Sermon preached at St. Philip Lutheran Church, Raleigh, NC on September 16, 2018, Mark 8:27-38
Following Jesus
The theme of following Jesus forms bookends in the Gospel of Mark. First, at the beginning of the Gospel, Jesus calls Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John to follow him. They drop everything to follow him, to come along behind him.
Then at the end of the Gospel, the disciples receive the message to follow the crucified and risen Jesus, who is going ahead of them, to Galilee.
And now, here in the middle of the Gospel of Mark, we hear another account of Jesus calling people to follow him.
The disciples followed Jesus, through many villages and towns. They followed him as he taught, healed, preached, cast out demons, calmed the storm, fed the multitudes, and walked on water. They saw him reach out to women and children, tax collectors, and all those on the edges of society. They showed their ability to physically follow Jesus and now, in this account, Jesus called them to a different way of following, to do more than simply walk behind him.
But first, Jesus had a couple of questions, he asked: “who do people say that I am?” In other words, how do other people understand who I am? Do they understand me to be a teacher, their rabbi? Or do they think I’m like the prophets of old, like Elijah? Or am I just some guy walking around challenging the rulers of our day? or maybe they think I’m a rebel going against everything that other people have accepted as normal? Or maybe they think I’m just crazy and want to have nothing to do with me. Jesus asks, who do people say that I am?
And then Jesus asked a more personal question: “who do you say that I am?” How do you, personally, understand who I am?
Is Jesus, your friend, your brother, your role model for faithful living? Is Jesus your lord, your savior?
Peter answered by declaring, “You are the Messiah.” Then, as soon as the words came out of his mouth, Jesus described what being the Messiah looked like when he said that he was going to suffer, be rejected, be killed, and be raised.
This was not the kind of Messiah that Peter, or any of the disciples for that matter, had in mind. They longed for a Messiah who would conquer the rulers of the day, they longed for a Messiah who would make everything right by getting rid of those who were oppressing God’s people. And ultimately, in the end, Jesus does do these things, but first, he must suffer, be rejected, be killed, and be raised.
Peter was so stunned by the description that Jesus gave of what it meant for him to be the Messiah that he challenged Jesus, he rebuked him, which caused Jesus to say, “Get behind me, Satan.”
Satan, the adversary, someone who was tempting him. Jesus called Peter Satan because he was trying to draw him away from God’s divine action, just as Satan tried to do at the beginning of his ministry.
Jesus used this harsh word to get Peter back behind him, back to following him, rather than being ahead of him, rather than trying to take the lead.
Here again, Jesus declared that he is the One who goes before and everyone else is to follow. Jesus taught that being the Messiah was being totally redefined in his life, death, and resurrection.
The clarity about the kind of Messiah that Jesus was lends itself to a certain kind of discipleship – not the discipleship that the disciples demonstrated, one shaped by the hope of a conquering Messiah, one shaped by not seeing Jesus for who he really was, God with us, a compassionate servant who gave his all to turn the world upside down.
No, the discipleship that Jesus calls his disciples to is shaped by the cross and, thankfully, the resurrection. This kind of discipleship is more than simply following Jesus around while he did amazing things.
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.”
This cross-shaped discipleship means that, by following Jesus, we too are going to suffer, be rejected, be killed, and be raised. This happens every time we stand up for the oppressed in our society and when we stand with those who have been pushed to the margins of society.
It happens every time we reject actions just because they are convenient, easy, and self-serving and choose instead to do what is right, and good, and loving, no matter how inconvenient or hard it is.
Cross-shaped discipleship is about being the kind of disciple who forgets their own opinions about who is bad and who is good, about who is in and who is out, and instead seeks to treat all people with love and respect. It’s about being the kind of disciple who risks the disapproval of their friends and, rather than listening to gossip about others and instead defends those being criticized and those being bullied. It’s about giving to strangers and others on the margins of society the same kind of love you give to your coffee buddies, your closest friends, and your family. It’s about choosing to follow Jesus, knowing that you will have to change, that you will have to forgo what’s easiest for you and instead do what is good and loving for the other.
This is not easy stuff and Jesus knew that. It wasn’t easy for Jesus to set his sights on Jerusalem, knowing that he faced suffering, rejection, death, and resurrection. Yet he did it anyway.
When Jesus was preparing the disciples for the persecutions that would come, he told them: “When they bring you to trial and hand you over, do not to worry about what you are to say; but say whatever is given you at that time, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 13:11).
Jesus knows that we can’t do this on our own, that’s why he encouraged the disciples, and us, to rely on the Holy Spirit who is God’s ongoing presence in the world.
Peter named Jesus, the Messiah, which means anointed one. Jesus was anointed by God in his baptism, when the Holy Spirit came upon him like a dove and God declared “you are my son, the beloved, in you, I am well pleased.” The anointing received by Jesus marked him as God’s own, gave him a new identity and a new purpose, shaped by God’s reconciling love.
In our baptisms, we are united to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. We are anointed with oil and are marked with the cross of Christ forever. In our anointing, we, too, are given a new identity as God calls us beloved and gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit living in us that enables us to take up our cross and follow Jesus – to be cross-shaped disciples who journey the way of Christ.
The good news is that just as Jesus received a new and glorious life at his resurrection, those who pick up the cross of Christ and follow in his path – receive a new and glorious life too, one in which the Son of Man is not ashamed of them – but rather shines brightly through them.
Thanks be to Christ – who denied himself, and picked up his cross, and followed in the path of God – the path that leads to resurrection and eternal life for the sake of the world and who calls us to do the same. Amen.