So You Want to Be Great?

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
September 23, 2012
Rev. Mark R. Miller
Mark 9:30-37
“So You Want to Be Great?”

            Jesus is going to die.  This is probably as much as the disciples truly understand.  Jesus is going to leave, so a succession plan is in order.  Our future and the future of the movement are important so we need to plan.  The key question in all this is who is going to take Jesus’ place.  Or at least who is going to lead us when Jesus is gone.  And that is where the trouble starts. 

            Who is going to be in charge?  Well, Peter, James and John went with Jesus up to the Mountain.  It was these three that Jesus entrusted with the opportunity to see Elijah and Moses, and to hear the voice of God.  But among these three who is the logical choice?  Peter seems to always take the lead but often messes things up.  And if it were not for Andrew, Peter would never have met Jesus.  And before long you begin to hear each one of them making a case for their ascendency to leadership.  And this was all very important and serious business which needed their attention.  However, it devolved into an argument about who was worthy to take over when Jesus was gone.

            The disciples have finally put together that there is a problem.  And they compound the problem by addressing it before they fully understand and can even name the issue.  They think the problem is succession when the problem is about priorities and ministries.  The problems of the church are never really about power and control.  The problems in church are always, always, always based in a misunderstanding of priorities and mission.  Instead of worrying about gaining power or controlling the outcome of whatever is the most recent power struggle, Jesus’ followers are supposed to be focused on imitating Jesus.  It is a perennial problem for the followers of Jesus. 

From the congregation throughout our denomination and in every flavor of Jesus’ church we are still struggling with the same issue.  There are more arguments over who is worthy to lead.  We still argue about the arrangement of power.  Sometimes is it out front, but more often than not it is in the subtle ways we try to assert our control over others and the church.  This pride and hubris is alive and well.  The followers of Jesus – in every age – give lip service to mission while using vast resources on institutional arrangements and who is going to have the last word about how the money is used.  But the good news is that Jesus doesn’t beat us up and tell us what fools we are. 

With a question, Jesus reveals our foolishness, our egotistical nature, and our misguided energy.  So, what were you are talking about?  What is that discussion that was taking so much of your energy?  The silence of the disciples speaks volumes.  It is as if they received their wake up call.  Jesus did not need to tell them what they were doing was foolish.  All they needed was a little nudge, a reminder that the energy about [fill in the gap with your favorite argument] was a foolish waste of time.  But Jesus, like any good teacher, does not end there. 

Jesus recognizes that this is a teachable moment.  This is the time to drive home something truly radical for the disciples.  Whether they fully grasp what Jesus does next is another story all together but that does not stop him from teaching.  Using a live prop, Jesus says, welcoming a child is the same thing as welcoming God.  We know this story.  It is why we spend so much energy making sure there are events and activities for children.  But in doing so we have actually missed what Jesus was after.  It is not that we should not do these things.  It is that Jesus was after something even bigger than children.

In the ancient world children did not have the same social status as they do today.  In the ancient world children were lower in the social strata than slaves.  Slaves had a more prominent place than children.  Until they were of the age of majority they were non-entities.  So when Jesus picks up someone lower than a slave and says welcoming them is welcoming me… he is going way deeper than whether there is money in the budget for children’s programming. 

When Jesus says “welcome” he is saying that the disciples should treat those at the bottom as though they were equal or of greater status than themselves.  The normal social behavior in the ancient world dictated that you would only offer hospitality to those of equal or greater social status.  So Jesus is saying in these moments that we are supposed to throw the whole social structure on its head. 

In other words, God could care less about our arguments about who is worthy enough to be a leader in the church.  God could care less about our political games and attempts to control.  God could care less about how much money we have or don’t have.  What God cares about is how we are treating those who are truly at the bottom of the social structure.  In God’s world the poor are not victims to be scapegoated nor are they to be used for political power.  How we treat them is how we are treating Jesus. 

What were you discussing on the road?  Where are you spending your energy?  It is time we hear that question again.  Where do we need to hear that question?  Where do you need to hear that question?  The truth is that it is all about welcoming the powerless.  It is about turning the world upside down.  Those at the bottom will be brought up… there is a reckoning coming.  So what are we to do in the mean time?  The disciples of Jesus are called to live that reality right now.  Welcome the children… and anyone else who does not receive a welcome by the world.  Amen?  Amen!

The Trouble with Jesus

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
September 16, 2012
Rev. Mark R. Miller
Mark 8:27-38 
“The Trouble with Jesus”

            Before I went to bed last night I checked Facebook one last time.  One of my pastor friends wrote:  “Late night sermon writing fun on Facebook…Just answer this question in eight words or less:  Who do you say that Jesus is?”  Unless you know the author it can seem like she was trying to get others to do her work for her.  But, knowing her work well, she needs no help.  I was fascinated to find out what people had to say.  It got so interesting in fact, that I changed the beginning of my own sermon this morning.

            My initial thought was to ask each one of you to weigh in on the same question.  Do not worry, I am not going to put you on the spot.  Instead, I am going to share a few of the answers.  It should come as no surprise that twenty-three people wrote in response and almost all of them used more than eight words.  Most of her friends are pastors after all.

            So here is some of what people said:  The face of God.  A Man of inclusive love and full of compassion.  God incarnate.  Brilliant social reformer.  Savior.  Lover of the world.  Pioneer and Perfector of my faith.  Teacher, Friend.  The reason I believe in forgiveness.  The Son of God.  A prophet.  And my favorite – God with flesh on.  Maybe some of those you can relate to and others you aren’t particularly sure of or even comfortable with.   

The question of who Jesus is and was is the essential struggle in the church.  The answer to this question is the foundation for the Christian faith.  And it is one reason that there are so many flavors and expressions of the Christian faith.  Some we embrace fully and others we wonder what bible they are reading.  But the good news is that at the end of the day, what we say about Jesus says more about us than it does about Jesus.  The parts of the Gospel we cling to can tell us more about our desires and wants that anything else.

And that is why Peter is so important.  Just like Peter there is the Jesus he wants and the Jesus he gets.  And the trouble is that we cannot take one without the other.  Now, Peter is always an easy target.  His pride, his arrogance, his energy and his love for Jesus come together to show us a real and deeply flawed human being.  His witness is a gift and a curse.  The curse is that he merely becomes a punching bag for us.  We point out his flaws and then congratulate ourselves at how unlike Peter we are.  The gift of Peter’s witness comes only if we are able to admit that Peter represents our flaws, our pride, and our arrogance – as the church. 

After all this work on who Jesus is, I am beginning to think it misses the point.  In fact, I am convinced that when Jesus asks this question to the disciples it really is not a question.  When we stop after Jesus asked the question it enables us to pick and choose.  It leaves us with the impression that we have the final say on the role and presence of Jesus in our lives.  Jesus is not asking a question so much as he is clearing up confusion about his identity.  It is not a matter of which version of Jesus you want to lift up.  It is not a matter of defining Jesus with the right theological lens.  Jesus doesn’t say – the proper answer to the question is… Instead, Jesus says he will suffer for his stance.  He will suffer and be rejected and die on a cross.  Our only choice in the matter is whether or not we will put our whole selves on the line.  Will we willingly pick up the cross – give our whole selves to the cause of loving justice? 

            “Everyone has their cross to bear…”  I heard this saying so many times as a child.  The problem is that it lost meaning for me.  The idea of picking up one’s cross became connected with doing things you might like not to do.  Or it had something to do with engaging people you did not particularly like in a kind manner.  Or it had to do with facing some illness or other personal struggle in life.  But I heard it so much that the idea of picking up one’s cross seemed like drudgery and something beyond one’s control.  But there is a choice, not in which version of Jesus we might like, but in whether or not we will pick up the cross.  And that is the troubling part.

            The cross was a symbol and instrument of state sanctioned torture.  It was a public execution that was intended to humiliate cultures and peoples who were unwilling to play by the rules of Rome.  It was a sadistic action that began with whipping.  It continued with the condemned having to carry the upper cross bar of the cross through the streets facing more public humiliation.  And then large nails would be driven through the fore arms and legs and the final death would come through suffocation.  Once the person was dead the body would be left for the vultures, ravens, and dogs.  It was the most horrific and humiliating way to die.  And this form of death was most often reserved for revolutionaries and rebels.  And this is the most common symbol of our faith today. 

            So when Jesus says pick up your cross it does not seem appealing.  But Jesus was talking to a people who had few choices.  When you were crucified the cross was placed upon you.  Jesus is talking about taking back power.  They may kill you, but you are not powerless.  And as a result of this, one of the most feared and a powerful symbol of death ever invented is now known as a strange religious symbol or some cool jewelry. 

            So what does it mean for us to talk about picking up the cross?  It is an important reminder about the heart of our faith.  The first is that we are called to proclaim hope in the midst of despair.  We are called to go to the places of greatest humiliation and suffering knowing that is where Jesus would be today.  It means that when the call to kill or go to war is made that Christians are called to say no and to pray with and for those called enemies.  We are to stand with any group that is being singled out as a scapegoat.  We are called to point out the places of suffering and go and plant ourselves. 

Picking up the cross is a choice – it’s a choice to live in a self-centered world drenched in rational self-interest and say no.  The cross is liberating when self-chosen but not when put upon by others.  And that is why Jesus says it is a choice.  And the trouble with Jesus is not in our theological arguments about who he is but in our living out those statements by picking up the cross and standing in solidarity with the humiliated and scapegoated of the world. 

            The greatest threat to faithfulness is not other people.  This passage makes it clear.  Those most troubling, those most likely to play the part of Satan are Jesus’ followers and the religious establishment.  When we lose sight of the heart of our faith the cross is a stark reminder of the simplicity and the struggle.  The cross we are called to bear is not one that will be thrust upon us.  And who we say Jesus is matters little.  What matters is always keeping our eyes open for those who are thrust aside and scapegoated in society.  And that is where we must go, that is where we must stand.  And that truly is the trouble with following Jesus.