SERMON, PROPER 19B, MARK 8:27-38

Back in Mark 6, Jesus sent the 12 disciples out into the surrounding villages to preach the Good News and heal those in need. While they were roaming the countryside and in and out of villages, they heard what the people were saying about Jesus. After all, Jesus had quite the reputation by this time and they had been sent out by the man himself.

One problem with the lectionary is that you hear the gospel in bits and pieces, broken up from week to week. Or maybe it's not the lectionary, but with a priest who decides to preach an extended series on, oh, say, Ephesians, and you miss hearing certain gospel passages preached on. But it's not only the lectionary or creative priests; it's also not being in church on a regular basis or not taking the time to read scripture outside of church.

I'm not trying to make you feel guilty here, I'm simply pointing out that all of these factors contribute to hearing the gospel stories in segregated snippets that result in the possibility of missing the inter-connectedness of it all. While this is true for all of the gospels, I think it is especially true of Mark, where he inserts stories within stories and the lectionary will truncate them in order to make it appear unified.

Speaking of stories within stories . . . So back to Mark 6. The disciples are on a mission of preaching the gospel and healing people. And while they are out there, they are also listening to what people are saying about Jesus. Now, in today's gospel, they are back with Jesus. As they move from the area of the Decapolis and surrounding towns and into Caesarea Philippi, Jesus wants to know how things went. If you ever want an example that Jesus was fully human, this is one of the better places to look. Why? Because he doesn't ask, "So, how'd things go?" He asks, "Who do people say that I am?"

It reminds me of that country song I hear on my daughter's radio every so often, "I want to talk about me me me . . . "

But I'm getting off track. So Jesus wants to know what's being said. The disciples think back a couple of chapters and say, "John the Baptist," "Elijah," and "One of the prophets." That was the bait, now comes the hook.

"But who do you say that I am?"

It's easy to follow the crowd. You can simply say what people are saying and remain relatively non-committal. You can do it with anything. What are people saying about Tester, Burns, Bush, the Yankees, the Seahawks or the new school administrator? But it's a different story when the question becomes, "What do you say?"

That requires intentional thought. It requires critical thinking. It requires a statement of commitment. It means you have to be willing to be nailed down. And in today's polarized world, with the general tendency to look for quotable sound bytes rather than meaningful context, that can be a scary thing for some people.

"Who do you say that I am?"

Peter bites and says, "You are the Messiah." He is willing to get nailed down to a statement that he can't run from. But then, of course, he tries to convince Jesus to avoid his Passion and use his power to take control. And Jesus calls him 'Satan' for this.

Jesus isn't saying the Peter is actually Satan, the devil. Jesus says this because Peter is acting like the Satan of Job and the Satan of Jesus' temptations. Satan is the adversary; causing doubts, putting God to the test, offering the easy way out. For Peter, being told that Jesus had to suffer and die was definitely not the easy way out.

But Jesus, if you've noticed, wasn't a man to follow the crowd. He said what needed to be said, whether it was to the people or to the political and religious authorities. He never allowed common opinion to dictate his motives, and in the end, he allowed himself to get nailed down. Knowing this about himself, he knew that his followers would face the same thing. Hence the comment, "If you want to follow me, you must take up your cross."

Take up your cross. This isn't a generic statement about following the crowd, or dealing with unfortunate circumstances. Your cross isn't your illness, the Republicans or Democrats in power, rude co-workers or your mother-in-law.

The cross you bear is your choice. It's not about what other people are saying about you, but it's an intentional choice to follow Jesus in some capacity on your part. It's you thinking critically about what you're doing. It's your statement of commitment. It's you being willing to be nailed down.

Who do you say Jesus is? What do you have to say about the life of this parish? Are you willing to take up the cross of the Church and make a public statement through your time, your talent and your treasure? Are you willing to put Jesus first and not take the easy way out? Are you willing, in other words, to get nailed down and lose your life for the sake of the gospel?