How do you say that I am?

This week's sermon is based on the Gospel Reading of the Revised Common Lectionary, Mark 8:27-38.

Every week, a group of people gather in this space to sing praise to, offer prayers to, read stories about, learn about, and worship this person called Jesus. Every week, we come together around word, water, bread and wine for this purpose.

But who is Jesus and why do we worship him?

 

This is the very question that is brought to us by today’s gospel: Who is Jesus? Who do we say that Jesus is?

 

We have many names for Jesus—you may have learned some of them in Sunday school, confirmation, parents' instructions, or church.

 

Jesus is the Son of God.

The Second Person of the Trinity.

The Savior of the World.

Emmanuel.

God with us.

 

Those are all great descriptions, but what does that mean, really? Who is Jesus?

 

Well, let’s start with Son of God. Jesus is in an unbreakable relationship with God the parent. That parent/child relationship that never can be erased. But Jesus’ connection is even deeper than that. Jesus is the Second Person of the Trinity. This Jesus is a part of God, equal to God, is God. Everything Jesus does in his lifetime on earth is in line with God because Jesus is one being with the Father and the Spirit—so in line with them because he is part of them. One being.

 

Jesus is God as human—Emmanuel—God with us. God speaks to us and walks with us in Jesus. As God with us, Jesus proclaims and lives a life of radical hospitality and inclusivity. Don’t believe me? Just ask some of the untouchable lepers Jesus spoke with and healed. Some of the children, women, poor, blind, widows, foreigners, strangers, sick and suffering people that society had written off. These are the people Jesus sought out, spoke with, loved, and healed. That’s our example. That’s God in the world.

 

Savior of the world. Jesus suffered and died on the cross and rose again three days later. He died for the sake of the world, so that we might be saved from the eternal consequences of sin—that is, death. Jesus loves the world and everyone in it. He died that we might have eternal life—Jesus himself tells Peter this is the plan in today’s lesson. Jesus is the Messiah sent to save the world from the hold that sin has on it.

 

So that’s who we say Jesus is.

How do we go about that?

 

Well, we have inherited some invaluable gifts as children of God to help us do that. 

 

Faith given to us by the Holy Spirit, who is God’s continued presence among us. This faith isn’t something we choose, but is a gift. We learn about it through the Word, most tangibly, the Bible. In the Scriptures, the story of God and God’s people from creation through Jesus to the early church are recorded for us to learn about and better understand our faith. We read from it every week so that we might grow and continue to be reminded of this story.

 

Two more things we are given: baptism and communion. These sacraments—these sacred traditions—are instituted by Jesus himself and promise us that God is with us.

 

In baptism, we gather around water and word to celebrate our unity with Jesus. We are assured that the Holy Spirit comes to us there not because of what we do, but because of what Jesus has done. Because of what God has done in us. Through baptism, we are joined to Christ and brought into the family of God as sisters and brothers.

 

Then there is communion--bread and wine. Common physical elements from daily life. Yet through this, we recall Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice for us, and we are again assured by Jesus that he is here, present in the bread and wine, forgiving our sin and calling us to lead lives like his.

 

And guess what? We can lead lives like that. We are assured through baptism that we are united with Christ and brought to eternal life. Through communion, we are assured of this and that we are forgiven of our sin. Freed from those worries, we can simply live in response to these gifts.

 

In worship, we gather around word, water, bread and wine. We receive God’s gifts—God’s word, the Holy Spirit’s presence, Christ’s body and blood. We are assured of our connection to Christ and one another, and of the promises given to us in word and sacrament.

 

We are freed from the burdens of sin and given eternal life. We can go into the world, knowing—knowing­—that we don’t have anything to earn where God is concerned.

 

We are free to live a life like we have been saved and given gifts too great to keep to ourselves. We are free to live like Jesus—imitating the radical hospitality he showed to so many, including ourselves. We are free to respond to God’s call in our lives.

Sermon March 5-6

This week's sermon is focused on the Gospel text for the week, Matthew 17:1-9, which can be found here.

Eight weeks. That has been the length of our journey through Epiphany this year. However you’re counting—eight weeks, two months, fifty-six days—it comes out the same. During that time we have traveled from Jesus’ baptism through the calling of the disciples to the Sermon on the Mount, where we are given ironic sayings like “Blessed are you who mourn or are poor…” and difficult ones like “You are the salt of the earth, the light of the world…you must be perfect, just as God in heaven is perfect.” We are told that Jesus comes not to abolish the law but to fulfill it, and that if we are holding a grudge against someone we are to drop everything—including what we may be bringing to worship—and go reconcile with that person before we continue on as if nothing is wrong. We are told there is not a way to manipulate the law to our own desires, but that we are to look at the law as a gift to be listened to in word as well as spirit.

Where is all of this going?

The short answer is to a mountain. In our liturgical year, this season of Epiphany closes with dazzling light on a mountaintop. Jesus goes up this mountain with three disciples—Peter, James, and John—and suddenly is transfigured, transformed, metamorphed, right before them. There is nowhere else to look but at Jesus with his face shining like the sun.

How would one respond to such a sight? There’s no good English word, really, to describe it. What about Hebrew? Hallelujah—praise God.

We aren’t expected to just magically know that this all happened, either. It’s no mistake that Peter, James, and John are there with Jesus—since they have actually been present, they can now stand as witnesses to what has happened and who they have seen Jesus revealed to truly be. If that’s not enough, we have two more of even higher repute for you—Moses and Elijah. The bearer of the stone tablets of the Law that Jesus is sent to uphold and the prophet God uses to denounce Baal are standing there as well.

I may be a little overly judgmental, but at this point in the story I get a little mad at Peter, but at the same time I definitely understand where he may be coming from. I get a little mad at him because here we have Moses and Elijah and Jesus talking to one another.

Do we get to hear what they have to say?

No.

Peter starts talking instead of listening to what they’re saying. Ugh. Okay, I know I sound like a whiny little kid who doesn’t get their way, but really. Is Peter so flustered that he just starts talking and thinking about what he could do to normalize the situation? Maybe. This is something that’s way out of any of our leagues, and in situations that are beyond our control or comprehension, we can sometimes try to grasp a bit of reality, take an action, or just start chatting away in our nervousness.

Peter suggests they stay on the mountain—they’ll make tents for the honored heavenly witnesses and for Jesus. It is good the disciples are there because they can do that mundane task. Peter totally misses the point.

As if in confirmation that there is something else we should be focusing on, a Voice interrupts Peter. This is not just any voice—this Voice is the one that speaks through the clouds, that talks to Moses on the mountain, that says at Jesus’ baptism “This is my Son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” And here again—as if we need further confirmation of who Jesus is—the Voice says it again, confirming Jesus’ identity the same as it did at baptism.

Something is added here, too. “Listen to him.” Listen to him—Jesus’ identity as a teacher and authority is cemented here in the presence of five witnesses—three disciples and two prophets. What does Jesus say? Well, we’ve been talking about that for eight weeks—those ironic truths and difficult commandments.

What will Jesus say now?

The disciples fall down in fear—fear exactly compared to the fear of the soldiers as the earth shook on the day of Jesus’ crucifixion. They look up after this wonderful, beautiful, and terrifying ordeal and see Jesus—only Jesus—who remains with them after their hearts give way to fear.

And then…Jesus speaks. The first thing that Jesus says after the Voice of God says “listen to him” is recorded in this next verse. Jesus says “Get up, do not be afraid” and they walk back down the mountain—back to the people and the fate that Jesus and his disciples know awaits him.

Jesus speaks one more time before our reading for today is over—he says the disciples are not to tell anyone of this until the Son of Man has been raised. We could go down the road of whys and what ifs… Why not tell people? What if the world had known? Would Jesus have been crucified? What kind of world would we have now? Is that even why Jesus asked them this? Fortunately, we don’t have to answer such questions. We can look at what Jesus did say here, though, and realize that he knew this transfiguration wasn’t the end of the story. The climax was yet to come—and it’s not the crucifixion for those of you who are guessing. Look again at what Jesus says—not until the Son of Man has been killed but until the Son has been raised. After the dazzlingly brilliant transfiguration, the witness of Moses, Elijah, Peter, James, and John, and the Voice from heaven, we are told that there is still more than even this.

And as we move forward, through Lent, as we face our mortality, our sinful nature, and finally remember the humiliation of the slandering and death of Jesus, we are given this moment to hold on to—this last Hallelujah until Easter. Our story weaves into this one. We know that—like the disciples—we cannot stay on the mountain or in the church building forever. It just won’t work. Eventually we have to leave if our lives are going to be lived and we listen to Jesus to learn how to live them well. It’s not easy sometimes—we have to face harsh truths and realities we would sometimes rather ignore. But we can remember this story and this moment even as we face them. We can remember that Jesus doesn’t leave when things get scary.

This is who we get to follow.

This person, this man, who is transfigured on a mountain, speaks with ancient prophets, shines like the sun, and is affirmed by God’s very voice—

This person, who says get up, there is more yet to do, says do not be afraid, reassures with a gentle touch, and is there when fear seems to rule the world—

This person, who comes down from the mountain, returns to the people, returns to us, faces the certainty of death with resolve and compassion—

This is who we get to follow. His name is Jesus. Hallelujah.