MATTHEW HOXSIE MEAD
GOSPEL OF MARK
DAVID BARTLETT, ALLEN HILTON
MARCH 30, 2003
SERMON 2: MARK 8:27-38
Note: content from this alternate version of my sermon for class was used in the sermon for Lent 2 (10 Commandments) below.
“What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, Amen.
You may have noticed that we have a new carpet today at the front of the church. When I was last here two weeks ago we had just moved the pews out and there was a rather barren space at the front up here; this is a welcome change. I think that the rug has made our worship space more comfortable and given it a warmer feeling.
Change is nothing new, in fact we have recently experienced a great change that has affected us in many different ways. A few days ago our nation went to war. We all have a sense of unease about war. Aside from the terrible nature of war and the obvious effects and dangers it has for those who are directly involved in it, we have questions that cannot easily be answered and fears that cannot easily be addressed. How will the war affect us as a nation? How will it affect us individually? How long will the war last? How will it affect our safety and security? Will there be more terrorist attacks? Will it affect our jobs? How will it affect our daily lives? What does it mean for me to be a Christian during a war?
Amidst all the TV watching, newspaper reading, and discussions about the war, you may have noticed that we have settled into Lent, albeit with other things on our minds. Normally, Lent is an opportunity for us, as we prepare for Easter, to try to become closer to God through various acts of piety. We do this by giving up things and occasionally taking on new challenges, adding new disciplines to our lives, or avoiding certain things. Whatever act of piety we may pick up and drop off after forty days, whatever state of mind we might be in, whether we are at peace or at war, in good times or bad times, whether we have a new rug or not we are reminded today that there are many things that change.
Life, in fact, is a series of never ending changes. From the time when we are children until we grow up, we are constantly changing and the world around us is constantly changing. Sometimes, everything seems to be going very well. Other times things are not so good. Things change and because of that, often we carry a great amount of uncertainty with us.
Today’s Gospel speaks to us today, amidst all of the uncertainty and change that we have experienced recently as well as throughout our whole lives. We hear today a two part story. In the first part, Peter confesses Jesus as Messiah. In the second part, Jesus corrects Peter by explaining what kind of Messiah he will be and explains that something beyond what we can see and touch is necessary. Our story begins when the disciples were asked by Jesus: "Who do you say I am?" Peter replied: “You are the Christ.” After this identification, Jesus said that he must suffer, be killed, and after three days rise again. This was something that was very hard for the apostles to understand. Even Peter, refused at that moment to accept that this must happen because he had a worldly idea of what a Messiah was supposed to do and be.
What was a Messiah was supposed to do and be? During Jesus’ life and for many years after it, Jerusalem and the entire surrounding region was under the control of the Roman Empire. In many places, the Romans were resented and hated because they were oppressive outsiders who treated the locals with contempt and taxed them heavily. It was hoped that someday a Messiah would come and restore Israel to its former glory. People hoped for a worldly king who would come and kick the Romans out and restore the old kingdom like it had been under King David. This type of Messiah was not supposed to suffer and die, rather this Messiah would make the Romans suffer and would come in power and victory. All of the problems in the world would go away with this Messiah.
Most likely, it was this type of Messiah that Peter himself hoped for. It is therefore no surprise at all that he could not understand or accept that Jesus had to suffer and die. The Messiah that Peter had in mind was one that would satisfy and address all of Peter’s worldly cares. He had put all of his worldly hopes into Jesus and suddenly they had been dashed. Jesus scolded Peter by saying: “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men”.
Jesus continued on to explain to Peter that it would be difficult road ahead, one must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Jesus.
It is very hard to put our Lord Jesus Christ before the things that we see and do every day. Just as Peter was unable to let go of his worldly view of what a Messiah should be, we too are often unable to let go of our worldly cares, even for a moment. After all, all of the problems in the world did not go away with Jesus. Life is hard enough when you are concentrating on it full time. In addition to working, shopping, cooking, sleeping, taking care of our families, paying our bills, paying our taxes, keeping the house in order, and spending time with our friends, we also have to worry about what is going on around us in the world.
It is for this very reason that we often attempt to maintain certain disciplines for the forty days of Lent. The disciplines that we try to maintain for ourselves in Lent are about bringing us closer to God and resetting our priorities so that we put the things of God and not our own things first. During Lent we do not forget about our worldly cares, to do so would be crazy! No, we simply attempt to make a more concerted effort to put God first in our lives.
The poet Shel Silverstein wrote a funny parody of the classic childrens bedtime prayer, “Now I lay me down to sleep”. His parody goes: “Now I lay me down to sleep and pray to God my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake I pray to God my toys to take, so none of the other kids will get them.” We all laugh, but this underscores exactly how much we all really do care about what we have and how we live. But in the long run, we leave this world and everything in it behind. If we put all of our worldly cares and concerns at the forefront of our lives and forget about God, what good does it do us in the long run?
Jesus asks us this same question: “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” It is very hard to deny our worldly desires and put Jesus first anytime, but it can be especially hard to trust ourselves to God when we are uneasy or afraid and there are very scary things happening in our world. Even the great disciple Peter was unable to put aside his worldly cares.
War or no war, Lent or no Lent, rug or no new rug in the church, there is always one constant: God’s love. God’s love is there for us no matter what changes we are going through. Whether we are in good times or bad times, whether we are at ease or struggling, God is with us. Now, we have questions and fears and we worry that life will get more difficult. Struggling through life is nothing new. Saint Paul went through many struggles and eventually was martyred in Rome. Yet, throughout all of his struggles he also knew that he could never be separated from the love of God. Listen to what he writes in the 8th chapter of his letter to the Romans: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” [Romans 8:38-39]
My message to you today is to open your hearts to God, trust in God and put your faith wholehearted in Jesus Christ. By placing your whole trust in Jesus you can be assured that no matter what he will be with you. Trust in Jesus, put Him first in everything you do and have faith that through good times or bad times, through life and through death He is with you and He loves you.
We are in the middle of Lent now but in a few weeks Lent will be over. We are at the start of a war but at some point that war too will be over. The things of this world are fleeting – honest to God they are – they come and go. They change and they change often and unexpectedly. Some are good some are bad, but even if we gain the whole world we still lose it all in the end. Even if we have everything we want, even our own worldly Messiah, we still have nothing if the love of God is not in us. Reset your own priorities so that Christ is at the forefront of your life because Christ transcends not only life and death but everything in the world that has ever happened or is happening now or will every happen. The Gospel of John tells us that eternal life begins now with faith in Jesus Christ. Put our Lord God Jesus Christ at the forefront of your life now and know that no matter what happens, nothing, not even death itself can separate you from his love.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, Amen.
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