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This Week's Sermon !

September 15, 2024 - Season of Pentecost -

James 3: 1-12
Psalm 19
Mark 8: 27-38

Front Page Challenge!

When I was young there was one TV station available and we had one TV, a black and white set, - in the kitchen. One evening program I remember my dad and grandmother watching was the CBC’s, Front Page Challenge”. A special guest would be standing behind a panel consisting of Betty Kennedy, Gordon Sinclair, Pierre Berton and a guest panellist, led by host Fred Davis. There were others over the years but these are the people I remember best! Panel members would have to guess who the mystery guest was through a series of questions. Over the years, the list of guests included Indira Gandhi, Pierre Trudeau, Gordie Howe, and in the very last episode, Shania Twain. The one question that was not allowed, of course, was “What is your name”. Unlike similar shows on American networks, the CBC did not steer away from controversy but did not allow 4 letter words! In time international guests no longer appeared once the CBC budget cuts deemed the travel to be too expensive.

In today’s passage the disciples are thrown into a first-century version of this game. First, Jesus asks for “the word on the street”. What have they heard at the local Tim Hortons? What’s the latest on Facebook? The answers seem far fetched - John the wilderness prophet had been executed only recently and Elijah had been carried off in a blaze of glory, generations before. The men they mention are dead.

Yet, the most important question, the question Jesus really wants them to answer, comes next. Who do YOU say that I am?

Many of you will remember the tv show in which someone always asked the question, “who was that masked man?” The answer, of course, was always, “why, he’s the Lone Ranger.” He was “lone” because a band of outlaws had killed the rest of his patrol, Texas Rangers whose job it was to keep the west safe for law abiding settlers. I suspect that every young boy who watched the show aspired to be a “Ranger,” even those watching through the snowy reception of rural Canada.

A lot of young people are inspired to enter a certain career because of nostalgia and romantic ideas of saving the world. When they begin their training they wonder if they will survive, let along graduate.

In other programs the, the failure rate is high. My uncle told me that when he entered engineering, his classmates were told, “say hello to the young man on your left and now on your right. Now say goodbye to one of them. I went to almost the same assembly, and most of us were not in engineering. It was supposed to make we young students realize that they were not in high school anymore and hitting the books would be far more important than the social activities that are so exciting for young people away from home for the first time.

The reality is that when we sign up for something we don’t really know what is involved, especially in the training period. Once the disciples have come to the conclusion that Jesus is the Messiah he orders them to be quiet, because? Well, that’s always been a bit of a head scratcher. You might think he would want them to proclaim it from the roof-tops.

But, I think it was because was going to re-define the concept of the Messiah. You see they thought of the Messiah as a warrior king who would lead an insurrection and drive the Romans out of their beloved homeland. He promised a return to the greater glory of their past. The Messiah would bring a new era that was just like the days of old. Since there had been generations and generations of not having any autonomy, people readily agreed, “wouldn’t it be great.” They saw through rose-coloured glasses.

Some of you know that I gather over zoom on Tuesday with colleagues. We don’t usually talk about our upcoming sermons but this week one of my colleagues noted that Jesus attempts to silence his disciples; they knew who he was but they were not allowed to tell anyone. This is often called “the messianic secret” and it has intrigued scholars for generations. “Why?” Perhaps, Jesus needed time for them to figure it out first, before they let the rest of the community in on their discoveries,

However, Jesus was not planning to be a military leader of any sort. Jesus was not planning to hand out positions of honour and privilege for his closest friends. The revolution he was planning was first one of the heart; he wanted to get the disciples on board first and then, by the time his secret was out, they would be able to tell others what Jesus ministry was really all about. It was also a revolution of reversal. The strong would become weak and the weak would be lifted up and given strength.

In some places you can tell who voted for the government because there is a new layer of pavement on a pot-hill filled road or a new government contract announced for a public infrastructure project. In Jesus’ world there would be no rewards for those who had helped to bring about the change or reversal of fortunes; everyone would win and most importantly, everyone winning did not mean that others had to lose.

Jesus also knew that his mission would rub many people the wrong way and that his message would ruffle a lot of feathers. Those who stood to lose a lot would try as hard as possible to silence him. And they did. But then they didn’t!

As we study the history of the early church we find out that Jesus’ first followers did suffer and die at the hands of those whose power was threatened. By the time the Gospels were written down a lot of his “predictions” had already come to pass.

Our neighbours to the South are in the midst of election fever and many Canadians have been following the debates and laughing or shaking their heads or, dare I say it, keeping their cats inside! More than ever the American elections seem to matter more to Canadians. I am dismayed that Canadian politics has become infected with the attack style ads and character assassination that was common only in the States. It should not be enough to proclaim that the other party is bad; there needs to be another vision.

At election time people ask the question, “What’s in it for me? “What can I get from this or that action.” I read a story a while ago of a man who was visiting a friend in a very poor neighbourhood. He parked outside the apartment and he saw a young boy and asked him if he would like to earn $20 for watching his car for him. He nodded eagerly because he did. When the man finished the visit he offered the boy a ride in his car. He drove him all over the neighbourhood and told him that the car had been a gift from his brother. “Wow, he GAVE you this car. Like it didn’t cost you NOTHING?” The boy asked.

“No, It did not cost me a cent.”

“I wish .....” The man was certain what the boy was going to say next, but he was surprised when his words finally came out, “I wish I would be a brother like that.”Imagine what it would be like to have so much spare change that you could give someone a car!

This passage from Mark’s gospel is one of the many in which the up-side-down world of the Gospels is held up and offered as the way of Christ. It’s not a “what’s in it for me?” perspective, but a “what can I be enabled to do?” point of view.

John F Kennedy, the beloved US President who was assassinated in 1963 gave a speech which included this line, “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” During his term the Vietnam War was a difficult and divisive issue. The Space Race was in large part a competition with Russia and it took an astronomical amount of their resources but they beat the Russians to the moon.

I have read many stories and talked with many people who have lived overseas. Many have discovered that the people in the developing world can teach us a great deal about generosity and hospitality. A Mission Personnel from the United Church visited a family from his church and was offered a meal. He cleaned his plate which is what a good Canadian boy was taught. The plate was taken to the kitchen and refilled. The man again cleaned his plate. When it was brought back a third time the Canadian realized that, in that culture, not finishing your meal was a sign that you had eaten enough, that your host was a good host. What amazed him was that this stranger with very little was willing to give it to him.

We think of abundance as something we used to enjoy - back in the good old days, whatever those days were. Remember when food and gas were cheaper? Remember when .....”

In a world where the gap between the rich and the poor is ever widening, what does our faith call us to do and be? What do the teachings of this Jesus we follow have to say to our goals and ambitions and entitlements.

John Wesley, the famous Methodist preacher once said, “Earn all you can, save all you can, and give all you can,” in a sermon titled, “The Uses of Money.” We teach children about saving money - saving money for a rainy day, for a special purpose, saving money for education, for a house, for retirement. I wonder how many people teach their children to save money in order to give it away. It goes with all that other paradoxical stuff about losing one’s life in order to find it and dying so that one can rise to abundant life.

We all know the basic story of A Christmas Carol , the Dickensian tale about an old miserable miser who became happy only when he realized that giving to those in need brought much more joy than adding to his bank account. I read somewhere that this book can take most of the credit for the formation of modern Christmas associations with generosity toward the poor.

If we believe that Jesus is the Messiah and are ready to proclaim that in him we see the fullness of God, what does that mean to us.

If this knowledge and commitment is “saving” then what exactly does “saving” mean. If we are saved, then is it FROM something, or is it, “FOR” something.

Let’s not even talk about “heaven” for the moment; most of Jesus concern was about the place in which he lived and the people to whom he preached. To trust in him and in his way we are saved from the desire to amass and have and posses as much as we can. We are saved from the burden to rely on ourselves alone and to rely on the relationship between the dollar and human happiness. Instead, says Jesus we are to rely on God as we take up the cross and follow.

I need to say a little about the metaphor of “taking up the cross.” For generations people have gotten the idea that this cross refers to an illness or a some kind of disability. Taking up your cross is a CHOICE, a choice to life sacrificially for the Gospel.

To take up one’s cross is to choose among at least two courses of action - and to chose the one which proclaims that love of God and love of self and love of neighbour. Since the time we have learned to speak in sentences we are taught to never begin a sentence with me, as in, “Me and Cathy are going to PA.” The rules of grammar notwithstanding, sometimes we do have to care for ourselves and rest, BUT the way of the world where it is assumed that we will look after #1 first, is not the way of Jesus.

This was not the kind of information the disciples could absorb on the fly. The gospels tell us that some of them were looking for positions of honour, dear know what some people Jesus knew from his school days were looking for! I read a story about a famous recording artist who was autographing albums in a record store. Someone tried to jump the queue by claiming a high school friendship. The artist did not remember that person and she waited in line with the rest of the riff raff.

Participating in this “Challenge” is not just a game. This is one of the most important questions we will ever have to answer and should change our lives to their very core. Who do you say Jesus is?

Let us make our own decision about who Jesus is for us, but as we are making it, may we realize its not about what we can receive but what kind of world we can create with the help of other like minded people and the Spirit working within us.

Amen.

1995- 2021 The Rev. Beth W. Johnston.

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