REJECTED!

Mark 8:31-38

Raphael, Christ's Charge to Peter 1515 (PD)

Comedian Emo Phillips once did a bit about religion. He claimed that he once saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. 

Emo said, "Don't do it!" 

The man responded, “Well, nobody loves me." 

Emo assured him, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?”

The man responded, "Yes." 

Emo said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?" 

The man replied, “I’m a Christian." 

Emo said, "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?" 

The man proclaimed, "Protestant." 

Emo said, "Me, too! What franchise?" 

The man replied, "Baptist." 

Emo said, "Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?" 

The man responded, "Northern Baptist." 

Emo said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?"

The man stated, "Northern Conservative Baptist." 

Emo said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?" 

The man replied, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region.”

 Emo said, "Me, too!” Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?"

The man exclaimed, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912." 

Emo replied, “Die, you heretic!" And he pushed him off the bridge.

~

There is one emotional consistent regarding the human condition; we all want to be loved. 

I’ve shared with you all before that I am a bit of an introvert. I really appreciate a little bit of solitude, but for each and every one of us there comes a time in which we need to be loved. 

In Emo’s bit, the joke begins with the implication that God’s love should be enough for the man, but that love becomes increasingly conditional as the joke goes on until eventually it isn’t really a reflection of God’s love at all. It ends up a reflection of Emo’s love. 

For each and every one of us, there is a deep desire to be the object of another human being’s love. Not just a romantic sense of love, but we all desire to be the object of a platonic sense of love. There are different degrees of this need for different people. Some aren’t as needy as others, but we are all designed to be in relationship with other human beings. Some need an intimate and personal connection, while others desire the affection of a large audience. It's certainly one of the dangers of any public role, when you win the favor of the masses, it is only a matter of time before you fall out of their favor. 

Photo by William White on Unsplash

Most often, those who become icons and lasting objects of love for the masses, do so postmortem. It is one of the reasons why John F. Kennedy’s approval ratings teetered at 58% in November of 1963, yet in the 1990’s his approval ratings were as high as 78%! One of the most popular presidents in our nations history! Yet, when asked what people remembered the most about Kennedy, it is not the Cuban missile crisis, the Civil Rights movement, or his development of the space program that is most often cited. It is his assassination, and yet, he is regarded as the most popular president of our nation out of all the others that have held that office over this past half century. 

It seems that the love of the masses is the most fleeting treasure in this world. People are fickle, no need for polling or statistics to realize that truth. But who would ever SEEK out the opportunity to be rejected?

~

The gospel account we heard this morning from Mark seems to draw our attention toward the crucifixion of Christ, with good reason of course. But if we really consider the first verse of our Gospel, that would be putting the cart before the horse. The words Jesus shares with his disciples illustrate a far more painful prediction for them to grasp. It’s also a far more outlandish prediction for them to hear. Because everybody loves Jesus. Jew, Gentile, Roman citizens, and even Roman soldiers. 

A few Pharisees challenge Jesus, but he even befriends a few of those fellas. The religious high and mighty who come to Galilee to investigate what Jesus is up to and the ministry he is sharing may challenge him from time to time, but they usually take off with their tails tucked between their legs after Jesus flips the question around on them. 

So, two verses prior to our Gospel for today, when Peter proclaims that Jesus is the Messiah, he and the other disciples are hopeful to say the least. They are confident in this Messiah and the future looks as bright as ever. They’ve bet on a sure thing if they are to truly believe that he is the Messiah. And when Jesus breaks the news to them that he will undergo great suffering, be rejected, be killed, and rise again in three days. We all wonder why the disciples didn’t hear him clearly predict the resurrection. It’s simple, because they didn’t hear ANYTHING that followed the word rejected! They didn’t hear it because from what they have seen up to this point, it is far too removed from their reality that Jesus, could ever be rejected! Everybody loves him! And the bandwagon is only growing! Jesus’ ministry has attracted five thousand people at one point in chapter six of Mark’s gospel. Then he does an encore in chapter eight that attracts four thousand! So a prediction of rejection must be outlandish in their eyes. If Jesus can make it in Galilee, even among the Romans and the Gentiles, a hero’s welcome would be the most likely prediction if he were to even dare and announce himself as the Messiah, entering into Jerusalem. 

And the word rejection is a pretty harsh word. It is such a harsh word, it is only used one time in Matthew’s Gospel. This word is used twice in Mark, and in Luke, the word is used a whopping three times. All three gospels share this word in Jesus’ citing of Psalm 118 “The stone that the builders have rejected has become the chief cornerstone.”

The word implies that what has been rejected was fully inspected for flaws and defects before being completely cast aside as something unwanted, without any defense for its value. The disciples aren’t hung up on the prediction of Jesus’ death, because they are predicting that he is a shoe-in for most popular prophet, priest, and eventually king. The people love him, the disciples love him, and people love the disciples because they are part of his entourage. Life was good! Who’s gonna mess with that?! To be adored by a loving public whose love for Jesus and his ministry was only spreading farther and wider throughout the region. His popularity seemed limitless, no end in sight. A popular ministry that would give rise to a new Israel, with Peter and the other disciples at Jesus’ right hand!

But people are fickle as we all know, and the love of the masses is easy come and easy go. 

Pietro Lorenzetti,
  Jesus enters Jerusalem and the crowds welcome him 1320 (PD)

It doesn’t take a whole lot to fall out of the good graces of the masses. One little slip up in a public address or the most minor of rumors and discontent can be sewn into any community. When the message being shared in a community offers a contrast to the way we are living, it is never received with either love in our hearts or gratitude upon our lips. This is a real conundrum for us if we are to call ourselves followers of Christ. Because we like to read this text and take this idea of “taking up our crosses” and turn it some sort of allegory.We like to take up our cross by giving up sweets for Lent, or take up our crosses by hitting the gym for Lent since that plan fizzled out after New Years. Sometimes we think of our crosses as the challenges we face in life, not getting selected for a job or promotion, financial hardships, relationship issues, or family problems to name a few. It helps us to see this text as a call to personal resilience or perseverance, but that isn’t the call being issued in this text today. 

Jesus calls us to follow him into a life of rejection, a life that is completely contrary to our very nature, our need to be loved. Quite a different message than what you’d probably see on television this morning, if you tuned in to your standard televangelist. It's really not a message that sells out arenas or draws large crowds. When Jesus says lose your life for the sake of the Gospel, it just doesn’t have the same ring in a book title as "Your Best Life Now." 

But Christianity is not a call to be successful.  It is not a call to be loved by the masses nor is it an assurance that you will be adored by others. In today's text, Jesus’ assurance to us is basically that we will not be adored by the masses if we preach and teach in accordance with God’s Word. It's a call to lead a life that can be strange and lonely at times, in a world where people know what they WANT to hear but can seldom value what they NEED to hear. 

But we all filter out what we want to hear when the Gospel calls to us, and we all filter out what we want to hear when the Law condemns us. Perhaps picking up this cross is a call to reflect on ourselves with a sense of honesty and integrity as we continue through this Lenten season?

~

Last week an indictment from special prosecutor Robert Mueller was made public. Upon its release, I read through the 37 page document. I was embarrassed, because in spite of how it was spun it was not an indictment of the President, Bernie Sanders, Republicans, or Democrats. It really wasn’t even an indictment of the 13 Russians named in the document. It was an indictment on all of US. 

Because we as a community and a nation have spent years, following lies and mistruths. What’s more we have collectively spread those lies and mistruths, becoming disciples of those lies for no other reason but to be accepted into our own little tribes that offer us a sense of belonging. We’ve followed and liked Russian bots on social media who played us all, regardless of your political persuasion, by saying all the things we wanted to hear. And they did it with the purpose of dividing us all, knowing we would follow them, rather than a truth that was either too complicated for us to consider or a truth we refused to hear. 

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

Jesus comes face to face with Peter and Jesus rebukes him, telling Peter to literally fall in line behind Jesus. Because Peter is speaking to Jesus’ very human need to be adored, to be loved by the people. And Peter is physically positioned in this story between Jesus and where Jesus is going; to be shouted down, humiliated, and rejected in the shadow of the very Temple that has been dedicated to God. Peter stands between Jesus and his destiny because Peter doesn’t want to believe this reality. Peter wants Jesus to fall in line behind HIM, behind his vision of success, his plan for this ministry. Because it is what Peter WANTS to believe. It is the reality Peter WANTS to create. But our plans are built on our own wants and selfish desires, lies that we use to define what success really looks like. 

For us, success isn’t found in rejection. 

For us, success isn’t found on a witness stand being tried for a crime. 

For us, success isn’t found flogged and beaten in humiliation. 

For us, success isn’t found on a cross. 

But this isn’t the story of our success. It is the story of God’s success in spite of us. 

Success is God’s business, falling in line behind what is true and faithful to one another and God is our business. Perhaps we can still find success by following where God’s Truth leads us, even if it leads us to places we don’t want to go, realizing truths we don’t want to accept.

Even if it leads us to a tomb, we should have faith. After all, there may be a surprise inside. 

Amen

Sources

“CNN Poll: JFK Tops Presidential Rankings for Last 50 Years.” Accessed February 19, 2018. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/11/22/cnn-poll-jfk-tops-presidential-rankings-for-last-50-years/.

Philips, Emo. “The Best God Joke Ever - and It’s Mine!” the Guardian, September 29, 2005. http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2005/sep/29/comedy.religion.

Half Full or Half Empty?

Ash Wednesday

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17; 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10; 

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21; and Genesis 3

A couple days ago I was asked a -sort of accusatory- question. 

It’s one that I’ve heard used many times, directed both at me and others. 

It is also a pretty rigid way to see life. 

I was asked, “You’re one of those ‘glass half empty people’ aren’t you?”

I’ve heard it before. I’ve also heard others make the opposite accusation. 

I think it's a ludicrous analogy for life equaled only by the tragedy of looking at any drink that way!

As a fan of many different types of drinks, I cannot imagine, let's just say a morning cup of coffee -which is but one of my favorite beverages- sitting between my hands as I ponder whether or not my mug is half full or half empty. 

When I have a cup of coffee in my hand, I savor that dark brew to the last drop, because frankly IT'S MEANT TO BE ENJOYED!

Oddly, this accusation has been directed at me numerous times when I share my fondness for the Lenten season. 

It seems that if you enjoy a particular church season or practice that some perceive as melancholy, dark, or depressing, you must be some sort of pessimist. 

It is sad that we have lost our appreciation and value for this season. 

Rather than considering the possible beauty and opportunity in it, we often spend more time dwelling on the inconvenience of our Lenten disciplines, what we give up or what we take on. 

Ash Wednesday is the very beginning of Lent, a day and a season that calls us to both turn away and turn toward something. 

This is part of the reason we give things up or take things on, sometimes we do both. 

Marking ourselves with ash is a sign that we are preparing for our “turn.”

It is a biblical sign and symbol, for repentance like in Job, or Daniel’s repentance on behalf of Israel. 

It is also a sign of grief like the grief we see in the story of Mordecai and the story of Tamar.

A few weeks ago, we even heard the story of Nineveh marking their repentance by covering themselves in ash as they turned themselves toward God. 

It is why our first lesson from Joel calls out for repentance. Of course for Joel, it appears the glass is half empty, right?

But our second lesson from 2 Corinthians gives us more of that “half full” approach, assuring us that “now is the time of salvation,” a nice tone of optimism to get you started on day one. 

But is that what we need?

Do we really need to approach Lent with a complete sense of optimism or pessimism?

Is Lent intended to be a temporary hiatus from the glory of God, traded in for the doom and gloom of a handful of dark and brooding Christians and clergy, walking around with these ash crosses on their foreheads scaring the heck out of the cop that pulls us over on the way home or the poor grocery clerk between church and the house?

Perhaps how we approach this season is best summed up in the Gospel text for tonight. 

“Do not store up for yourself treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Matthew doesn’t deny the treasures of this world, Matthew only warns us not to hold so tightly to the treasures of our worldly existence that we lose sight of the treasures that await us through Christ. 

Lent isn’t a time to completely remove ourselves from the world around us, the things and people we love. 

It is a time to reevaluate what those things that separate us from God are. 

It is a time to reconsider what treasures we would leave in God’s hands,  because if we feel ashamed to call them treasures as they are being placed into God’s hands, perhaps they really aren’t treasures after all?

Ash Wednesday includes another story not read in our lessons today, but you will hear words from this story spoken tonight. 

“You are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

These are the words spoken by God in Genesis 3:19. 

Words spoken to the first man.

Words spoken following this man’s decision to treasure something he shouldn’t, something he was ashamed to call treasure as he stood before God. 

These are the last words spoken by God to humanity before humanity was cast out of paradise, Eden. 

The tradition of Ash Wednesday stems from this story. 

In the early church, once marked by ash, all those participating were cast out of the church. 

Allowing us all to not only relive this expulsion from paradise, but to acknowledge our own participation in that first act of sin. 

Reminding us why we are to return to dust, why we suffer: because of our own continual state of sin. 

But it should also be considered that this was not God’s intention, nor IS it God’s intention. 

God’s created order was for all things to be good, and God assures us that all things will be and are being returned to that state, in all that God does. 

Hopefully a reminder of this duality, this half full/half empty glass that is about to be marked upon your brow will also be etched into your hearts and minds when you leave here tonight. 

Ash reminds us that we were created from the dust of the earth, yet we are created from so very much more. 

In the past few years, astrophysicists, biologists, pathologists, and a few other kinds of ‘-ists’ have concluded that after the explosion of several stars billions of years ago, that stardust became the building blocks of life itself. 

The carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, iron and sulfur in our bodies most of the material that we're made of comes out of dying stars, or stars that died in explosions.

We have stuff in us as old as the universe, and then some stuff that landed here maybe only a hundred years ago. 

And all of that stuff mixes in our bodies.

Connecting us to the unlimited expanse of a growing universe, illustrating how we are not just created from the mud beneath our feet, but the stars we see in the night sky. 

Yes, the glass is half empty. 

We will all die one day, and we are reminded of that when we look to the ground beneath our feet. 

But the glass is also half full. 

God is still creating in us and through us, connecting us with a creation around us and above us. 

So, yes, on Ash Wednesday we are reminded of our own mortality. 

But life and death are both a celebration of the cycles God calls us to be part of. 

Remember when you go home tonight and you see that ash on your forehead, we are journeying into the next forty days considering how we participate in what God has created, is creating, and will continue to create. 

Then look to the dust beneath your feet and the dust that is glowing above in the night sky, and ask yourself just what -if anything- is worth separating us from the Artist that made all of that. 

Amen

Photo by Benjamin Davies on Unsplash

Sources

Whalen, Michael D. Seasons and Feasts of the Church Year: An Introduction. New York: Paulist Press, 1993.

Worrall, Simon PUBLISHED, and 2015. “We Are Stardust—Literally.” National Geographic News, January 28, 2015. https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/01/150128-big-bang-universe-supernova-astrophysics-health-space-ngbooktalk/.

Knapton, Sarah. “We Really ARE Made of Stardust - Building Blocks of Life Found at Birth of New Stars.” The Telegraph, June 8, 2017. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/06/08/really-made-stardust-building-blocks-life-found-birth-new/.

Benchwarmers

2 Kings 2:1-12 and Mark 9:2-9

Photo by Geoff Scott on Unsplash

This past week, the NFL’s 2018 season ended with the Philadelphia Eagle’s historic Super Bowl victory. 

It was historic in many ways. 

It was the Eagle’s first ever Super Bowl Victory against the Patriots who were favored to win by a four and a half point spread!

Tom Brady broke the record for yards passed in a Super Bowl, which only made the Eagle’s victory seem that much more improbable!

He also broke the record for most passes in a career, most completions in a career, most passing yards in a career, most touchdown passes in a career, and the most passes in a Super Bowl completed without a single interception!

All in all, if you looked at the numbers alone, it is hard to tell how the Eagles came out victorious!

On top of that, the Eagles were starting their benchwarmer, Nick Foles. 

Their number two quarterback, who almost quit a mere 18 months ago before being signed on with the Eagles to hold Carson Wentz’s helmet. 

Now, I haven’t watched much football since coming to St Michael, but I used to enjoy it a lot. 

I even organized my own fantasy football league for a few years. 

So when I heard that Nick Foles was the starting quarterback, I was surprised. 

After all, the last time I saw him play he was a hot and cold quarterback who lacked consistency from game to game. 

He was the goofiest looking guy I had ever seen in the NFL, too!

He looked like a cross between Napolean Dynamite and Shaggy from Scooby Doo!

But I felt for the guy, because yes he was an underdog but he was also the backup, the number two guy, who, I’m not so sure had signed up to be the starting quarterback for the biggest game in the NFL, against the biggest team, with the most dominant quarterback in the league. 

Departure of the prophet Elijah and Elisha,
Eastern Orthodox icon 17th Century PD

The starter in our first lesson today is pretty obvious; Elijah. 

He holds the record for taking on four hundred fifty prophets of Baal. 

He has stood up to King Ahaz and Queen Jezebel, who had not only threatened him with death but they had instituted pagan worship in Israel and condemned the worship of Israel’s God. 

Elijah had been the conduit for many miracles that God had instituted through him, drawing Israel back to God, and returning them to their true faith. 

He had helped to overthrow King Ahaz and Jezebel, when the odds were stacked against him.

And as Elijah grew more accomplished, his bandwagon got a little bigger. 

At least big enough for a company of prophets. 

And as he makes his way from Gilgal, Elijah tells his backup, the number two, Elisha; “I’ll take it from here.”

Elisha’s response usually gets a little bit glanced over for a number of reasons, not least of which is that…. well…

He’s just the backup!

But Elisha’s response to Elijah is revealing, first stating his own faith in God, and then his devotion to the mission the two of them share. 

“As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not abandon you, Elijah.”

Elisha repeats this phrase three times throughout our first lesson today, each time in response to Elijah’s command to stay where he is. 

The number of prophets with them fluctuates, but Elisha follows his team’s starter from beginning to end. 

It could be seen as a selfish quest to take up the mantle of Elijah, but after all Elisha has seen him go through, I doubt it looked like a job that he wanted. 

In fact, this isn’t really a story about inheriting Elijah’s mantle at all. It is a story of devotion to the man who is Elisha’s teacher and devotion to the mission that they share. 

Elijah’s double share and his mantle is passed on to Elisha, but Elisha is left alone to know that Elijah’s no longer the starter; Elisha is. 

But this isn’t what causes Elisha to cry out in grief, tearing his clothes in mourning. 

It is that he has been separated from the man he followed and loved, the man who had given him a fuller understanding of God. 

And although we usually see Elijah portrayed as riding on that chariot into the heavens, the purpose of the chariot is that it separates the two, showing us the depth of the relationship shared between the Elijah and his disciple, 

Teacher and student, 

A disciple who must now fill the teacher’s shoes. 

16th Century Icon by Unknown artist, PD

It's not always a position we like to have popped on us, being pulled off the bench. 

I wrestled for a little bit in high school. 

I wasn’t really good and to be honest, I only participated because I liked to workout at the practices. 

To be honest, I was awful. 

I attended a match in Greenville, PA once where I wasn’t supposed to even wrestle. 

I just attended as a member of the team to show my support, but when I got there I found out the guy that wrestled in my weight class was not there and I would be taking his place. 

My teammates and my coach kept telling me it was no big deal, I’d be fine, do my best, etc. 

I went out on the mat and I sprawled around on either my face or my back for the entire 6 minutes of that three 2 minute period match. 

When the match was over and I was walking off the mat, I was shocked to hear clapping and cheering with my name. 

I looked up at the scoreboard which read 14-1 in favor of my opponent. 

(I got a point when he put me in a headlock.)

Confused and disoriented, I asked why everyone was cheering. 

“You didn’t get pinned and he only scored 14 points!” they advised as they all patted me on the back and cheered for me. 

“Why is that good?” I asked.

“He was the state champion last year!,” they replied. 

One of the comforting things about being the number two, the sidekick, the benchwarmer, is that you can watch from the sidelines. 

You can avoid the criticisms of others. You can also “Monday morning quarterback” as they say, giving unsolicited advice which is rarely helpful but usually makes us feel pretty important. 

But one thing about being called up to number 1 from number 2 is that when that call is from God,  it's usually not a call we are seeking, especially when it involves our call as disciples. 

It is also pretty scary when we don’t know what we may be up against, what we are prepared to face, after all life can throw a lot bigger challenges at us than Tom Brady or a 135 pound state champion. 

Alexandr Ivanov, Transfiguration 1824 PD

The Gospel lesson for today tells a similar story. 

A teacher takes three of his students up onto an unknown mountain, where the greatness of that teacher is fully revealed to them. 

Not because Jesus made it so, but because God the Father changes Jesus before their very eyes. 

It's a strange story but it is central to this day, the Transfiguration of our Lord. 

It holds an important place in Mark’s Gospel and in our church calendar. 

Today is the last Sunday of our Epiphany season. It is also a turning point in our church calendar as we begin Lent this week with Ash Wednesday. 

Because from this point forward, Jesus comes down off this mountain, heading straight to Jerusalem where he will be arrested, tried, convicted, and executed upon the cross. 

We have reached the very climax of Mark’s Gospel, and it is quite literally all downhill from here.

Jesus is about to begin the final leg of his mission. It is one of the reasons he has climbed this mountain. 

His plan is confirmed by God’s revelation through him and by both Moses and Elijah. 

His plan is to march towards his own death, in order to reveal once and for all that death is no longer to be feared. 

But there is also a painful irony in this episode for his followers, especially Peter. 

Jesus is transfigured by God the Father in order to reveal the value and beauty of what is going to be humiliated and executed in the most shocking and disgraceful of ways.

They cannot fully know the tragedy of what lies ahead until they, and we too, see the beauty of what is sacrificed, not to God but to us.  

It is revealed to Peter, James, and John and it is so glorious that they don’t even want to leave!

The glory dissipates as soon as they begin making their way down, leaving behind the full glory of a messiah that could change the world with relative ease, without a cross, if everyone could just see what Peter, James, and John have seen. 

But this is not to be so, and what is worse is that they are not only marching towards Jesus’ death but when they get to Jerusalem, they’re going to be called off the bench. 

And they aren’t going to be winning any trophies based on the performance that lies ahead when they abandon him and deny him at the foot of the cross. 

~

I’m fairly sure that none of us want to hear it or think about it, but in our baptisms we are all called off the bench. 

We can claim that it is someone else’s job or hide behind the gatorade jug all we want, but at some point we are called off the bench to follow Christ. 

It doesn’t mean we break records or we go home with a trophy based on our performance, because much like Peter, we really don’t have that much to offer. 

But God doesn’t work through the MVP’s of this world, 

Because that would only show that God can pick a good team based on our own merits.

God uses the benchwarmers because it shows that God can EVEN use us. 

Amen

Novgorod school, 15th Century PD

Sources

“Tom Brady Tops Super Bowl Passing Mark: All 17 Records Broken in Eagles-Patriots.” CBSSports.com. Accessed February 7, 2018. https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/tom-brady-tops-super-bowl-passing-mark-all-17-records-broken-in-eagles-patriots/.