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Pentecost 15, Proper 19 Lesson: Proverbs 1:20-33
September 13, 2009 Psalm 19
The Rev. Wallace Marsh Epistle: James 3:1-12
St. James’ Church, Marietta Holy Gospel: Mark 8:27-38
Many of you know that I spent a few years as a college chaplain. During those years, I watched so many students graduate from college and then decide to go west without jobs. God bless those folks, but I am wired completely different. I would ask them, “Why are you going?” They would respond, “I am going to find myself; I am going to figure out who I am.”
I would say, “You are a biology or English major; get a job in your discipline and then figure out who you are.” They would respond, “No, I need to get away to find myself.”
After seeing pictures and hearing stories, I think what they really found out West was a lot of trouble. But the point is, they were really searching for their identity. So many people spend most of their 20’s and early 30’s trying to figure out who they are. That is why they are not sitting next to you. They are out there searching for their identity. They are out there trying to figure out who they are. Who am I?
Today’s Gospel reading is about two very different things: (1) Identity – it is about a 30 year old man asking his friends who am I? (2) Discipleship – it is about what it means for you and I to follow Jesus. If you can walk away and tell your friends that today’s sermon was about identity and discipleship, then you have done well.
But there is a third thing I would like for us to look at and that is the relationship between identity and discipleship. So let us look at identity. In today’s reading we find Jesus doing something that most of us have probably done. We see Jesus asking his disciples what other people are saying about him. He asks, “Who do people say that I am?”
It does us well to remember that Jesus is a first century Palestinian celebrity. He has gotten famous healing and preaching, and has a large following. Being a celebrity means you have to deal with the paparazzi. You have to deal with the fame, people spreading rumors. We see this throughout Scripture as Jesus is falsely accused of many things.
When Jesus asked the disciples who do people say that I am, the disciples respond by saying that some think he is Elijah, others think he is John the Baptist. The reference to Elijah was not that bad, but the John the Baptist reference is equivalent to the grocery store tabloids because back then, there was a rumor going around that John the Baptist, who was beheaded, had been resurrected, and was running around as Jesus. In essence, the disciples tell Jesus that there are some good things and some crazy rumors being said about you.
Thus, Jesus turns to his disciples, the friends that he trusts and loves, and he asks, “Who do you say that I am?”
Peter tells him, “You are the Messiah.” I have seen you; I have heard you, and that is who you are. That is your identity.
Identity is what Peter’s confession is about. But something about today’s reading is very unusual, once Jesus’ identity is established; once Jesus’ identity is confirmed there is an abrupt and immediate reference to the cross. Once Peter says to Jesus that he is the Messiah, Jesus responds and says, “Yes, this is what I must do…suffering, death and resurrection.”
When Peter objects, Jesus gets furious. The reason Jesus gets angry is because Peter tries to separate Jesus’ identity as the Messiah from his eventual death on the cross. In just a few short seconds, Peter goes from high to low. Jesus says that you are right about my identity, but completely wrong…as a matter of fact, you are Satan if you think you can separate my identity from the cross.
My friends, it is right here. It is at this moment where today’s passage becomes very interesting. This is where it becomes very important for you and I.
What we see is a connection between identity (who we are) and our discipleship – our walk with Christ – our relationship with God. Jesus says that I cannot be the Messiah. I cannot be who you say that I am. My identity is not complete unless I follow my Father’s will, unless I walk the walk, unless I unconditionally give myself on the cross. Who I am, he says, is contingent upon that.
Most Christians today separate who they are from their relationship with God. We are taught that we have an identity of our own. In the words of modern psychology, Freud tells us that we are the self; we need to understand the self and be the self.
For most of us, our faith is one of many pieces that make up who we are. We are this, we are that, a graduate of this school or that, a tennis/football players, and yes, we are also an Episcopalian.
Today, Jesus says no, who I am is contingent upon the cross. He says to us that it is not about building the self, it is not about being the self; it is about losing the self; it is against everything you and I know to be true.
So what does Jesus mean when he says we are to lose our selves? When Jesus says this he is not saying that we must lose ourselves like lost sheep; rather, we are to lose ourselves like he lost himself on the cross. Jesus is saying we are to lose ourselves in love.
What does this look like? How exactly are we to lose ourselves? I do not think we have to look far. We know what it looks like, we know what it feels like because each of us here has been in love. You might be sitting next to that person you fell in love with many years ago. Actually, you might have two or three kids between you. Each of us, no matter who you are, has had the experience of being in love.
At some point in our lives, we have lost ourselves in love. It is a great feeling, and in doing so, we completely give ourselves, we completely give ourselves to someone else, we sacrificially give to our children – we do this because we are lost in love.
That, my friends, is the image Jesus wants us to take away. Jesus says as disciples of mine you have a new identity, a new way of life, and your life is not about you. It is about following me; it is about losing yourself in love.
I would like to conclude with something Martin Luther, the founder of the Protestant religion, wrote about what it means to lose yourself. Luther wrote these words about losing oneself in a treatise titled, “Freedom of a Christian.” Luther wrote, “A Christian lives not in himself, but in Christ and in his neighbor. Otherwise he is not a Christian. He lives in Christ through faith, in his neighbor through love.”
To be a Christian, in a sense, means that we are to be displaced, lost in God and lost in love. Thanks be to God.
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