September 12, 2021: May God’s words be spoken, may God’s words be heard. Amen.
Well, the opening of that epistle of James we just heard likely rang a few school bells for teachers far and wide. “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” Ain’t it the truth. Ooops, sorry Mrs. Hoobler (my grammar school teacher)… I meant “Is that not true?”
Teachers everywhere always have their hands full, are not paid well enough, and despite that, take their own money to provide classroom supplies. Yet in this divided country, they now have to add to it all the parents who yell at them for mask mandates meant to protect those same parent’s children. Good Lord! They certainly are “judged with greater strictness” as old James said, and not even paid well for it! God bless them all!
Still, that isn’t what I want us to focus on today (though please do support your local teachers). Yesterday, on the 20th anniversary of 9/11, many watched or participated in remembrance services. Others did not, or could not. No matter which category you fall into, the heartbreak is real. There will be a time when we remember it more like we do Pearl Harbor, as something far off in the mist of time, but never forgotten. But for now, we remember in a more vividly intense way, and for some, it is like ripping the bandage off the wounds in their hearts. That too is not what I want to focus on today, for there was much of that yesterday everywhere.
What I do want to talk about is the heartbreaking moment we hear about in the gospel, and what the rest of that passage is telling us today about our lives as followers of Jesus in this time and in this place. It is a heartbreak born of love and loss, death and new life.
In the passage from Mark we just heard, Jesus asks his disciples who people say that he is. They tell him that some think he is the long-awaited Elijah, or that others say John the Baptist, or even one of the other prophets of long ago. Any of which would be back from the dead. Then Jesus asks him who they think he is, and for all of Peter’s foibles, he responds with “You are the Messiah!” Bingo! Peter just won the final Jeopardy question. Okay, so points off for him not saying “Who is Jesus the Christ” but you get the point.
You’d think Jesus would be ecstatic about this – I mean wouldn’t any teacher when a student finally gets it? But noooooo! Jesus tells them – the text says “sternly” – not to tell anyone. That is one of the many verses in Mark that have Jesus saying “Shhhh…let’s keep this whole Messiah or Son of God thing on the down low, okay?” Which is why this gospel is known as having a theme of the “Messianic Secret.” Oooooh! Sounds like a thriller book by Stephen King, right?
Jesus then tells them who he is…but…didn’t Peter just do that? Well, yeah. But Jesus elaborates a bit because he knows that even while Peter said that, Peter also doesn’t really get what being the Messiah, the Christ, really means. So, Jesus tells them that it means he is to suffer, die, and rise again in three days.
How difficult was this to hear? Imagine someone you love saying “I am going to die.” That is what Peter and the others are going through. They are hearing this Messiah, who they have followed, who they love, telling them that he will die – not only die – but undergo great suffering to boot. Something tells me they ignored, understandably, that part about rising again in three days. That must have sounded like gibberish, if they heard it at all.
Think about it – ever heard heartbreaking or earth shattering news and realize later that all you absorbed was the first words – the rest was a blur? I mean, just imagine how you would feel. Perhaps you don’t have to imagine at all, because you have heard from someone you love that they were very sick and the time was near for them to leave this earthly plane. When we hear this, our usual inclination – whether we voice it or not – is no! It can’t be! Not you. This can’t happen!
And so, we can understand Peter, who only said what the others were likely thinking and feeling, right? And what does he get? A rebuke by the one he cherishes more than anything else. Pain upon pain, because Peter had opened his heart in a big “I love you” with his declaration about Jesus being the Messiah. And this was his reward?
“You are everything I have been waiting for!” says Peter.
“Yes, and I am going to die…” replied Jesus.
“No! You can’t die!!!”
“Get behind me Satan!”
Ouch! That’s gotta hurt.
I usually poke a bit of fun at Peter, but in this case, I am totally feeling bad for the guy. He continually shows his love for Jesus, his belief in him, even if he usually doesn’t always get things right, and this is what Jesus says? Peter just did not understand who Jesus really was, or what being his follower meant. He got the answer partly right about who Jesus was – the Messiah, the Christ. But he didn’t understand what that was all about, or what it would mean for him and any follower of Jesus. And Jesus rebukes him, not because he doesn’t love him, but because he does. He wants to wake Peter up.
Peter doesn’t get it and needs to.
The question is – do we?
Do we really know who Jesus is, who we are, and what it means for us?
Are we really all that different from Peter in this moment?
To answer that, we need to step back in this story a bit – back to the initial questions Jesus asked them. First he asks, “Who do people say that I am?” Then he asks “Who do you think I am?” Note that Jesus will not be defined by others, not even his disciples. He knows that some may feel he is Elijah or John the Baptist or a prophet – but Jesus knows that is not who he is. Even when Peter gets the answer nearly right, Jesus knows that Peter still doesn’t understand who he really is.
How many of us can say the same?
How many of us allow others to define us, or to define what our identity means?
How often do we participate in defining others, individually or collectively?
Perhaps we don’t think we do, but we sometimes do it like Peter – in a well meaning way. We talk about all gay people, or all people of color, or all republicans, or all democrats, or all women or men – as though the individuals who may be a part of that demographic were homogenous in thought, look, or acts. If we are a part of these outwardly defined groups, it can be downright annoying. We may want to respond with a sharp rebuke like Jesus, right?
Or how often have others defined us as individuals, wanting us to fit into their mold of what is best for our lives, well, because it is best for theirs. This can come from well meaning folks – parents or their children, teachers or their students, or it can come from friends and relatives. We also hear it from those who, from their own weakness, seek to define others as a way to have power over them.
Do we listen? Do we acquiesce to their expectations? Or, do we respond as Jesus did.
Knowing that Peter and the others did not really understand what it meant to be the Christ, Jesus instructed them – telling them who he was, and what that really meant for his life, and for theirs. And the thing is, the gospel through the centuries have been doing the same for all followers of Jesus since. The question for us is…who do people say that we are, and who do we say we are?
We are the body of Christ now…what do we tell others about who we are, especially who we are as his followers, as Christians? Do we even try, or do we let others define us? Do we allow those who claim a Christian identity, but use it to marginalize and exclude, to define us to the world? Do we allow those, who do not believe, to do the same?
These may seem like insignificant questions, but I assure they are far from it – they are the difference between Good Friday and Easter Sunday!
Coming here to church, in-person or virtually, is not who we are, but as I have said often enough – it is where we are given strength for the journey – our journey as his followers – as the body of Christ here, now. It is where we come to be able to answer Jesus’ question in our own hearts, and when we leave here, to proclaim it in the world. To do that, we have to first understand it – and what it really means for us.
I am reminded of a small diocesan visioning group Bishop Hughes asked me to be a part of this past spring. We were a subset of a larger group of diocesan leadership, who were tasked with looking at our collective lives in Christ, and from that, forming a sense of what we are called to in the world as his followers. This smaller group took the good work of the larger, and began to see some patterns emerging. From that, we were able to envision a statement of our own identity – the answer to the question of “Who do we say that we are as followers of Jesus in the Diocese of Newark?” An answer that was shared with the diocese at our convention this summer. And it was this: We are “called by God to bold faith, bold love, and bold acts: together creating communities of new life.”
Let me say that again: “called by God to bold faith, bold love, and bold acts: together creating communities of new life.”
That is a powerful answer to the question of who we are, and we must, like Jesus, be willing to openly proclaim it, because right now – there are a lot of folks who want to define us. They say that being a Christian means excluding those who love, speak, or look differently. They say that being a Christian means “we are welcoming, but not if you want to change something.” They say that being a Christian is about getting rich, taking up arms against others, or hating other faith groups. They say that being a Christian means going to the “right” church, or going to church, but not offering to God their time, talent, and treasure. They say this in word or in deed.
And we must rebuke them, not with hate, but with love, for we are the body of Christ – followers of Jesus, the Messiah!
We must answer those who would define us with our own instructive response, boldly proclaiming our faith as Christians – not through word alone, but by our bold acts, rooted in God’s unconditional love.
And in this prayer attributed to St. Francis, we get a vision as to how to live this out, how to answer in word and deed, the question of who we are:
“Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is
hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where
there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where
there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where
there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to
be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is
in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we
are born to eternal life. Amen.”
I said earlier that our answer to the question of who we are as followers of Jesus is the difference between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, and that is true, because right now there is a whole lot of Good Friday going on.
As part of revealing who he was, Christ speaks of his own suffering. And for us today, that isn’t something from 2000+ years ago. Christ is suffering now. He is suffering today in those who are in pain from this pandemic and other natural disasters – hurricanes, wildfires, and more. He is suffering with those who mourn the loss of loved ones on 9/11 or any other time, those who grieve the loss of employment, or their homes. Christ is suffering whenever a child of God is addicted, imprisoned (spiritually, mentally, or physically), marginalized or abused, neglected, lost, or alone. Christ suffers too, perhaps most of all, when others are hurt in his name.
So, our answer to that suffering is our answer to the question of “Who are you?” And how we answer is more important than we may think. Jesus knew this too, and drove that point home.
In his dialog with his disciples, Jesus tells them that resurrection will follow – that he will rise again in three days. That too is part of his identity – and now part of ours. For we know that resurrection is always possible, that Good Friday is always followed by Easter, and through our bold faith, acts, and love, by our willingness to proclaim His truth – the gospel of Jesus Christ – all will come to know the light that defeats darkness, the life that defeats death, the love that changes everything!
But there’s more. Jesus then follows up this encounter with his disciples in this way: “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?”
Jesus is saying that the answer to the question of your own identity isn’t just an esoteric or rhetorical exercise. It is the difference between life and death! It is that important! When we are baptized, we are baptized into his death as well as his life – we lose our life to save it. Our lives in him, begun in that moment, rooted in our baptismal covenant, and nourished in the Eucharist isn’t something to check off our to-do list for the week. It isn’t a something we set aside as we go about the “rest of our lives.” It IS our life! It is who.we.are!!! Our identity truly is the difference between life and death, not only for ourselves, but for all those who suffer – for the Christ crucified today.
And so today, let us hear once more these questions of Jesus – and see them for what they are – directed at each and every one of us:
Who do people say that you are?
Who do you say that you are?
How you answer that is the difference between life and death – for you, and for the world.
And so, remember always that you are called by God to bold faith, bold love, and bold acts: together creating communities of new life.
Proclaim this.
Live this.
Be this.
For only then can you be who you are meant to be.
Only then can you move from death into life.
Only then can you truly answer the question of “Who are you?” with “I am a follower of Jesus, the Christ!”
Amen.
For the audio, click below, or subscribe to our iTunes Sermon Podcast by clicking here:
The Rev. Diana L. Wilcox
Christ Church in Bloomfield & Glen Ridge
September 12, 2021
The Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost
1st Reading – Proverbs 1:20-33
Psalm 19
2nd Reading – James 3:1-12
Gospel – Mark 8:27-38
