Who do you say that I am? That my friends is the $64k question.
What might you say if Jesus was sitting next to you this morning? How would you answer? Some of us might respond just like Peter – with a title – Messiah – Son of Man – the “right” answer. But what if Jesus pushed back, pressed us – as he does with Peter.
Ok, Messiah – that’s the proper title but what I’m really asking Peter is – what does that title mean to you?
Do you know what a 360 degree evaluation is? I’m sure many of you have participated in them. It’s an evaluation tool used primarily in workplaces. If you are the one being evaluated, you do a self-assessment – and your colleagues, subordinates and managers complete their versions of that same assessment of you. Hence the full circle 360 title.
Because obviously, we may say and think and perceive ourselves to be one way – but our manager may perceive us in one way – and our subordinates and colleagues – in different ways. Because the answer to the question – who do you say that I am – well, its relational. And if we are interested in really knowing who we are – we need to get a full circle picture. How we answer Jesus, says something about us.
Which is helpful but hard. Because you will be confronted with aspects of who you are, how others perceive you that are not ideal. Having done a 360 review as a lay person in corporate America and as an ordained person in churchy America – surprisingly the “not ideal” parts of who I am – they didn’t change. They are, and very might always be - my growing edges.
I think that pressing Jesus does is towards those growing edges. The places where we know who Jesus is to us – but we have a hard time incorporating that truth into ourselves and who we are. This question pushes us to think about how do we allow our answer to shape, mold, influence, direct us in our relationship with God and with one another?
It’s easy to gloss over the question because we know the answer and move straight to the hard part, when Jesus says– “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” So off-putting. That is the opposite of the messages that surround us! Messages like – go on, your worth it! You so deserve it – work hard, play hard. We are not encouraged to deny our wants and desires – we are encouraged to go out and get – to fulfill all our hearts’ desires.
And then – pick up your cross. Does that mean Jesus is encouraging us to find ways to suffer? Find ways to endure pain for the sake of God?
Well for Jesus and the people standing there its’ important to remember this - to pick up a cross was intended to be a public display. You were paraded through the streets as an object of ridicule and scorn. That’s why it’s an instrument of shame. That’s what Peter is afraid of – being associated with rejection and shame.
With that understanding you could paraphrase Jesus to say, those who want to follow me – are you willing to publicly display your faith, are you willing to make your faith visible in ways that might be hard, challenging for you?
Friday night and pretty much all of Saturday the leaders of this church gathered – myself, Josh and the officers and vestry for our annual retreat – to pray together, to get to know one another, and talk about what we are doing as followers of Jesus Christ – because that’s why we’re here – not a building – but as a Body of Christ in the world.
How are we actively inviting people to this church?
How are we intentionally welcoming people one they walk through our doors?
How are we connecting people with each other so we are deepening and expanding our relationships with one another?
These are our growing edges as a community of followers.
This program – Invite, Welcome, Connect – the woman who developed it – Mary Parmer – she shares two statics – the first – 3 out of 4 people say they would go to a friend’s church, if their friend would ask – 3 out of 4.
And the follow-up statistic is – the average Episcopalian invites someone to church once every 37 years. Yes there are exceptions – but I definitely belief that stat.
Forget about the shame in a public display of picking up a cross – what about the fear of shame in asking someone to church? Episcopalians have a major growing edge when it comes to evangelism!
What will they think of me if I invite them? It’s a risk, they could say no – they will learn something about you. What if they make certain assumptions about my church and my neighborhood, and then assumptions about me? What if they say yes but that Sunday stinks – the sermon falls flat, not a lot of people, they don’t like the music? What if they go – and don’t like it.
What if they say – the Episcopal church? Isn’t that the church with that bishop – and the accident – that took a life of a father and husband? Maybe we think to ourselves - I don’t want to talk about the Episcopal church right now – because I’m struggling with being associated with that label myself.
The thing about all those reasons – all those stumbling blocks that our rational selves can keep us from publicly sharing and inviting someone into our faith – those reasons are all about me. My fear, my anxiety, my church – and maybe my shame about the human frailty of people who are trying to follow, struggling in faith, and seeking hope. But if it’s all about me and my fear – well, where’s room for God?
All those stumbling blocks – all those reasons that get in the way of publicly sharing our faith – all those reasons are about me. My anxiety, my fear, my worry – my association with the human failings of the people in my church! But the pronoun at the center is “me.” And Jesus is saying, “Its not all about you.” That “self” – the one focused on fear, shame and rejection – that is the “get behind me Satan” self. Focused on human fear – and not on God.
BTW – this summer I had to have my car towed – from my driveway, no clutch – couldn’t drive it. And we got to talking and it came up – I don’t always share it – that I’m the rector of this church. And you know what he said – the Episcopal church – isn’t that where that woman bishop….and that nice warm wash of embarrassment flooded over me – because there is nothing I can do to excuse or deny – all there is to do is say – yes. But the conversation didn’t end there – in the time it took to drive to Cockeysville each of us shared a story about how addiction has touched our lives. And I didn’t leave that car feeling ashamed or embarrassed – but uplifted by yet another experience of God bringing people together to connect in a holy conversation.
God is doing all the work. Everyone – even Satan in this passage – is behind Jesus. God knows who is out in front. And if you answer Jesus’ question by saying – you are love, forgiveness, peace, strength and hope – then you are called to share that good news with another person. You are not inviting someone to your church – you are inviting them into a relationship with love, forgiveness, peace and strength that you have come to know through the gift of this community. Trust in extending the invitation and getting out of the way. Amen.
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