September 13, 2009
Exodus 4: 1-6, 13-15
Mark 8: 24-37
"Jesus Is In The Question"
The Gospel was present in this building on Thursday, Sept. 10. I saw it and felt it in a meeting of all places. People from Central, from St. Matthew and from the Anthony Bean Community Theater were gathered to talk about leases and finances, about issues and business. At a critical point, at a point where all could have fallen apart, where someone could have yelled, "You lie!" one person began to speak of honesty and respect, another to speak of mission not money, another spoke of children's needs not their behavior, and another spoke of collaboration and partnership not landlord and tenant. Hearts and minds were turned. Hands were held in prayer. The Gospel was present. Jesus the Christ was present.
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God tells Moses exactly who He is. The name itself, "I Am Who I Am", may be unclear, but there is no question that God is the one who names Himself, the one who identifies Himself as the God of the past and the God of the present. God names and identifies Himself in Exodus.
The scene in Mark could not be more different. In the first place, and this is very important, the scene begins with Jesus asking a question. He does not issue a command or make a declaration. He does not name himself. Jesus asks a question: "Who do the people say that I am?"
By doing this, Jesus puts his identity at risk. He accepts the vulnerability of inquiry in that he cannot control the answer to his question. "Who do the people say that I am?"
This is an obvious and immediate difference from the Exodus account in which God names and identifies himself. It seems clear that the people around Jesus are to play an active role in identifying just who he is.
Jesus asks, and the disciples reply: Some say you are John the Baptist returned from the dead. Others say you are Elijah, the one who was taken up into heaven and whose return will mark the coming of the Day of the Lord. And others say you are a prophet, one in a long line of those who have spoken the word of God to the people of God.
There is some truth in each of these three replies. But none are exactly true; none fully explains Jesus. He is a preacher and a healer like John. He did speak of the coming of God's Kingdom but the kingdom of which he spoke does not seem to be the one associated with Elijah's return. And he is a prophet, but hardly just another in a long line of prophets.
And Jesus implicitly rejects the three answers by asking another question. This one is not directed to the "people". It is directed to the disciples themselves. "Who do you say that I am?"
This single, simple question is at the heart of the thousands of pages and millions of words of Christian theology. "Who do you say that I am?", lies at the heart of the last 2000 years of Christian worship: "Who do you say that I am?" Peter answers for the disciples. "You are the Christ."
We expect at this point for Jesus to commend Peter, to tell Peter, as is reported in Matthew, that God blesses him and that he is to be the rock upon which Christ will build his church. But Mark does not contain this commendation of Peter.
Jesus neither accepts nor denies the title Peter places upon him. Instead, Jesus silences the discussion before it can begin: "Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him." No more talk of Messiah or Christ, no more mention of Jesus as Savior. No more talk of titles for Jesus.
Then, Jesus gathers the disciples around him and he begins to explain who he is but in very strange terms. Jesus does not offer a different title nor does he accept the Christ title. He does not say that he is like John or that he is Elijah returned or that he is a prophet only better than the others. He says none of that.
What he does say is this: He will be rejected, scorned and mocked. He will be crucified and buried, dead as dead can be. And he shall rise again. When Peter cannot agree with this terrible description, a description that flies in the face of Peter's understanding of the "Christ" title, Jesus rebukes him.
Then Jesus turns to the crowd and the disciples and continues to explain who he is, again in strange terms. Jesus' explanation is actually more about others than himself.
Jesus describes himself by describing those who will follow him. Those who follow him will be those who deny themselves and pick up their cross and follow him to his cross. His followers will be those who deny their lives in order to save them, those who are willing to lose their lives in order to find them. Those who follow Jesus are those who are not ashamed of him, of his teachings, his life, his death or his burial; not ashamed to follow him in all of his apparent weakness.
Who is Jesus? He is not just a title, not someone who can be contained in a word even one as majestic as "The Christ" or "The Messiah". Jesus is not like someone else, not like a prophet or a wild man preaching and baptizing in the desert.
Who Jesus is is intimately connected to what he does, how he is treated, and those who follow him.
Jesus is defined by rejection and crucifixion and new life rising from a tomb. Jesus is defined by those who carry a cross behind him even though they know where he is heading; by those who deny themselves; who deny their ego, their need for power and control, their fear of failure and death, their need to be the center of things, and their need for success.
Those who are willing to give up their lives and take on the life offered by Jesus are the ones who identify Jesus. Those who are not ashamed of Jesus: not ashamed of his lowly birth, of his earthly weakness and poverty, of the people he claimed as friends, or of his horrendous death are those who identify Jesus.
"Who do you say that I am?" The answer is not in a title. It is not to be found in those who reject or fear or belittle Jesus. Jesus is not defined by a select group of insiders, by theologians or churchy people who know the language of belief and who can say, "Well, Jesus is like this or like that". Jesus and his Gospel are not to be known in a well-memorized Biblical verse or rote recitation of a creed or catechism.
"Who do you say that I am?" The only way it seems to answer that question is to do and be as Jesus described. The way to answer the question is not from up in front of the pack, it is from behind, from behind faithfully carrying a cross and following Jesus with your eyes looking ahead to where Jesus is going.
Jesus the Christ, the one we confess with our lips to be our Lord and Savior, is identified in the tension between the question, "Who do you say that I am?" and your decision to pick up your cross and follow him. You answer the question of who Jesus is when you decide to follow him, to give up your life to him, to find yourself by allowing Him to lead the way you will walk. Then and only then is Jesus Lord in your life.
The Gospel is present when you make that decision to follow. Jesus Christ is present whenever two or more gather in His name, and decide to follow him. Even in a church. Even in a church just like this one. Even, for heaven's sake, in a committee meeting.
When you hear the question, "Who do you say that I am?" the only proven and trustworthy response is to put yourself aside, bend down, pick up your cross, and with eyes fixed on the One ahead, begin to follow.
"Who do you say that I am?" Do not tell Jesus the answer. Show Him. |
