Who Do You Think Jesus Is?

Sermon-year b-Proper 19, Sept. 13, 2009
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
When my father died, someone asked me if I was going to change my name. I am John Hagan, Jr. Supposedly it is the only time that a man ever changes his name. You can drop the junior. I don’t know if it’s true, but that is what I have heard. So I thought long and hard about that. Did I want to drop this last piece of my name, since senior was no longer alive. I could see the value in that. But then I thought, “that would somehow be disloyal to my dad-it would be like saying he didn’t exist.” So, I decided that I will be junior up to my grave. I was afraid that by changing my name, somehow, dropping the junior, I would be saying that my dad never existed. I know how silly that sounds. But these little things, what we call people, what names we use, can mean a lot. Last week I was in Georgia for a couple of days. Kyle, my stepson and I went to a lot of places together. He had to introduce me to a lot of people. Sometimes he would say , “this is my dad”, sometimes he would say, “this is my stepfather.” I have been in Kyle’s life since he was 9. His father is still very much alive and is also very much a part of Kyle’s life, so I know this has to make him pause about what to call me. His father and I for much of his life, have both acted as a parent. And I know he doesn’t want to be disloyal to his father, whom he loves very much. We ve never talked about it, it’s just understood. It’s hard sometimes knowing what name to use for people-we don’t want them to misunderstand.
Names are important. Titles are important. They define us. They say to us-and to the world, what we believe about life, about ourselves. It is not by accident that the first two weeks of our Adult Forum are devoted to the topic, “What Episcopalians Believe”. How we think of ourselves, how we describe ourselves, what we call ourselves, can mean everything.
In today’s gospel Jesus is in Caesarea Philippi-a Roman town named after the emperor in the region of Galilee. He turns to his followers and asks them,
"Who do people say that I am?". I don’t know if you remember, but 2 months ago, in chapter 6 of Mark, Herod the king was asked the same question. Hearing about Jesus Herod wanted to know who he was. 6:14 King Herod heard of it, for Jesus' name had become known. Some were saying, "John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him."6:15 But others said, "It is Elijah." And others said, "It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old."6:16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, "John, whom I beheaded, has been raised."
So here is Jesus asking the disciples, “ And they answered him (much like the people around Herod), "John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.". All these were great men in Israel’s life, and the disciples were guessing that maybe Jesus was one of these legendary heroes that they ha d heard about. Jesus doesn’t answer, or deny, he simply asks his follower’s leader, Peter, "But who do you say that I am?" And that is the question. Who do we think Jesus is? One commentator that I was reading said that our answer says a lot more about us, than it does about Jesus. So who do we think we are? Herod, out of guilt and fear at killing the prophet replied that Jesus was John the Baptist come back from the dead to haunt him, Peter-out of hope and excitement in this Roman occupied city, comes back with “you are the anointed one who will rescue Israel from its oppressors”. Our answers tend to say a lot more about us, than they do about Jesus.
So who do you say Jesus is? A comforter? A rescuer? Someone who makes us feel guilty about your life, or ashamed of your choices? Someone who constantly forgives you, or lifts you, or holds you? Who do you say Jesus is? What does your answer say20about you?
This chapter marks the turning point in the gospel of Mark, from here on out, Jesus will begin teaching about who he is. And about who a follower will be. Up till now, Jesus has been healing, chasing demons, helping folks in misery, “fixing” people and their lives. But beginning with this story, things will change. It’s as if he has been exceeding everyone’s expectations up til now. But from here on out-he disappoints and offends. Now he begins a new journey. The powerful, strong, commanding Jesus starts to disappear. A new Jesus emerges-and beginning with Peter-people don’t always approve. Peter, as always, is the first. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. A more accurate way to understand this verse is, And Peter took him aside and began to cast out the demon in Jesus.” Jesus tells Peter that he the true messiah must suffer and die. And this wasn’t what Peter wanted in a messiah. And on a lot of days, Jesus isn’t what I want, either. He doesn’t do what I want, he doesn’t always rescue and protect, he doesn’t give me all that I hope for. Have you ever disappointed your family, your friends? Have you ever been in a place where the people who are closest to you come up and told you that you let them down? Or maybe even failed them? It is a terrible place to be.
There is a story told about the great psychiatrist Viktor Frankl. After giving an address in Melbourne, Australia he was given a boomerang as a gift. He commented that the boomerang reminded him of our human existence. People assume that the function of the boomerang is to return to the thrower, he said. But the real function of the boomerang to hit the target and to return to the thrower only if it misses the target.
The boomerang, the toy we all grew up playing with, only comes back if it fails.
Who do people say you are? Ask someone today. Think about it. Think back in your life-what have people said about you. Who do people say you are?
Peter probably never met John the Baptist, certainly never knew Elijah, or had met any of the Old Testament prophets. He had only heard of them. But he knew Jesus. He had watched him, and listened to him, walked with him, and learned from him. Every title people tried to come up with about Jesus seemed to come up short, because they were based on what they thought great people were like. But Peter knew Jesus. And he realized that the only title that really fit-was savior, messiah. It is ironic that Peter gets the name right, but when the rubber hits the road, all Peter can say is, “you’re not doing it right.” That is what we will hear for the next several weeks-Jesus trying to help people understand what his name means, who he really is, what he is about. It’s all about names. No, it’s more than that, it’s all about understanding-and recognition. It’s about throwing the boomerang and seeing if we hit something-or if it comes back.
When we call someone a name, sometimes it says more about us, than it does about them. Perhaps the name we choose, tells us more about who we are than who the other person is.
A monk rode an ox into town and came to a group of people. The people asked him, “What are you looking for, monk?” He said, “I am looking for an ox.” They all laughed. He rode his ox to the next group of people. They asked him, “What are you looking for, monk?” He said, “I am looking for an ox.” They all laughed.&nb sp; He rode his ox to a third group of people. They asked him, “What are you looking for, monk?” He said, “I am looking for an ox.” They said, “This is ridiculous. You are a man riding an ox looking for an ox.” The monk said, “So it is with you looking for God.” (John Shea, The Legend of the Bells and Other Tales: Stories of the Human Spirit [Chicago: ACTA Publications, 1996], 111-12).
We are at a turning point in the gospel of Mark. From here on out Jesus will frustrate people more and more because he tries to get people to see the ox that they are riding. Who do you say that Jesus is?