September 13, 2015
Pentecost 16
Mark 8:29-37
James 3:1-10
(prayer)
You may have noticed -
earlier in the service - when we (together) celebrated baptism, that, although
we may have said common prayers and answered common questions, [that] the
actual acts of baptism were unique events for both Avery and Brandon.
Sure, it might have been
fun for me to try to spray water on a whole group of people and create some
mass baptism ritual - that is not how we typically do things. And there is a reason why this is the case.
You may also have noticed
that the first thing I said at the start of each baptism was “what is the name
of this person?”
//
In some church traditions,
baptism is tied to the formal naming of the person: you may have heard the word christening, which literally means to
take on Christ, is often associated by the practice of giving a person their Christian names. In many circles, christening is a synonym for
baptism, particularly of infants.
Beyond the church, the word
christening is a used to describe the formal naming and launching of a ship.
//
Part of what we are trying
to express in the ceremony of baptism in our church is that - each of us is a
unique and special creation of God.
Regardless of how many people might also share in that ceremony on the
same day, each baptism is its own event.
Theologically, I would
argue that we (each of us) is not simply an almost invisible part of a wider
family of God, but that each one of us is known by God, is loved by God, and is
important to the maker of all.
Who we are matters to God.
//
//
That brings us to our
gospel reading today - sometimes called “Peter’s Confession”. We started reading today at verse 29 in Mark
chapter 8, but the passage really begins a few verses early, when Jesus asks
the disciples about ‘the word on the street’:
who do people say that I am?
And they shared the rumours
they had heard:
§ some
say you are John the Baptist or one of the ancient prophets (come back to life);
§ others
are more specific and say that you are the prophet Elijah (who did not die a
natural death because he was taken up to heaven on a fiery chariot and is
believed by some - destined to return to
earth some day).
We heard Jesus’ follow-up
question in what we read today: who do
YOU say that I am? My friends, my
disciples/students - you who have travelled with me, healed with me, taught
with me, experienced so much spirit with me - who do YOU say that I am?
//
It’s easy to be a
reporter... of what others have said. It
is more challenging to dig deep into your heart, soul and mind and admit - out
loud - what you actually think and feel yourself. This was not an easy question for Jesus’
followers to be asked.
The text of Mark (and Matthew and Luke, where the story is also told)
doesn’t give us any indication how quickly Peter gave his answer, or even if
anyone else had an opinion of the subject.
What we have is the reader’s digest version of what (we can imagine
could have been a far more involved conversation): Peter answers: Jesus,
you are the Ma-shi-ach’ - an Aramaic-Hebrew word (אחישמ; מָשִׁיחַ)
meaning the anointed; in English, we pronounce this word Messiah. In the Greek of the New Testament, the early
Christians would have read Χριστός: Christos,
which is where we get the English word, Christ). They all mean the same thing - anointed.
Messiah is a word loaded with meaning for Pharisaic Jews
like Jesus and Peter.
Originally, it refers to
the ritualistic practice of pouring oil over the head of a high priest when
they were installed in that office. It
was also used in Hebrew history as part of the coronation ceremonies for the
kings of Israel.
Within the Pharisaic
tradition of the first century (which was a time when the Roman Empire was an
occupying force Judea and Galilee), there was an established belief that God
would - one day - re-establish the
throne of King David and that a new David
would be anointed as king over the Hebrew people. In some circles this was taken quite
literally, a new human king who would rule with the authority of David of
old. Still for others, this was a
theological belief, that God would again reign in people’s heart (regardless of
any system of human governance) and that a messianic era would commence, where
people would be judged on how well they lived in God’s way. We can see these differing views between a
redeemer and redemption if we look at the tenants of the various sects of
modern Judaism: Orthodox and
Conservative Judaism is more like to speak about a messiah; whereas Reformed and Reconstructionist Judaism often
speaks about a messianic era.
Today and in the Judaism of
the first century, there was even overlap between these two approaches - many
longed for the coming of a messiah who would usher in a messianic era.
I think we see hints of
both of these desires in the passage we read from Mark eight today.
By directly calling Jesus, Ma-shi-ach, Peter clearly views the
Messiah as a person. And we can tell by
the next conversation between Peter and Jesus, that Peter had certain
expectation about what the future might hold - given the fact that Jesus is (in
his words) The Messiah.
He did not like what he
heard from Jesus. It was not what he
wanted to hear.
//
The
Son of Man must undergo great suffering, Jesus said. I always find it interesting to note that
Jesus doesn’t confirm or deny Peter’s assertion that he is the Messiah. Instead, he speaks in the third person using
the phrase Son of Man: a Hebrew phrase used more than 100 times in the Old
Testament. In Hebrew, it is ben-adam (םדא–ןב), or son of adam, son of
earth. A fair English translation is son
of humanity (because adam is not ‘man’ in relation to ‘woman’, but ‘man’ in
relation to ‘animal’: the human species,
mankind or humankind - some inclusive language bibles translate ben-adam as Human One: also a faithful rendition of
original Hebrew.
Ben-adam is used in two
main ways in the OT. First, in the most
literal sense, referring to a human being.
In this way, it is meant to contrast the lowly status of humanity as
compared to the exalted nature of God.
The prophet Ezekiel is
addressed by God as ben-adam many times in the book that bears his name. The NRSV bibles (like we have in the pews
translate ben-adam in Ezekiel as ‘mortal’.
In the valley of dry bones, God says to the prophet: ‘mortal, can these bones live?’
Secondly, ben-adam,
particularly in the book of Daniel, seems to be a special title for one
particular human or at least someone who appears like a human. In Daniel chapter 7, it describes how God
will give dominion of the earth to ‘one
like a son of man’. This dominion is
everlasting: a kingship that shall never be destroyed.
It bears noting hear that
the book of Daniel describes a time in Israel’s history when the people were
living in exile during the Babylonian empire.
And further, the book of Daniel became a common part of the Hebrew
scriptures during the time of Roman empire a couple of centuries before Jesus’
time. It is easy to see why a belief in
a figure like the son of man would gain popularity during a time of exile and
occupation at the hands of an oppressive empire.
Now, it would not be fair
to say that the author of Daniel intended this son of man to be the Messiah as
Peter understood it, but in other old Hebrew writings - particularly some that
are not part of the formal books in our Bibles, but were written in the times
between the old and new testaments do make that connection. The first book of Enoch describes a son of
man who is pre-existent, hidden but will be revealed as righteous judge and universal
ruler.
It seems from our reading
from Mark eight, that this is what Peter imagined the Messiah-SonOfMan to be
like. He saw Jesus in this way.
It makes sense that Peter
did not see how Jesus’ description of a suffering and betrayed son of man fit
into his expectations.
Peter, so called because
Jesus called him a ‘rock’ in the faith, openly disputed Jesus’ view of the
Messiah (or Son of Man).
God
doesn’t always think the way humans think, Peter.
To me that can mean that,
as humans, we often limit our thinking to the world and environment which we
know - we think (primarily) of what affects us.
We can be a bit short-sighted.
Jesus seems to make it
clear that, regardless of what Peter or anyone else imagined about the nearness
of a messianic era of peace and harmony in God’s way, that it would not (could
not) be known without some hard work and suffering beforehand.
Of course, to the readers
of Mark in the late first century, these words were true by their
experience: the followers of Jesus’ Way
knew about Jesus’ betrayal, arrest and execution. They knew about the difficulty that many
early churches experienced; they lived through a time of rebellion in
Jerusalem, which resulted in the Roman forces destroying (once and for all) the
Hebrew Temple.
Even by the mid-70s of the
first century, the readers of Mark knew the truth of Jesus’ words. But in the moment, it was a hard truth for
Peter to consider: that being a disciple might mean following Jesus on a path
of suffering; it might mean a willingness to literally die for the cause: to
lose one’s life for the sake of Jesus’ gospel.
Jesus wants Peter and the
others to think beyond our experience in this world right now and see
themselves as something much larger and not limited by what we can see and
experience in the days when our bodies have breath. Jesus wants them to consider seeing the
broader perspective of God - who is eternal and who loves us eternally.
It is this theme that we
see in other New Testament writings like when the Apostle Paul pens “death, where is your sting; where is your
victory?”
In is this theme that we
see in the words of the United Church Creed which we said together earlier:
“in
life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us.’
And it is this theme that
Jesus states in his proverb spoken in the passage from Mark: “what
will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?”
Peter,
Peter. You are setting your mind on
human things, not divine things.
//
//
The pun only works in
English, so we can’t seriously ascribe it to the author of the gospel of Mark
or the early Christian church. But, I
love the modern juxtaposition of the homonyms:
- prophet (p-r-o-p-h-e-t),
and
- profit (p-r-o-f-i-t).
//
A prophet (ph) is one who
guides, instructs, inspires us in the ways of God. Such a prophet gives us glimpses into the
mind and purpose of a holiness beyond
our own experience, even beyond our own time and human existence.
Whereas profit (f), is a
measure of winners and losers: of personal gain, often at the expense of others
or even the world we share. I don’t mean
to universally vilify ‘profit’ because we all set financial goals and try to
achieve them. In this context, I am
thinking about unabashed, heartless, completely laissez-faire economics. The results of this attitude, I believe
history shows only benefits a very small portion of the human community in any
real way.
Prophet (p-r-o-p-h-e-t) is
about long-term, community well-being.
Profit (p-r-o-f-i-t) is too
often about short-term, individual selfishness.
//
I can think of no better
example of this juxtaposition that the ‘debates’ that continue to be sought out
around the reality of climate change.
We have had the voices of
geologists, meteorologists and other scientists for decades about the changes
we are beginning to experience now with greater frequency. Several years back, Patti and I went to
Calgary to attend a lecture by former US VP Al Gore - the same message was made
into his academy award winning film “An Inconvenient Truth”.
//
Back in May, comedian John
Oliver referred to a survey that found one in four Americans are sceptical of global
warming. I won’t quote Oliver precisely,
but he said “who gives a [bleep], you don’t need people’s opinions on a
fact. You might as well have a poll on
which number is bigger, fifteen or five; or do owls exist; or are there hats
... of the thousands of scientific papers that took a position on climate
change found that 97% endorsed the position that humans are causing global
warming.” Then, instead of having the
normal news program one-on-one debate between pro and con global warming
people, John Oliver brought out 100 people: 97 of whom took the climate change
is real stance and 3 said no.
WARNING: course language; funny, but course
I say that this issue is a
modern example of the prophet-profit juxtaposition because I have yet to hear
any anti-climate-change argument that did not also include the impact on economies
and corporate profit margins as part of the denial.
//
//
Part of what I am hearing
from Jesus in his words to Peter and the other disciples is that we need to
look beyond our own limited perspective.
Look at the picture on the screen - at first glance, it might appear to
be a picture of buildings, but it is also a picture of the sky... beyond what
is the product of human hands.
I think Jesus is inviting
us to follow a gospel that is bigger than anyone of us - a gospel that will run
into conflict with those who are unable to see beyond themselves.
//
//
I like the simple but
profound metaphors in the letter of James (our other reading for today): even
though a bridle is small compared to a horse or a rudder is small compared to a
ship, those small items can have effects far beyond their size. Specifically, James wants to church to be mindful
of the power of the tongue - to be fully honest and aware this relatively small
muscle can be a source for both great good and great evil: blessing and curse.
Jesus’ challenge to his
disciples (and by extension through the book of Mark, to us) is to use what
influence they/we have for the greater good of the gospel of God’s compassion
that is infinite.
//
That means that we will pay
greater heed to the value of the prophets of ages past and the prophets among
us than to the finite riches of any profit margin.
//
The role of disciples is not
necessarily to live in the midst of the perfect messianic age, but to give the
world glimpses of what that can be like, if we live with hearts in tune with
God’s heart.
//
Peter found this a hard
truth to consider. So may we. But our hope in is a messiah that is beyond
any measure of human suffering and our grace is in a God who is so much more
than we can imagine.
In this life, beyond this
life, God is with us. Thanks be to God.
Let us pray:
Wonderful God, you speak in acts of mercy and justice and grace. May we
learn to speak your mission, O God, by trusting who Jesus is for us and for
all. May we recognize your Spirit in the renewing of our lives and communities.
Amen.
#651VU
“Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah
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