Breaking Through

Mark 8:27-38

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but we’ve been on a journey through the Gospel of Mark over these past few weeks. It is a journey which has not only taught us things about the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, but maybe has also taught us a few things about ourselves and where we currently stand on the path towards building our relationships with our neighbor, our selves, and our God.

Two weeks ago we were introduced to an historical explanation of when and why the Deuteronomical laws were written. We listened to the story of King Josiah’s rebirth of the covenants which the people of Israel had made with God. We heard how the laws found in Deuteronomy were meant to reunite a people who had been oppressed by the Assyrian Empire and forced to worship a pagan god by a succession of kings for close to 80 years.

Along the way through this historical teaching we followed Jesus as he consistently broke those same laws written 700 years before his days. He ate with people who didn’t wash hands, and for doing so he was belittled. Yet, Jesus’ response was not one of submission or being sorry, Jesus’ reaction was to recite the words of the prophet Isaiah to remind those who were condemning him that they were being hypocrites.

To Jesus, it would seem that the temple elite had forgotten what the true intent of the law had been: to unite all people under one God. The temple elite lived, and expected everyone else to live, under a very stringent interpretation of the laws, when in fact the laws themselves, while important, are not what the focus is supposed to be on. Rather, the focus is supposed to be on living in such a way as to take care of one another through mutual respect of personhood and property, while never forgetting the God who is at the center of the reason for all existence.

Last week we followed Jesus as he continued to break the laws set forth in his days by healing outside the set norms for doing such things. If we remember, only the priests could perform such miracles, and those miracles had to be done following very rigid protocols.

We were introduced to how the Gospel of Mark had Jesus trying very hard to keep secret who he was and what he was doing. We followed Jesus as he quietly did the work of God through compassionate and intimate evangelism. We came to understand that although Jesus didn’t follow the rules of his day all the time, he did follow the rules of God by taking care of his neighbor through the love of God.

As quiet as Jesus had hoped to keep his secret, he could not contain the famous crowds of Mark, those crowds who represent us. So as Jesus traveled his path and did the work of God in his unique way, the people could not hold back from telling the stories of how there was a man of God who could make the deaf hear and bring speech to those who could not talk. This was Mark’s way of showing us a different way of evangelizing by having us tell everyone we know and all whose paths cross ours of the wonderful things God has done in our lives.

We also learned that the path we’re traveling is one that God has called us to be on, and sometimes just as Jesus had to go against the set norms of his day, we do as well. We heard of how our denomination, The United Church of Christ, stood side by side with the oppressed, on what was called the right side of justice, even though we haven’t always stood on the right side of society. Yet, the passage of history has shown that in the end the unconditional acceptance of God’s love always seems to win.

Today we find ourselves in a place that may not feel comfortable to all, just as it didn’t for Jesus’ closest disciple. Today, we hear of a story which places Peter in the crossroads, having to make what is probably the biggest decision of his life.

Before we see what happens at that crossroad, though, let’s take a look at what got him there.

In the time of Jesus, Caesarea Philippi was by all accounts a very large Roman city and as was the custom of many large Roman cities the people who lived in and around them worshiped pagan gods. In fact, these people would build shrines to the many gods they worshiped and place statues which represented these gods within their shrines.

It is very possible, then, that as the readers of Mark in the first century imagined Jesus and his followers walking through the villages which surrounded Caesarea Philippi they would see them walking down a road or street that had many of these shrines erected in front of people’s homes or places of business. To these people, those shrines and their idols would have been second nature, this is something they would have been used to seeing and walking among many times in their lives, just as you and I might walk down a busy street in Chinatown and not notice all the storefront windows displaying their roasted pigs.

It’s in this setting Jesus decides to hold a particularly thought-provoking conversation with his disciples. As they walk along those shrine-lined streets Jesus attentively asks, “Who do the people say I am?” To which the answers are varied prophets from their past and recent histories.

It’s at this point in the story I imagine Jesus pausing, causing his disciples to stop in their tracks as well. As they stand there I can see his face, filled with curiosity as he asks them, “What about you? Who do you say that I am?”

It’s this moment in the story where I can see Peter taking in his surroundings, maybe actually noticing for the first time the shrines and their many idols. Then, as he gazes once again at the great Rabbi he says, almost with silent amazement in his voice, “You are the Christ.”

Luke’s version of this story has Peter saying that Jesus is the “Christ sent from God” and Matthew’s version of this story has Peter answering that Jesus is the “Christ, the Son of the living God”, which is actually my favorite response, but they all have the same meaning: Peter is recognizing, maybe for the first time, that Jesus is the one who is chosen and sent by God to live among them and to finally free them from their oppressions.

Peter has come to the realization that Jesus is the Christ, the anointed one who walks with us and who shares in life’s trials and joys with us. Peter recognizes that Jesus is not someone to put on display in a shrine.

Perhaps it’s because of this recognition, the one that the Messiah has finally come, that Peter does what he does next; he tries to stop Jesus from all that talk about being persecuted and suffering and being rejected and killed. After all, what kind of talk is that from the one who is supposed to free their people from the oppression of the Roman Empire?

But Jesus will have nothing of it and pushes Peter aside and, here’s what the point of this whole thing is, openly and publicly denounces Peter as someone who opposes him and pushes him aside. My friends, Mark has brought us to a place where Peter, the one who just proclaimed Jesus as the Christ, is now standing at a crossroad.

This chapter of Mark, the 8th chapter, is right in the middle of Mark’s story. This event, where Jesus pushes Peter aside and very publicly declares that if you want to follow him the road ahead won’t be easy, is what many scholars call the gateway of Mark’s Gospel. This is the place where we go from a ministry of Jesus that was safe and quiet for the most part, to one that is public and will draw a lot of attention, not only from the temple elite, but also from the Roman government.

This is the place where Jesus tells his followers that they are either with him or not, but he has a call from God and he must fulfill that call. And that call will mean that Jesus and all those who follow him will share in the same persecutions, sufferings, rejections, and maybe death. But it will also mean that in the end they will be resurrected in a new life, a life in God.

14 years ago this past Friday, America witnessed what some have described as the single most devastating attack on United States soil in the modern era. I remember that morning vividly. My alarm clock went off, waking me for another day of work. One of the first things I did was turn on the television to watch the local morning news; my brain still not fully awake, mainly because I haven’t had any coffee yet.

I remember thinking I was watching some kind of movie and just how vivid and realistic the special effects were. Just as the fog of my newly awakened brain began to lift, and the voices of Matt Lauer and Katie Couric became clearer, I began to realize that what I was watching wasn’t a movie. What I was witnessing was the aftermath of a horrific event.

The first thing I did was wake up Ann, mumbling to her in a voice that was incoherent and panicked at the same time that the World Trade Center in New York City had been attacked. She leaped out of bed and we both sat in front of the TV, trying to make sense of what was going on.

We watched as the dust from the toppled towers covered streets, neighboring buildings, and the people who were trapped in the city and her varied underground tunnels. We watched as some people stood in silent disbelief while others stumbled around trying desperately to reconnect to some semblance of rational thought.

Then, as though someone had said it was time to move forward, we watched as hundreds of people swarmed to the mountainous piles of concrete and metal. These people began the daunting task of trying to clear the mess and look for survivors. A closer look at these brave souls showed us something amazing – these weren’t trained professionals in rescue and recovery, these were everyday people just like you and me.

As time went on and the rest of America began getting back to as normal a life as possible, the seemingly ever-present droves of volunteers at ground zero grew larger and larger. People came from all around the country to offer what little they had to offer. Some of these volunteers were professionals like doctors and nurses. Some of them were professionals of a different kind such as heavy equipment operators or experts in demolition and excavation.

But, for the most part, those who gave of their time and talents were people who literally had no idea what they were doing; they only knew that they had to be there. They had felt the need to travel across the country and do something, anything. To be honest, if I had the means in those days I would have gone there as well.

What I felt was a definite calling, and that calling was to face uncertainty, maybe even personal suffering, in order to better the situation of people I didn’t even know – maybe even of people who wouldn’t care that I was there. But what others would think of me or do to me wasn’t what was important. What was important was that I could become a presence in someone else’s life to somehow make that life a little better.

Although I couldn’t travel to New York City, I soon found ways to offer my presence to those around me here in Hawaii. A lot of the youth I worked with had difficulty understanding what was going on. A lot of the people in my daily life had difficulty expressing their thoughts and feelings about what was happening. I found a way to simply be a presence for these people and to help them through their difficulties.

This is what we are called to do as followers of Christ: to find a way to be a presence for those who need us. Jesus found himself at a crossroads, knowing fully well that what he had to do, what he was called to do, would cause him to suffer many things. In a way, Peter also stood in those same crossroads in the knowledge that what he was being asked to do would most likely cause him to suffer, but Peter wasn’t quite ready to take that step.

The question for us is are we?

Are we ready to follow our Christ into the unknown? Can we say that the way of Jesus is the way we have chosen to live our lives? Can we commit to take up the cross, to bear the things that will bring us rejection by those around us and cause us suffering, and follow the teachings of God’s chosen one; Jesus Christ?

The path ahead won’t be easy. Jesus teaches us that sometimes we have to go against the norms of society and not always follow a strict adherence to antiquated rules. Jesus teaches us that sometimes we have to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves and to be the voice of the voiceless. Jesus teaches us that the most important things in life is that we find a way to love one another, find a way to love ourselves, and above all place God in the center of our lives.

We are called to go beyond the crossroads that cause us to sit still and to be to others as Christ is to us.

God is with us all. Amen.