Scripture. Prayer. My Mind Is Stayed On Jesus Mk 8:27-38 Sunday, September 16, 2018 The Rev. Sharon Snapp-Kolas, preaching Opening. Woke up this morning with my mind stayed on Jesus So goes the first verse of an old gospel song, beloved by many. I m sorry, Jesus, but I typically wake up in the morning with my mind stayed on my own problems. Henri Nouwen called them the monkeys jumping in the tree. I do, eventually, remember to turn the day and my problems over to Jesus. And, occasionally, my first thought upon awakening will be of him. But, more often, my head is immediately filled with worries about my husband, worries about the church, worries about my children. Worries, worries, worries. No wonder Jesus said so much to the crowds, Don t worry. We know God s in charge, don t we? We know Jesus is Lord, and not just of our personal lives, but the lives of everyone on the planet, and the planet itself, and the whole universe. Jesus is Lord of everything. But what does that really mean? What do we mean when we say that our mind is stayed on Jesus? What do we mean when we call Jesus Savior, Son of God, Messiah? I. What do we mean when we call Jesus Savior, Son of God, Messiah? (vv.27-30) We use the right words, just as Peter did. But Jesus soon rejects Peter s correct answer, You are the Messiah, the Christ, because Peter has the wrong meaning behind the words. Says Jesus, You are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things. 1
Thank God for Peter. The fact that Peter is in the Bible is such a message of forgiveness from God, don t you think? Peter is you and me! We are Peter! When he messes up, we mess up! When we mess up, we can remember Peter s mistakes and breathe a bit easier. Oh, it s OK. Look what Peter did. And Jesus really loved him. So maybe Jesus really loves us, too, in the midst of our mistakes and confusion. Of course we set our minds on human things! We re human! We want a Messiah who will heal our grandmother s Parkinson s and our sister s cancer and our cousin s alcoholism and our church s racism, sexism and homophobia, and our world s violence and war, and this fallen creation that includes fires and hurricanes and earthquakes and all manner of accidental tragedies. Some of it we do to ourselves. Because we re human. Some of it just happens. Because things happen. Bad things happen to everyone. Eventually. We want a Messiah, a Christ, who will save us from bad things happening. That s what Peter wants. Sorry, Peter. That s not how it works. Says Jesus, The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected and be killed, and after three days rise again (v. 31). Marva Dawn worries that the church may be offering the wrong picture of who Jesus is: At the 1987 Vancouver World's Fair, she writes, the Christian pavilion's presentation utilized glitzy double-reversed photography and flashing lasers. When I tried to explain my qualms about the production to an attendant who had asked me how I liked their show, she protested that it had saved many people. I asked, Saved by what kind of Christ? If people are saved by a spectacular Christ, will they find him in the fumbling of their own devotional life or in the humble services of local parishes where pastors and organists make mistakes? Will a glitzy portrayal of 2
Christ nurture in new believers his character of willing suffering and sacrificial obedience? Will it create an awareness of the idolatries of our age and lead to repentance? And does a flashy, hard-rock sound track bring people to a Christ who calls us away from the world's superficiality to deeper reflection and meditation? (Marva Dawn, Reaching Out without Dumbing Down, p. 50). Now, you all know that I love rock n roll. Sorry, Marva Dawn. No particular style of music is the right way to God. But I agree with her concern that the church these days is frantically trying to entertain people to attract them to Christ. And what kind of Christ are we trying to attract them to? How can we set our minds more on divine things, and less on human things? II. How can we set our minds more on divine things, and less on human things? (vv. 31-33) Jesus criticizes Peter for being too focused on human things and not focused enough on divine things. It s hard, though, isn t it? Doesn t Jesus understand? He was fully human, himself, after all. Doesn t he realize that we have bills to pay, friends and family to care for, obligations to meet, personal goals to achieve, basic needs to take care of, such as sleep and exercise and laundry and grocery shopping? We pray. We go to church. We think about Jesus now and then. We try to be good people. What more does he want? D.L. Moody says it like this: There are very few who in their hearts do not believe in God, but what they will not do is give Him exclusive right of way.... They are not ready to promise full allegiance to God alone. Many a professing Christian is a stumbling-block because his worship is divided. On Sunday he worships God; on weekdays God has little or no place in his thoughts. I want people to place their faith in Jesus and motivate them to live more obediently. 3
C. S. Lewis puts it even more bluntly: Christ says, Give me all. I don't want so much of your money and so much of your work -- I want you. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don't want to cut off a branch here and there; I want to have the whole tree down. I don't want to drill the tooth, or crown it, stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self instead. In fact I will give you myself, my own will shall become yours. (C. S. Lewis, Beyond Personality) To allow the will of Christ to become ours seems foreign to such an individualistic culture as ours, where the self-made person is revered. We pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps, thank you very much! It feels intrusive, invasive and self-negating to allow Christ to take over. All I can say is that, if we allow Christ in, our deeper, truer selves are revealed within His will. Our will, separate from His will, is powerless. Our life, separate from Him, is no life at all. This is what it means to lose our life in Him that we might save it. One scholar offers this paraphrase: If any would be my disciple, let them become so wrapped up in doing the will of God, so taken up with concern for others, they forget about themselves. For the ones who live only for themselves will actually miss life altogether, and those who lose their lives in their concern for others, in doing God's will, will find fulfillment and satisfaction in life, which is authentic life. (Warren Covell) It comes down to loving others, as Christ loves us. You all know I enjoy the TV show Mom. It s about a mom and her daughter, who is also a mom they re both recovering drug addicts. Their lives are a mess, but somehow they are getting by with almost daily visits to their local AA meetings. 4
In one episode Bonnie, the main mom, breaks dissolves into tears during a conversation with her sponsor. She s so distraught over the problems in her life. She s afraid she s going to start drinkin and usin again; the temptation is so strong the need to numb the pain You know what her sponsor does? Somehow she finagles the situation so that Bonnie ends up as the secretary for the women s AA meeting. By the last scene of the episode, Bonnie arrives at the realization that she has been so busy with her AA secretary duties she has been so busy serving the other addicts and alcoholics in her group that she hasn t had time to even think about drinking or using. She hasn t had time to worry about her own problems. Of course we can overdo it. There are people in this room, you know who you are; we ve had conversations about how you need to sit on your hands and bite your tongue the next time a plea goes out for a volunteer. You need to remember the phrase, Just Say No. The kingdom will not be brought in single-handedly by one person, unless that person is Jesus Christ. I am not Jesus Christ. You are not Jesus Christ. There is suffering for a purpose, and there is useless suffering. There is exhaustion for the sake of a goal, and there is burnout from overwork. Overwork steals our joy. Jesus wants to bring us joy and new life. The image of a barn-raising comes to mind. You can t raise a barn with one person. It s a group effort. If you try to raise a barn by yourself, you will raise maybe one board on one side of the barn, and end up breaking it off from the rest of the barn. The kingdom of God is like that. If we try to save the world, or the church, or even one person all by ourselves, we will get very tired and depressed and angry and burned out. We may isolate and break off. But if we share the burden with Jesus and with other Christian brothers and sisters, the burden will be light and we will get reassurance along the way that we are properly 5
carrying our own cross and not two or three other people s as well. Of course, if those two or three other people would step up and carry their own crosses, that would be a great help, too! Closing. Another version of the song I mentioned earlier goes like this: Woke up this morning with my mind stayed on freedom Reverend Robert Wesby of Aurora, Illinois, created this revamp of the old gospel song while in Mississippi during the 1960 s. He was spending time in Hinds County jail as a consequence of his participation in the freedom rides. (Wikipedia.com) Jesus asks, Who do you say that I am? Others have tried to answer him. Ernest Renan, a French writer, answered by saying that Jesus was a sentimental idealist. Bruce Barton, an American businessman, said that Jesus was the greatest salesman who ever lived. William Hirsch, a Jewish writer, responded that Jesus conformed to the clinical picture of paranoia. There is a famous musical that says Jesus was a Superstar. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian, referred to Jesus as the man for others. (Brett Blair, paraphrased) Rev. Robert Wesby said, with his actions and his singing, that Jesus was a man who brought freedom to all people, no matter the color of their skin, no matter their national origins. The Gospel writers gave their own answers to this central question of faith. They called him: Son of God, Son of man, Divine physician, king, prophet, bridegroom, light of the world, the door, the vine, high priest, the firstborn of creation, the bright and morning star, Alpha and Omega Albert Schweitzer wrote, in 1945, about the historical Jesus: He comes to us as One 6
unknown, without a name, as of old, by the lakeside. He came to those men who knew him not. He speaks to us the same word: "Follow me!" and sets us to tasks, which He has to fulfill for our time. He commands. And to those who obey Him, whether they be wise or simple, he will reveal Himself in the toils, the conflicts and the sufferings which they shall pass through in His fellowship, and, as an ineffable mystery, they shall learn in their own experience who He is. (Quest for the Historical Jesus, McMillon Press, 1945, page 403). Peter answered: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Is he Christ for you? Amen. 7