Sunday, September 16, 2012

Who do You say the I am?


I preached this sermon at St. Paul's Sacramento on September 16, 2012.  

Sunday closest to September 14
Proper 19B RCL

Proverbs 1:20-33
Psalm 19
James 3:1-12
Mark 8:27-38
Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" And they answered him, "John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." He asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Messiah." And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.
Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."
He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "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, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."

Who do you say that I am?
There are a lot of powerful images in out readings this week.  I could pick any of them and have more than enough material for a sermon.  Of course the reading from James contains an admonition that would keep almost any preacher or teacher from getting up in front of a group to teach or to preach.  What does he mean that the preachers and teachers are held to a higher standard by God?  Yikes.  Perhaps I should just go sit down now before I get into any more trouble.  But for better or worse I am not stopping because the reading from Mark just reached out a grabbed me and I need to say some things about it.

First it is helpful to put this reading into the context of the whole of Mark.  The reading today is right in the middle of Marks Gospel and marks a turning point.  Before this reading we have seen Jesus gather up the disciples and do a number of wondrous healings and miracles.  But there is nothing that would really point to him being a messiah.  Oh it is easy for us to see it because we know the end of the story.  But for those who were following him at the time he was a great teacher, healer and one fine miracle worker.  But everything changes today.

Jesus and his disciples are in Caesarea Philippi, which is a very Roman City at the time and once the limit of ancient Israel's northward extension (Luther Seminary 2009).  So here in the midst of a Roman City Jesus pops the question.  Who do you say that I am? So far all we have heard is that the demons Jesus cast out identify him as the Son of God.  The disciples come up with a reasonable laundry list given the healings and feedings that they have witnessed and then we have Peter.  Brash. Wonderful Peter.  Who blurts our “You are the Christ”.  Peter’s confession is startling.  And Jesus then does something equally startling and for the first time details that he will suffer and die.  What!  How can this be says Peter.  After all the messiah is going to issue in a new reign of the Jewish people.  The long awaited messiah is going to throw off the oppressive Roman occupation and lead the Jewish people once again into a place of peace and prosperity.  What do you mean Jesus is going to die first.  Jesus turns the expectations of God’s Messiah on its head.  As Dr. Matthew Skinner from Luther Seminary said says “We can forgive Peter if all of Jesus’ new talk about suffering, rejection, and death does not sound right to him. Thus far he and Jesus’ other companions have heard the kingdom of God announced and inaugurated only in victorious tones. In fact, they have participated in the same liberating ministry, having been appointed to preach and given authority over satanic forces and diseases (3:13-15; 6:7-13), just like Jesus.” (Skinner 2003) When Peter objects Jesus tells Peter in no uncertain terms that all Peter is worried about is the worldly aspects of a messiah and to get out of the way.  Jesus is going to turn the worlds expectations upside down.
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So who do we say that Jesus is today?  Is Jesus the God of wealth and prosperity?  He is if you read any of the “prosperity gospel authors.”  Just pray for that Rolls and it will come.  Or is Jesus the God of the self made man.  OR is Jesus the God and protector of our society to the exclusion of others?  I don’t know about you but I don’t remember any parables or teaching of Jesus where he said “Come on now – just pull yourself up by the bootstraps.  You don’t need any help.  Be a self made person.”  Nope.  Jesus said to Love God and Love our neighbors.  Jesus said that when we are able to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and visit the prisoner we are taking care of God.  This is not what our society expects.

If you have a strong stomach you can see some of the societal views in the comment section of the on-line Sacramento Bee, or any other paper.  The commenters blame the homeless and the immigrants for everything that they view as wrong with this world.  If you would believe what some of the commenters say that the homeless are nothing but a bunch of lazy no-nothings.  The homeless could live in a home if they only worked as hard as they did.  Really?  Wow.  Whenever I read those comments I wonder what Shangri-La they think they live in.  When we have a society that does not want to lend a hand to the down and out.  When we have a health care system that will bankrupt anyone without insurance.  When we have a society that believes that names don’t hurt –and believe me words can kill - and that mental illness is an excuse.  It’s just not that easy.  We can’t blame societal ills on the people society has discarded.  That is not what we are called to do.  And that gets us to the part about being disciples.

Jesus says that if we follow him we too have to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him.  It is easy to read this as a call to personal denial.  Dr. Skinner said “denying oneself suggests a posture that does not easily find models today within a culture that prefers jargon of self-actualization, self-discovery, or self-potential” (Skinner 2003).  Dr. Skinner goes on to say that in Jesus’ time that denying oneself and taking up your cross meant redefining self from the way the dominant society would have you behave. “To take up a cross is to recognize that the dominant currents of society stand opposed to one’s manner of life and identity. It symbolizes the world’s denial of oneself.” (Skinner 2003, 329).  Seen in this light we should not be surprised that if we follow Jesus, even today, we will be acting against a dominant society.

Our confession of Jesus as Messiah can have a surprising effect on us.  It can turn us from an inward person to one who sees God’s hand in all of creation.  When we see God’s creation as good how can we not treat everyone with respect?  Just look at our Baptismal Covenant.  When we are baptized or renew our baptism we promise to take action.  We are asked in part:  “Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?  Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself? Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?”  And there is no asterisk that days “just the people who look like us” in our baptismal promises!  And our answer to these questions is “I will, with God’s help.”  In our baptism we recognize that we are not promising to extend God’s Reign on earth by ourselves.  We are promising as a community and with God’s help to turn society on its head. 

Our promises will surprise us.  They will lead us to follow Jesus, the Christ.  Not the Christ/Messiah that will usher in a capitalistic society of me first and wealth.  But a Christ who calls us to recognize the good in all creation.  To continue to welcome all into God’s world.  To work to turn society on its head as we preach and work to usher in a community and kingdom of love for all of creation.  So.  Just who do you personally, and who do we as church say that Jesus is? And are we really willing to follow him? 

Works Cited

Luther Seminary. Preaching this Week. 12 20, 2009. http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=12/20/2009 (accessed 09 15, 2012).

Skinner, Matthew L. "Denying Self, Bearing a Cross, and Following Jesus: Unpacking the Imperatives of Mark 8:34." Word and WOrld 23, no. 3 (2003): 324.


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