Written by Rev. Dr. Hilary J. Barrett
"Who Do You Say That I Am?"
A Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Hilary J. Barrett
Preached at Pleasantville United Church of Christ, September 13, 2009
Psalm 19 and Mark 8:27-38
“The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher,
that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word.”
Isaiah 50: 4
Some of you have been asking about our son, Sam, who graduated from high school in June and will be headed to the University of Chicago in a few days. They’re on the quarter system there, so while most of his friends started classes weeks ago, Sam’s still in town until this Friday. On Friday, we all pile into the car – Sam, Rob and me – Sam’s cello, Sam’s computer, Sam’s printer, Sam’s clothes, Sam’s bedding, and anything else we think we can fit into a Honda Accord. It’ll be a blast.
This past week Sam did something that gave him great joy. He went back to his high school and visited his teachers. It made him very happy to see them. They were very happy to see him. That relationship between teachers and students can be quite profound. Teachers open worlds for us. They help us find our true selves and, when it becomes necessary, they can even help make it possible for us to reinvent ourselves.
One of my favorite teachers was Mrs. Hupp. She was my 4th grade teacher at Columbus Elementary School. She was a no nonsense kind of gal. She wasn’t real warm or friendly, but boy did she know stuff. During 4th grade we were learning about the circulatory system – the heart in particular. Mrs. Hupp mapped out a huge heart on the floor of our classroom made of red and blue masking tape. It was right in the middle were we could all see it and we could walk all around that heart. We could follow the veins in and arteries out; we could learn about the valves and the chambers. We could see how the blood was oxygenated by the lungs as we followed the blue tape into the heart and the red tape out. I can still see it now.
Think about your some of your favorite teachers – hopefully there were a few of them. (Get people to name a few.)
There are all kinds of teachers in our lives. Some come fully equipped with text books and chalkboards. Some have nothing more official than a kitchen table where they impart wisdom and life lessons that you couldn’t afford to buy if you wanted to. But what all good teachers have in common is that they care about their students and they believe that the investment they make in us is worthwhile.
We are celebrating teachers today – most particularly those who teach us the faith. We’re celebrating the fact that while we’re in here studying the scriptures, our children are there out in the church school doing the same. We are celebrating the fact that there are people who still value religious education, and we are celebrating that here at Pleasantville we believe that investing in a child’s spiritual formation is one of the most worthwhile things we can do.
All of this is important to celebrate because we are living in strange times. We are living in a time when we can no longer take for granted that our children know the story of our faith. Indeed, many adults no longer know the great story of God’s love for us shown in Jesus Christ. We’re living in a time when another story has greater access and greater power in many peoples’ imagination; a time when surveys tell us that more people in this world recognize the Shell oil logo and the Mc Donald’s golden arches than they do the Christian cross.[1] We are living in a time when in the course of a year, the average American child watches more than 40,000 television commercials, where children as young as three recognize brand logos, and where children as young as two demonstrate brand loyalty.[2]
There is a new sacred narrative in our culture. The messages of consumerism and materialism are the new sacred story being piped directly into our homes and directly into our children’s heads on a daily basis and by our own choice. And these are the stories which in every way threaten to govern our kids’ lives -- unless there is a counter-story to shape and influence and save them. And it is our job to give them that counter story.
In the gospel lesson for this morning Jesus asks his disciples a very important question. He asks them, “Who do people say that I am?” His disciples answer him by saying, ‘well, some people say you are John the Baptist, and others say you are Elijah, and still others say you are one of the prophets.’ And Jesus draws closer to his followers and asks them the more important “But who do you say that I am?’ And now we’re in the heart of the gospel.
Who do you say that Jesus is?
That is ultimately the most important question about teaching our children the faith. Who do you say Jesus is? What kind of authority does He have in your life? How does following Jesus change the way you live? How does it influence your choices? If people didn’t know you were a Christian, would they have the first clue simply by observing your behavior?
Who do you say that Jesus is?
Peter was Jesus’ #1 disciple. He was the one that was always there. He was the one that Jesus decided to build his Church upon. He was the one who really wanted to get the answer right. So when Jesus asked the question Peter was probably like that kid in class whose always got his hand up: “Oooh, oooh, I know the answer!” And Peter did know the answer. He confessed: you are the Christ, the Messiah, God’s Annointed One. But this time the lesson that Jesus was teaching was way more complicated than Peter was prepared for. Because Jesus began to teach his disciples a counter-story and it wasn’t what they were expecting to hear.
Then Jesus began to teach them about many things…about how he was going to be rejected by the powers of this world; how he would be put on trial; how he would suffer and die at the hands of those he came to save; how he would be killed and yet would rise again in three days.
This was not the lesson that Peter was expecting to hear. So he argues with Jesus:
‘No, Lord. Say it isn’t so. I think you’ve got it all wrong, Jesus. I think that you were sent here to rule; to be a righteous leader; to lead your people into a time of prosperity. I think you were sent here to do that, and I think I was sent here to help you do that. You and I, Lord. We’ve got what it takes. You’re gonna’ sit in that chair and I’m gonna’ sit in this one. Nothing can stop us now.’
Poor Peter. Instead of getting the gold star and the teacher’s pet award, Jesus turns on him and says: “Get behind me, Satan! Get out of my way. Get behind me if you intend to follow me because you’ve got no idea how God works!’
Maybe if Jesus’ message had been a little easier to sell Peter would have liked it better. Maybe if Jesus’ sounded like those evangelists on TV it would have been an easier message to swallow. Something like: ‘Peter, God wants you to be rich. He wants to bless you with financial security. God wants all your desires to prosper. In fact, your financial well-being is a sign of God’s blessing upon you. If you’re not rich enough, Peter, it just means you ain’t praying hard enough; you’re just not as faithful as God wants you to be.’ Now that’s a message you can sell. That’s a message you can get behind.
But Jesus said things that are, in fact, really hard to sell – things that don’t sound real appealing – even if they’re set to catchy jingles. Things like: ‘If any want to be my followers, you need to expect that faithfulness will necessarily involve suffering.’ Things like “If you want to save your life, you have to lose it; you have to start living for God and not just for yourself.”
The world says that you can’t take care of anybody else if you don’t take care of yourself. The world says you only live once; you might as well get the good stuff while you’re here. The world says you work hard for your money, don’t you? Why shouldn’t you have everything that your heart desires? The world says all these things over and over again, day in and day out, piping them into our homes and into our heads. And Jesus says: take up your cross, follow me, lose your life so you can find it, forget yourself and you will find real and lasting joy.
Jesus’ message to his disciples is, in fact, the ultimate ‘counter-story.’
“Who do you say that Jesus is?”
That’s the question that we strive to answer every time we gather around this holy book, every time we teach our children to turn the other cheek, to learn to forgive, to love their enemies, to reach out in mercy to those the world despises and ignores.
These are hard lessons to learn. And they are lessons best taught by people who are living the life. Our best teachers are the people who show us how it’s done: people who teach us that forgiveness is possible; people who give of themselves generously to the world; people whose love for the scriptures enliven their life and soften their judgment of others.
The best teachers are the ones whose very lives are a sermon.
I celebrate what those teachers are doing out there in the church school. But the truth is we’ve all got to be willing to be teachers. We’ve all got to be willing to step out on the word of God and share our faith with those around us. We’ve all got to be willing to live our lives in such a fashion that we convince by our very presence that others should follow Jesus too.
Jesus calls us to answer the question: “Who do you say that I am?”
What we do here each week is our answer to that question. In a world where diversity both blesses and challenges us, our life together as a community of faith gives us a common vocabulary and a shared story. In a world which constantly claims our allegiance, our life together reminds us that God alone is Sovereign. In a world that would have us believe we should devote ourselves to things we can amass and control, our common life points us toward God’s Holy Word which has the power to bring us back to life.
If conveying that alone is all that we set out to do, then we will have done all that has been asked of us. May it be so.
"Who Do You Say That I Am?"
A Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Hilary J. Barrett
Preached at Pleasantville United Church of Christ, September 13, 2009
Psalm 19 and Mark 8:27-38
“The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher,
that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word.”
Isaiah 50: 4
Some of you have been asking about our son, Sam, who graduated from high school in June and will be headed to the University of Chicago in a few days. They’re on the quarter system there, so while most of his friends started classes weeks ago, Sam’s still in town until this Friday. On Friday, we all pile into the car – Sam, Rob and me – Sam’s cello, Sam’s computer, Sam’s printer, Sam’s clothes, Sam’s bedding, and anything else we think we can fit into a Honda Accord. It’ll be a blast.
This past week Sam did something that gave him great joy. He went back to his high school and visited his teachers. It made him very happy to see them. They were very happy to see him. That relationship between teachers and students can be quite profound. Teachers open worlds for us. They help us find our true selves and, when it becomes necessary, they can even help make it possible for us to reinvent ourselves.
One of my favorite teachers was Mrs. Hupp. She was my 4th grade teacher at Columbus Elementary School. She was a no nonsense kind of gal. She wasn’t real warm or friendly, but boy did she know stuff. During 4th grade we were learning about the circulatory system – the heart in particular. Mrs. Hupp mapped out a huge heart on the floor of our classroom made of red and blue masking tape. It was right in the middle were we could all see it and we could walk all around that heart. We could follow the veins in and arteries out; we could learn about the valves and the chambers. We could see how the blood was oxygenated by the lungs as we followed the blue tape into the heart and the red tape out. I can still see it now.
Think about your some of your favorite teachers – hopefully there were a few of them. (Get people to name a few.)
There are all kinds of teachers in our lives. Some come fully equipped with text books and chalkboards. Some have nothing more official than a kitchen table where they impart wisdom and life lessons that you couldn’t afford to buy if you wanted to. But what all good teachers have in common is that they care about their students and they believe that the investment they make in us is worthwhile.
We are celebrating teachers today – most particularly those who teach us the faith. We’re celebrating the fact that while we’re in here studying the scriptures, our children are there out in the church school doing the same. We are celebrating the fact that there are people who still value religious education, and we are celebrating that here at Pleasantville we believe that investing in a child’s spiritual formation is one of the most worthwhile things we can do.
All of this is important to celebrate because we are living in strange times. We are living in a time when we can no longer take for granted that our children know the story of our faith. Indeed, many adults no longer know the great story of God’s love for us shown in Jesus Christ. We’re living in a time when another story has greater access and greater power in many peoples’ imagination; a time when surveys tell us that more people in this world recognize the Shell oil logo and the Mc Donald’s golden arches than they do the Christian cross.[1] We are living in a time when in the course of a year, the average American child watches more than 40,000 television commercials, where children as young as three recognize brand logos, and where children as young as two demonstrate brand loyalty.[2]
There is a new sacred narrative in our culture. The messages of consumerism and materialism are the new sacred story being piped directly into our homes and directly into our children’s heads on a daily basis and by our own choice. And these are the stories which in every way threaten to govern our kids’ lives -- unless there is a counter-story to shape and influence and save them. And it is our job to give them that counter story.
In the gospel lesson for this morning Jesus asks his disciples a very important question. He asks them, “Who do people say that I am?” His disciples answer him by saying, ‘well, some people say you are John the Baptist, and others say you are Elijah, and still others say you are one of the prophets.’ And Jesus draws closer to his followers and asks them the more important “But who do you say that I am?’ And now we’re in the heart of the gospel.
Who do you say that Jesus is?
That is ultimately the most important question about teaching our children the faith. Who do you say Jesus is? What kind of authority does He have in your life? How does following Jesus change the way you live? How does it influence your choices? If people didn’t know you were a Christian, would they have the first clue simply by observing your behavior?
Who do you say that Jesus is?
Peter was Jesus’ #1 disciple. He was the one that was always there. He was the one that Jesus decided to build his Church upon. He was the one who really wanted to get the answer right. So when Jesus asked the question Peter was probably like that kid in class whose always got his hand up: “Oooh, oooh, I know the answer!” And Peter did know the answer. He confessed: you are the Christ, the Messiah, God’s Annointed One. But this time the lesson that Jesus was teaching was way more complicated than Peter was prepared for. Because Jesus began to teach his disciples a counter-story and it wasn’t what they were expecting to hear.
Then Jesus began to teach them about many things…about how he was going to be rejected by the powers of this world; how he would be put on trial; how he would suffer and die at the hands of those he came to save; how he would be killed and yet would rise again in three days.
This was not the lesson that Peter was expecting to hear. So he argues with Jesus:
‘No, Lord. Say it isn’t so. I think you’ve got it all wrong, Jesus. I think that you were sent here to rule; to be a righteous leader; to lead your people into a time of prosperity. I think you were sent here to do that, and I think I was sent here to help you do that. You and I, Lord. We’ve got what it takes. You’re gonna’ sit in that chair and I’m gonna’ sit in this one. Nothing can stop us now.’
Poor Peter. Instead of getting the gold star and the teacher’s pet award, Jesus turns on him and says: “Get behind me, Satan! Get out of my way. Get behind me if you intend to follow me because you’ve got no idea how God works!’
Maybe if Jesus’ message had been a little easier to sell Peter would have liked it better. Maybe if Jesus’ sounded like those evangelists on TV it would have been an easier message to swallow. Something like: ‘Peter, God wants you to be rich. He wants to bless you with financial security. God wants all your desires to prosper. In fact, your financial well-being is a sign of God’s blessing upon you. If you’re not rich enough, Peter, it just means you ain’t praying hard enough; you’re just not as faithful as God wants you to be.’ Now that’s a message you can sell. That’s a message you can get behind.
But Jesus said things that are, in fact, really hard to sell – things that don’t sound real appealing – even if they’re set to catchy jingles. Things like: ‘If any want to be my followers, you need to expect that faithfulness will necessarily involve suffering.’ Things like “If you want to save your life, you have to lose it; you have to start living for God and not just for yourself.”
The world says that you can’t take care of anybody else if you don’t take care of yourself. The world says you only live once; you might as well get the good stuff while you’re here. The world says you work hard for your money, don’t you? Why shouldn’t you have everything that your heart desires? The world says all these things over and over again, day in and day out, piping them into our homes and into our heads. And Jesus says: take up your cross, follow me, lose your life so you can find it, forget yourself and you will find real and lasting joy.
Jesus’ message to his disciples is, in fact, the ultimate ‘counter-story.’
“Who do you say that Jesus is?”
That’s the question that we strive to answer every time we gather around this holy book, every time we teach our children to turn the other cheek, to learn to forgive, to love their enemies, to reach out in mercy to those the world despises and ignores.
These are hard lessons to learn. And they are lessons best taught by people who are living the life. Our best teachers are the people who show us how it’s done: people who teach us that forgiveness is possible; people who give of themselves generously to the world; people whose love for the scriptures enliven their life and soften their judgment of others.
The best teachers are the ones whose very lives are a sermon.
I celebrate what those teachers are doing out there in the church school. But the truth is we’ve all got to be willing to be teachers. We’ve all got to be willing to step out on the word of God and share our faith with those around us. We’ve all got to be willing to live our lives in such a fashion that we convince by our very presence that others should follow Jesus too.
Jesus calls us to answer the question: “Who do you say that I am?”
What we do here each week is our answer to that question. In a world where diversity both blesses and challenges us, our life together as a community of faith gives us a common vocabulary and a shared story. In a world which constantly claims our allegiance, our life together reminds us that God alone is Sovereign. In a world that would have us believe we should devote ourselves to things we can amass and control, our common life points us toward God’s Holy Word which has the power to bring us back to life.
If conveying that alone is all that we set out to do, then we will have done all that has been asked of us. May it be so.