Beginning to See

    It seems like an eternity since I last stood before you and left you hanging in the middle of Mark Chapter 8.  I began a sermon on the blindness that each and every one of us has, and I finished by describing a healing that Jesus performed on a blind man.  This healing is unlike any other recorded healing in scripture.  It is a healing performed in stages.  First the blind man is touched, and he sees, but not clearly.  The second time Jesus lays hands on the man and looks intently at him, the man is healed.  This healing was not only historical, but it was metaphorical.  It was meant to teach a lesson not only to the disciples, but to you and to me.  As we finish Mark Chapter 8, I hope that we will see the significance of our blindness, our need for healing, and how we too are healed in stages.

    In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus and His disciples are traveling toward Caesarea Philippi, and Jesus asks them, “Who do people say that I am?”  It was very uncommon for rabbis to ask their followers things.  Usually, it was the other way around.  Usually, the rabbis students were constantly asking questions, but Jesus is no ordinary rabbi. Like a master teacher, Jesus has a point to draw the disciples toward.

    The disciples begin spouting off all the things they have heard.  “You are John the Baptist returned from the dead.  You are Elijah who was taken bodily up into heaven who has returned to prepare the way for the Messiah.  You are a prophet, perhaps the promised prophet Moses spoke about before he died.”  It is an interesting list.  One thing is for sure, all of these agree that Jesus is from God, and that He is in the prophetic line.  Of this there is no dispute.  Of course, these answers are not adequate.  Jesus knows this.  The disciples do too.  How so?

    Jesus continues, “Ah, but who do you say that I am?”  Jesus is now putting the screws to His disciples.  One of my commentaries said it best, “Who do you, my most intimate and trusted friends–in contrast to the other people who neither know me nor understand me–think I am?”  There is no beating around the bush.  There is no hemming and hawing.  This is laying it all on the line right here.  “Who do you say that I am?” Jesus asks.  The answer to this question is the most important answer that the disciples–and that we could ever give.

    Peter speaks for them all, “You are the Messiah.” 

    Now, you need to know that this statement is quite loaded.  Today, we unhesitatingly say that Jesus is the Messiah, and we think about the cross and the salvation of the world.  Not so with the ancient Jews.  Not so with the disciples.  Such matters would have been very far from their minds.  Let me quote biblical scholar N.T. Wright in this matter:

    By no means all Jews wanted or expected a Messiah.  But those who did were clear (not least from their readings of scripture) that he had to do three things.  He had to rebuild, or cleanse the Temple.  He had to defeat the enemy that was threatening God’s people.  And he had to bring God’s justice–that rich, restoring, purging, healing power–to bear both in Israel and out into the world...The Messiah would be God’s agent in bringing in the kingdom [of God] in sorting out the mess and muddle Israel was in, in putting the Gentiles in their place. (Mark for Everyone)

    This is what the disciples would have thought about Jesus.  They would have thought that He was going to cleanse the Temple; defeat the enemy that was threatening them–which at the present time was the Romans; and then bring God’s justice to bear on Israel and the world which meant cleaning up Israel and then putting the Gentiles into their place.  This was the expectations of the Messiah.  Every Jew that believed in the arrival of the Messiah believed these three things, and Jesus would accomplish all three–just not in the manner everyone thought.  And as Jesus begins to tell the disciples about what Messiahship entails, we see that even though the disciples have begun to see, they cannot yet see clearly.

    Jesus first tells everyone to keep silent about these matters.  Some folks wonder why, I don’t any longer.  Jesus doesn’t want them to give everyone the idea that He will be their Messiah.  Jesus doesn’t want everyone in the surrounding countryside to think He is going to lead some sort of rebellion and religious/societal cleansing by force of arms.  Jesus needs to open the disciples’ eyes.  He needs to help them see clearly before they began to proclaim His rule.  And Jesus begins to do that immediately.

    Mark records, “Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.  He said all this quite openly.”  The Greek word for openly is “parrasia” which carries the connotations of someone who is completely free who speaks without restraint, who hides nothing.  (Kittel–Theological Dict. of the N.T.)  Jesus is being perfectly clear with His disciples about what will happen to Him–what will happen to the Messiah.  But there are two fascinating things in what Jesus says. First, Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man.  Jesus doesn’t use “Messiah” in reference to Himself.  In fact, Jesus much prefers “Son of Man” instead of Messiah.  Why?  For two reasons: Messiah, as I said before was a loaded term which connotes military conquest.  Jesus wasn’t about that.  Secondly, there is a much broader scope with tying Messiah and Son of Man.  Jews would have tied Jesus’ words with Daniel chapter 7 where the following is written:

    13As I watched in the night visions, I saw one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven.  And he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 To him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages  should serve him.  His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed.

    The reign of the Son of Man extends much, much further than the much smaller scope of the Jewish understanding of the Messiah.  Jesus is trying to expand the disciples’ vision so that they see Jesus’ purpose for the whole world.  Let me repeat that: Jesus is here for the whole world, not simply the Jews, and the salvation of the world will not be brought about by military conquest and purification, but by Jesus’ death.  “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the scribes...”

    There are two comments to be made here.  First from N.T. Wright again who pricelessly says, “Messiahs don’t get killed by the authorities.  A Messiah who did that would be shown up precisely as a false Messiah.”  And secondly from James Edwards in the Pillar New Testament Commentary on the book of Mark:

    The prediction of Jesus passion conceals a great irony, for the suffering and death of the Son of Man will not come, as we would expect, at the hands of godless and wicked people.  The suffering of the Son of Man comes rather at the hands of “the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law.”  It is not humanity at its worst that will crucify the Son of God but humanity at its absolute best.  The death of Jesus will not be the result of a momentary lapse or aberration of human nature, but rather the result of careful deliberations from respected religious leaders who will justify their actions by the highest standards of the law and morality, even believing them to render service to God (John 16:2).  Jesus will not be lynched by an enraged mob or beaten to death in a criminal act.  He will be arrested with official warrants, and tried and executed by the world’s envy of jurisprudence–the Jewish Sanhedrin and the principia iuris Romanorum.

    These things are just too much for the disciples.  They contradict everything they had ever been taught.  They contradict everything they had ever thought for themselves.  They believed such things to be absolutely, totally wrong.  Hence, Peter takes Jesus aside and rebukes Him.  Now, mind you, the same word that Mark uses for Peter rebuking Jesus is the same word Mark uses when Jesus rebukes the demons.  It’s that strong a reaction from Peter.

    But Jesus is just as strong.  Jesus is just as harsh, perhaps harsher.  “Get behind me Satan,” Jesus retorts, “For you are setting your things on human things and not the things of God.”

    And now, we come to the crux of this whole passage–indeed one might say this is the crux of the Christian message itself.  Jesus calls the crowd together.  Jesus wants to make sure that everyone understands this, not simply the disciples.  This teaching is for everyone–not simply those closest to Him.  “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

    Oh my.  Oh my.  Oh my.  Jesus plainly, openly, clearly teaches that if we want to see clearly; if we want to know clearly; if we want to understand clearly–we must die.  At this point, let me ask you, do you still want to be a Christian?  Do you still want to even consider following Jesus?  Do you still want to be a disciple if He says, in the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.”  “For if you want to save your life, you will lose it, and if you lose it for Jesus sake and the sake of the Gospel, you will find it.”  How can this be?

    The Christian worldview starts with a very basic assumption about humanity.  We were created to be good, but that goodness became warped.  That goodness was over ridden by a deep selfishness which sought its own good; its own power; its own prestige; its own satisfaction; its own survival above its dependency upon God.  To this day, our selfishness reigns.  To this day, our ego tries to claim superiority.  To this day, we do a lot to establish and preserve our identity and our self.  I am who I am, and I will change for no one.  And the world around us encourages this.  And many churches do too.

    I mean, I can tell you many, many churches who lead with the following sayings: Be yourself.  Rejoice in your identity.  Claim your heritage.  God loves you just the way you are.  All are welcome just as they are.  I don’t know of a single church that leads and invites people with the following: deny who you are, come and die.  It’s not a very popular advertising campaign.  But it is Jesus.  It is His call.  And it is because He knows that if we spend our lives trying to maintain our identity and preserve ourselves, we will die a thousand deaths; never find fulfillment; and be searching for affirmation over and over and over again.

    You know this as well as I do.  Deep down you know this is the way the world works–that we are constantly taught to look out for ourselves, and we are constantly worried and burdened that we haven’t done enough.  We tell our kids over and over, and you were probably told, “Work hard.  Do well in school so that...what?”  “You can get a good job and make enough money to live.”  “Work hard, save your money, invest wisely so that...what?”  You can retire and enjoy the years you have left.  “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” we repeat to ourselves striving to put off the pain of rejection when someone insults us.  We try to preserve ourselves because we find our value and worth in ourselves.

    And Jesus says, deny it.  Deny yourself and find your value in me.  For the world around you will strive to cut you down.  The world around you will take every advantage of you it can. The world around you will try to drain your wealth and leave you poverty stricken.  The world around you will demean your skin color and your heritage.  The world around you will bash your gender and your sexuality.  The world around you will cut you down at the knees because it will find your faults.  It will find your weakness, and it will exploit them.

    Now, here’s a question for you: how can the world exploit your faults if you no longer try to hide them but openly profess them?  How can the world bash your gender and sexuality if you have denied them?  How can the world trash your skin color or heritage if you say they don’t matter?  How can the world harm you if you don’t find your value in what the world thinks of you?

    Deny yourself.  Die to yourself.  See yourself as a dead person walking–for that is what carrying the cross means.  Ah, but it doesn’t just mean death.  No for whoever loses their life for my sake and the sake of the Gospel will find it.  Find it?  Yes.  You will find it.  For in Christianity, death is followed by resurrection.  The cross is followed by the empty tomb.  Denying one’s self is followed by finding one’s true self; true identity; true value and worth in the Savior who willingly died for you when you least deserved it.

    For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world may be saved through Him.

    Find your self in Jesus.  Understand what He did for you as He stretched out His arms and died for you.  Grasp the power of the resurrection as it removes your fear of death.  You will cease being caught up in the daily battle for self-preservation, you will find freedom, and you will truly see.  Amen.

Babel Undone

    There is a short little snippet toward the very beginning of the Bible that I think takes on some significance today as we celebrate the day of Pentecost.  Now, if you were raised in the church, you probably know this story, but if you are new to Christianity or have not been at Sunday school, you probably haven’t heard it–at least you haven’t heard this story here.  To my recollection, I have never preached on this story nor seen it appear in the biblical texts appointed for Sunday morning.  What story am I talking about?  The story of the tower of Babel.

    This short piece is found in Genesis chapter 11 right after the great flood.  All of humanity is gathered on the plain of Shinar–not to be confused with Shiner, there is no beer in this story.  On this plain, humanity hatches a plan.  They begin to make bricks and mortar.  They revel in their creative ability.  And then they say, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the earth.”  I want you to carefully consider what humanity is saying in this.  It’s important.  For we see humanity completely consumed with itself.  A tower with its top in the heavens signifies a desire to supplant God.  Making a name for ourselves shows the desire for worldly fame and popularity.  Prevention of being scattered across the face of the earth shows a desire for self-preservation and isolationism.  All of these things are centered upon one’s self and the desires to act independently of God–the same sin which got Adam and Eve cast out of the Garden of Eden.

    God looks upon this self-centeredness.  He sees a future where humanity forges its own ways and own desires.  He sees a return to the days before the flood where humanity became completely wicked and self-centered, and God acts.  “Come let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”  This, God accomplished.  The building stopped.  Division ruled the day because no one could understand another, and people went their own way. 

    And we still cannot understand one another today.  We are still dealing with the consequences of self-centered hearts today.  More on this in a moment because I want to continue to set the stage for what happens on Pentecost.

    After the events at Babel, people went their own way, but God also knew the consequences of abandoning the world.  When He abandoned the world and let it go to its own devices after the Garden of Eden, the world turned to evil.  Self-interest became the rule of the day and everyone did what was right in his or her own eyes.  God promised to never destroy the world again by flood, so He needed a way to interact with the world.  He needed a way to show the world how to live with Him and with one another.  Therefore, He began that process by working through individuals.  He picked people to be His mediators.

    You may ask, “Why did God choose to pick mediators?  Why didn’t God simply interact with each and every one of us individually?  Wasn’t that within His power?”

    Certainly, it was.  But, there was a problem with this: the problem of sin.  For you see, God is holy and just.  God is perfect and blameless.  Imperfection and brokenness cannot stand in His sight.  His anger at sin would burn very, very hot against us were we to stand in His presence without being cleansed of that sin.  God could not engage the world on a one on one basis unless this sin were cleansed.

    Therefore, God began engaging the world through mediators–people He chose to bless that they may be a blessing to others.  God communicated with such people in many and various ways.  Interestingly enough, as you read through the biblical narrative, one of the ways God manifested Himself was through fire.  We read about Moses kneeling at a burning bush that even though it was aflame, it was not consumed.  We read about a giant pillar of fire that led the people of Israel through the desert–the very presence of God leading His people.  We read about this pillar of fire changing into a pillar of cloud, and this pillar resting in the tabernacle–the place of worship for the Israelites before the temple was built.  In every case, however, not everyone was allowed to come close to the fire.  Not everyone was allowed to come near the place where God rested in the tabernacle or the temple.  God worked through those who purified themselves or were purified by God Himself.  Anyone who came in direct contact with God died–because of their sin; because of their self-centeredness; because their hearts were tuned to themselves instead of tuned to God; because they sought the blessings of God but not God Himself.

    Let’s fast forward to the events recorded in our second lesson this morning from Acts chapter 2.  Let’s take a look at the imagery of this text and see how Scripture brings us full circle.  The disciples are gathered together, and as they are sitting and praying, a loud sound, like the rush of a mighty wind, happens upon them.  The lesson says divided tongues of flame rested upon each of them.  The English doesn’t quite capture what the ancient Greek captures.  For the Greek paints this image of a single pillar of fire–what does that imagery conjure up?–breaking apart and dividing and then resting upon each of the disciples.  Anyone with ties to the Old Testament got this visual.  Anyone who remembered the presence of God in the burning bush and pillar of fire understood what was going on.  No longer was there any intermediary between God and man.  No longer was a mediator necessary.  God now descended upon the disciples and dwelt within them!

    Oh, and there is more.  When the Spirit of God descended upon the disciples, they went outside.  A crowd had gathered because they too heard the wind.  The apostles began to speak, and when they spoke, all understood them.  Take a moment to let that sink in.  Everyone who was there–people gathered from all over the known world–understood what the disciples were saying!  It’s as if the tower of Babel never happened!   Something had changed.  Something had happened to allow God to dwell within each of us.  Something had happened to unleash understanding and reconciliation–to bring humanity back into one group; one family.  What?  What had changed?

    If we were to read through the entirety of Acts chapter 2 we would see exactly what that was.  We would understand what unleashed this new reality where God was now with in and in His people.  We would understand why the divisions were now being healed.  For Peter, the leader of the apostles stood up and after he talked about the prophecy foretold by Joel, Peter began to tell everyone about Jesus.  You see, Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit, is about each and every one of us receiving power to proclaim and point to Jesus who reconciled the world unto God; who became the atoning sacrifice for sin; who paved the way for God to live among and in us; and who brings reconciliation and understanding to the world.

    I would argue that the main problem with the world today is not a lack of laws.  The main problem with the world today is not that we don’t know what to do.  For heaven’s sake, most people know what they should do.  Most people know they should do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  Most people know that we should be compassionate and caring.  Most people know we should directly deal with one another instead of talking about each other behind our backs.  Most of us know we should be generous.  Most of us know we should work for peace and justice.  We know what we should do, but we don’t do it.  Why?

    Because our hearts are still dealing with selfishness; self-centeredness; and self-preservation.  Why do we lie?  Because at the moment we lie, something more important than God has captured our hearts.  Perhaps we don’t want our reputation damaged.  Perhaps we are afraid of punishment.  Perhaps we fear for our own life.  In all of these cases, some thing has displaced God as the most important thing in our heart.  Why do treat one another with hatred and contempt?  Again, something more important than God has captured our heart’s imagination.  When I treat another with hatred and contempt, I generally think I am better than that other person.  I think I do a better job of living and making my way.  I rest confident in my own laurels and abilities and think of myself instead of God.  Why is there poverty particularly in light of the fact that there are plenty of resources to go around?  There is poverty because our hearts are captured by wealth, possessions, and fear–fear that we won’t have enough in the future.  Instead of focusing on God and God’s abundance, we focus on the scarcity that might take place.  I could go on, but for brevity’s sake, I will not.  If need be, I will be happy to speak to you later about it, but I think I can safely say at the root of all of humanity’s relational problems is self-centeredness; self-preservation, and selfishness.

    So, what is the cure to such a thing?  What changes a heart?  Laws might change behaviors, but only because of a threat of punishment.  When we follow rules because we fear punishment, we are still acting in our own self interest and with selfishness.  We are still focused on ourselves, and biblically are still in our sin!!!    Only a complete change of heart gets us where we need to be, and if I say, “I will change my own heart so that I can be sinless,” guess what?  You are still acting in self interest.  A changed heart must find its initiation for change outside of itself. 

    That agent of change, Christianity proclaims, is Jesus.  Jesus is God who took on flesh, who lived the life we should live, who died the death that we deserved, and who was raised to eternal life that we might be reconciled to God.  Jesus did everything that we should do.  He loved His neighbor as Himself.  He fed the hungry.  He healed the sick.  He gave money away and lived in poverty.  He was perfect and blameless, and He offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice and payment for our sin.  He became the perfect mediator on our behalf enduring God’s wrath for us because He loves us.

    For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through Him.

    And once we understand this news.  Once it weasels its way into our hearts.  Once we understand the extent of our brokenness and the great cost Jesus paid on the cross, our hearts begin to change.  We no longer seek ourselves.  We no longer seek wealth and status and privilege as ultimate things.  We no longer seek peace and justice as ultimate things.  We seek God.  We desire God.  We hunger and thirst for Him.  And just as He descended upon the disciples at Pentecost, He descends upon us and lives in us and through us.  And when He lives in us and through us, we recognize that He desires to live and be in all people.  So we, like Peter stand and proclaim.  We tell of the mighty acts of Jesus.  We argue and exhort and urge people to trust in Jesus.  We feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty.  We care for their physical needs so that their pain and suffering do not hinder their reception of the message.  We seek to understand others and be reconciled to them so that there is no barrier between us when we tell them about Jesus.  We do this because of what has been done for us.  Because Jesus died for us, God is with us.

    Let us pray.  Heavenly Father, on this day we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit.  A gift that was only made possible by Jesus’ death on the cross.  May we realize that you now live with us and in us.  May we realize you desire to live with and in everyone on earth.  May the Gospel change our hearts that we may proclaim Jesus and be reconciled to one another that You may receive glory.  Amen.