Staying In Line - September 13, 2015

Mark 8:27-38

Anyone who has ever led a group of children on a walk of more than about ten feet knows the challenge. Nearly always there are a few children who want to get out in front of the leader. Some want to run, others want to be the leader themselves or at least to be with the leader. Children are forever jostling for position. "Remember, I said to stay behind me," the adult leader chastises again and again.
"Come, follow me," Jesus had said to his disciples. Simon Peter was the first to fall in line along with his brother Andrew. Peter followed Jesus as he taught in parables, healed folks, and multiplied the loaves and the fishes. Peter followed Jesus from the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum, up a mountain and back down again. He followed Jesus to non Jewish territory like the region of Tyre and now to the city of Caesarea Philippi, a Roman Colonial presence on the northern fringes of Galilee. It's hard to say for sure just how much time has passed since Jesus first issued that call, but clearly Peter has followed Jesus for a while.

Their time in Caesarea Philippi marked a turning point. "Who do people say that I am?" Jesus asked. Perhaps he had been at this long enough to need some clarification about his mission. He lived in a time before there were nightly polls on the news to tell him what folks thought. He lived in a time when a person's identity and vocation were defined by tradition and community more than individual discernment.
"Who do people say that I am?" Jesus asked the folks who had followed him in this first year or so of his ministry. They answered, "Some say John the Baptist, and others Elijah, and still others one of the prophets."
Jesus' cousin, John, had been executed not long before this by King Herod, for his temerity in criticizing Herod's incestuous marriage to his sister-in-law. John and Jesus resembled each other enough in ministry, if not appearance, that people confused them.
Elijah, on the other hand, hadn't been around for years. He had ascended to heaven without dying, as* far as anyone knew, and so the tradition developed that Elijah would return before the Messiah came.
Or maybe Jesus was a prophet, one of those people who spoke the power of truth for God. Several centuries had passed since the last prophet of any note, so perhaps it was time for God to raise up a new prophet.
Jesus then pushed the question further: "Who do you say that I am?" And Peter answered, "You are the Messiah." Top marks, Peter, for the best answer.
Then an odd thing happened. Jesus ordered the disciples not to tell anyone about him. Surely this was the time to make the big announcement, to pull out all the stops on the PR campaign. Instead Jesus said, "Shh. Keep this quiet."
He then went on to explain to them exactly what being the Messiah meant: "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 was aghast. He rebuked Jesus. Matthew's gospel has Peter say "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you!"
Tradition had it that the Messia*h was to be a conquering hero who would free Israel from Roman oppression. For the Messiah to be killed turned the very definition of Messiah upside down.
Jesus in turn rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things." Get behind me! In Greek, those are the exact same words as Jesus' first call to Peter, "Follow me." Like the leader with twenty children on a walk, Jesus was saying to Peter, "Get back into line. Your place is behind me and not out in front."
Discipleship is the process of following Jesus. Realistically for nearly all of us it is a constant process of getting back into line. We start out well, following Jesus, doing our very best to live according to Jesus' teaching. And then in our eagerness we get ahead of Jesus. We want to set the direction, convinced we know the way. Like children who want to lead the way, or go faster, we charge ahead.
We long for a faith that is more about glory than it is about guts. I want acclaim for the good work we are doing, a flashy worship service that draws people by the dozen if not by the hundreds. It is much easier to comfort the afflicted than to afflict the comfortable. I want my will to be done.
And then I realize I've done it again. I've gotten ahead of Jesus. "Get behind me, Sue," comes the call. "Come, follow me."
The other side of the discipleship challenge is the times when I lag so far behind that I lose the direction. Like the child watching an ant, I get distracted by life. Especially in the middle of the night, I can invent a plethora of things to worry about: how will I find the bus to the conference? How can I please everyone, why are my bell peppers beset with blossom end rot? And while I worry and fuss Jesus has moved forward and I am left behind.
Life itself is so busy that I can easily lose sight of Jesus. I become so busy serving Jesus that I forget to love him. In the end the call is the same, "Get behind me, Sue."
Who do you say that Jesus is? Peter said, "You are the Messiah." He had the right title and the wrong understanding. That may well be why Jesus warned the disciples not to tell anyone he was the Messiah. They needed to understand what that meant before they were ready to announce it to the world.
Knowing who Jesus is clarifies who we are as Jesus' disciples. Jesus went on to explain to Peter and the others, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."
Who do you say that Jesus is? If you believe Jesus is the Messiah, then let us remember we are to deny ourselves.
Years ago I was driving to a meeting of the United Methodist Women. At the end of each meeting there was always a scrumptious dessert, so I was picturing something yummy: warm gingerbread and whipped cream or perhaps pineapple upside down cake. It turned out it was prayer and self denial month so the snack that afternoon was two saltines and a cabbage leaf.
Of course, denying ourselves is more than eating a cabbage leaf instead of pineapple upside down cake. It is having the humility to remember I am not the leader. I don't set the direction. "Here am I, the servant of the Lord. Let it be with me according to your word," we pray. We follow Jesus on the path of service and sacrifice not glory and honor.

It has now been two years since we began to host Family Promise. I appreciate the many people who give of themselves in service to make this ministry possible. They include overnight hosts who spent the night here, even when they know they won't get much sleep; meal hosts who prepare food only to have guests say, "We are going for a walk" just as dinner is ready. This ministry is not all about cute children and grateful parents. Often it is sacrifice.
Who do you say that Jesus is? If you believe Jesus is the Messiah then let us take Jesus on his terms as one whose throne was a cross and whose crown was made of thorns.
Who do you say that Jesus is? If you believe Jesus is the Messiah then let us set our minds on divine things. Let us set our minds on loving God first and neighbors second. Let us remember that what God requires is to walk humbly with God, to love kindness, and to do justice.
Who do you say that Jesus is? If you believe Jesus is the Messiah then join me in getting back into place. Let us get behind Jesus.