Sermon 9/8/13
Mark 8:27-37
Reconnect: Who Do You Say I Am?
Confession
time: how many of you who are on our mailing list got to read my newsletter
column yet? In case you didn’t get to it, let me give you a quick summary. I
shared with you about a video I saw at a conference some years ago. People in
white shirts and black shirts are tossing a ball while moving around in a
circle. You’re supposed to count how many times the people in white catch the
ball. You watch intently, and get an answer, right or wrong. But then, the
narrator asks, “Did you notice the gorilla?” You watch the clip again, and sure
enough, a man in a gorilla suit walks through the middle of the group. At least
50% of viewers, including me, don’t notice the gorilla. It’s called “selective
attention,” meaning when we are focused on one thing, we can miss other things,
even very obvious things, because our
attention is elsewhere. It’s why you might walk by someone you know in the
supermarket and not even notice them. It’s why texting and driving is so
dangerous. When we’re really focused, we don’t always see what else is going
on. That’s why it is really important to make sure what we’re focused on is the
right thing, the most essential
thing. This month, our worship will be focused on helping us reconnect with our purpose. We need to
make sure that of all the important things that happen here, we don’t miss the
point – we don’t miss the gorilla walking through the middle of picture!
Today we start thinking about our purpose with a text from Mark that we
looked at back in February. At the beginning of our text, we find Jesus travelling
with the disciples, and on the way, he asks them about how people see him. Who
are they saying he is? The disciples tell him: some are saying he is John the
Baptist, some Elijah, or another of the prophets. But then Jesus is more
direct. And who do you say that I am?
Peter answers boldly, rightly: You are the Messiah. But then Jesus begins to
talk about what that means, his being the Messiah. He tells them about the
suffering he’s about to go through, his death, and his ultimate resurrection.
Somehow, though, Peter, who just called him Messiah, didn’t understand what that
title would mean. He rebukes Jesus, and in turn, Jesus says, “Get behind me,
Satan.” Then Jesus turns to the crowds and says, “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?”
Last week, I spoke to you about what I hear in the words,
“I never knew you,” words that Jesus told us in Matthew’s gospel he might say
to those pretending to be something they weren’t. “I never knew you.” This
week, Jesus seems to be asking, “Do you really
know me?” What strikes me in this
passage is that it takes place in the eighth chapter of Mark. Mark’s gospel is
short, so chapter 8 is actually half way through. By the time we get to today’s
passage, Jesus has already called the disciples, cast out several demons, cured
the blind, deaf, and sick, raised a girl from the dead, taught many parables,
broken laws about fasting and Sabbath, calmed a storm, fed 4000 and 5000,
traveled and taught among Gentiles, called out the scribes and elders about
loving their traditions more than they love God, grieved over the death of John
the Baptist, and sent disciples out to do some preaching, exorcising, and
healing themselves. It seems a little late, doesn’t it, to be asking the
disciples if they know who he is? If they don’t
know who he is, you have to wonder, why
on earth are they following him? Why would they go through all that they go
through if they didn’t already have an answer worked out to Jesus’ question?
“Do you really know who I am?” Would seeing some cool miracles and healings be
worth leaving everything normal about their lives behind if they didn’t have a
clear picture, or at least a becoming-clearer-each-moment-picture of who Jesus
was? I hear, behind Jesus’ question to the disciples, that he wonders if they
really know who he is, if they really know why
they are following, if they really understand what it is all about. The
road ahead is going to be very difficult, Jesus says. He talks about taking up
crosses – instruments of execution – and he uses this as an illustration of
what life is like when you choose to follow Jesus. It is putting your life on
the line. Being willing to risk it all in order to follow. If you want to
follow, be ready to carry a cross. Do you
really know who I am, Jesus asks
us? Do you really know what it means to follow me? Is this your purpose?
Children are great at asking questions, and most of the
time, the core question they ask is: “Why.” Children are curious, they wonder,
they imagine, and when they see the stuff that we do without even thinking
about it, things that are brand new to them, they want to know why. Why does
green mean go and red mean stop? Why is the sky blue? Why does it rain? Why do
I have to eat vegetables? Why can’t a lay on the floor during dinner? Why do I
have to sleep at night? In fact, children often go through a phase of asking
why, why, why, until adults find themselves uttering phrases they swore they
would never use: Because! Because I
said so! Just because! We know that the answers are complicated sometimes. Or
sometimes we know we can’t give a good explanation – like the reason the sky is
blue that we learned in science once upon a time but then forgot. And we know
that sometimes the answer is not very satisfying: Because somewhere along the
way we decided that laying on the floor for dinner would be called “rude,”
while other things would be called “polite.”
One of the unfortunate side effects of becoming an adult
is that we often forget to ask why. We’ve stopped being curious, because we’re
too busy, or rushed, or tired to wonder why. I think when we stop asking why, it becomes very easy to focus on
the wrong things, to focus on the people passing the ball, instead of the
gorilla walking by. We start paying attention to the interior decorating
instead of the foundation. We start focusing on our plans instead of God’s
plans. We start listening only to our own voice instead of God’s words. When we
stop asking about our purpose, sometimes, we stop having one.
Why are we doing this thing called church? Why are we
doing it here, at Liverpool First UMC? Is it because we want to follow Jesus?
Why are we following him? One of the books I read for my most recent class
suggested that every day, you remind yourself of what your primary purpose or
purposes are in life. What’s the major belief that you are trying to live out,
the major task you say you are all about? Then, at the end of each day, reflect
on this question: What did I do today that helped me carry out our purpose? If
your purpose is following Jesus, what did you do today that helped you to
follow Jesus more closely? If at the end of each day, you find yourself unable
to answer the question, the authors suggest it is time to start living
differently, or at least time to admit your purpose isn’t really your purpose.
I find it interesting that Jesus didn’t wait for each of
the disciples to answer his question about who they thought he was. And when
Peter demonstrated getting the answer right, but still missing out on true
understanding, I’m sure Jesus wasn’t surprised. He didn’t kick the disciples
out for getting confused over and over. Instead, he relentlessly tried to call
peoples’ attention to the things they were overlooking – the important things.
And so Jesus told the Pharisees to stop focusing on the minutia of the law
while missing the heart. He told people to stop focusing on the people at the
center of social circles, and start looking at the fringes. He told the
disciples to stop vying for a place at the front of the line, and start trying
to come in last, carrying a cross. Jesus asks us, again and again, to remember
who we’re following, why we’re
following, and what might happen when we sign up to walk with Christ.
Why are you here today? Why here and not sleeping in? Why
here, and not at the park? For some reason, on this day, at this time, in this
place, we’ve all decided to come together, to talk about God, to sing songs
about God, to talk about following Jesus. Do we know who we’re following? Do we
know why?
Amen.
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