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.