Sermon: But Who Do You Say I Am?

Mark 8:27-28

But what about you? Who do you say that I am?

That’s quite a question, isn’t it? -- Who do you say that I am? But you know what’s amazing about it? That’s a question we get to answer with our very lives. Quite a question, quite an incredible opportunity.

It’s true. Who do you say that I am? It’s not just a question we give lip service to. Well, hopefully not. Maybe sometimes, if we’re honest. It’s a question that we answer daily in the way we live. Who is this Jesus? Who is this Jesus to you? That’s a question we embody, don’t we? Who do you say that Jesus is? What do you convey about him? What do you say with your very lives?

I suppose those questions could feel immensely overwhelming. Are you feeling uncomfortable yet? These questions make me feel uncomfortable. But instead of thinking of them as daunting, I would encourage us to think of them as an invitation. We’re invited to participate in the life of Christ – who he is. Think about it – you and me! – participating. We’re graced with the opportunity to plunge deeply into his identity, to bring questions of our own from our identity -- real, deep, sometimes, raw questions. We ask these into his very self. And in those questions, we get to be transformed in the process. We’re invited to journey into his life – not as solitary travelers going at it alone but as people who choose to walk together. We learn of Christ when we live as together the Body of Christ. That’s tremendous news. We learn of Christ when we live together as the Body of Christ.

Who do you say that I am? We’re on a life-long invitational journey to find out.

That’s an astounding invitation for us to have together.

I suppose people are coming up with all sorts of identities for Jesus all the time. Understandings about him are always swirling around us. And that’s not new. That’s been going on for centuries. Welcome to the church! The truth is, some of these identities have been profoundly liberating for people. Some have brought comfort, healing, renewal, and vision. And then others have seemed culturally relevant at the time (that’s what’s so scary about them) only to lead to distortion, oppression, war, and intense pain. I guess when we’re choosing words to understand Jesus, we’re stating our ultimate aims and we’re making claims about what has ultimate meaning for us. When we do that, we’re setting ourselves up for the ways we’ll follow, aren’t we? We do generally follow what has ultimate meaning for us. And I suppose it’s always good or us to reevaluate what has does ultimate meaning for us. As Jesus said, “Wherever your treasure is, there will be your heart also.” Who and what has ultimate meaning for us these days? Who and what do we choose to follow?

Imagine this scene: You walk into a board room and see a long table. Twelve business associates are surrounding it, quickly downing some coffee and perhaps a sweet donut before the Big Boss comes into the room and starts the meeting. A couple of them pull out their Blackberries – they’re analyzing their Convert Spreadsheets. “I hope the boss is happy with these,” one says to his neighbor. Another pulls out a wallet fat with cash. “Look at what I collected for our work!” In one short moment, they all shrink back and reveal a look of envy and insecurity. That colleague of theirs has the success they want. He’ll be in with the boss for sure. He’ll be ripe for a promotion.

They don’t have long to think about this because the Big Man himself enters the room. He’s clearly the one in charge. They all rise to their feet and watch him take the head place. Before them, in their midst, is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Before them is the one they serve – the one they follow - Jesus the CEO.

Yes! Can you imagine it? Jesus, the CEO. He knows who he is. He’s confident. He knows how to lead. He knows how to be productive – after all, isn’t that what matters the most these days? – being productive? Productivity! That’s the true mark of value, the way to make your identity worth something! He knows how to run an organization. He’s efficient, smart, powerful, and in charge. Jesus Christ – the CEO - everything we could want in a Lord!

Really? Really – Jesus the CEO? The scenario sounds ridiculous, but would you believe that a host of books have been written about just that? All you have to do is go on Amazon.com and do a search for “Jesus, CEO.” Here are some of the titles you’ll get: Jesus CEO: Using Ancient Wisdom for Visionary Leadership, Jesus, Entrepreneur: Using Ancient Wisdom to Launch and Live Your Dreams, Jesus, Life Coach: Learn from the Best, and Teach Your Team to Fish: Using Ancient Wisdom for Inspired Teamwork. Now to be fair, I haven’t read any of these books, and I think some of them are trying to outline ways that Jesus lived as a “servant leader.” But I have some concerns here, and I imagine you might too. Since when did Jesus ever come to us as revealed a CEO? And for that matter, since when did Jesus ever come to us in any type of power that society values? Instead of looking to Jesus for who he is – that is, letting him define himself and transform us – Instead of following him as people made in image of God, aren’t we so often trying to make God in our own image? Aren’t we trying to define Jesus according to what has ultimate meaning for us? I deeply hope that at the end of the day that power and wealth don’t ultimate meaning for us. I hope that Jesus sometimes reveals himself in opposition to who we want him to be. Thank God. Because sometimes we have a way of making Jesus who he isn’t.

And you know, we all do this in one way or another. We’re not alone. So did Peter. Peter – Peter, the Rock. Peter – the one who made an amazing confession. Peter – the disciple who was bold enough to say the truth. He heard that question. “But who do you say I am?” And he answered rightly. “You are the Messiah.”

Ding, ding, ding! He’s got it. He’s discovered it! Ta da! He’s got it! But if we were expecting rapturous applause and confetti to sprinkle suddenly all over the place, we were thinking wrong. Jesus has more to reveal about what kind of Messiah he will choose to be.

Can you imagine what this must sound like to Peter? He’s finally understood Jesus’ true identity, and then Jesus begins to say all sorts of things about himself that sound completely un-Messiah like. What? He will suffer many things? Wait a minute. What? He will be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and the scribes? He will be killed? No! That can’t be! That’s not my picture of a Messiah! He will rise again? What does that even mean?

No. No, none of this. Peter knows he has to do something. He has to make his vision match with who Jesus will choose to be. He takes Jesus aside. Peter rebukes Jesus. After all, Peter thinks he knows so much more about who Jesus really needs to be. But Jesus brings it all back into the open. Before the other disciples, he rebukes Peter. “Get behind me! You are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” Peter was making Jesus into his own image of human power.

And then Jesus has some things to say – not only to his disciples – but to the crowd as well. “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 the sake of the gospel, will save it.”

Okay. That’s kind of intense. What kind of Jesus can we discover from this passage? Is Jesus telling his followers to seek suffering? Is he telling them that suffering is good and redemptive and that we should chase after it? Should suffering have ultimate meaning for us?

I don’t think so. The gospel of Mark is full of examples of Jesus willfully choosing to heal and abolish suffering. I don’t think Jesus is glorifying suffering here. There are of conceptions of Jesus out there that do glorify his suffering. And as a result, these conceptions of Jesus sometimes teach others to endure suffering they shouldn’t have to endure.

But who do you say that I am? That question comes to us too, and perhaps we are called to proclaim something that sounds more like the gospel – something that sounds more like good news.

So let’s proclaim it. Let’s proclaim good news together. Who do you say that I am? Quite a question, quite an incredible opportunity. That’s a question we get to answer with our very lives.

Perhaps when Jesus says, “Those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it,” he’s teaching us to do something he would ultimately choose to do. I don’t believe that Jesus went to the cross to glorify some kind of holy suffering. That’s a conception of Jesus floating out there, but I don’t believe it. What I do believe is this: I do believe that Jesus was ultimate nailed to a cross because he loved so deeply and lived so radically that the powers around him couldn’t stand it. I don’t believe Jesus went to the cross because God called him to suffer. I believe Jesus was willing to suffer because God called him to love. There’s a difference there.

God called Jesus to give himself freely to love and human need – to lose himself in it. And if we’re going to follow Jesus, we’re be called to lose ourselves in the same way. We’re going to be called to shed the idols that have ultimate meaning for us – including some of the ways we view Jesus. We’re going to called to let go –to have faith, trust – and follow, even though we don’t quite understand everything about Jesus. We we’re going to called to let Jesus to reveal himself – that takes a lifetime. We’re going to be called to learn of Christ, living in the Body of Christ. Will you follow? Will we follow?

Who do you say that I am? Quite a question, quite an incredible opportunity. That’s a question we get to answer with our very lives.

- Renée Roederer, Campus Minister