Pentecost 15, Proper 19, Yr. B, 9/13/09
Proverbs 1:20-33; Ps. 19; James 3:1-12; Mark 8: 27-38
No one can tame the tongue- a restless evil, full of
deadly poison.
I think James has made his
point about the need to bridle our tongues as doers of the word.
Although from this part of
James it makes it seem like a pretty hopeless task.
He seems a little bleak on
keeping our tongues under control.
Which is not very
encouraging, considering that he lists it in the top three things in being a
doer of the word.
So instead of focusing on
just this part of James today we’re going to look at it alongside the Gospel
lesson from Mark.
I definitely recommend going
back and reading further in James…
…because it ultimately brings
in a fuller picture than this kind of depressing snippet here and its image of
that tongue set on fire by hell itself.
Going with the idea of being
doers of the word and not just hearers of the word…
And going deeper into the
whole notion of having a living faith, not a dead faith…
What is it that we’re hearing
from Jesus?
In Mark’s gospel this story
takes us from the accounts of Jesus’ early ministry and his signs and wonders,
the miracles…
And it transitions us into
the time when Jesus is trying to get the disciples to understand what is going
to happen as they begin to head to
After all that the disciples
have seen and heard…
From physical healings,
leprosy and paralysis and Jairus’ daughter and the deaf,
To miracles like the feeding
of the five thousand and the four thousand…
Jesus has a question for
them.
Who do people say that I am
and who do you say that I am?
What would your answer be if
Jesus asked you…who do you say that I am?
Peter answers, the Messiah,
the Christ.
The anointed one, come to
fulfill God’s redemptive plan.
Good answer Peter.
Jesus just tells him not to
tell anyone.
But then when Jesus tells the
disciples that he will suffer and be killed and then will rise from the dead…
Peter takes Jesus aside and
says, no way.
You’re the Christ, and that just
can’t happen.
A perfect example of an
unbridled tongue.
So Jesus looks at all of them
and then singles Peter out.
Get behind me Satan. For you are setting your mind not
on divine things but on human things.
I’m pretty sure I would not
want Jesus to look me in the eye and say that.
The ultimate awkward moment.
Then he goes on to tell the
whole crowd what it would look like to be a follower of Jesus.
First we have to figure out
our answer to who we think Jesus is.
Jesus is the Christ, the
Messiah.
Ok, that’s the Christian
shorthand answer.
But what does that really
mean to you?
To me it means that Jesus is
more than a great teacher and a great example of living a moral and love filled
life.
Much more.
Jesus is our God willing to
come to be with us as a human in order to heal the brokenness of all who
believe.
Jesus was willing to suffer
and die a very unpleasant death.
And if God is willing to do
that, I am compelled to search out what it looks like to be a follower.
And here Jesus gives us an
answer.
If any want to become my followers, let them deny
themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
That seems pretty
straightforward doesn’t it?
And yet, it’s hard, really
hard.
On the one hand our voices
join angels and archangels and all the company of heaven in praising God.
And on the other hand we keep
finding ways of saying and doing very un-Jesus-like things.
What is Jesus saying to us?
Deny yourselves.
Take up your cross.
Follow me.
Here’s the thing.
We don’t like the sound of
denying ourselves.
But Jesus is saying to deny
our self…not to deny life.
Life is good and is full of
good things for us to enjoy and be a part of and to experience.
He’s not talking about
denying our self-worth or about self hatred because we always mess up.
Jesus is telling us to deny
that grasping part of our self that is intent on getting our way.
Like he said to Peter.
To deny that part of
self things that we imagine are
important and that we imagine we need and that have to happen for us to be
happy.
We are called to deny that
part of ourself that is all about me.
We lose our life for Christ’s
sake and in doing so we begin to see life through Jesus’ eyes and we begin to
see the bigger, divine picture in life.
We also don’t like the sound
of taking up our cross.
We even have that saying…it’s
my cross to bear.
Which may mean anything from
a spouse we find annoying to a driving a Honda instead of a Beemer.
Jesus isn’t talking about
suffering the annoyances of life with only a little bit of whining.
The cross wasn’t an
annoyance.
The cross is the sign, the
symbol of willing obedience.
Jesus is calling us to
sacrificial obedience.
And I’m not talking about
mama not getting a new winter coat so that the kids can wear designer jeans.
I’m talking about willing,
love filled obedience to God’s calling on our lives.
Moment by moment, day by day.
I’m not saying there won’t be
some whining and some struggle.
There will be.
Obedience is not easy.
We think our two year old or
our 15 year old has a problem with obedience.
Hmmm, look in the mirror.
Willing obedience is hard.
Then Jesus tells us to follow
him.
Follow him…not be him.
We aren’t God, which we do
sometimes have to remind ourselves.
But the fact that we cannot
be perfect and sinless doesn’t mean that we aren’t called to follow Jesus.
Falling short of the mark is
part of being a Christian.
But we keep at it.
Because that is what Jesus
asks of us.
Deny yourself.
Take up your cross.
Follow me.
All of that because we are
called to be the Body of Christ together.
We are all different and we
all have different gifts and callings.
But the Body of Christ thing
works because Jesus is calling us to each live our lives not for ourselves but
for Jesus.
To live our lives in willing obedience.
To live our lives with our
eyes fixed on Jesus.
Because all around us people
are struggling and are in pain.
I know that includes us, too,
here in this room.
There are painful situations
and problems and hidden struggles in many of our lives.
And yet, in all of whatever
may be going on in our own lives…
Jesus is still calling us to
seek out our ministries and to serve our neighbors.
Jesus is not telling us to
wait until we have it all together and all our problems sorted out.
We keep plugging away at our
own struggles and we keep looking beyond ourselves to the big, divine plan at
work around us.
And where is your place in
that big, divine plan?
What can you be doing for the
We can only truly figure that
out together.
We deny ourselves together.
We lift up our crosses in
willing obedience together.
We follow Jesus together.
We lay down our lives for
Jesus together.
How would you answer if Jesus
asked you…who do you say that I am?
How would you answer if Jesus
asked if you are following him?
How would you answer if
someone asked you if you had laid down your life for Jesus?
A famous preacher, Fred
Craddock describes it this way.
Many people, he says, think
that giving all our lives to Jesus is like taking a thousand dollar bill and
slapping it down on a table and saying…here it is, I’ve given it all.
Jesus’ idea, he says, is to
send us to the bank to change that thousand dollar bill for quarters and then
for us to go through life giving back…a quarter here, fifty cents there.
Usually giving our life to
Christ isn’t glorious. It’s done in all those little acts of love, 25 cents at
a time.
He’s right.
We deny ourselves, we take up
our cross, and we follow him with little acts of love and obedience.
Listening for God’s voice and
God’s call.
And then acting on it…living
out our faith.
It’s enough…Jesus says it’s
enough.
We just keep at it and
amazingly enough when we keep at it we find ourselves following Jesus….one
quarter at a time.