Sermon for February 23

The reading

Mark 8:27 - 9:8

8:27 Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" 28 And they answered him, "John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." 29 He asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Messiah." 30 And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him. 31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things." 34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36 For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37 Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38 Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."

9:1 And he said to them, "Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power." 2 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. 5 Then Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." 6 He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, "This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!" 8 Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.

The message


A few months ago, Jen and I were in Michigan visiting the church and people who came here to NY over the summer for their mission trip. One night, someone said, the corn maze is open late, till midnight.  Corn maze in the dark sounded like something that just had to be done.  10 or 12 of us loaded into a few cars and went to the maze. (Jen had the sense to skip this particular outing).  It was about a 15-minute drive. When we got there, it was crowded, probably the most crowded event we saw over our week there.   At the entrance, there was a little sign by the ticket counter that said “ caution the maze is muddy”.  No one thought much of it.  The people at the ticket counter told every customer in front of us, “its very muddy, are you sure you want to go, its really bad, it’s the worst we’ve seen in a few years”.   When it was our turn, we got the same warning, its really muddy, its bad, are you sure you want to go in.  Realizing I was not from there and never been in a corn maze before, I was given an extra warning. After a mix of we are here, its my only chance to see it and I'm sure they are just exaggerating, being overly cautious, it can’t be that bad, we decided to go for it. 


We got our tickets and went to the maze. On the way, there was a parade of people walking out complaining it was just too muddy, they didn’t make it 20 feet in, what a mess. There was a handful of prepared people with fishing gear on, big boots and rubber overalls also walking out and saying “you don’t want to go in there”.  We dismissed this as some people are just too sensitive.  We entered the maze and turns out, the people who just went in and the people who worked there all day were right. We managed to get lost and stuck and lost again and stuck again in a corn maze where the paths were just 6 or 8 inches of deep, flooded clay mud.  As we wandered, we kept thinking oh, the next turn will be better (sometimes it was but most of the time, it just got worse).  Total time spent in the maze was way too long and total loss for the group was about 4 pairs of sneakers and a few pairs of pants that could not be saved.


I thought of this experience as I read Jesus’ warnings to his disciples, as Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.  This is something Jesus will say 3 or 4 more times before his death and resurrection.   The disciples constantly misunderstand, or more accurately choose to not accept what Jesus is saying. This is not what they wanted to hear. This is something the disciples will not listen to.   Then I looked at what did I not understand about “the maze is muddy”, what didn’t I get when people who just walked out covered up to their knees in mud said it was muddy, when the people who worked at the maze basically told people do not go in, those seemed like good authorities about the maze.  The truth is that I had an idea that this would be an amazing adventure, I wanted to go to the maze and I wanted it to be awesome (I think the kids today call this questionable decision making method, fomo or fear of missing out).                 


Jesus disciples had their own ideas about where Jesus ministry was going, about what would happen next and about the power and glory to come.  This conversation between Jesus and his disciples happens in an important time and place. Ceasera Phillipi was the edge of Israel at the time of Jesus (even today, the ruins of this place sit on the border with Lebanon, a region still littered with land mines and security measures).  Jesus has come to the furthest geographical point of his ministry. This is why the disciples are reflective and everyone’s mind is on what’s next.  Jesus asks the disciples, you have been in the crowds, with the healed, in the places I have done great signs, Who do people say that I am?" 28 And they answered him, "John the Baptist; and others Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." 29 He asked them, after all you have seen and experienced with me,  "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Messiah.  Amongst the disciples, this sets off great expectations of the glory to come, of very human things, perhaps a revolt against Rome and the re-establishment of the kingdom of Israel, places of power and influence in the temple and amongst the authorities, great riches and rewards, a chance to end to poverty, inequality and hunger, an army 
of angels to wage just war on their enemies.  


Peter’s excitement at these possibilities is great, it blocks out anything else, including Jesus own words.  When Peter hears Jesus shut down the great proclaimation “you are the Messiah, the long awaited savior”, by saying tell no one, when Peter hears Jesus say the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again, Peter is so disappointed, he cannot accept it. This is just too far from what he wanted. Like I thought the maze will be fine, Peter thought Jesus the messiah could not suffer.  Peter pulls Jesus aside and yells at him, shut up about all that death and rejection, we are going to do something great.  Jesus responds "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."  Here, Satan comes from the Hebrew word meaning an obstacle or adversary, someone in the way.


The same human expectations vs God’s plan plays out during the next part of our reading. The transfiguration, is an event that is always read on the Sunday that ends epiphany, the time when people figure out who was born on Christmas.  It is right before Lent starts.  It sits as a reminder of who it is that goes out to face temptation in the wilderness, that Jesus the Messiah is the one hungry in the desert, Jesus, the one with Elijah and Moses, is the one thirsty, Jesus God’s beloved son is the one being offered relief.  


Peter and the disciples who witness the transfiguration want to build booths to mark this moment, they want to bring this transfiguration show to the people, this powerful expression of who Jesus is, this glorious moment of revealing who was born on Christmas.  As we started Mark’s Gospel around Christmas time, I said this was a journey to Easter, Jesus ministry was not a journey to the transfiguration, it was a journey to the cross,  Jesus ministry was not a journey to worldly glory, it is a journey to the cross, following Jesus is not the journey to riches, it’s a journey to the cross.  We are not on a journey to a self helpy self actualization, your best life now or whatever, it’s a journey to the cross.  That is where God’s ultimate power, love and care will be revealed,  This is not what the disciples wanted, this is not what we want, this is not even what Jesus wanted, God with us will be revealed in the embarrassment of trial, the pain of the cross and the resurrection from the dead.