MY KIND OF MESSIAH

A sermon by the Rev. Dr. Marie Sheldon

Harundale Presbyterian Church

Glen Burnie, Maryland

September 14, 2003

Text: “’If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.’” (Mark 8: 34b)

Scripture Passage: Mark 8: 27-38

When you’re a pastor, people send you lots of e-mails with religious overtones to them. Recently, I received a collection of cute remarks made by children. There’s one I’d like to share with you. A little boy was getting frustrated trying to draw a picture of Jesus. After several attempts, the child called his Sunday School teacher over to the table where he was working and said, “Jesus is so many things. He is very hard to draw.”

Jesus is so many things. The child was right. I thought we’d begin this morning by sharing some of our own favorite images of Jesus. How do we like to envision Jesus? I’ll begin the sharing time. My preferred image of Jesus is rooted in the eighteenth chapter of Luke’s gospel – a biblical section entitled “Jesus Blesses Little Children.” (vv. 15-17) We’re told that people were bringing children – even infants – to Jesus – for him to embrace. Some of his stodgy, uptight disciples protested this action – probably worried that Jesus would be hassled by a bunch of little kids. Instead Jesus instructs his followers, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.” Why do I like to think of Jesus this way? Maybe it’s where I am in my own ministry. The time I spend with the children in the Christian Education wing and the time I’ve spent with our youth in confirmation classes and youth group is refreshing to me. There are no strict agendas. Kids are honest. Their eyes are full of hope. They’re fun. I like to think it was that way for Jesus, too. I like to think that the time he spent with children gave him a break – a break from arguing with the Pharisees; a break from trying to get his teachings across to his narrow-minded and hard-headed disciples; a break from listening to everybody’s sad stories about sickness, infirmity and death. I hope Jesus had a good time with the kids. Are there any of you who would like to share your favorite image of Jesus?

(Congregation shares.)

What we’ve done here this morning is something like what Jesus did with his mini-congregation of disciples. As you heard in today’s gospel lesson from Mark, Jesus asked his closest friends, “Who do people say that I am?” Favorite images shot back: John the Baptist, a sort of superstar who attracted big crowds – someone who had probably been raised to sainthood in the people’s eyes because King Herod had beheaded John. Another image: Elijah, the miracle-working prophet who was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire. Lots of glory there. Other prophets were mentioned as well – all celebrity figures in Israel’s history.

But then, Jesus narrowed his focus. After listening to the general responses to his question, “Who do people say that I am?” – he asks another question: “But who do you say that I am?” Peter acts as a spokesman for the disciples. He responds, “You are the Messiah!” – the perfect textbook response – perfect, that is, until Jesus delves into his meaning of who the Messiah is. In Jesus’ words: “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.” Peter couldn’t handle this definition. For Peter, as for other Jews of his time, the Messiah was to be a warrior-king, someone who would restore Israel to its glorious place among the nations. Jesus’ words about suffering and rejection and killing didn’t sit well with Peter – and so he let Jesus have it in no uncertain terms. Jesus then lashed out at Peter, and went on to set the record straight.

Mark tells us that Jesus enlarged his audience by inviting some gathered crowds to join the disciples. His message moved away from a description of himself to a description of them – and of us. Jesus said, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.

Taking up the cross – that image so associated with Jesus’ own suffering and degradation – isn’t a very pleasant prospect, is it? Why did Jesus die on the cross anyway? To save us from our own sins – our selfishness, our anger, our disobedience, our prejudices – all the other non-loving things we do. Sin isn’t easy to talk about. I saw a cartoon in a clergy magazine that shows a couple visiting a church. They are amazed to hear the preacher speak about sin in the context of what otherwise would be an attractive church setting. They leave the church saying, “We’re looking for a church that’s supportive, a place where we can feel good about ourselves.” I guess sin doesn’t fit the bill, does it? Neither does the cross – especially when Christ calls us to pick it up and walk with it.

Peter wanted the easy way out. He simply wanted to believe that Jesus was the Messiah – his kind of Messiah, and then call it a day. Belief is important. Most of us are here today because at some point in our lives we, too, accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. But many times, people who believe in Jesus are just as mistaken as Peter was. Christians ran the Inquisition. Christians burned people accused of being witches in Salem, Massachusetts. Christians fought for segregation. Christians killed six million Jews during the Holocaust. No, mere belief isn’t enough.

The cross transcends mere belief, and yet instead of embracing the cross, so often we shun it. It’s OK, we think, to associate the cross with Jesus – but not with ourselves. And mostly, we don’t want to talk about cross-like suffering with others. Be successful. Have fun. Look great. These are society’s values. And yet Jesus’ words are the same today. “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

We began this morning by sharing our favorite images of Jesus. I’m not going to ask you to change your favorite image – nor am I going to change mine. What I am going to ask, first of all, is that we remind ourselves that Jesus saw his death for our sins as his main reason for coming here. We need to respect that. Secondly, we need to be reminded that because we are Christians, the cross is part of our lives as well. That means that God never promised us a rose garden here. The ebb and flow of suffering will touch all our lives. Rather than living in denial of that fact, we must embrace and minister to the broken world around us. That’s what our Messiah did – and if he’s to be our kind of Messiah, we must do the same. Then we can truly call ourselves his followers.

Amen and thanks be to God.