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Pastor Dena Williams Sunday, September 17, 2006 Denver, Colorado 16th Sunday after Pentecost Isaiah 50:4-9a Psalm 116:1-8 James 3:1-12 Mark 8:27-38 The Holy Gospel according to the Community of St. Mark in the 8th Chapter Glory to you, O Lord Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, Who do people say that I am? And the disciples answered him, John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets. He asked them, But who do you say that I am? Peter answered him, You are the Messiah.* And then Jesus sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone about him. Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

Jesus said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, Jesus rebuked Peter and said, Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things. Jesus called the crowd with his disciples, and said to all of 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? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, O Christ Who am I? Matthew, Mark, Luke, John four portraits of Jesus. How fortunate we are to have stories of Jesus told from four different perspectives. Each portrait gives us insight into Jesus question in todays Gospel: Who am I?

Each of the four Gospel writers develops the story in a unique way. Last week in Marks Gospel we met The Gentile Woman. We met an unnamed woman, an outcast, who asked Jesus to heal her daughter. The woman stepped out of her place in a rigid society to ask this favor from the prophet. Marks Jesus refers to her and to all Gentiles, as dogs. She persists, she is clever, she believes, she trusts, she acts. Jesus honors her faith and heals her daughter. The Gentile woman is a member of a group called the little ones. For the writer of Mark, the members of this group are the last, the least, the lost in the society. They are the poor, the widows, the orphans, the foreigners, the women, the children, the ill, the forlorn. These are Marks little ones. In the coming weeks we will meet other little ones as we hear more stories from this Gospel. Another group of characters in Marks Gospel are . . . the disciples. The writer does not mention them often and he does not paint a glowing picture . . . The disciples in this Gospel are the insiders, but theyre the insiders who dont really understand whats going on. They follow Jesus, but they often seem confused about his work, his ministry, his mission. Sort of like us . . . Today, and in the weeks ahead we will encounter the disciples often as we hear the stories from this Gospel. There among the little ones and the disciples is Jesus.

Jesus welcoming the little ones. Jesus doing his best to help the disciples understand, learn, and grow in faith. Our story today is about the disciples. It is specifically about the disciple who is called Peter, which means the rock. Now other Gospel writers say that Peter is called the rock because he is the solid foundation upon which the church will be built. The writer of Mark is not so kind. It seems that in this Gospel, Peter may well be called the rock because he is so consistently hard headed. He often just doesnt seem to get the picture. Peter starts off so well in todays story. Jesus asks the disciples, Who do YOU say that I am? Peter, the spokesperson, replies, You are the Messiah. I can hear Jesus exclaim, Yes! Finally Peter, the rock, understands. Then, Jesus goes on to explain what it means to be the Messiah. There are three times in Marks Gospel that Jesus gives an explanation, a warning of his role as Messiah, a prediction of the passion. This is the first. The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, the scribes. He will be killed, and after three days rise again. Now, if Peter uses his head here, he will realize that this would be a good time, to not say anything, to just let it go . . . let it go.

But not Peter and not us. Peter takes Jesus aside and scolds him. Jesus is furious. Peter doesnt understand. Jesus turns to the disciples and says to Peter, Get behind me Satan! You dont get it. You dont understand. Youre relying on your human nature. Set your mind on divine things. Peter wants a Messiah without a cross. He wants a resurrection without a crucifixion. He wants an Easter without a Good Friday. And so do we. Theres a story told by comedian Yakov Smirnoff. When he first came to the United States as an immigrant from Russia, he was not prepared for the incredible variety of instant products available in American grocery stores. He says, "On my first shopping trip, I saw powdered milk-you just add water, and you get milk. Then I saw powdered orange juice--you just add water, and you get orange juice. And then I saw baby powder, and I thought to myself, What a country!" Thats what Peter wants to think about his faith in the Christ. Hes expecting that to be a follower of Jesus, to serve others on behalf of the love of God, will be easy. Christian powder, add water and you get a Christian. Well, we might say thats how it begins for us, in the waters of our baptism. But theres more. Peter doesnt want the rest,

and neither do we. Jesus calls the crowd to join the disciples. He says to the crowd, the disciples . . . Jesus says to Peter and to us: Thats not how it works. 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. Jesus says, Who am I? Peter says, You are the Messiah. Jesus says, Take up your cross and follow me. The cross is the single symbol that unites all Christianity. Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Christians in Africa, Appalachia, Alaska, Christians in Kosovo, Canada, and Colorado. The cross of Christ is at the center of our lives, We worship near it, We baptize in its shadow, We mark ourselves and our infants with its sign, We serve beside it, We celebrate the eucharist in its presence, We bury our dead beneath it, The cross . . . What does Jesus mean when he says: Take up your cross and follow me? Is it possible to follow Christ without taking up the cross? It seems the answer is no. Without the cross there is no Christian life. Without the cross it is impossible to follow Christ.

How do we know when we have taken up the cross? How do we know when we are following Jesus? I believe we know when we experience discomfort, when were not sure of ourselves. I think thats what Jesus means when he calls us to deny ourselves. We live in a society that claims a culture of comfort. It is when we are uncomfortable, when we deny ourselves some comfort, it is then that we know we have encountered the cross. We know of others who have taken up huge crosses: Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, Jr., Dietrich Bonhoeffer. These people have lifted crosses that have cost them their lives. Mother Theresa gave her life for the poor in India. Dr. King and Pastor Bonhoeffer were martyrs who gave the ultimate sacrifice. Dr. King brought freedom to his people. Pastor Bonhoeffer lost his life in a valiant effort to protect others from the ravages wrought by Hitler in Germany. Most of us will not be called to sacrifice our lives in these ways. What, then, does the cross look like for us, in our ordinary lives? What do you mean Jesus, when you tell us to take up our cross? To what cross do you call us? Perhaps not to a huge, enormous, life surrendering cross at all. Those of us who care for elderly parents do not connect our efforts with the cross of Christ. But God does. Those of us who care for a spouse who is ill

with Alzheimers, Parkinsons, or other devastating or debilitating disease do not connect our work with the cross of Christ. But God does. Those of us who, in spite of our frustrations, graciously allow others to care for us do not connect our patience and willingness to be cared for, with the cross of Christ. But God does. Those of us who take time away from our friends time to take a younger brother or sister for a ride in our car to get ice cream do not connect our kindness with the cross of Christ. But God does. Those of us who, in spite of the busy-ness of our lives, bring our children to Gods house and teach them the Holy Scriptures do not connect our efforts with the cross of Christ. But God does. Those of us who risk our popularity, our image, in order ask the new kid in our class at school to sit with us during lunch do not connect our friendliness with the cross of Christ. But God does. Those of us who wait for God to reveal Gods plan for our lives do not connect our patience with the cross of Christ. But God does. Those of us who overcome our hesitancy, our bashfulness about our faith,

to hand someone a card, invite them to worship, do not connect our courage with the cross of Christ. But God does. Those of us who go out of our way to help a friend, to teach Sunday School or Confirmation, show kindness to a stranger, welcome a visitor in this space, teach a child to read, serve the homeless a meal, visit someone who is lonely or ill, remind someone of Gods love. We do not connect our efforts with the cross of Christ. But God does. God sees our crosses, and is there to help us lift them up. God calls us to recognize the cross of Christ in our everyday actions. They seem like little crosses, because, in the grand scheme, they often are small crosses. They might cause a little discomfort in our lives, but theyre nothing like the crosses of those who have given their whole lives, even their very lives. It doesnt matter. The size of the cross doesnt matter. These are our crosses and we are called to lift them up. The size of the cross is not important to God. The small cross, the huge cross, we are called to be Christs hands, Christs feet, Christs voice. Our call to lift our small cross is as strong and sure as a heros call to give his or her life.

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So you see, Peter, there can be no discipleship without the cross. Oh, there can be salvation. We get to go anyway, whether or not we take up our cross. Our forgiving God will love us and save us anyway. Martin Luther reminded us of that. We call it grace. There is grace because Jesus was willing to take up his cross. Discipleship, however, is something more. Discipleship, following Jesus, is loving response to Gods grace. It involves taking up a cross on behalf of the little ones. It involves courage and discomfort. Peter ultimately discovered that. So will we. The Gentile woman in last Sundays story, the little one seems to understand this better than Peter and the other disciples in this Gospel of Mark. The Gentile woman believes, she trusts, she acts. She takes a risk. She summons her courage. She is uncomfortable and unsure. She denies herself. She takes up her cross. 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. Amen