Mark 8:31-38
March 12, 2006
Second Sunday in Lent
Mark's Gospel is like a mountain, as we go up one side, we hear about the ministry of Jesus; the miracles, the healings, the feeding of thousands of people, and the calling of the disciples. The top of the mountain is Peter's declaration, "You are the Messiah," the first time it is stated exactly who Jesus is. And then, starting today, we come down the other side of the mountain toward the cross.
Before Peter's declaration, "You are the Messiah," there must have been a good deal of speculation about who Jesus was, not just among the disciples, but among ordinary folk as well. All of his activities, separately and together with his disciples, had to have attracted the attention of many. Certainly we know the authorities took notice. Just who was this man, Jesus?
Of course, finding out exactly who Jesus was brought the disciples more than even they had bargained for. When Jesus told them that he was to be rejected, abused, and even murdered, Peter, perhaps fearing for his own life, rebuked Jesus. Peter could not imagine such a thing happening to a messiah. Perhaps in his own mind he had conjured up the great and powerful things that Jesus would do when his "messiahship" took hold. Perhaps he envisioned himself standing beside Jesus, one of the messiah's trusted assistants, sharing the glory. Surely suffering was not part of Peter's dream for Jesus, nor probably for himself or any of the other disciples. How shocking this revelation must have been to them.
Heading toward the cross Jesus had to continue teaching the disciples and others, revealing to them the true nature of his mission on earth and, by extension, their mission as well. Just as Jesus in his healing ministry gradually opened the eyes of the blind man, so Mark gradually reveals the nature and implication of what it means that Jesus is the Messiah. That is, Jesus would lead, the disciples would follow; and this would not to be a partnership of equals. Hoever, the disciples must be prepared to deny themselves, take up their cross and follow.
What this means exactly is what I would like us to think about this morning. I believe the concept of “denying yourself” is a sticky and often misunderstood point. What does it mean to deny yourself? What did it mean for the disciples? Many people teach this text as if it were a sonnet to suffering, as if the more you suffer, the better Christian you are. This is really unimaginable, to think that Jesus would preach more suffering for people who were oppressed already. Why would Jesus ask his followers to take up suffering, hunger, and illness, when these are precisely the things that he has come into the world to overcome by his death and resurrection.
In Mark 8:34, Jesus invites everyone to become disciples: "If any want to follow after me, let them renounce themselves and take up their cross and follow me" If we read this out of context and with modern western understandings, the invitation can be understood as a glorification of suffering and an encouragement to become a victim: one is to deny oneself, sacrifice oneself, wipe out any sense of self, and to embrace the cross, that is, suffering in general. On the basis of this verse, discipleship is portrayed as "suffer now," presumably for reward later in the age to come. Many a person has failed to develop their own identity and strengths and has embraced or endured unnecessary suffering because they believe that such a way of life is pleasing to God and an imitation of Christ.
I have known people who stay in bad marriages where they are being beaten by their spouses because they believe that this is what God wants. I knew a man who lived in poverty so his children could be spoiled rotten and he told me this was “his cross to bear” it didn’t make his life whole, nor his children’s. Unnecessary suffering is exactly that, there is no redemptive value to it.
I had a conversation with a Professor of Engineering from Stanford on the flight back from Europe on Thursday – he said that he held religion responsible for most of the troubles in the world. And he thought that by now a learned society would be able rise above their need for such rules and regulations in life. That view of religion doesn’t surprise me, in fact it is the one I hear most often from people who have given up on organized religion. They seem to view us as silly, ignorant people who feel obligated out of fear to a set of rules and regulations. I am not here because I am afraid, but because my faith emboldens me to live the abundant life in this world, and because of Christ’s victiory, to be unafraid of the next.
The gospel of Mark, does not glorify either self-sacrifice or suffering. In Mark, Jesus inaugurates the Kingdom; in doing so he alleviates much suffering and empowers others to do the same. So, if to renounce or deny oneself did not mean self-sacrifice as we understand it today – what did it mean? Well, literally it meant denying the social constraints of antiquity. It referred to leaving mother and father, and community, and being willing to endure hardship at the hands of the social and political system. Following Jesus also meant joy, healing, feasting, and the overcoming of much suffering.
In our society the basic unit of society - is the individual self. However in Jesus’ day, and in much of the world still today, the basic unit of society is not the individual person but the multi-generational extended family. The group is responsible for the actions of its individual members, and within the group it is the chief member, usually the male head of household, who determines appropriate behavior. Adult sons continue to owe obedience to their fathers as long as their fathers live; daughters are transferred from the authority of their fathers to that of their husbands upon marriage. "People are not expected to have personal opinions, much less voice their own opinions.... Social behavior is established by hierarchy. In such a society, to deny self means, in effect, to renounce one's kinship unit.
To step outside of one's kinship unit, then, was not only a rejection of one's parents but quite likely a loss of one's means of earning a living as well. It put followers of Jesus outside the accepted social-political order. It was indeed a radical act to renounce kin. If you did, and if you had any voice, power, or following at all, you would be perceived as a threat to the social order of the empire.
The call to follow Jesus then, is not a call to suffer, everybody suffers, God does not want you to suffer, that is why Christ has victory of the final suffering which is death.
So what does it mean to take up your cross? To lose your life for the sake of the gospel? I suppose it means that some of us will, for the sake of our faith, be at odds with our families and our society for the sake of God’s justice. It will mean we will know what it is to be outsiders, like those who first followed Jesus, leaving comfort behind. It means we will not be quiet when it comes to those who are rejected for any reason, color, gender, sexual orientation. It means we will love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, as odd as that seems to people. If you are a person who has to live with invisible walls of rejection in your family, at work, or in society - know that the first followers of Jesus also knew such exclusion from family, and political systems, and bore its consequences, strengthened by the power of the crucifed and risen Christ.
"Does Mark encourage victimage and suffering?" I think not, following Jesus is both blessing--the ending of much human suffering--and incurring new suffering at the hands of those who will do their best to destroy Jesus' followers. Taking up the cross is not some negative, life-denying gesture. It doesn’t mean going through life with your head down, feeling remorseful for having done bad things. Let them renounce themselves," certainly sounds to modern ears like a call to self-sacrifice. Today many do tend to read it as denial of the individual self, a call to give up one's will, always to put oneself last. But I suggest that this is not what it would have conveyed to a first-century audience. First, their sense of self was quite different; they had little idea of any individual identity. Second, this is an exhortation to remain faithful to Jesus and the principles of God’s justice in the face of persecution, whether it comes from family or the governing political authorities..
Taking up the cross means responding to the Messiah’s great act of sacrifice by living in God’s grace – leaving the comfort of doing things the way everyone else does. And placing love “not a goey emotion” but real and constant love, above all else. This love is for everyone. If you find that you are self-righteous in relation to others, humble yourself. If you have been uncaring toward the poor, now is the time to get some moral imagination and place yourself in the shoes of another human being. If you have been callous about prospects for peace in the world, now is the time for you to start praying and begin working for those things in your own neighborhood that make for peace. If you have put your trust in the accumulation of things so that you are slave to a whole host of masters, now is the time for you to unload some of the stuff and to put your trust in God. If you assumed to this point that you are going to be judged on your ability to avoid evil in this life, forget it,- - to deny yourself means to give up the things this world holds as important, and to remind ourselves that the vision is not about being personally perfect, it is about enabling one another to find the courage to do good. Amen.