least 10 years left to work your life is probably worth a million dollars or so. For those of you who don’t have much earning potential; those of you who are near or in retirement, you could look up your life insurance policy and see what value Thrivent places on your life. I think my life insurance policy is worth about a million dollars. I don’t like to advertise that. I am not so worried about any of you knowing, but I don’t want Michelle to get any ideas. You see, in a couple more years, as my earning potential decreases, I am going to worth more to her dead than alive.
Now you might say that’s a morbid way to calculate the value of one’s life. But that’s not morbid. For a truly morbid calculation we turn to Wired magazine’s contributing writer Patrick Justo. Patrick calculated the value of individual organs. (hypothetical value, by the way. Harvesting organs is illegal in every country around the world. So again Michelle, don’t get any ideas.) Patrick calculated the value of your heart at about $1 million, your liver about $½ million, your kidneys about $¼ million and so on. However, the organ that really jumped out at me is skin. Patrick valued your skin at about $10 an inch. Altogether (again, Michelle hypothetically speaking) your life is worth about $45 million.
But earning potential, life insurance policies, and illegal organ harvesting are rather cold ways to calculate the value of life. What about the sentimental value of life? I like to think even though my earning potential is declining, and my life insurance police will term out at 65, and my organs are depreciating at an alarming rate, sentimentally speaking (I am sure Michelle would agree), I am priceless, as I am sure so are all y’all to your friends and families.
It is hard to put a value on your life, but I think we would all agree the value of your life is somewhere between $1 million and priceless. If that is the case, then what value would you assign to your soul? Today we are going to take a closer look at Mark 8:34-38, and as we do, I am going to invite you to rethink the value of your soul.
If you thought it was hard to put a value on your life, wait till you try to place a value on your soul. Your life is tangible, your words can be heard, your actions can be observed, your flesh can be touched. However, your soul… well you can’t hear your soul, you can’t see your soul, and, regardless of what the poets say, you can’t touch your soul. Your soul is not what we would call physical, it is spiritual. In Genesis 2:7 we read, “7 the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” Your soul is the breath of God, which means your soul is eternal. Unlike cars, boats, and Bitcoins, your soul does not depreciate, if anything your soul appreciates in value. Your soul has more in common with your house, property, and precious metals, but unlike those things your soul appreciates in value for all eternity. I tried to calculate that. Even if a soul is only worth $0.99 today, at 6% interest in 1000 years your soul is worth $9 trillion. Saint Peter tells us with the Lord a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day[1]. So, after only one day in eternity a $0.99 soul is worth $9 trillion.
$9 trillion a day and that is just using common interest for a common soul. That is not accounting for the fact your soul is not common. In fact, your soul is anything but common. Your soul is unique. There has never been nor will there ever be one like it. There are of course similarities between your soul and mine, but your soul is yours and yours alone.
I don’t really know how to calculate the value of something that is both eternal and unique. The closest we get to a calculation is found inverses 36-37. There saint Mark tells us Jesus asked, “36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37 Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” With these two question Jesus points out that your soul is worth more than the whole world. That means your soul is worth more than the possessions and experiences that are so highly valued by young people, or the achievements and success that are so highly valued by middle aged people, or the recognition and respect that is so highly valued by older people. Your soul has more value than all of that; there is nothing in this world that is of equal value to your soul.
Your soul is beyond priceless. So, why do you treat it like trash? Why do you act like your soul is not worth making sacrifices? Time and time again the Scriptures warn you about the cancerous effect sin has on your soul. Yet somehow that doesn’t stop you from gossiping, or wanting, or indulging. You say, “Oh, I know I shouldn’t think say or do such and such”, but then you go on and do it anyways. Why? Because you want to. You like it. It feels good. And in so doing demonstrate that you value sin more than you value your soul; that your soul is not worth the sacrifice of the sinful things you want to think, say, and do.
Considering your appraisal of your soul’s value is so low, I suppose it isn’t surprising when you also act like your soul isn’t worth taking offense. Scripture calls upon you to “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”[2] But you would rather not. Why ruffle feathers? Why risk offending people and the inevitable retaliation you will face for sharing your faith. Better to say nothing. Better to just smile when your friend tells a vulgar joke, better to just bite your tongue when your child makes immoral life choices, better to make excuses for your parent’s spiritual apathy. Right?!? When you smile, bite your tongue, or make excuses for sin, you make it clear your soul is not worth taking offense.
You have such a low estimate of your soul’s value that you act like your soul isn’t worth the effort. Jesus once said, “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”[3] But following Jesus isn’t easy. Following Jesus involves prioritizing prayer, taking advantage of every single worship opportunity, and practicing what you preach. To quote one of our modern philosophers, “Ain’t nobody got time for that!”. It takes a lot of discipline be a person of prayer, it requires a lot of shuffling of schedules to be in worship every Sunday, and preaching last 15-20 minutes, practicing what you preach is a 24/7 kind of thing. When you act like following Jesus is too difficult, you demonstrate your soul is not worth the effort.
Your soul is beyond priceless. So why do you treat it like trash? Why do you act like your soul isn’t worth sacrifice, offense, or effort? Jesus warns you about treating your soul like trash. In verse 38 Jesus says to you and to me, “38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” If in this life you persist in treating your soul like trash, in eternity your soul will be thrown into the dumpster fire that is hell.
Your soul is beyond priceless. Though you may not always value it as such, Jesus does. Jesus values your soul. That is what started this entire conversation. In verse 31 Jesus declared the price He was willing to pay for your soul. Jesus explained to His disciples, both those standing around Him in the villages of Caesarea Philippi and those who have gathered to worship Him here at Messiah, “31… that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.”
Jesus said it was necessary for Him to “suffer many things”. Your sin is the cause for His suffering. Your gossiping, wanting, indulging, all of it are the reason why Jesus suffered the sting of the whip, the bite of the nail, and the strike of the thorn. Your sin is the reason Jesus suffered many things, but it is His love for you that made His suffering of many things a necessity. Jesus left the right hand of the Father where He was surrounded by the praise and adoration of the heavenly host and allowed Himself to be (in the words of the prophet Isaiah) stricken, smitten, and afflicted[4]. Why? Why did He deny Himself the praise and adoration of heaven and suffer at the hands of sinners? Because He promised Adam and Eve He would, Because it brought glory to the Father for Him to do it, and finally because He loves you. Jesus was willing to suffer many things and in so doing He made your soul worthy of sacrifice.
Jesus also said He would be “rejected by the elders, chief priests, and teachers of the law”. Scripture prophesied the builders would reject the capstone. However, knowing it would happen is one thing. Having it happen to His face is another. Every time I read about the people of His hometown rejecting Him because He had the courage to tell them the truth about prophesy, or the leaders of His own church plotting to kill Him because He exposed their hypocrisy, or His own disciples abandoning Him because He chose the cross over the crown, I can’t help but see Jesus weeping for those He longed to gather together as a hen gathers her chicks but they were not willing. Jesus was willing to be rejected by His own people and in so doing He made your soul worthy of offense.
Finally, Jesus said He would be “killed and after three days rise again”. Jesus never strayed from the path that had been placed before Him. The moment He set out to save you from your sin He knew where that path would lead. He told His disciples where He was headed. In Gethsemane, He prayed to His Father for strength on His journey. When scoffers suggested that He should “come down from the cross and save Himself”[5] your Savior choose to practice what He preached. Your Savior journeyed to hell and back so that you could be saved and in so doing He made your soul worthy of the effort.
Your soul has value. The sacrifice, offense, and effort your Savior gave on your behalf has given your soul a value above and beyond all estimations we might imagine. Now that you have been reminded of the value Jesus gives to your soul you are ready to hear what Jesus says to you in verse 34. “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Now that you understand the value of your soul Jesus tells you to “deny yourself”. Don’t do those things you know you shouldn’t do. Deny your sinful desires. Your soul is worth the sacrifice. Jesus tells you to “Take up your cross”. Say what needs to be said to the people who need to hear. Say it with love, compassion, and humility. Say it even if they mock and ridicule you for saying it. Your soul is worth the offense. Finally, Jesus tells you to “follow Him”. Pray to him, you need His help. Praise Him, He is worthy of your adoration. And for your own good and the good of others, practice what you preach. Your soul is worth the effort.
A cold calculation estimates the value of your life somewhere between $1 million and priceless. The tongue-in-cheek estimate of a preacher values your soul to be worth about 9 trillion dollars compounded daily for all eternity. But, according to Jesus, the true value of your soul is beyond priceless. With His sacrifice, His offense, and His effort Jesus gave value to your soul. Which is why He tells you, to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him. Jesus knows the value of your soul and I hope and pray you do to. Amen.
[1] 2 Peter 3:8
[2] 1 Peter 3:15
[3] John 8:12
[4] Isaiah 53:4
[5] Matthew 15:26