Who Do You Say That I Am?

Who Do You Say That I Am? 

September 16, 2012    16 Sunday after Pentecost, Yr. B    Mark 8:27-38   

I was in a group this week where we were asked to show what was in our bag, that represents “who you are”?    One person said, diapers, communion set, and her husband’s keys--which told us she is a mother, a pastor, a spouse. 

If I looked in my bag, I would find,  a doggy doody bag (unused), theology books,  wrappers, papers, my phone, meeting notes, lipstick, water bottle, knitting, STUFF.  Which might say that I am busy, a pet owner, a reader, someone on the go, or just happily a clutter of stuff..

So, what’ s in your bag today?  Who does it say you are? (sorry grammarians....)  Whatcha got in your bag?

(interview a couple of people...)

You see, it’s not always easy to define ourselves with just one word, is it.  We are such a collection of beings, wrapped up in one body.  If you had to define yourself with one word, what would it be?  Who would you say you are?   

I imagine this is why the disciples had a plethora of answers and opinions when Jesus asked them what people were saying about him.  What stops them in their tracks, however, is when he asks them, Who do YOU say that I am?  The only one who has much of an answer is Peter, who blurts out, You are the Messiah!

Which, in many respects, in that time, had a multiplicity of meanings.  From the Old Testament,  the word, means anointed one.   Priests and Kings were anointed when being consecrated to their offices.  Prophets were anointed by God in the sense they were specially chosen by God for a specific religious mission.  When Peter cries out that Jesus is the Messiah, it is indeed true that Jesus was on a specific religious mission from God, but it’s not clear that Peter or the disciples understood what that mission was.  So, Jesus shushes the gang.  It was a powerful word, “Messiah”, and I have to believe that Jesus wanted to make sure they knew what they were talking about, to make sure they knew what they had gotten themselves into as his students.  

When Jesus starts talking nonsense about his suffering and death, Peter quickly gets into it with his friend and teacher Jesus--hotly rebuking him, which sparks Jesus to reprimand him, by calling him Satan, by accusing him of being concerned about the wrong thing.

Jesus then goes on to teach his students  the real cost of discipleship--

to deny oneself,

to take up the cross, 

to lose your life, 

to be willing, 

willing and open and clear, and courageous.  

It’s been a difficult week, hasn’t it?

We observed the anniversary of 9/11, which is always solemn and heart wrenching.  We often remember where we were or what we were doing when we learned what was happening. 

We woke up on Wednesday to the news of the attack on the US Embassy in Libya, which resulted in the death of four Americans.  

The story continued to unfold through the week,  as we witnessed more violence against Americans in the Middle East, all apparently stemming from a reprehensible video on YouTube.  It’s all quite unclear and confusing, and yet , “it hasn’t stopped people from giving their opinions and condemning one another doing so.”  Add all this to  the escalating heat of current election season, and it seems to all be a hot, discouraging, distasteful mess. And somehow, religion is mixed into all of it. 

So it seems to me today more than ever, that we are able to answer Jesus’ 1st century question in the context of our 21st century world--

Who do you say I am? 

We need to be able to articulate, in part, 

Who Christ is to us, Who Christ is to the world, 

What it means for us to be followers of The Way, 

and why it even matters.   

Because if it doesn’t matter, then why all of this?

Who do you say Jesus is?  

A prophet?

God?

Somebody cool like Buddha and Ghandi and Mother Teresa? 

Teacher, friend?

Saviour? Redeemer? Buddy? Your Homeboy?

Real? Spirit? God’s Son?  

Love?

What does it mean that Jesus is the anointed one, today?

What is the mission of the Christ, today?

What does it cost you, cost me, cost us

To be a follower of Jesus?

Jesus mission was to be love and justice, in the first century.  Jesus’ mission was to empower those who thought they didn’t matter to know how beloved and strong they were.   He included women and lepers and soldiers and foreigners in his message.  

He called those who followed him, to join him in that mission, to take up their cross. 

To be martyrs in the true sense of the word. 

A martyr is simply a witness to what she knows is true, of what she has seen and heard, no matter what.   In the first three centuries of the church, telling the truth about how you had experienced Jesus’ saving grace in your life and in the world was enough to get you killed.   (paraphrase from Rev. JC Austin , Auburn Theological Seminary, in his sermon on Day1)

Now, it’s rare that we in the 21st century American Church are called to lose our life for our faith in the dramatic ways of the first three centuries of Christianity. But it is no less real for that; a church focused on saving its own life will lose it.  A church that spends its energy and resources saving its building rather than empower its mission is losing its life; a living church makes its building a resource for mission, not an object of it.  A church seeking new members to save its budget or its influence is losing its life; a living church receives new members to nurture them as disciples, not so they can nurture the church as an institution. (Rev. JC Austin)

At at the height of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, when Christians were literally suffering and dying for justice and redemption there, Archbishop Desmond Tutu used to gather his staff around him in the mornings for prayer. And often as he was closing, he would ask, "If being Christian became a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict us?"  

If being Christian were a crime, what would the evidence be against  Eliot Church?  

And in our day to day lives, how do we bear witness to the Love and Justice of Christ? 

As Christians, we don’t have many outward symbols to proclaim a living faith.  

A Muslim woman may wear hijab, which is a symbol of her faith. 

A Sikh man wears a turban.

A Jew might wear a yarmulke. 

Some Christians wear crosses.  

What is in our life “bag” that says “Christian” (seeking, believing, doubting or skeptic as you might be)

It’s not the stuff, is it, that proclaims a living faith, its in the life that is lived. 

These words from the Church of Scotland say it all:  

If you want to witness to who Jesus is,

listen to who Jesus says you are.

You are the light for the world,

the defiance of the darkness;

when the world remains silent, 

you are the voice that still speaks.

When the world says “a fairer world”,

you are the pressure that remembers.

This is who Jesus says you are in the world. 

The irritation.

...

if you want to witness to who Jesus is,

listen to who Jesus says you are.

You are the challenge to the status quo,

the salt in the wound:

when the world says “go to war”, 

you are the protest;

when the world says, “everyone has a fair chance”

you are the laughter.

This is who Jesus says you are in the world:

the contradiction. 

....

If you want to witness to who Jesus is, 

listen to who Jesus says YOU are.

You are the voice of dissent, 

the truth amid the half-truths.

When the world says, “be beautiful”,

you are the brokenness.

When the world fills its belly,

you are the hunger.

This is who Jesus says you are in the world:

the aggravation. 

If you want to witness to who Jesus is, 

listen to who Jesus says YOU are.   

(Church of Scotland: Mission and Discipleship Council, September 16, 2012)

Amen.