Sermon for March 8, 2009 on Mark 8:31-39

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I remember the first time I heard this Gospel reading in church. I was quite young with an over active imagination and I would capture the words and create pictures in my mind. This text stayed with me because the images are so striking—somewhat frightening actually. The disciples are scolded, they don’t understand, Jesus tells them to pick up a cross, there’s talk of losing one’s life… these are frightening images! And I would like to believe that with time, age, experience, and with a better view and understanding of the world that this passage would be less daunting… more manageable to my more mature ears and eyes. But still, still I find myself wrestling over what Jesus says… wrestling over what Jesus calls his disciples to do.

But perhaps this wrestling is not a bad thing… perhaps it helps us to grow and understand God’s desire for us through Jesus Christ. We’re not the only ones who wrestle with God’s will for us- sometimes we’re like Jacob- Israel—who wrestles and struggles with his past and future, who wrestles and ultimately receives God’s blessing, and in God’s blessing receives his identity—understands who he as a child of God.

In the Gospel of Mark there are three occasions that Jesus wrestles- he wrestles with expectation and will- with temptation in the desert, with questions of his identity as the Messiah, and alone in prayer that night in Gethsemane. And through this wrestling he is what God desires him to be.

But who is Jesus? From the very beginning of Mark’s Gospel the good news is proclaimed- that Jesus is the Christ, God’s begotten Son… but we are often called to ask the question, “Who is Jesus to me?” We hear with our ears, see with our eyes, and feel with our hearts that Jesus God’s beloved—reaches out to us in the reality of our broken bodies, broken dreams, and broken lives. In his earthly ministry he proclaimed God’s mercy and grace—teaching through action offering words of guidance and criticism, comfort and compassion, and ultimately invitation to us all.

His ministry was on the go and the people would follow. He told his disciples that his mission on earth was not to stay in one place- but to go and proclaim good news to those who had yet to hear— to those who had yet to experience God’s awesome love. Taking on our burdens, our shame, our broken lives, the pieces that separate us from God- Jesus Christ bore them all, suffering and dying on a cross. And as Jesus Christ was raised to new life so too are we raised from the mire of sin, from the clutch of death—so too are we promised new life—a transformed life that we can see now. Look around you and you will see God’s transforming power each and every day.

Who are we? In the reality of Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord- we’re called to ask “Who are we?” We are God’s children—saved and loved. We are brothers and sisters bearing the cross of Christ and the promise of salvation. We are transformed by Jesus’ presence in our lives. This transformation is ongoing—changing us each day of our lives.

I once visited a family who through health and physical ailments could no longer attend church. We talked about our lives and how God has reached out to us touching and changing us through our experiences, the people we have met, the friends that we have made, and those we have loved. The family talked about how their role in the town and church has changed as their physical well being has changed. They talked about their past—about how they moved a lot- always making a home in the town in which they lived and becoming close with the church that they joined. For a long time they helped with church fellowship and hospitality, working with outreach programs in the communities they lived, molding and encouraging the various youth groups, and being faithful stewards in ministry. And they talked about the present— realizing that they could no longer partake in the activities that they had once loved. And they said, “We know that our lives have changed a lot, but God still finds ways to connect us to people who need to be connected.” And it was true. Family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances all knew that they could come to their house for rest, for acceptance, for healing, for connection, for fellowship. They knew that this family would invite them in with love.

Love- that is what we’re called to do and how God reaches to others. Love that reaches beyond these walls, that spreads through time and place, age and gender, status and roles in life. Love- comes to us as a light in the darkness, love is God now with us, love is Jesus within and among us, love is inviting us now.

Jesus’ invitation is for us all- and for us always. We were but a thought in our parents’ minds when God loved us. We had yet to learn our first word when God was molding us from within, forming us as the children of God we are today. During times of loneliness and isolation, when we think that we are an island in the midst of a chaotic sea God is with us- tending, supporting, guiding. Even now God’s presence comes into our lives in new ways—constantly transforming us, constantly calling to us. This invitation is strong and eternal like God’s love for us. We have been invited and in the waters of baptism we are marked by the cross of Christ, sealed by the Holy Spirit forever. And in our day to day lives we bear God’s love for us and we follow Christ.

We hear the words “Follow me”, yet we may wonder and ask, “Lord, how are we to follow?” Thinking about following someone—there’s often an anxiety that I feel—the fear that someone will lead the way and I will lose sight of them. There have been times that I’m following someone in a busy store, a crowded street, or a large museum and all I can see is the back of their head from far away. And it seems that the more I try to follow them, the more they become a blur in a mass of bodies and distraction.

But then I remember Jesus- my savior, my redeemer, my shepherd who says, ‘follow me’. Have you ever had a good leader on a trip or a tour? I have and I’ve noticed that when they lead me they want me to follow and they will not lose me. They will walk backwards so that their eyes never leave mine. The leader knows the terrain and the pitfalls—they know the dangers and the pastures in which we may lay down, they know the places in which we may be nourished.

Love has come and will never leave us. In Christ’s love we are inviters- so that all of God’s world may know this love. We are greeters, welcoming all in the name of unconditional love—and through our hands and hearts God’s love shines into the dark corners of life. As Christ’s followers, with the certainty of God’s promise, we may walk together- with the light of Jesus’ eyes shining in our own—we may walk hand in hand, supporting each other in faith and love—sharing God’s love with the sick, with the lonely, the poor, the disenfranchised—with each other in every step of our lives. Following Christ every day, I can’t wait to see where God takes us.

Amen.