Mark 8:27-38

Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, ‘Who do people say I am?’

They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.’

‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’

Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah.’

Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.

He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 

But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. ‘Get behind me, Satan!’ he said. ‘You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

Let us pray,

May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of all of our hearts, be pleasing and acceptable to you, our rock and our redeemer…

When I signed up to moderate our Presbytery. No one told me that I would be entered into the rotation. To moderate Session meetings for churches that are without a pastor. I have always loved moderating Session meetings. And I’ve been surprised by how much I’ve enjoyed moderating Session meetings for churches in transition. As I watch churches figure out what new thing God is calling them to do in this new phase of ministry.

When churches are without a pastor, the Session goes through a process of discernment. They pray together and try to seek God’s will. So that they can figure out who they are as a church. And what they are looking for in their next pastor. As they discern, they’re figuring out who they believe Jesus to be. And what they believe Jesus is calling the church to do. In this time. And in this place.

Given the enormity of the task ahead of them, some Sessions get really anxious. Some are angry that their previous pastor left them to serve somewhere else. Some are scared that God abandoned them when their last pastor left. These Sessions spend their Session meetings fighting amongst themselves about what color to paint the Sunday School classrooms. Because it’s easier to fight then sit with uncomfortable feelings.

Other Sessions just kind of give up. They figure they don’t have the energy to go through this process of discernment. So they drag their feet on making any decisions about what kind of pastor they’d like to call. Because it’s safer to be stuck than it is to move forward.

The problem with these two approaches to pastoral transitions is more a theological problem then a polity problem. What I mean by that is that pastoral transitions are more about who Jesus is in the life of a particular congregation, than they are about jumping through all the hoops to call a pastor.

They’re more about who we believe Jesus to be than about did we do a good mission study. Like Peter from our Scripture reading for this morning. We want to worship a God who is strong and powerful, someone who will rescue us from our troubles and defeat our enemies. Instead, we get a God who asks us to walk alongside him as we engage in the suffering of the world together. 

Our Scripture reading for this morning begins with Jesus asking his disciples “Who do people say that I am?” The disciples respond. Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and still others one of the prophets. It makes sense for the crowds to confuse Jesus with any one of these men. For these men spent their entire lives pointing to Jesus, the one who was to come.

Only Peter is able to correctly identify Jesus. “You are the Messiah” he says. Here is where the story gets interesting. Yes, Jesus is the Messiah. But Peter’s understanding of what it means to be the Messiah and Jesus’ understanding are two different things. Peter thinks the Messiah is a holy king. Someone who will purify our society. Reestablish Israel’s supremacy among the nations. And usher in a new era of peace and holiness.

Jesus understands the Messiah more as a suffering servant. Someone who actively participates in a creation broken by the limits of sin and death. A suffering servant is not a person living a sinful life. A suffering servant is a person who lives with the consequences of human sin. A suffering servant is one who to paraphrase the Beatitudes, is blessed when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me (Matthew 5:11).

A key way that we understand Jesus’ Messianic identity is through this idea of taking up the cross. When Jesus invites us to take up our crosses and follow him. He is not talking about the suffering that is simply a part of living in a broken world. Neither is he telling us to seek out suffering or martyrdom for our own glory. He is asking us to be open to suffering the consequences of following Jesus faithfully. Whatever those consequences may be.

For the two little churches I’m moderating, the consequence of following Jesus faithfully means doing the work of discerning what God is calling them to do and to be in this time and in this place. It means taking an honest look at their financial situation. It means assessing what type of deferred maintenance their church building requires. It means lining up guest preachers to fill the pulpit while they search for the next pastor. It means doing all of this while dealing with congregants who may or may not appreciate all the work that goes into a pastoral transition.

But the good news of our Scripture reading for this morning is twofold. Firstly, the God we worship is actually more powerful than we can conceive or imagine. We don’t have the words to fully articulate who we believe Jesus to be because we don’t have language to fully describe the miracle of God becoming man and dwelling among us. This is good news because on those days when it’s difficult to follow Jesus. It is helpful to remember that it is worth it to hang in there. Because nothing compares to our God. Or what God is capable of doing through us. 

The second bit of good news is we get to know God through taking up our crosses and following him. While no one on Session in the two little churches I am moderating is thrilled about having to navigate a pastoral transition. They are going to draw closer to God and closer to each other through it. Knowledge about Jesus is useless if it remains abstract. This Jesus we worship beckons us to get our hands dirty and journey with him. 

Now not all of us are going to be asked to be on Session during a pastoral transition. So how might we live our lives in the way of the cross? I think this comes down to being willing to give away our gifts and talents in service to others.

Let’s say you are really good with the computer. Maybe you help your elderly neighbor figure out how to log into her Zoom book club meeting. Even though she may never “get it.” The point is not for her to get it. The point is for you to spend time with her and help her feel a little less isolated.

Let’s say you are really good at organization. Maybe you volunteer to tackle the closet in your church where volunteers have been shoving craft supplies for the last 20 years. You know that getting it organized will make life easier for the next person who needs to use the craft supplies. You also know that you will have to work to keep it organized. Because no matter how many labels you make. Someone will always put a glue stick away in the wrong bin.

Friends, however you find yourself giving away your gifts and talents in service to others. Know that we do this for the sake of something much larger than ourselves. We do it for the sake of the community Jesus has called into being so that she might proclaim the good news to all of the nations. Sometimes it can feel like no one notices or cares that you weeded the church flower bed. But you never know how God will use a flowerbed to draw someone into a life of discipleship.

Thanks be to God,

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.