Sermon, Pente +17 (Year B)

 We all like easy answers.

We don’t often enjoy difficult questions.

So: when Jesus asks his disciples a difficult question, they give him an easy answer.
Who do people say that I am?
Yikes; that’s a complex and loaded conversation starter.
Not only is it a question of identity; it’s a question of divine presence.
And the multiple disciples respond with a multitude of options of “popular opinion”:
JB, Elijah, a prophet.
All important people in the history of the Jewish people; all teachers, leaders, faithful folk who want the best for God’s people and God’s creation.
All VERY complimentary.
But: all other people. Popular opinion is divided, as Jesus has reminded different folks of different qualities.

So these answers may *seem* like an easy answer. And it seems like that’s a nice, positive, comfortable way tot end the discussion.

But. Jesus isn’t done. He invites deeper reflection, knowledge, connection… these are his disciples, after all. The folks who have chosen to follow him; whom he has chosen to exercise ministry with, the ones whose very descriptor – disciple – suggests following. Routine. Discipline.
AND: Jesus is their rabbi. Their teacher. The one who often asks them questions.

So his follow up:
Who do YOU say that I am?
This could go any number of ways.

They could focus on his geneology: “You’re Jesus; son of Mary and Joseph.
Or they could comment on their relationship: You’re my best friend! My teacher! My companion!
Or they could have addressed his attributes: “You’re our spiritual tour guide! Our rabbi! A healer and preacher!

Instead, Peter goes deep.
Now, we know Peter often goes deep, blurtin things out, without necessarily considering the implications of his words and enthusiasm.
YOU ARE THE MESSIAH. He says.

Ah. The Messiah. The chosen one. The anointed. The Christ.

To Peter – and others - the promised Messiah was going to overturn society. They would be a military presence to oust the oppressive Roman Empire and restore the idyllic religious kingdom.
Literally: a return to Eden.
Well, who wouldn’t want that? If someone else could just make everything better, all at once?
Think of it:
A world where all conflicts cease.
Where communities are always peaceful.
Where everyone feels safe, without bigotry or racism or xenophobia.
No housing crisis.
Healthy eco-systems that can sustain all life.
Adequate food and nutrition for all.
Water that is safe to drink in every home.
Where everyone can have a sense of fulfillment in contributing to society.
A place where we literally treat our neighbours as we would want to be treated: with respect and dignity and grace. – including our non-human neighbours.

…you get the idea. It sounds heavenly, doesn’t it?

Yet Jesus responds to them in an unexpected way. He dismantles the notion of Messiah as some super-hero blasting in to ‘fix’ things – and instead speaks of self-sacrifice; and challenge; and opposition.
He doesn’t speak of Peter’s mythological “Golden Era” but of the very earthly reality:
Change comes from US.
With us; through us.
Through the changes that WE make.

We can be agents of change in the world; when we first change our hearts and minds. To lose our current framework of life, and instead to set our minds on sharing the divine life.

Admittedly; that can be hard.
Because society tells us to look out for ourselves.
Even when we know that’s not really working out for us all.

And let’s be honest; like Peter, we are all wanting someone else to make things better; we are all wanting Jesus to just look after things for us.
Yet Jesus is instead inviting us to be co-creators of that better place; to be architects of a different, happier, and holier world.

And the interaction between Jesus and Peter can sound rather abrupt to our 21st century ears… rebuking each other, and the all-too-familiar “Get Behind Me Satan!”

But the connotation of the Greek word for rebuke had a kind of teaching, even slightly patronising, component to it – a colleague (Jacob Smith) describes this as “the same way a mother would speak to an obstinate child: “I have had enough of that sort of talk. Stop this nonsense!” “

Imagine. Trying to teach Jesus about who he was.
And the response to tell Peter to take his adversity – for satan didn’t mean a little red dude with horns and a tail – and put it behind him… well that can have 2 meanings as well. Put it behind you: could mean Put it in your past and move on; or it could mean to put the adversity at your back as a means of support – to learn from it and be stronger for the future.
Rebuke indeed.
The question “Who do you say that I am?” really is a difficult one; and Jesus has shown – in a few sentences – that even the easy answer is not easy; for it calls us to action. To commitment. To life-long change that isn’t always where we want to go.
But it is where Jesus leads us.

THIS is where Jesus calls his followers: the 12 that were with him then, and all of us today.
Jesus calls us to follow him; to put down our own lives and take up the cross.
The cross that is there for all of us.
The cross that inspires us to action; that invites us to faith; that invigorates our ministry, that informs our lives.

It’s interesting that yesterday was Holy Cross Day: a day to honour not the instrument of death and oppression of the Roman Empire, but the transformational assurance of Resurrection; of redemption; of ever-flowing grace.

And today we are inviting to take up our cross.
To consider who it is that WE say Jesus is:
The Messiah; the holy one of God; the great giver of love.

And part of our cross compels us to live our lives in ways that reflect that we have shed the restrictions of this world: the desire for wealth and power and all manner of self-serving attributes.
For we know that those earthly desires have led to times of greed, and sinfulness, and broken relationships with each other and with the earth.

And instead we have the chance to celebrate that through Christ – through the power of the cross – through the divine grace of God – we are not bound by these earthly ways.
We instead can work together to bring about the potential that Jesus leads us to:
To cast aside our egos and repair broken relationships between people, families, nations.
To deny our greed and live within our means;
To share when we experience abundance and ensure that no one suffers want.
To seek out those who believe they are unloved and unloveable and show them the welcome within the family of faith.
To stop devastating God’s ultimate masterwork and re-establish our niche within the created order.
To focus on heavenly things: where everyone is cherished as a beloved creation of God.

For the sake of the gospel; we cast aside our inward focus; for the sake of the Gospel, we love the world that God loves.
And thus: we lose what we never needed; and we gain the greatest gift of all: celebrating our relationship with the Messiah; the Son of God.

Perhaps that’s an easy answer after all.