A Sermon Based Upon Mark 8: 27-38, NRSV
By Rev. Dr. Charles J. Tomlin, DMin.
Flat Rock-Zion Baptist Partnership
Fourth Sunday After Epiphany, January 31th, 2016
As Pope Francis was on his way for his first visit to the United States via Cuba, while walking down a street in Havana, CBS’s Scott Pelly conducted a brief interview for the 60 Minutes News program. While the Pope was shaking hands with people, Pelly asked him several questions about his upcoming visit to the US).
“What is your goal for America?, Pelly asked. The Pope answered very simply: “To meet people. Just to meet with them.”
Already, the Pope’s more inclusive, compassionate approach has been evident but also problematic for some in the Church. So, Scott Pelly wanted to ask even more specifically, “What can the faithful expect from his declared “Year of Mercy”? The Pope gave a great big smile while raising his hands toward the sky and answered: “They can expect that the mercy of God is so great, it will surprise us all.” (http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/scott-pelley-meets-pope-francis/
While the Pope certainly does not speak with great authority for all Christians, we should not hesitate to agree that ‘the mercy of God’ can be very ‘surprising.’ Deeds of mercy that are full of forgiveness and compassion brought Jesus head to head with the political, religious, and popular wall of opposition in his time. Indeed, it was this surprising, shocking, and alarming mercy that created such a stir of anger that did not cease until Jesus had to be criminalized and silenced by crucifixion. But did the cross silence Jesus’ message of mercy, or did it only enlarge it? Whatever we think, we must admit that the gospel of Jesus Christ was originally intended to be a message of “good news” about God’s mercy to be proclaimed in the world, which should be declared, as Paul wrote, even ‘while we were still sinners (Roms 5.8).
In Mark, chapter eight, we find an unmistakable ‘declaration’ being made about Jesus. But as one scholar rightly put it, in the gospel story, “Jesus is as much the question, as he is the answer” (Wayne Meeks). But this question about Jesus’ identity is not intended to be highly academic, nor political, but it is intended to be answered personally. Jesus poses this question not to the crowd at large, but this “question” about himself is being asked to his closest followers. As Mark tells it, the question Jesus raised was never intended to be answered for us, as much as it is to be a living question still needing to be answered by us: “Who do we say Jesus is?”
Most surprising in this whole biblical account, or in any of the gospels recording it, is that Jesus never gives the answer anyone wants. Jesus leaves the answer as an open-ended ‘secret’. As Peter discovers, the right answer about Jesus is not one we can easily say we believe, but it is one we must be taught to believe. Even those closest to Jesus had a hard time learning or accepting it.
JESUS OF OPINIONS
Before we get to Jesus’ very challenging answer, let’s start with the question Jesus asked. Mark tells us that it was among the hillside towns of Caesarea Philippi, small villages of northern Galilee, located on the edge of known Jewish world, where Jesus first popped the question, “Who do people say I am?”
These ‘people’ Jesus refers to were not the people of the world as a whole, not the pagans, nor the Gentiles, not the Romans, nor even the political or religious leaders among the Jewish people, but Jesus was asking ‘who’ these who were listening to him and learning from him thought him to be. The answer came in an almost flattering, very Jewish, even expected way, ‘John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets” (v.28).
These answers sound very ancient and eastern, don’t they? These people are all supposed to be dead, but people are saying they have come back to life in Jesus. How do we take those who have ‘opinions’ about Jesus then, and now? To take these opinions at face value, we should understand that in the ancient world then, and still in the many eastern areas today, there have been strong beliefs about reincarnation---that after a person dies the soul will somehow rejoin a new body. While this belief has had a more firm hold among Hindus and Buddhist, it was also held by some ancient Greeks, even by the father of mathematics, Pythagoras. Even today, this ancient belief of reincarnation remains on display when a well-known ‘holy man’, like the Dali Lama dies and monks launch a dedicated search to find a child who will receive his ‘reincarnated’ spirit so that their ‘holy’ truth can keep marching on.
While reincarnation sounds very strange to us in the west (even laughable to some), we do find a similar belief in the Hebrew Bible, which promised that at least the spirit of Elijah would return to earth just ‘before the great and dreadful day of the LORD comes (Mal. 4:5). Again this is not reincarnation, but it gets close. If you recall, this belief was based upon the story in the book of Second Kings where the great prophet Elijah did not die, but was carried off in a fiery chariot lifted into heaven by a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11). Even today, some practicing Jews leave a seat open for Elijah around their annual Passover tables.
In the New Testament, however, Jesus does declare that in the life and ministry of John the Baptist “Elijah has come’ (Mark 9:13). But Jesus was not saying that John the Baptist actually was a ‘returned’ Elijah, but Jesus is claiming that the prophetic ‘spirit’ of Elijah, as one who spoke the truth, has returned so that now, God’s greatest promises are being fulfilled. The ‘catch’ is, however, that even this is only clear to those ‘who have the eyes to see and the ears to hear!” (Matt. 11.14).
A lot of people say that this is exactly what ‘troubles’ and ‘frightens’ them about religion---all and any religion. They say that having belief in a god inspires all kinds of beliefs or opinions that can’t be proven. While I definitely agree that religion is many things to many people, I don’t think religion makes people believe as much as it is the people who believe because they are, by nature, religious. Sometimes, I’ve found die-hard atheists to be the most religious of all. They also hold to hopes or beliefs that can’t be proven, reflecting a constant reality that remains a matter of the heart.
Surprisingly, even in our very secular world, we have more personal beliefs, not less. As we humans gain more access to information, more opinions and personal interpretations are being voiced. Haven’t you seen how quickly social media is inundated with a rush of opinions about events, most of which will have little to do with the truth. With this ‘rush to judgment’, the focused is mostly upon what people want to believe, rather than what belief we should have. With more and more opinions circulating, beliefs that were once thought to be ‘sacred’ are now being questioned and scrutinized, so that nothing appears to be as ‘sacred’ or ‘true’ as once thought.
Our text reminds us that the challenge of many differing opinions and beliefs is not new. Opinions of the people are always more prevalent and prominent than the truth of a matter. Coming to know the ‘truth’ will take time, reflection, even effort—and is seldom, if ever instant or easy. Those who are well known will always get more press about their ‘opinions’, but these are still just opinions. Remember that person who decided to take Oprah’s advice for a year and to buy each and every product she endorsed, read every book she promoted, or to try every ‘self-help’ method she recommended? The person who attempted this said that after a year she was poorer and worst off. Even Oprah’s truths were just ‘opinions’. (http://www.forbes.com/2010/01/07/oprah-winfrey-robyn-okrant-advice-forbes-woman-well-being-self-help.html).
What needs to be answered about Jesus must go beyond ‘opinions’. Jesus has always been and will always be many different things to people. This has been true all through the years, and it is true now, and will always be true. More books have been written about Jesus than anyone else, but what do they prove? Nothing, if we don’t get beyond opinions and theories. Mark’s gospel would suggest to us that we can’t get to the truth about Jesus through even the best of opinions. A living truth can’t be settled by what ‘people say’.
CHRIST OF FAITH
Since true faith must move beyond those many and varied public opinions, Jesus takes his disciples to the next level: “Who do you say that I am? In the gospel story, it is only Peter who speaks out, but he says personally what the others must have been thinking. “Peter answered him, ‘You are the Christ?’” (v.29).
This kind of ‘personal’ response to who Jesus was and is, is the direction the Church has been encouraging faith to go, answering for ourselves, personally, who we believe Jesus to be, but is this really enough? When Peter answers that Jesus is the “Messiah”, Jesus does not want him to tell anyone. Why is Jesus intentionally slowing down even a ‘personal’ acceptance of who he is and who he should be? Why did he want Peter to refrain from speaking out his very ‘personal’ faith in who Jesus is?
When we read this word “Christ”, it need to remember that it means “Messiah”. That was a much ‘loaded’ word in Jesus’ time, with a lot of implications. We can see this clearly later in the gospel story, as Jesus finally arrives in Jerusalem and is welcomed with cheers and shouts of joy. It was the personal view of many that when the Messiah comes the world will change. When the Christ comes Rome will be overthrown. When the Messiah comes, God’s deliverer will come, and like Moses, he will rescue all the people from their hardships in life. The coming of Messiah was to be like the coming of God’s King, who would come to rule the world, and bring the fullness of God’s kingdom once and for all.
It was exactly because of all these personal ‘expectations’ about who the Messiah should be, that causes Jesus to demand that Peter to ‘tell no one about him’. Not only are there many different opinions about ‘who’ Jesus is, there are just as many personal feelings or hopes about who the Messiah should be; about what salvation should mean, and about what it means to have faith and hope in the coming ‘rule’ or ‘kingdom’ of God. Jesus holds Peter back, not because he is wrong, but because he does not yet know or except what Messiah or Christ will mean. Jesus does not want Peter to rush out and tell what he now confesses to believe until Jesus teaches him what it ‘must’ mean (8.31).
In our world today, often a distinction is made between the Jesus of History and the Christ of Faith. When this term is used, you may have heard it on PBS or the History Channel, it refers to the truth about Jesus that historians can discover about who Jesus really was as opposed to who the Church has believed Jesus to be. The problem with this approach is that it assumes that the Jesus of the Bible is who the Church or his followers wanted Jesus to be. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Jesus we encounter in the Bible, this Jesus of faith is not the Jesus Peter wanted, nor would we or do we really want him either. This is why Mark goes on to tell us how Jesus begins to teach them about how the true “Christ” he will be in history, is not the “Christ” that want him to be in their own personal ‘faith’.
Notice how it unfolds, as Jesus tells his disciples that the true “Messiah” or “Christ” “must suffer many things and be rejected…and killed… and then ‘rise after three days’ (v.31). When Peter hears this, he takes Jesus aside to ‘chew him out’ privately, but now Jesus in turn, calls Peter out publically, naming Peter “Satan”! Jesus will not let anyone, even Peter, have his own ‘personal’ view of who “Christ” will be. Jesus will not allow us to have our own ‘personal’ views of who Jesus is, or what Christ means. The truth about Jesus is not up for grabs, nor is it open for discussion. The truth about Jesus will get personal, but Jesus does not let you personally decide who you want him to be.
In the powerful story about a “Jewish Cardinal”, the trouble with personal interpretations about Jesus goes right up to the top, to the Pope. It is a true story about a young French, Jewish boy, who during the terrible events of World War II, converts to Catholicism, to escape the Nazi death camps. But instead of being a ‘fake’ believer, he really does ‘convert’ to faith in Jesus Christ, and be becomes a priest, and a very respected bishop in the church, but he continues to publically practice his Jewishness. When others in the Church protest, he reminds them that Jesus was a Jew too and did not stop being a Jew even when he became their Savior.
This “Jewish Cardinal was so talented, gifted, and respected that that Pope John II invited him to Rome often and became they became friends. But their ‘friendship’ was tested when a group of Carmelite Nuns opened a Convent on the sacred Jewish grounds at Auschwitz. Jews did not want anything to violate th0se ‘sacred space’---not a Menorah or a Cross, because they wanted the silent screams to continue to be heard around the world.
The Jewish Cardinal went to see the Pope and demanded that the Nuns leave, but the Pope refused. He was the convent there to be a sign of Solidarity against Communism that was beginning to crumble. But the Jewish Cardinal continued to ‘rebuke’, even the Pope, and he told him how even the Pope’s personal beliefs should not overlook or reject the ‘pain’ of that place. Finally, the Jewish Cardinal’s frustration and pain became clear. The Pope was moved to ‘tears’ saying, “Oh, How I’ve hurt you, my brother.” With this realization, the Pope ordered the nuns to close the monastery. The pain of that place was so poignant and the memory so powerful that even a Pope could not deny it or remedy it---only God (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_jewish_cardinal/) .
We all have our own ‘personal’ ways to view life, life’s events, and we even have our own personal ways to believe in Jesus too. What Mark’s gospel reminds us is that, when we, like Peter, come to confess our faith in Jesus, we had need to take care that we don’t refuse the only Jesus who can save; this Jesus who came to teach us the only way Jesus is the Christ who saves.
LORD OF LIFE
The answer we must all come to, as we finish Mark’s story, is that their no true ‘answer’ about Jesus until we get to the answer Jesus had to ‘teach’ his disciples. After Peter confesses Jesus privately, and wrongly, too, Jesus now begins to proclaim publically who the Messiah, the true Savior of Israel and the Savior for the world—who He ‘must’ be. Satan will try to pull you away from this truth. This is not according to ‘human thinking’, but this is according to “things of God” (v. 33). So, now Jesus ‘calls both the crowd’ with his ‘disciples’ to teach that the only way to believe Jesus the Christ----is to follow him--- to deny yourself and to live, him. To ‘live him’ you must not just confess your opinions or beliefs, but you must ‘take up his cross’ and not just your own. Jesus commands this because only those who lose their lives for his sake, and the sake of the gospel will save it (v. 35).
These are not the words we want to hear, are they? This is not the Christ Peter wanted to confess. But this, according to Jesus, is the only Jesus who can save. To put it in our own expression, if Jesus is to be our Savior, first he must be our Lord---the Lord of all our lives. There is no salvation to be found in the Jesus of public opinion, nor is there, more shockingly, any true salvation in the Jesus of personal belief either. The only Jesus who can save us is the Jesus we must follow and the Jesus we must give our lives to. And we must give all our lives, because there is no ‘halfway’ or ‘part-time” Jesus, but there is only a ‘full-time’ or ‘all-the-way’ life. “Whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father….” (v. 38).
The language here has become as graphic as it is direct. Without this Jesus who dies on the cross demanding us to ‘take up his cross and follow’ him, there is no “answer” and there is no salvation. As the saying goes, ‘you are either part of the problem, or you’re part of the solution’. Jesus calls us to come to the only Christ who can save, who’s never what we first think. If you want the salvation God brings, you must learn and when you do, you can’t hold anything back. You must learn from him and you must follow him too. This is not a trick, but this is the truth--- the only truth that saves is what Jesus came to teach.
Along this line of Jesus’ teaching, the late Marcus Borg wrote that the God and the Christian Faith is ‘not simply about the destination, but it’s just as much about the journey’ (“Meeting Jesus”, p. 125) and he goes on to remind us that this ‘journey’ is about following Jesus in daily discipleship, not just getting comfortable with a belief about Jesus. Believing in Jesus does not mean believing that Jesus is God, Lord, or Christ, but believing in Jesus means believing ‘on’ Jesus, when we put our whole lives into his hands and we follow him, holding nothing back.
When Germany was intent on denying Jesus and following Hitler, only a few “Confessing Christians” were willing to take up the cross, even if it meant that they might die. One of those Christians named Dietrich Bonhoeffer, preached his final sermon in Berlin on July 23, 1933, taking as his text this same gospel story, but from Matthew’s version. He used it to try to convince his people that there was only one ‘confession’ that would save them. He preached that only Jesus who could save “Germany” was not the “Jesus people say he is”, but only the “Jesus he said he was”. But we know that the people followed Hitler, not Christ, but we also know that they did not gain the world, nor did they gain their souls either; but they lost many “souls” and the “soul” of their nation because they followed the wrong voice. Because he did not stop preaching this Christ who calls us to bear the cross of the truth, Bonhoeffer was put in prison and finally hung, only days before Germany was liberated
(Collected Sermons, “Who Do You Say That I Am” Fortress Press, 2012, pp 75-86).
What we still need to know is that only the one ‘who loses his life” for the right, good, and just purposes of God, are those who save it. You cannot gain the world, and save your soul. But you can lose your life in this world and save your soul. In fact, the truth Jesus tells is that this is the only Christian truth that really saves. If you want to save your life, or your soul, you must lose it in the truth Jesus gives. What is it about this ‘answer’ that you still need to learn? Are you ready to learn and to live what you learn? Are you ready to get beyond the opinions! Turn loose of the options! You are certainly not entitled to your own beliefs or opinions. No, this is not your world, nor is it your life, because there is only one Lord, and your life is not your own, so there is only one option! If you want God’s salvation, you must live this truth! You must follow this Christ! Amen.
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