August 28, 2005

Are We Following Jesus or Just Believing in Christ?

Jeremiah 15:15-21
Romans 12:1-8
Matthew 16:21-28

The sermon title today, "Are We Following Jesus or Just Believing in Christ?" is probably one of the longest titles I've ever stuck on a sermon. I couldn't seem to make it any shorter, because I want to explore with you today the differences between being active disciples of Jesus and just paying lip-service to him. Are we just talking the talk or are we also walking the walk?

Our Gospel lesson today kind of comes in on the middle of a story. Just prior to what I read, Jesus has asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" After getting a variety of answers, Jesus asks them, "Well, who do you say that I am?" Peter forthrightly responds, "You are the Messiah!" Jesus then confers upon Peter the designation, "the rock" upon which he will build his church. Now we pick up today's passage, which begins with Jesus telling all of them what his messiah-ship will mean, and Peter objects violently. Peter has said that he believes Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, he believes in Christ, but he's not so sure about all the suffering and death that Jesus is talking about. For one thing, Jesus describes a different kind of Messiah than what Peter is expecting. Indeed, the Jews are expecting a political messiah, one who will lead them to victory over their Roman oppressors. The idea of a suffering servant messiah is not a popular notion.

Peter's reaction is similar to ours - it's relatively easy to say that we believe in Christ - maybe not in some parts of the world, but certainly in our society. Believing doesn't obligate us to get involved; it's safe and painless; it's an internal thing. We really don't have to do anything with a belief. This is how it is with Peter. Saying that Jesus is the Messiah doesn't cost Peter anything. But when Jesus starts talking about suffering and dying, it's a very different story.

Peter's been with Jesus from the very beginning, for the last three years. He loves him. He doesn't want him to suffer and die. This has never been part of his thinking. Perhaps selfishly, Peter also resents this change in his own plans. He's been musing, I'll bet, "When Jesus takes over, I'll have an important part in his administration. After all, I'm the rock! But now Jesus is talking about dying! Will I have to die also?" So he speaks out, "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you." And perhaps he's thinking parenthetically, "Or to me!"

Jesus' reaction is swift: "Get behind me, Satan!" Yet he must know that Peter's intentions for the most part are loving and honorable. But it's precisely because of Peter's protecting love that Jesus has to respond as he does. Jesus has faced temptations before - the ones we remember the most were those in the wilderness at the beginning of his ministry - and he knows he will face these same temptations again. Yet here, right in front of him, is his dear friend urging upon him the very things that he knows he must resist. As well-intentioned as Peter might be, his thoughts and words are not centered on divine things, on God, but are focused inwardly, reflecting his own fallible humanity; he has become a stumbling block to Jesus rather than the building block he was called to be.

When Jesus calls him Satan it's because his suggestion is contrary to God's will, what we could call satanic. Satan is a metaphor for anything evil, anything contrary to the goodness of God, any influence that makes us turn back from the hard way that God sets before us, anything that tries to deflect us from God's ways, anything that seeks to make human desires take the rightful place of the divine imperative. (i)

When Jesus says to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan," in effect he is saying, "Peter, your place is behind me, not in front of me. I am the leader; you are the follower. Let me lead you, and you, follow." Peter believes in Jesus, but he has a hard time following him. This is not the first instance. Peter's ego, or his fears, or his lack of faith often seem to get in the way, preventing him from following the Lord.

And it's often this way with us, isn't it? We believe - oh for sure, sometimes we question or doubt, but by and large, we believe, we believe in Christ - but are we following him? Are we truly following in the way of Jesus? If we are, then we know it costs something, it's expensive, and it has to do with our attitudes, our values, our style of living, with whom we associate, etc. And if we're going to have to change any of these things, then there'd better be some guarantees, right? But of course, there are no guarantees.

This is the hard lesson the prophet Jeremiah learns. He thinks he has been faithfully obedient, yet his troubles are many. His problem is that he keeps blaming God for everything bad that happens to him. God says to him in effect, "Shape up Jeremiah! Stop talking nonsense; stop being such a cry-baby. Now get back to work and tell the people what I've told you to tell them. You know I'm always with you, for heaven's sake."

Many Christians, especially in our society today, might be considered "whimpering Jeremiahs," those who only look for satisfying comfort from religion. Many folks only want to hear messages from preachers that concentrate on the "sweet by and by," how it's going to be when we get to heaven - as if any of us really know the details - and they don't want to hear the prophetic, anything that would be challenging, the political mixed with the religious (even though Jesus was very political), the trials that go along with discovering God's will, or the demands of love, justice, and compassion. They whimper and whine when demands and sacrifice are talked about. (ii) This is an exaggeration, for sure, but most of us try to avoid sacrifice whenever we can. The problem is that sacrifice is at the heart of Jesus' message. If we're to save our lives, we must lose them. If we gain the whole world, we'll forfeit our lives - what a strange teaching, but how true.

When Jesus asks Peter (and us) to follow him, just what does he mean? First, he means that we are to deny ourselves, which is more than giving up something. It's saying no to self and yes to God; it's dethroning oneself and enthroning God; it's resisting harmful temptations and staying clear of them; it's putting others first instead of always me, me, me. Second, when Jesus asks us to follow him, he instructs us to take up our cross. The cross for Jesus was the burden of sacrifice, and so it also is for us. To follow Jesus means to live a life of sacrificial service, being constantly aware of both the demands of God and the needs of others. Gigantic feats of sacrifice, let's say, once or twice in our lifetime, do not fulfill this requirement. We're called to carry our cross daily. Perhaps our sacrifices may seem insignificant, but to God no sacrificial service is unimportant. Perhaps our sacrifices will be greater - God will help us decide if we are to have this kind - all we are to do is follow in perfect obedience wherever this may lead. We are called to follow Jesus with no regard for the consequences. A quarter century ago, there was a Roman Catholic prelate who served in a small, poor country, and who took Jesus' call to follow very seriously. He sacrificed daily, denying himself so that others might find salvation, taking up the heavy cross of responsibilities for his people, following what he understood to be the gospel of Jesus Christ. One morning in church he spoke these words to his flock: "Each week I go about the country, collecting the cries of the people, their pain from so much crime, and the ignominy of so much violence. Each week I ask the Lord to give me the right words to console, to denounce, to call for repentance. And even though I may be a voice crying in the desert, I know that the church is making the effort to fulfill its mission." The man who spoke these words, Archbishop Oscar Romero, was assassinated seconds after delivering them in his church on March 24, 1980 in El Salvador. (iii) As Jesus said, "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends." Archbishop Romero made the ultimate sacrifice.

The Apostle Paul also tells us about sacrifice and how we are to follow Jesus: "...present your bodies as a living sacrifice ..." (this is what Romero did literally, as have thousands of others) ... do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds ..." The J.B. Phillips version of the Bible translates this: "Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God re-mold your mind from within." It's easy to lose one's individuality, to take the shape and substance of society and culture, which pressure us into their own product. It's easy to become comfortable with the wrongs all around us.

To follow Jesus means to resist conformity, to resist comfort, and to live sacrificially - and in that kind of living we will be transformed - and empowered to do something about these wrongs. To follow Jesus means to live as he lived, not having all the answers (Jesus' humanity implies that his knowledge and information were limited to the time and place he lived; Jesus did not have all the answers); as much as we like to know everything, to live like him means to go through life with some questions unanswered. Jesus allowed the mysteries of life and death to stand as they are - he didn't offer answers to these mysteries, of time and endings, of suffering and joy. He didn't offer answers; he made responses. (iv) To follow him means we must do the same.

To follow Jesus means we must trust completely in God. Jesus lived in total dependence upon God, that is, independent of all that is not God, much harder than it sounds - and it got him into a lot of trouble. This is how we must live. To follow Jesus means we are to use our gifts and talents as he did, that is, fully and joyfully. Paul's words are very specific. Each of us has gifts, according to the grace given us. We are to use them. We're not being faithful if we hoard them or keep them just for ourselves; we're to use them and share them with others.

Are we following Jesus or just believing in Christ? It is hard to separate the two, but our actions often contradict our beliefs. I've asked myself a number of questions on this subject, usually not getting very good answers, but perhaps the questions will resonate with you as they do with me. For example, if I'm following Jesus, why when I'm done with my giving (to the church, etc.), why do I have so much left over for myself? If I'm following Jesus, why are my closets packed so full of clothes when so many are dressed in tatters? If I'm following Jesus, why am I tempted to overeat, when so many in the world beg for food? If I'm following Jesus, why do I have so many friends who are wealthy, but so few who are poor? (v) If I'm following Jesus, why am I living in such affluence, when 3/4 of the rest of the world is living in such poverty? If I'm following Jesus, why do I not speak out when so many current situations cry out to be prophetically spoken against? These questions make me squirm; perhaps they do you too. There are no easy answers to any of them.

But God in Jesus Christ pushes us, just as Jeremiah was pushed. We're pushed to go beyond the questions, to go beyond passive worship, to go beyond well-articulated belief statements. Jesus Christ wants our obedient service, our self-sacrifice, our faithful, dependent, trust in God; Jesus wants us to use our gifts - for others; he wants us to follow him as well as believe. God promised Jeremiah: "If you turn back, I will take you back, and you shall stand before me. ... I am with you to save you and deliver you ..." This promise is ours also. Now is the time to turn back and start following the Lord. Amen.

The Pilgrim Church of Duxbury
Rev. Kenneth C. Landall

i William Barclay, The New Daily Study Bible (2001), Vol. 2, p. 173.
ii Emphasis, 8/81, p. 28.
iii Ibid.
iv Ernest T. Campbell, in A..D., 6-7/81, p. 23.
v Ibid.