Sermon for 9-13-09
Mark 8:27-38
Proper 19B/Pentecost +15B
Christian Education Kickoff Sunday
"You Know I Believe It"
This Sunday marks the beginning of our educational year at Raleigh Moravian. Sunday School started this morning, Confirmation kicked off as well, and many other programs and ministries are starting back after the summer. Today marks the transition to another year, so to speak, in the flow of life in the church. It is most appropriate that we are looking today at this particular passage from Mark's Gospel, as it is a transitional point in the life of Jesus and his disciples.
The passage the Barbara read a minute ago is the peak of Mark's Gospel. It's signals the end of Mark's initial telling about Jesus and his wanderings around Galilee preaching, teaching, and healing. Here he is positioned to head straight from
Caesarea Philippi to Jerusalem, the cross, his death, and eventual resurrection. Everything in Mark's stories about Jesus to this point has led him up to this place. And from this place, everything leads down the valley to Jerusalem and all that Jerusalem brings. Caesarea Philippi was situated up in the mountains at the headwaters of the Jordan River, and they physically and emotionally were heading downhill after this conversation.
As this passage opens, we find the disciples and Jesus gathered around talking about the latest rumors and gossip about WHO they think Jesus is. It reminds me of the interviews we see on television these days, where the reporter is standing around asking everyone on the street what they think or believe about a particular topic. Jesus is standing there with the camera rolling and a microphone, asking these friends of his, "So who are folks saying that I really am?" "What's the word on the street?" The disciples list off the various answers and chime in with their contributions to the gossip.
But then the tone changes in the questioning. Jesus transitions into a much more difficult question. The stakes are higher. This isn't the $200 question from the "Gossip" category on Jeopardy. This is the final Jeopardy question, and it's a true Daily Double where all your money's on the line. Alex Trebec, I mean, Jesus, asks, "But who do you say that I am?" What do you believe? Who do you believe? Are you going with the gossip floating around or what?
It's not that the answers that the disciples gave were all bad. "Elijah," and "the prophets" were, after all, wise teachers and important leaders in the Jewish faith. They were strong leaders who lived on in the stories. For most folks, it would be an honor even to be named among the likes of Elijah and John the Baptist. But not for Jesus. He knew the journey ahead would require great knowledge and belief. He knew where they were heading. Jesus wanted to make sure the disciples understood exactly what was going on. He was searching their hearts and minds to find out what they believed? Who they believed? He wanted to make sure the background was in place for them to be prepared for what lie ahead in their journey.
WHAT do we believe? WHO do we believe? The question that Jesus asks the disciples is a question directed to them, but we also hear him asking us the same thing. As followers of Jesus today, who do we say that Jesus is? What do we believe? Our culture gives us many answers to the question about what to believe. If we wear the right shoes or clothes, we can be the top athlete, because the attire makes all the difference. If we wear the latest perfume or jewelry, we will be beautiful. If we use the latest and greatest gadget, we will be wiser or smarter. We are taunted by advertising to help sway our beliefs. There are so many beliefs floating around in our culture, it can be dizzying and overwhelming. If we stop and actually take a look at what we're hearing, seeing, and being asked to believe in, are we happy with the answers we find? What information do we know and, of that information, what do we really believe?
At Moravian Seminary, each Masters of Divinity Student is required to write a Credo, which is a fancy word meaning "belief". What do we believe. It usually comes in our final year, and is the culminating paper to wrap up all the information we've been learning and processing through during our schooling. That semester as I spent hours pouring over all that I had read and heard and learned, and trying to wrap my head around all that I really believed out of it. I was forced to answer the question that Jesus asks his disciples--"Who do you say that I am" and I had 30 pages to do it in. And believe me, 30 pages seemed like a lot, until page 29 when I was trying to cram in as much as I could before I ran out of space. It is difficult, if not impossible I think, for us to fully name what we believe, as systematic theologians have spend entire lifetimes trying to fully articulate the faith of the Church in a changing world. I also realized not long after that my credo was finished, that it was not fixed but fluid, because my life and faith journey is always evolving. But as followers of Jesus who are faced with the question, "Who do say that I am?," at some point or another, we are required to name at least parts of our belief-our credo. It's difficult because life changes. It's also difficult because the transition from knowledge to belief is difficult.
The transition in questioning by Jesus denotes a shift from information to formation, from head knowledge to heart belief. The disciples have seen and heard lots. They've watched the latest news polls, heard the politicians and leaders debate, and they must decide for themselves who and what they believe. They know in their head WHO Jesus is, but do they truly believe in their hearts. They'd read the latest authors and bloggers, seen lots of interesting and exciting signs, wonders, and the best advertising money can buy, but WHO had they encountered and what really stuck with them? What were they going to carry with them on the journey ahead?
We all must make that same transition from head knowledge to heart belief, from information to formation. The church, at her best, helps us along this journey by providing us both the information and formation that it takes to move from knowledge to belief. We see two examples today of this journey. Our 2nd graders received their Bibles a few minutes ago, and these Bibles are gifts that hopefully each of them will carry with them along the journey. We've marked a milestone in the journey of faith and continue to give them information and tools to aid in their own answering of Jesus' question--"Who do you say that I am?"
The other example is in our Confirmation Class that began this morning. We have 12 youth that have stepped out today to mark another milestone in their journey. They have begun a process of learning and exploring what it means to be a member of this congregation and the greater Church. It's certainly a class that will provide information, but we also hope it will provide a chance for formation, where their knowledge can become deeper belief.
Church fathers and mothers across the centuries have been trying to sum up their beliefs into succinct statements of faith. We see examples in our Moravian Book of Worship [1]--the Apostle's Creed (page 3) and the Nicene Creed (page 22), both of which are very brief credos. Our Confirmands will follow in this tradition as well. Next spring we will be working together to write a credo as a class--though it won't be like the ones Craig and I had to write in Seminary. I don't know exactly what it will look like, but I trust it will reflect their own beliefs and thoughts-- their own answers to the question, "Who do you say that I am?"
Jesus' question to us, "Who do you say that I am?" in other words, "What do you believe?" requires us to take in the information around us and forms us into disciples who not only have a head of information but a heart that has been formed. Though you may have never considered it before, we, like our confirmands, all have the opportunity to ponder these questions from Jesus Christ of what we believe and define our own credos. Jesus not only gives us the opportunity, but also requests an answer to the question--Jesus wants to know our credos.
Just as advertising comes in various forms in a multitude of places, our credos can be found and expressed in a variety of ways. Sometimes they come in the forms of stained glass windows or poetry, art or dance, hymns or written statements--anywhere we share our answer to the question, "Who do you say that I am?" or "What do you believe?"
I find a simple, yet insightful credo in the music of the Irish rock band U2.
Many of their lyrics contain statements of their belief {a brief list can be found at this link}, and one song in particular reminds me of today's passage.
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", a song off of their 1987 album
"The Joshua Tree" professes what I would identify as a credo.
They sing:
"I believe in the Kingdom Come
Then all the colours will bleed into one
Bleed into one.
But yes, I'm still running.
You broke the bonds
And you loosed the chains
Carried the cross of my shame
Oh my shame, you know I believe it.
But I still haven't found
What I'm looking for." [2]
As I have spent time in my car lately driving back and forth to Winston-Salem and around town listening to their music, I am struck by the simplicity and yet profound faith expressed in these words. And the parallels to today's reading from the Gospel of Mark ring loud and clear to me. We are all called to answer the question, "Who do you say that I am?" by moving from head knowledge to heart belief through the formation along life's journey. We don't have all the complete answers right now, nor do we need to, but that can't stop us from answering the question Jesus asks. As Mark and U2 remind us, we're still running, our life of faith is a journey. Jesus invites us to answer the question and then take up our cross and follow him on this journey. The Church helps us mark milestones to direct the path through the giving Bibles and celebrating the sacraments, participation in Sunday School, Confirmation, Youth Fellowship, Small Groups, Mission teams, you name it...
We, like the disciples in Mark, face the questions together. Thankfully and joyfully together we all help each other along on the journey from head knowledge to heart belief as we figure out what we believe and profess our own credos to answer the question, "Who do we say Jesus is?" Even when we haven't yet exactly found what we're looking for, we can still proclaim together, "You know we believe it, "You are the Messiah--The Christ--the Son of God." Amen.
[1] Moravian Book of Worship (Bethlehem, PA: Interprovincial Board of Communications, Moravian Church in North America, 1995) 3, 22.
[2] U2,"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" from The Joshua Tree album, 1987.
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