06 15th Sunday after Pentecost

            My friends, I greet you this morning in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Our lesson comes to us form the 8th chapter of Mark’s Gospel, beginning with the twenty-seventh verse.

            Routines.  We all have them.  Or at least some semblance of them.  We get up in the morning.  We go to work or school.  We come home at night.  And then we are off to meetings and practice and to take care of this or that errand.  We come home again and finish up homework, or get ready for the big presentation in the morning.  Then we go to back to bed.  And the whole thing starts over again a few hours later.  Day in day out, this is pretty much the routine.  Though it can be busy and stressful, it is also safe and we enjoy the semblance of security that comes from knowing what is coming next. 

            So, when something threatens that security we get nervous and uncomfortable.  It is not that change in itself is bad, it is just that change challenges our control, and nobody likes that very much.  But this isn’t just true for change in routines; it is also true for changes in our expectations.  When our expectations are not met, or they are challenged we experience the same kind of discomfort that we feel when our routines are challenged. 

            This is what was going on for Peter.  He is hanging out with Jesus and the other disciples around the villages of Caesarea Philippi, and Jesus asks a question.  Do you remember what that question is?  “Who do people say that I am?”  When Jesus is asking a question, he is not asking it because he doesn’t know the answer, but because he wants to make a point.  He is going to teach something.  When we see that Jesus is asking a question, we should grab a pencil and paper because he is getting ready to say something important.  “Who do people say that I am?”  Some say John the Baptist, (John was murdered back in chapter 6) so some of the people thought that Jesus was John come back to life.  Others said that he was Elijah.  After all the Hebrew scriptures say that Elijah will announce the coming of Messiah.  Still others said that he was one of the prophets.  I mean he is doing all kinds of miracles and things, he has to be a prophet. 

            These answers are how the people answered the question of who Jesus is.  Are they right?  No of course not.  Jesus is so much more than these things.  The crowds simply didn’t get it.  So Jesus changes his question a little bit.  But who do you say that I am? 

I wonder how the disciples responded to this question.  What would the looks on their faces have been?  Would they have been confused? Maybe they felt sure that they knew the answer, and they were just waiting for the question to be asked, so they could answer it and get a pat on the back from their teacher.  I don’t know, but however it happened.  Peter answers for all of them and he says, “You are the Messiah.”  Now doesn’t Jesus’ response seem a little odd?  I mean they got the question right.  He is the Messiah.  And what does he tell them to do?  Go and make disciples?  No, not yet.  That is to come later.  For now Jesus sternly orders them to not tell anyone about him.

            That must have been a shock to them.  What?  Nothing? At all? I mean, did he just say that?  Not to tell anyone? That doesn’t sound very much like Messiah.  This is good news.  This is the kind of news that should be shouted from the roof tops.  This is the kind of news that we should be telling every single person that we come across.  This message is really worth forwarding, and not just to seven people, but to everyone in your address book.  The Messiah is here.  His appearance has been long awaited.  And now he is here and we have to keep our mouths shut. 

            With that announcement, Peter’s world begins to turn.  Not the proper turning that the world is supposed to do on its axis, but his world begins to turn upside down.  It must have been a difficult thing for him to wrap his brain around.  Because Jesus is asking him to do the exact opposite of what he was thinking needed to be done.  Can you place yourself into Peter’s sandals?  Do you know what it is like to expect one thing, and you find out that you are getting something else?  It is one of the worse experiences that you can have. 

            Well, things go from bad to worse.  Because Jesus starts to tell them how it is necessary for the Son of Man to undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.  If Peter’s world was turning upside down before, by this point it has completely capsized.  As far as Peter is concerned Jesus isn’t just spouting off silliness, but he is speaking down right blasphemy. 

            The messiah hasn’t come to undergo great suffering and be rejected by the religious leaders, and be killed, he is to come and restore Israel.  He is to get rid of the Romans.  He is to restore Israel to the glory days of David and Solomon.  He is to free people from their oppressors and make things right.

            Do you see the difference in the understanding of what Messiah is?  For Peter, and the people of his day, it is a political savior.  But the salvation that Jesus brings is so much more important than political salvation.  It is bigger than not being overtaxed.  It is better than living outside of fear of the armies of the world.  The salvation that Jesus brings is forgiveness of sins.  With sins forgiven, we are no longer separated from our God.  The salvation that Jesus brings is salvation from death.  Because he died and rose again, Jesus has destroyed the power of death, therefore we know that death is not the end.  But in the end there will be life eternal.

            This is one of the awesome things about our God.  He is not bound by our expectations.  He is not limited to what we think he should do, or what we think he should be like.  If Jesus had been limited to Peter’s definition of Messiah, they may have gotten rid of the Romans, but we would still be dead in our sins.  However, since Jesus did undergo suffering, since he was rejected by the religious leaders and killed, and because he rose again, we have experienced a liberation greater than anything else in this life.  We have been found by him.  We have been freed by him.  We have been made his own dear sons and daughters.  We have this freely by his grace, without any merit or worthiness on our part.  Our God is indeed an awesome God.  But it gets better than that. 

            We have this salvation from the Messiah. It is ours.  He has given it to us.  But we aren’t to just wait for the return of Jesus with nothing to do.  Because after been reconciled to our God, we are also made ministers of reconciliation in this world.  We carry the good news of salvation in Jesus to the world around us.  We show the love of God in our actions, we speak the love of God in our words.  This is a truly awesome privilege that we get to take part in.  We don’t have to keep the secret, because we understand what it means that Jesus is the Messiah.  And after he rose from the dead, Peter understood it too.  So then came the call to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey all that has been commanded.  So now the message can be shared.  It can be told, it can be forwarded to everyone in your address book.

            This is what Jesus means when he says, “anyone who would follow after me, must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me.”  Jesus says this after he has told Peter to get behind him.  Not just because Peter’s rebuke of Jesus was wrong, but because that is where a true follower of Jesus walks, not in front of him, but behind him.  It is a gracious invitation, because it also means that we do not walk alone.  We are not trailblazers, but we walk behind our Lord.  This is the imagery of the author of Hebrews when he writes, “Therefore, let us look to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.” We walk never being alone, never being forsaken by him. 

            If anyone else were to tell us to deny ourselves and take up a cross, it would be a terrible burden to live with.  But because it is Jesus who issues the invitation, it is a grace filled invitation to life.  It is the only true way to live.  As we live our lives in service to others we are blessed and receive a kind of fulfillment that no amount of money, no big screen TV, no iPod, no nothing can fill.  And if we are living our lives to serve the people around us, how much better will our world look as a result.  We are living out God’s kingdom here and now.  That it may spread out across the world, and bear witness to the truth of his love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness.  This is what happens when you and I deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus.  That is true life.  That is the only kind of life worth living. 

            It is a view that goes against all that we are taught in this world of looking out for number one, and might making right.  But it is the view that our Lord lived, and that he empowers us to live also.  What a true blessing it is to be a part of the work that he is doing in this world.  And may he bless you as you take up your cross and follow him, now and always.  Amen.