“Who do people say that I am?".
That’s an easy question for the disciples. At this point in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus has healed the sick and those who were blind, deaf and mute. He has cast out demons and fed thousands of people with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish. And he’s taught with authority. Clearly, everyone is talking about him. So, it’s easy for the disciples to report: Some say "John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets."
But what would we say if Jesus asked that question of us? We live a world in which there are many religions and beliefs and people who claim not to have any faith. Some people would say that Jesus is a prophet, others call him a teacher, and some say that Jesus is Savior, Lord, Messiah, Prince of peace. Many have heard about Jesus but not really know who Jesus is.
I used to assume that everyone knew who Jesus is. Growing up in a rural farm community in Wisconsin, everyone I knew went to church – at least at Christmas. But that is not the case anymore – not here and not there either.
And this is what makes Jesus’ second question even more relevant today. Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do YOU say that I am?” Peter nails it with the response: "You are the Messiah."
But then… Jesus makes it clear that while Peter may have said the right words, he did not understand what they meant. Jesus did not come to be the kind of Messiah that Peter and others were looking for – a king to restore Israel and put down their oppressors. Instead, Jesus declares he will suffer, be rejected by both the authorities and the religious leaders and be killed before he rises again.
This is the way of Jesus – and he invites his disciples and you and me to follow him on the way. This is not the way of glory and easy living. It includes sacrifice and living for others. This is a path that sounds foolish to those who do not understand, to those who want to put themselves, and their family, their friends, their own selfish self interest first. But as Jesus declares, what good is it to gain the whole world and lose your life?
And… Jesus is still asking the question: “Who do you say that I am?”
What would you say?
Would you quote Peter? Or John 3:16? Or maybe you would remember something from your catechism or the creeds? Or would you be so surprised that you don’t say anything at all?
A few years ago as part of a pastor’s conference, Christian writer and speaker Brian McLaren interviewed Dr. Peter Senge, a pioneer of systems theory. He asked him for his best advice for Christian pastors. Senge replied that he was thinking about that the day before when he was in a big bookstore, and so Senge asked the bookstore manager what the most popular books were. The manger replied that the most popular were about how to get rich. The second most popular were about spirituality, and in particular about Buddhism.”
When asked why Buddhism and not Christianity, Senge replied, “I think it’s because Buddhism presents itself as a way of life, and Christianity presents itself as a system of beliefs.” 1
Is that true? Have we, as Christians, been so focused on what we believe that we have neglected to teach the way of Jesus as the way of life?
It is true that Christians – across many denominations -strongly profess our faith in Creeds that have withstood the test of time and been passed down from one generation to another, teaching our children and our children’s children the creeds, the Lord’s prayer and the commands – all as part of our Lutheran catechism. This is what we promise to do when we baptize children and adults into the faith.
But, as McLaren puts it, in addition to teaching and proclaiming what we believe, we must also “rediscover our faith as a way of life.”2
Like Peter, we need to have more than the right words. We need to learn and relearn how to live out our faith in our daily lives.
I love to walk on a path that runs along Minnehaha creek – some of it is paved and has lots of foot and bicycle traffic on it. But the part that is closer to my house is more of a goat path that used to get overgrown with weeds – that is - before the pandemic. Now, that path is wide and well-trodden. It seems that during the pandemic, more people were out walking than ever before and so, to quote Brian McLaren again, “we make the road by walking.”
That’s the title of a devotional and guide book that he wrote about faith practices. Just as the way a goat path becomes a road by people walking that path every day, the way that we live into our faith is by practicing it, walking in the way of Jesus.
During the pandemic, we as a faith community have had to adapt some of our faith practices, including expanding the ways we worship. Some were high tech ways – meeting on zoom and watching worship online - and some were pretty low tech ways – delivering worship bags, worshipping in the parking lot and spreading out when we worship inside. All of these were ways of being Christian community and you, as a faith community, have been doing a really good job of trying to stay connected with a phone call or by sending a card. But, we have room to grow as we seek to live out our faith as a way of life, as the way of Jesus.
This is one of the reasons that I am so excited that Faith-Lilac Way was chosen to be part of a cohort of Wildfire and other congregations learning both faith practices and neighboring practices. Our team will be learning some new faith practices and teaching them to you and our neighbors. One of the goals of this program is to equip us and you to be able to answer Jesus’ question, “Who do you say that I am?”
Because Jesus is still asking the question – and challenging us to live out our faith as the way of life. You and I are on the way. We haven’t arrived yet. We still need to listen and reflect upon and seek to live out the way of Jesus as we face the challenges of our daily lives. We need to drink deeply of the water of life and be refreshed by Christ’s body and blood and the Word of God.
And, we need to work on being good neighbors. Part of our mission as a church and as baptized Christians is to invite others to embark on the way of Jesus with us and to also be refreshed by the waters of life. I know just the thought of this makes people uncomfortable – but what if we thought about our role not so much as giving other people the answers or telling other people what to think, but rather that we can invite them to hear Jesus’ question and to reflect with us on what it means and how it informs the way that we live.3
Brothers and sisters, friends in Christ, Jesus invites you to follow so that you may live an authentic and meaning filled life and so that you may be a witness, inviting others to join us on the way, trusting in Jesus to lead us. Thanks be to God. Amen.
1 Finding Our Way Again, Brian McLaren, page 3 Thomas Nelson publishing, 2008
2 Ibid. page 3
3 Workingpreacher.org, Sept 2009 Alyce M. McKenzie
Faith-Lilac Way Lutheran Church September 12, 2021 Pastor Pam Stalheim Lane