The Rev. Carol S. Wedell
March 8, 2009

I read something interesting this week. In times of economic crisis - such as now - church attendance goes down.  In other kinds of crisis, such as immediately after 9/11, it goes up.  One writer questioned, "if you fear for your life, you go to church; if you fear for your lifestyle, you don't?"

Well, I'm glad you are here this morning, and I know that you are all acutely aware of the economic turmoil facing not only the United States, but indeed, the entire world. Those of us who chose to put money in the stock market (what seemed to be a reasonable risk at the time) are uncomfortably aware that the value of what we thought we owned has gone down drastically.  No matter your political affiliation, it is clear that the status quo is not acceptable.  The cost to peace of mind and economic security has been enormous. All of us are being affected, with more still to come.  In times like these it is all too easy to let fear take over.  We are at a turning point: something needs to change (hopefully for the better) and soon.

Our reading from the gospel of Mark this morning also comes at a turning point.  The disciples have been with Jesus and watched his ministry with hope and expectation.  Jesus has fed a crowd of over 4000 with a mere 7 loaves of bread and some fish thrown in.  The Jewish leaders have been repeatedly "put in their place" by Jesus' words and actions.  He has healed countless people.

So when Jesus asks, "who do people say that I am?" the disciples are quick to rattle off the great heroes of their history:  perhaps John the Baptist or Elijah or one of the prophets.  However, the more important question, the critical question that Jesus asks is "who do you say that I am?"  That "you" is plural, so it includes all of the disciples then and throughout the ages - including you and me.  It comes as no surprise that Peter thinks he has the right answer.  He has Jesus figured out.  "You are the Messiah."  Jesus doesn't respond to Peter's answer, except to say, "keep it quiet."

Now Jesus turns from ministry to the poor and outcast and begins his journey toward Jerusalem. The gospel writer tells us that finally Jesus, who often taught in parables, began to teach them plainly, clearly about who he was and what was down the road for him.  Just as Jesus was hitting his high point, he tells the disciples, "Very soon, I'm going to be arrested and beaten and killed." The disciples are stunned. The do not like what they are hearing - at all. There is a problem - a big one. 

The Jewish understanding of the Messiah was quite clear.  The Messiah, sent by God, was going to be a descendant of David, who would come to rule his people and save them from their enemies - in this case the Roman empire.  The Messiah would be a mighty military man, ready to put Israel back on the map as an important world power.  Traditional expectations would include kingship, might and unquestionably, victory.  

Jesus clarifies the meaning of both his messiahship and, as a result, the nature of discipleship. The disciples' image of who Jesus was and how he should act simply did not match Jesus' self-understanding or mission. Suffering, rejection and death did not fit with the disciples' assumptions.  But Jesus knew that his mission was far more important than their assumptions, far more profound, outstripping even messianic expectations.

In this first prediction of his passion, Jesus says that he not only will suffer, but will die on a cross.  This is simply too much.  That just is not what a real Messiah would do! This is the first time the disciples have heard Jesus talk this way, telling them he must die and rise again. His words about dying are so shocking that the disciples don't even hear the part of Jesus' rising again. For them, this makes no sense. It is absurd. Their human hopes and dreams were dashed, their faith shaken, and Peter jumps up to confront Jesus and set things straight.

Peter takes Jesus aside and "rebukes" him.  We can almost hear him yelling, "What are you doing?  You finally have crowds of people following you and you go and blow it!  What is this nonsense about suffering and death?  A cross?  Are you nuts?  Jesus, this is not what people want to hear.  Just give them a nice, strong Messiah.  None of this suffering stuff. We signed on for a crown - not a cross!"

This is not a polite, quiet conversation. The word "rebuke," which Mark uses to describe Peter's action is very strong.  It is exactly the same word used when Jesus challenges the demonic forces that he casts out. Peter believes that Jesus needs to be set straight and he is just the one to do it. After all, Peter has seen Jesus cast out demons, claim authority to forgive sin and prove it by healing the lame man. Jesus has defined what is and is not right behavior on the Sabbath, fed the multitudes, even controlled the forces of the cosmos. So why would Jesus allow himself to be subjected to suffering, rejection and death, destroying him and his messianic purpose? Peter didn't misunderstand what Jesus was saying. He understood it all too well. He simply didn't like what he heard.

Jesus is quick to respond and harshly rebukes Peter - the very one who just moments before seemed to understand who Jesus really was. Jesus' words are not gentle.  In front of all the other disciples, Jesus says, "Get behind me Satan!" Jesus understands that the one with whom he wrestled in the wilderness has reappeared to test him again.  But this time, it comes in the form of a beloved disciple, who unknowingly tries to lure Jesus away from his true calling. 

"Peter, you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.  You have confused what you think is important with what is truly important."   And right away, Jesus turns around to the crowds who have followed him and speaks to them.  "If you want to follow me, there will be some costs.  It will not be easy.  It won't be the status quo.  Your way will be like my way.  You will have to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me."

I don't think we can fully grasp the shock of those words.   Just what does it mean to take up our cross?  There certainly are some rampant misunderstandings in circulation. Too often this phrase has been used referring to personal adversity-a lifeless marriage, rebellious children, hostilities within a greater family, a form of debilitating illness-or enduring irritating inconveniences or difficult people in daily living. The cross Jesus speaks of is not the burdens life can and does impose upon us.

In the first century, "cross" was an unambiguous symbol.  It clearly marked those who posed a threat to the empire, (a threat to the status quo) and marked them for extermination. It was an instrument of death, and a particularly cruel form -- because it was slow and agonizing. The one hanging from the cross died of suffocation. The cross was also an instrument of oppression and power. Those in power (in this case, the Romans) used the cross to communicate that they had power over anyone who would go against them. On the cross, the victim was utterly powerless.

Jesus makes it very clear:  the cross is the result of walking with him, of going beyond the status quo. This is not a requirement merely for the first 12.  It is central and critical for all of us who seek to follow Jesus. If that is what we decide to do, life simply will not be the same.  There is a direct relationship between who we understand Jesus to be, and what it means to follow him.   For us to bear the cross means being willing to bear whatever, whenever, because of "our stubborn loyalty to Jesus."  It means staking our very life on following the One who went to the cross on our behalf.

Mark reminds us that God's ways are very different than our ways.  Virtually all of us have grown up being told that we had the right to pursue our own happiness, to make a good life for ourselves and, until recently, to expect to have more wealth and disposable income than our parents. Today's reading is a tough assessment of the hope and success that we have been seeking through decades of affluence, the future of which is more than uncertain. We are every bit as entrenched in our culture's values as Peter was in his. 

The real problem is that we have been tempted to equate our culture with God's world - thinking that we can somehow domesticate Jesus and make him fit neatly into the status quo of our world.  We want him around, but we really aren't into suffering.  We live in a society where there is a pill for almost every conceivable illness.  Let's just make Jesus a little tamer, a little less demanding.  After all, if we try and "sell" that other stuff, no one will come to church, and Church of the Western Reserve might not survive!

Paul Mullen, an online colleague tells of an experience that put the real point of this passage in graphic relief.  He writes, "The scene was a Church gymnasium in Los Angeles, California in 1969, the Viet Nam War was raging. The Watts Riots had happened not long before. L.A. was a crucible of sorts. I was sitting on the floor with about a hundred others, most of them seminarians who, like myself, were in process of preparing for the ministry. We were all watching intently as a large black man, with a large afro hairdo, wearing a colourful dashiki, paced back and forth in front of us, glaring at us, like a caged lion. He was a leader in the Black community in L.A. and it was quite clear that we would sit there until he decided what would happen next. To this point, having been introduced to us by our professor, he had said nothing.

And he continued to say nothing. Pacing back and forth, back and forth. It seemed like an eternity. Finally he spoke.

"The problem with you white folk, the  problem with you middle-class, wet behind the ears,  white folk, is that you haven't got a clue what you are willing to  die for. And because you don 't know what you are willing to die for, you haven't got a clue why you are alive!"

What or who is it that we are willing to die for?  That is the question, isn't it?  When it comes right down to it, Jesus asks us, tells us, that true disciples put him first, and asks if we are willing to pay the cost. Discipleship means following.  Doing what the leader does. This is more than an intellectual commitment, more than believing things about Jesus, more than claiming him as Lord and Savior. Discipleship is about staying in relationship with him, even when that draws us into conflicts with the world or with ourselves-our motivations and aspirations.  In a world where the reality that monetary security will not save us, where we may no longer be able to be defined by our job, following Jesus reminds us again that our identity, our value is not found in those external things.  You and I are valuable simply because we are beloved by God.

Christianity is not about solving problems and making life easier. If anything, following Jesus is going to complicate things. Living a life that really matters in the name of Jesus will not allow room for clutching or hoarding or playing it safe. Instead it calls us to a less possessive way - a way that treats life more like a precious gift to be shared than a commodity to be stored up. It means taking up our cross and following.

Dr. Wiley Stephens wrote, A few years ago, a large department store tried marketing a doll in the form of the baby Jesus. The advertisements described it as being "washable, cuddly, and unbreakable," and it was neatly packaged in straw, satin, and plastic. To complete the package, the manufacturer added biblical text appropriate to the baby Jesus. To the department store executives, it looked like a sure-fire winner, a real moneymaker. But they were wrong. It didn't sell. In a last-ditch effort to get rid of these dolls, one of the store managers placed a huge sign in one of the store windows. It read:

Jesus Christ
Marked down 50%
Get him while you can.

But friends, there is no half-priced Jesus.  There is no half-hearted commitment.  We do people a grave injustice when we tell them that following Jesus really doesn't require much of them.  Because it's just the opposite.  Again, Dr. Stephens writes, To bear the cross is to measure a world beyond self and comfort and what we want. Rudyard Kipling, giving an address to the graduating medical class of McGill University, said, "You'll go out from here and very likely you'll make a lot of money. One day you'll meet someone for whom that means very little, and then you'll know how poor you are."  What are we willing to die for?  Will we pick up the cross and follow?

The good news is that Jesus believes that we are able to carry our cross - whatever that may be.  We are able to live sacrificial lives that are focused beyond ourselves, that carry the cross of Christ into the world.  What Jesus is telling his disciples - telling you and me -- is that every life has the capacity to make the reality of God present.  We are, as if often said, the only Jesus that many people will ever see.

But to be cross-bearers, to follow Jesus means being willing to let go of the safety of the status quo, of the known and familiar.  It means defining Christian as something far more significant than, "a nice person who believes in Jesus."  What better time than Lent to examine our lives to see how much we have our eyes on human things - and how much on divine.  It means forgetting about what it means to be a good church-going person and focus on following the One who turned toward Jerusalem - knowing that it meant the cross.  Or as Garrison Keillor, says to each of us and to all of us: "Give up your good Christian life and follow Christ."