He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter
answered him, “You are the Messiah.” And he sternly ordered them not to tell
anyone about him.
(Mark 8:29)
I’m
pretty excited and more than a little intimidated as I begin writing this post.
In a few hours I’ll be teaching my first Confirmation class of the fall season.
I’ve got five brand new students, ranging in age from eleven to seventeen, who
will join me over Zoom. None of them fall into the classification of “regular
churchgoers,” so I’ll bet they’d rather eat a bucket of dead worms than spend
thirty minutes with a 65-year-old pastor talking about religion. Nevertheless,
I will endeavor to pound a little spiritual information into their Gen-Z
skulls. That’s about all I can do. I can’t give them faith, but I can give them
information. I can try to tell them who Jesus is.
Who
we say Jesus is happens to be the subject of the gospel text appointed in the
Revised Common Lectionary for Pentecost 17, Year B (Mark 8:27-38, and wasn’t
that a slick way I introduced the topic?). If I were to ask the average
Lutheran Joe or Josephine Pew Sitter the question Jesus put to the disciples,
what do you think the answer might be? It might go like this:
ME:
Who do you say Jesus is?
THEM:
He’s my Savior.
ME:
But what does that mean?
THEM:
He died for my sins.
ME:
But what does that mean?
What
do you think the next response would be? What would your response be? Do
you ever get the urge to go beyond the churchy language and really wrestle with
what your faith in Jesus means and why it’s important to you? Certainly, some
will say they call upon Jesus in time of need and find him a comforter and a
helper. Others might say they look to Jesus as the model of the Godly life. I
like that last part, but our gospel lesson shows us he’s a pretty weird model to
follow—a model who tells us he’s going to be rejected and killed and then urges
us to deny ourselves and take up our cross in order to be his followers.
What
is it, exactly, that Jesus models? What tells us about who he is? He’s
certainly rather modest. He doesn’t want his identity to be made known. He
lowers himself to wash the feet of his disciples like a slave would do. He
looks silly riding into Jerusalem on a baby donkey. He clearly has empathy for
others. He breaks society’s rules and hangs out with the “wrong” crowd and
accepts unacceptable people. He tells people they’re forgiven. He preaches
non-violence and love for the poor and for enemies. He reminds us that everyone
is our neighbor. And he talks back to authority. Maybe that’s something my
Confirmation students could get into. You think?
In
the gospel reading Peter identifies Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus doesn’t deny
this, but he doesn’t want this bit of news to be spread around. I always
figured—and I think the story bears this out—that Jesus knows people will
misinterpret that title. For Peter, the anointed one of God would be a
political leader and a real badass warrior who would vanquish the enemies of
the nation. It seems that for a lot of folks living in America today, that is
exactly how they see Jesus[i]. As Christianity slips out
of the mainstream of American life a breed of Christian jihadists has sprung up
to fight what they perceive are the forces of Satan. They will rescue unborn
babies, revoke LGBTQ+ rights, ban books, dictate curriculum to teachers, put
the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms, eliminate inclusive language,
and champion a whole truckload of their other cultural priorities—and do it
with a screaming zeal that would seem excessive from the Taliban.
Who
are they saying Jesus is?
Who
does the American Church say Jesus is? Or do we say it at all? Are we locked
into our institutional vocabulary and figure that’s enough? What do our actions
say about the one we worship? If you’d never heard of Jesus, what message would
you take away from the Church? What should I tell my new Confirmation students?
I need to ponder this because I want them to confirm a living faith, not
just conform to an institutional church.
Who
do you say Jesus is? What do your actions, your words, and the way you live
your life say about you and Jesus? What are we telling our kids about who Jesus
is?
Think
about it, won’t you? Maybe have a little talk with Jesus this week. I’m always glad
you stopped by.
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