Sermon Short for February 25th, 2018
Jesus to the extreme!
Mark 8:31-38, Hebrews 9:11-22
The disciples are uncomfortable when Jesus starts talking about his 
impending death. It’s not good for the public image they are trying to foster with this new and upcoming rabbi/messiah. But Jesus is never so concerned about public opinion as he is about truth. He sees the truth that his death is a necessarily extreme step toward his kingdom.
Martin Luther King Jr. was extreme. He called people to be like the early church: “The church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.”
Jesus was that, and he called his disciples to be that. Be willing to say the things that may be unpopular but are true. Be willing to point out where our lives have got it wrong even if everyone else disagrees. Our faith calls us away from being merely thermometers, changing with the current environment. We are called toward being thermostats, challenging things and changing things.