On The Way

 Mark 8:27-38

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Please allow me a moment to do something I rarely do – act like a grumpy, whiney, stuffed-shirt of a minister who does nothing but complain about how things ain’t like they used to be.  I’m going to complain about that favourite childhood hymn “Jesus Loves Me, This I know”.   The words and the verses have changed since I was kid which were changed from a time before that and if you go on the web and look at the original verses, woah.  They’d scare the Hell out of a kid and I guess that was the original intent.  Today’s words are much more kid friendly.  We’ve only got three verses in our hymnal and the last verse is what really gripes me. I mean, what kind of cheesy, lovey-dovey mouthwash are they trying to brainwash our kids with?  Of course, I’m speaking facetiously here, but…that third verse really is problematic biblically, theologically.  When I sing it, I have to make my own changes to that verse because I just can’t sing it and feel I’m being faithful to the Gospel.

The verse goes: “Jesus loves me still today, walking with me on my way.  Wanting as a friend to give light and love to all who live.”  I think that the basic meaning there is that the light of the love of Jesus that I know from his presence with me shines through me wherever I go.  Well, I’ve not a problem with that.  It’s the “my way” that irks me.  Jesus walking with me as I go about on “my” way is hugely problematic.  He is with us always but the call is for us to follow him on the way not the other way around where he’s our buddy, buddy tag-a-long as we go about doing whatever it is we want to do.  It’s the same sort of misunderstanding of faithfulness that shows up on that “Jesus Is My Co-Pilot” bumper sticker.  Jesus is the pilot.  He flies the plane and we assist.  

If I were to change the lyrics to have it “my way”, I’d simply use the image that all the Gospels portray, “Jesus loves me still today.  Walks before me on ‘the’ way. Wanting as a friend to give light and love to all who live.”  Such a simple solution with profound implications.  We follow Jesus on the way, rather than Jesus tagging along with us on the way we want to go.

Looking at our passage from Mark, Peter’s game changing profession that Jesus is the Messiah and the ensuing conversation; Jesus teaches that as the Messiah he must suffer and die and that anyone who would follow him must also lose their self’s for the sake of him and of the Gospel in order to save their self’s.  If we are just living our own lives the way we want to live them believing that Jesus is just along on our ride to bless us, then we are missing the point which is: If we want to be part of God’s solution for his world, we must deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him.  We must be minded on the things of God rather than on the things we humans devote ourselves to as we pursue our own gain all the while hoping God is with me blessing me on my way.

Let’s talk about “the way” here for a bit.  In Mark’s Gospel “the way” is an important place.  It shows up eighteen times.  As “the Sea” in Mark’s Gospel is the place where the Disciples get a glimpse of Jesus being God, “the way” is where Jesus teaches his followers faithfulness.  Oddly, we get don’t get our definition of what “the way” is until the very last time Mark mentions it.  In Jerusalem the Pharisees and Herodians came to Jesus trying to entrap him over the issue of paying taxes to Caesar. These religious and political authorities came to Jesus recognizing that Jesus teaches “the Way of God” (12:14).  “The way” is the way of life that God desires for us.  So, to be “on the way” is to be striving at what God wants us to be about.  It is while we are on “the way” rather than when we are standing still that Jesus teaches us faith.  

Looking at the places where Jesus and the Disciples are on “the way” in Mark’s Gospel we can learn a few things.  “On the way” the disciples learn that first and foremost the faithful life, the Kingdom of Heaven life is found in following Jesus and where he leads.  They are always following him.  That is their modus operandi.  At first, “the way” seems to be just going here and there aimlessly.  But after Peter’s profession here in our passage where the disciples finally get who Jesus is, the Messiah, “the way” takes a definitive direction.  Jesus begins to head to Jerusalem where he will suffer at the hands of the religious and political authorities, be put to death, and then resurrected to new life.  On the way’ we catch a glimpse of who Jesus is and it changes our direction.  The Way of God is integrally connected to Jesus and the direction of his life.

Jesus points out here that the way of God is following Jesus on “the way” in the faithful life of self-denial and bearing the cross rather than self-actualization and personal gain.  The Way of God Jesus had to take as Son of God was to Jerusalem, death, and resurrection.  His way was to empty himself of all earthly power to manifest the full power of God.  Jesus had to sacrifice himself in love to save God’s creation.  Miracles here and miracles there wouldn’t do it.  Becoming the most powerful person on earth and assuming an emperor’s throne wouldn’t do it.  Instead, the Son of God become human must as a human die and be raised in order to put sin and death to death and begin a new creation that will be filled with God’s Spirit.  This self-denying way of faithfulness and sacrificial love is the way we who follow Jesus must also take.

Some more about “the way”.  It is a meager way.  You won’t get wealthy on “the way”.  The Disciples take nothing with them as they go.  They have to scrounge heads of grain to eat in the fields as they go.  A rich, young man steps into “the way” to ask Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life.  Jesus looked at him and in great love for him (this is the only person Mark tells us that Jesus looked at with great love) told him to give everything he had to the poor and come and follow him on “the way”.  The man turned and left grieving because he had a lot of possessions.  Attachment to wealth can hinder one’s walk along the way of God, the way of emptying one’s self for others.  “On the way” we must rely on God to provide for us and we will be surprised at how abundant something called “enough” is.

There is conflict along “the way”, conflict with religious types who will use threats to try to convince you that the Way of God is keeping rules of outward appearances rather than exercising costly compassion.  With great coercive threats of damnation, the religious types will try to convince you that faithfulness is keeping up the appearance of being good, godly people who are all the while just judgers and accusers of others particularly the weak, the hurting, and the outcast.  This hypocrisy arises from the bitter, saccharine hearts that they inherited from their father the devil; to quote Jesus. 

“The way” is humbling.  “On the way” the disciples argue about who among them is the greatest. James and John want to sit on the thrones immediately to his right and left when Jesus takes over.  So, three times Jesus tells them that he must suffer and die and they must follow accordingly.  If Jesus has to tell us something three times, apparently it’s important and we’re being a little thick about it.  Greatness is found in humbly serving one another not in the false power of assumed leadership.

“The way” is also a place of great healing.  Blind Bartimaeus sat “alongside the way” unable to follow due to his blindness.  Jesus healed him and then he joyfully followed on the way.  This healing stood as a sign that spiritual blindness can be healed.  Following behind Jesus on his way to Jerusalem is where we see the nature of God most clearly.  The nature and power of Almighty God is self-emptying, self-denying, sacrificial love.  This love is what powerfully changes everything.  To understand this and act accordingly is seeing the way of God clearly.

Well, an interesting thing happens in Mark’s Gospel when Jesus and his Disciples and the rag tag crowd following “on the way” arrive at the destination “the way” leads them to – Jerusalem; the place where the way of God and the way of false religion and political power collide.  Those “on the way” did not take up arms. They didn’t get violent.  They didn’t try to run the government or take over the courts to impose their agendas.  Instead, they threw their cloaks down upon “the way” for Jesus to ride over as he entered town and they cried out “Hosanna” which means “Save Us”.  For many of those people that cloak was their only possession and their only protection.  Throwing it down onto “the way” symbolized the surrender of their self’s to Jesus who rides humbly on a donkey not powerfully on a warhorse.  Also of interest, when Jesus entered Jerusalem, he did not go to the palace of the king to claim it as his own.  Jesus and the crowd went to the Temple, the house of God.  His home.   But apparently, he didn’t feel at home.  He looked around and left.  Then, the next day he came back and cleared it of the big business and money laundering that the religious authorities had established there and he again started to teach in the temple courtyard.  It’s almost like the way that Jesus wages war is teaching the way of God.  Do we listen?

In this world, power is being abused by those in power.  Twenty years of war in Afghanistan that in the end served no purpose.  My heart breaks for this new wave of refugees and for those who cannot leave.  They are victims of the Cold War that was supposed to have ended in 1987.  In this world, a Pandemic soldiers on, conquering.  Its greatest weapon is fear unleashed in a salvo of misinformation and self-oriented life-style choices.  Proper medical care and vaccines are available to wealthier nations while poorer nations suffer greatly and we hear nothing of it on the news.  Indeed, we have no idea what havoc COVID is wreaking on the weaker, poorer nations.  We are more concerned about ourselves.  We are headed for a climate crisis that’s also fueled by misinformation and life-style choices that are oriented towards self-gain.  

In our reading today, Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do y’all say I am.”  Peter, speaking as the representative of them all said, “You are the Messiah.”  Jesus is the one who saves God’s good creation from all its oppressors.  Peter made that profession after having followed Jesus around on “the way” and seeing many healings, the calming of the sea, the feeding of the 15,000+, and hearing Jesus teach.  It was obvious to them who Jesus is.  The church continues to make that same profession today, but honestly it is quite hard to say that we are throwing our cloaks down before him on the way.  We aren’t giving ourselves to him rather we are content to simply believe that he walks beside me on “my” way.  Friends, we need to change those lyrics.  Amen.  

What Are We Thinking?

Mark 8:27-38
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“Notwithstanding” the past week in Ontario politics, American politics tend to be much more entertaining.  The 2020 presidential election, though less than 2 years away, promises to fill the bill like another movie in the “Expendables” franchise.  One candidate to watch for is a political activist and performance artist who calls himself Vermin Supreme.  His real name is Vermin Love Supreme.  He has been running for public office at all levels of government since the 1980’s.  This will be at least his fifth attempt at becoming POTUS.  He sports a big bushy grey beard and wears a black rubber boot on his head.  Vermin claims he is naturally qualified for the job because all politicians are vermin and since his name is Vermin Supreme he should be at the top of the heap.

Vermin Supreme claims to be a fascist anarchist.  He says we misunderstand Anarchy when we think it is just people run amuck doing whatever they want.  Rather, Anarchy is what happens after a major disaster or car crash – people pulling together to do the compassionate thing. 

Supreme’s campaign platform is interesting.  He promises that if elected, he will give everyone in the U.S. a pony.  This will reduce dependence on foreign oil, create jobs, and the manure can be used to revitalize the soil that has been exploited by big agriculture.  Moreover, everybody will have to have their pony with them at all times because their pony will be their personal identification.  He says he will make it a law that all people must brush their teeth.  Strong teeth will make a strong nation.  He will also provide a government-sponsored toothpaste made with mildly addictive but harmless ingredients.  He also promises to give all people with major health problems a free bus ticket to Canada where they will actually get care.  These are only a few of his insight promises.

Vermin Supreme may seem like a joke candidate only capable of drawing protest votes, but maybe there’s something there.  He’s smart and all of his outrageous promises address critical flaws in American government.  But, simply electing a fascist anarchist won’t fix the problem neither in the States nor here in Canada.  The fundamental flaw is with the people.  Citizens down there and up here too do not think “how can we build a more perfect union” but rather we tend to think of ourselves first and demand government protect “my” freedom to live “my” life in the pursuit of “my” own happiness, which translates into “keep the economy going so I can keep buying things that I don’t need but that I have been led to believe will make me happy.”  We think the things of “me”, rather that the things of “we”.

The Twelve Disciples had a similar problem with respect to what it meant for Jesus to be the Messiah and for them to be his disciples.  They had come to see that he was the Messiah, but they couldn’t see beyond their own expectations of what the Messiah was supposed to do and what it meant for them.  They knew the Messiah was to bring the kingdom of God, which meant getting rid of the Romans and the corrupt Judean royalty and then establishing a fair and just kingdom in which they, the Twelve, as Jesus followers would be his vice-regents.  Their problem was as Jesus said to Peter, “you are not thinking the things of God but the things of men.”

In Mark’s Gospel this passage comes on the tail end of Jesus having led the disciples all over Galilee and into Gentile lands on a Kingdom of God Share-The-Bread Tour where he distributed the bread that was left over from feeding the 5,000.  He proved himself to be the Messiah who was bringing in the kingdom of God according to about every Old Testament prophecy there is.  He had caused the lame to leap, the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the mute to speak.  He had freed those held captive by demons.  He had caused Gentiles to have faith and to praise Israel’s God.  He had truly manifested the kingdom of God in their midst and they had participated in it.

But, then Jesus went a little Vermin Supreme on them and began to teach them of other Scriptures that said the Messiah would have to suffer at the hands of the religious and political authorities and be put to death and then on the third day rise again.  This was information the disciples couldn’t process.  According to their expectations, the Messiah was supposed to raise an army that included the angels of heaven, restore Israel’s independence, and rule in God’s name just like King David did in the good ole days.  He would end corruption of every kind.  His kingdom would be one of peace and justice and fairness.  Everyone was going to have their own vine and fig tree to sit under…and most importantly…the Messiah they were expecting was not supposed to die. 

Then Jesus went on to say that being his follower meant renouncing claim to oneself and taking up a cross too…also not on their list of expectations.  As those closest to Jesus – those who had left everything to follow him – they were expecting to sit enthroned at his side ruling with him.  But Jesus began to tell them that to be his followers they would have to renounce claim to their very selves.  They must deny themselves and think, “my life is not my own to seek my own goals, gain, and glory.  I now belong to Jesus for the proclamation and ministry of his kingdom which is at hand”. 

And it gets more difficult.  To take up the cross is to share in Jesus’ suffering for the sake of the world through the task of proclaiming and ministering the kingdom of God being at hand.  It would not be worldly gain for the Twelve.  They just could not wrap their heads around that.  Seriously, just a few days later James and John had the audacity to come to Jesus to ask him if they could sit at his right and at his left when he takes his throne.  The disciples simply were not thinking the things of God but rather the things of man.

Now to turn this around to us, we suffer the same malady.  We call Jesus Lord and Saviour, Messiah, Christ, God’s Holy Spirit Anointed King, and Son of God yet we too misunderstand what it means for Jesus to be the Messiah, the bringer of the Kingdom of God, and for us to be his followers, his heralds.  For most Christians Jesus is simply our moral example, our ticket into a favourable afterlife, and a bit of psychological help in times of trouble.  We tend not to think of Jesus being the King of the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of God as something present in which we now participate.  The Kingdom of God is at hand.  It is here among us.  We as a gathering of Jesus-followers are participants right now in the Kingdom of God over which Jesus reigns through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Here’s how.  The Kingdom of God exists as a Holy Spirit filled community of disciples who strive to know Jesus more fully and who renounce claim to their selves to find their life in him.  It comes about when those who call themselves Christian gather together around the Bible and let themselves be challenged and recreated by its demands.   The Kingdom of God exists as a community where in the name of Jesus blind eyes begin to see with compassion.  Deaf ears begin to hear with empathy.  Mute mouths begin to speak the truth in love and the lame leap up and begin to walk the way of the cross.  The Kingdom of God exists as the community where in Jesus’ name faithfulness, honest communication, kindness, and forgiveness are the way of life.  The Kingdom of God exists as the community where those who follow Jesus share their weaknesses and allow themselves to be prayed for and supported.  That Kingdom of God exists as the community that feels no shame in inviting others to come and share in the good news that Jesus and his Kingdom are here; yes, right here in our little fellowship.

This leaves us with a question: “What are we thinking”?  Are we thinking the things of God or the things of man?  Are we each truly striving to know Jesus and participate in his kingdom before anything else or is “God” just a crutch I lean on and this congregation just a motley crew of good people who are like minded to myself and so I give them space in my life because I believe its important?  If we really want to live we must stop trying to fit Jesus into our own individual lives, which is thinking the things of man, and start asking what’s my place in him, which is thinking the things of God?  Amen.

What Are We Thinking?

Text: Mark 8:27-38
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Jesus’ disciples had a problem with respect to what it meant for Jesus to be the Messiah and for them to be his disciples.  They had come to see that he was the Messiah.  But they couldn’t see beyond their own expectations of what the Messiah was supposed to do and what it meant for them.  They knew the Messiah was to bring the kingdom of God which meant getting rid of the Romans and the corrupt Judean royalty and establish a fair kingdom in which they as Jesus followers would be his vice-regents.  Their problem is as Jesus says to Peter, “you are not thinking the things of God but the things of men.”

In Mark’s Gospel this passage comes on the tail end of Jesus having led the disciples on a mission of sharing the twelve baskets of crumbs that were left over from the feeding of the 5,000.  He had been up to Lebanon and then into Jordon both Gentile or non-Jewish lands and there he proved himself to be the Messiah who was bringing in the kingdom of God according to about every Old Testament prophecy you could think of.  He had caused the lame to leap, the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the mute to speak.  He had freed those held captive by demons.  He had caused Gentiles to have faith and to praise Israel’s God.  He had truly manifested the kingdom of God in their midst and they had participated in it.  So it was not hard for them to confess Jesus to be the Messiah, the Holy Spirit Anointed King the people of God had been expecting. 

But, Jesus began to teach them of other Scriptures (like Isaiah 53) which said the Messiah would have to suffer at the hands of the religious and political authorities and be put to death and then on the third day rise again.  This was information the disciples couldn’t process.  According to their expectations, the Messiah was supposed to raise an army that included the angels of heaven and restore Israel’s independence and rule in God’s name just like King David did in the good ole days.  He would stamp out corruption of every kind.  His kingdom would be one of peace and justice.  No more of this rich and poor stuff.  Everyone was going to have their own vine and fig tree to sit under.  The Messiah they were expecting was not supposed to die. 

Then Jesus goes on to say that to be his follower meant renouncing claim to oneself and taking up the cross too.  They were expecting to be Jesus’ vice-regents.  But Jesus began to tell them that to be his followers they would have to renounce claim to their very selves.  No longer could they (nor we) think, “my life is my own to do with it what I want.”  Rather, they (and we) must deny themselves and think, “my life is not my own to seek my own goals, gain, and glory.  I now belong to Jesus for the proclamation and ministry of his kingdom which is at hand”.  And it gets more difficult.  To take up the cross is to share in Jesus’ suffering for the sake of the world through the task of proclaiming and ministering the kingdom of God being at hand.  It would not be worldly gain for them.  The disciples couldn’t get that.  James and John have the audacity a few days later to ask him which of them could sit at his right and at his left.  The disciples were not thinking the things of God but the things of man.

Now to turn this around to us, we suffer the same malady.  Though we call Jesus Lord and Saviour, Messiah, Christ, God’s Holy Spirit Anointed King, and Son of God we too misunderstand what it means for Jesus to be who he is as Messiah, as the bringer of the Kingdom of God and for us to be his followers, his heralds.  For most Christians Jesus is simply our moral example, our ticket into a favourable afterlife, and a bit of psychological help in times of trouble.  We tend not to think of Jesus being the King of the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of God as something present in which we now participate.

Please tolerate me giving you a bit of history.  When the church spread into the West, it came with the fundamental flaw of having lost its knowledge of the Kingdom of God.  How did it get lost.  In the 300’s Christianity became the primary faith of the Roman Empire and the Kingdom of God became synonymous with the Roman Empire and the term ceased to be used.  After the fall of the Roman Empire is when the Church spread into Europe proper.  When it arrived it did not come proclaiming the Gospel that Jesus himself and the early church proclaimed about Jesus and the kingdom of God being at hand.  The Gospel that Jesus proclaimed was not “believe in me and your sins will be forgiven and you will go to Heaven when you die.”  It was, “The Kingdom of God is at hand.  Turn and believe the Good News.”  The Church had lost the early church Gospel of the Kingdom of God come with Jesus and so it came to Pagan Europe preaching a message that had served to religiously unify the Roman Empire, a message that said “Jesus is Lord and Saviour.  He died to avert God’s wrath for you and make Heaven possible for you.  So, be loyal to the Church and do good works and earn your salvation and you won’t go to Hell.”  In some cases they added, “and we won’t kill you.”  Rome the empire had fallen, but the institution of the Roman church was out to build its own empire.

I don’t know who said this but I heard it in a lecture by a man named Robert Webber, “When the church was in Jerusalem it was a Jewish sect.  When it moved to Rome it became an institution.  When it spread throughout Europe it became a culture.  And when it came to North America it became big business.”  He explained this saying that we in North America predominantly understand the Church to be the religious institution that has been the moral undergirding of our particular culture and now requires a lot of money for its continuance and therefore must operate like big business if it is going to succeed and be relevant in a culture where people pick and choose religion like consumers choosing steaks at the grocery store...the best looking for the best price. This church thinks the things of man, Church survival, rather than the things of God, the Kingdom of God being at hand. 

There is good news for this church and it is as Jesus proclaimed, “The kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent and believe the good news.”  A church is a Holy Spirit anointed community of disciples who know Jesus and who renounce claim to their selves and find their life in him.  It comes about when those who call themselves Christian gather together around the Bible and let themselves be challenged and recreated by its demands.   A church is a community where in the name of Jesus blind eyes begin to see with compassion.  Deaf ears begin to hear with empathy.  Mute mouths begin to speak the truth in love and the lame leap up begin to walk the way of the cross.  A church is the community where in Jesus name faithfulness, communication, kindness, and forgiveness are the way of life.  A church is the community where those who follow Jesus share their weaknesses and allow themselves to be prayed for and supported.  Indeed, a church is the community that prays without ceasing.  A church is the community that feels no shame in inviting others to come and share in the good news.  It is in and through this community that the “at hand” kingdom of God manifests itself.  It is the community where Jesus himself by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit is present and doing the things only God can do; healing the sick and disordered, casting out the evil that oppresses, and forgiving sins.  This is the church that thinks the things of God.  This leaves us with a question: “What are we thinking”; the things of God or the things of man?  Are we striving to know Jesus and participate in his kingdom or….?  I think Church would be less of a burden for us if we just got back to thinking the things of God.  Amen.