Rebecca Meyer | Mark 8:27-38 | 1/8/2017

so I'm I'm not one of those people who obsess about the weather you probably aren't either I've noticed that weather obsession is something people around the age of retirement get really into and I have nothing against it it's proven to be really helpful to wake up to text from my parents with weather updates from all the cities they know people in before I've snooze my alarm twice I already know the temperature highs and lows in Kansas City Chicago and Buffalo it saves me time I don't have to look it up for myself and easy as that I'm out the door dressed appropriately for the weather thanks mom and dad but last week a big bit of weather caught my attention maybe you hunker down during the storm before heading to Wheaton to start your semester or maybe you're watching from afar in the aftermath of the storm it was the winter storm the bomb cyclone this was an epic storm New Yorker is prepared by buying all the kale from the grocery store and iguanas started falling off the trees in Florida I have to confess when I first saw the alert for it I assumed it was hashtag fake news but the clever meteorologists and the media marketing gurus piqued my interest just enough for me to spend the better part of last Thursday doing a deep dive on Google trying to understand this bomb cyclone the search revealed as our environmental science majors could tell us the name was actually based on meteorological terms weather processes called bomba Genesis and cyclogenesis they were combined to describe this epic storm the bomb cyclone when I think of Mark 8 27 through 38 the best way to describe it is as Jesus's bomb cyclone he is the bomba Genesis it may seem like just another gospel text but this is an epic storm of an encounter when the dust of this storm settles we will have a better idea of who Jesus really is this moment is first and unveiling up to this point in mark Jesus has not revealed his true identity it's also an invitation a surprising invitation not even the best meteorologist could have predicted this one the bomb cyclone of mark 8 takes place in three storm fronts three conversations between Jesus and His disciples throw us into the chaos of the storm first Jesus asked his disciples a question second Jesus explains what it means to be the messiah and third Peters rebuked in verse 27 Jesus and His disciples left Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi as they were walking along he asked them who do people say I am well they replied some say John the Baptist some say Elijah and others say you are one of the prophets at face value this seems like an easy question an obvious one like what's my name where am i from but there's more to it with this question Jesus is teaching the best teacher of all time is inviting his students the disciples to wonder to think for themselves to draw connections who do people say that I am and the disciples they bumble Jesus's question it's hard to wrap our minds around the difficulty the disciples have because we just celebrated Christmas if you listen to our carols it sounds like we have Jesus completely figured out joy to the world the Savior reigns Oh night divine the night when Christ was born with angelic host proclaim christ is born in Bethlehem we think we know how to answer G this question but here in mark 8 in the midst of this crazy weather system we start to realize maybe we don't have as tight of a grasp as the on the answer as we thought if Jesus's disciples people who have spent years with Jesus couldn't answer this question could we do much better this is the first storm front Jesus a question Who am I and the chaos is just beginning the second front Jesus explains what it means to be the Messiah verse 29 then he asked them but who do you say I am Peter replied you are the Messiah but jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders the leading priests and the teachers of religious law he would be killed but three days later he would rise from the dead in the Gospel of Mark Jesus introduces himself to his disciples and his followers going from town to town healing casting out demons feeding thousands his miracles are boundless his power is obvious even though detractors occasionally run him out of town overall Jesus is the right guy to be with but the conversations in mark 8 27 to 38 present a different calling beyond what we have seen so far Jesus isn't here just to do miracles he's here to die and if that's a head-scratcher the next part really doesn't make sense after Jesus has just shown his power he says hey don't tell anyone let's keep this between you and me everything Jesus is saying is unbelievable repeating it puts the lives of the disciples at risk they soon won't receive the invitation to suffer but not yet tell this to no one Jesus commands the third front of the storm Peter reacts to this news of Jesus is suffering and death when Jesus describes his death Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples then reprimanded Peter get away from me Satan he said you are seeing things merely from a human point of view not from God's we don't know exactly what Peter says but we can guess what he's feeling maybe something along the lines of protest surely there's another way or confusion but but if you are the Christ you're gonna deliver us from the Romans or fear how can you say this I've trusted you with everything Jesus responds with urgency this rebuke is a display of Jesus's passion and conviction anything that draws Jesus away from his true calling he receives as a temptation from Satan can you feel the chaos of the storm have you been in a more intense weather system this conversation leaves us reeling who is Jesus what is he talking about all are settled easy answers just got blown away and it doesn't end there if any of you wants to be my follower you must give up your own way take up your cross and follow me if you try to hang on to your life you will lose it but if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the good news you'll save it and what what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul is anything worth more than your soul I have to admit something to you I'm having a really hard time with Jesus's invitation even reading it out loud is overwhelming I imagine it's how the people announcing the most traumatic and devastating storms feel there's nothing to take pleasure in this is a harrowing task Jesus invited us to deny ourselves he invited us to die there's nothing cute or catchy about this gospel account Jesus says forget about living your best life now forget about ease and comfort forget about finding the coolest internship this summer forget about the perfect rooming situation for next fall forget about however you would define living your best life come and suffer come and die what do you say to Jesus is invitation how does it sound to you well we actually know a thing or two about the final response this invitation at the end of the gospel we find out if anyone is really going to follow Jesus first the disciples desert Jesus and his arrest second Peter emphatically denies Jesus I've never heard of that man leave me alone but one person lingers one person hears Jesus's invitation in mark 8 and he he tries to embrace it we meet this person in mark 14 verses 51 and 52 these are the verses that make us laugh to ourselves because they just don't make sense and a young man followed him with nothing but a linen cloth about him and they seized him but he left a linen cloth and ran away naked how is that for our model of Christian discipleship the one person who takes Jesus's invitation seriously ends up exposed unnamed overlooked and bypassed in our study of discipleship there are endless theories about who this unnamed follower is there's a whole a very deep dive on Google for a different day but instead of making guesses about someone whose identity is purposely obscured let's acknowledge the little we know about him he appears to us to be delusional why else would he wander around the garden half dressed this is the tragic hero of discipleship and Mark this is the person who embraces the invitation to follow Jesus and even he fails this is uncomfortable and unlikely he's pg-13 not approved for certain audiences it's far easier for us to emphasize Paul's conversion that's the good stuff Paul meets Jesus and his life does a complete 180 sets off on a new trajectory this is the disciple we long to be like but if we're honest most of our lives with Christ look more like the disciples in mark or the man in a linen cloth than Paul's we meet Jesus sometimes at a young age and the more time we spend with him the more confused we get the more unclear following Jesus becomes who is this Messiah what did he come to do and what is he asking of me the invitation to suffer and die is illustrated by an under clothed man who appears to be an outcast of society not only is Jesus inviting us to suffer but he's inviting you he's inviting me to identify with the unnamed the overlooked and the marginalized do you want this seriously think about it is this the life you want a few years ago I was presented with this question I was fresh out of graduate school living my best life with a freshly minted master's degree in hand looking for the perfect job to launch my career from my husband and I moved from Philadelphia to Chicago and I began interviewing one of those interviews was with chaplain Blackman at you guessed it Wheaton College I went to grad school for masters in counseling and as excited to help the wonderful brilliant students Wheaton they needed me I thought to myself in one of the interviews chaplain Blackman mentioned I might be working with students who are navigating questions of sexuality students who identify across the LGBTQ spectrum my first reaction when I heard running those ministries might be part of my job was new not for me anyone but them it's too complicated too political it's too heated but of course when you need a job so you can feed your family and fund your best life I kept that little detail to myself so I'm hired for this job and tests with ministry to students at Wheaton who are navigating the same-sex attraction or questioning their gender identity and all I can think what does this mean for me well I be misunderstood well people spread rumors what about my reputation I don't know if you've noticed but people get a little queasy around matters of sexuality and if you ask any gay student near you they will give you countless stories of being misunderstood possibly rejected now this invitation is in front of me I wish I could say I jumped at the chance but I had to think long and hard I can tell you the story because the students who have gotten to know at Wheaton they know this story they've lived it graciously with me and the story has the same and as Jesus's invitation being resistant to working with the students at Wheaton navigating sexuality was a big fat to Jesus's invitation to follow him on his unexpected path of discipleship but there's a promise tucked away in the midst of our harrowing invitation Jesus says when you take up your cross when you lose your life that's where you'll find it and I can tell you I have found life with our brothers and sisters navigating questions of faith and sexuality life I could have never imagined have I suffered physically no have I been passed over or avoided maybe and I wouldn't have it any other way I'm learning to believe the more obscure and overlooked and sidelined I become for the sake of these students for this invitation the better I don't share any of this to prop myself up to sound super woke to make myself sound like the LGBTQ Savior I'm far from it and the students would be the first to tell you Rebecca is not our Savior we all have the same Savior Jesus Christ this downward trajectory of discipleship the invitation to suffer and die in order to find life is only made possible because Jesus takes on this life of suffering first he takes up his cross first in a passage of unexpected this is by far the most unexpected twist the Gospel of Mark doesn't end with our linen cloth man running away as a failure the Gospel of Mark ends with the resurrection Jesus goes where we cannot go to bring us life this is what Jesus secures for us if we're brave enough to be honest with ourselves no one can fully embrace Jesus's question and his invitation to suffer in our own efforts we will always abandon Jesus whether it's emphatically like Peter or at the last minute like the linen cloth man and the fact that we will always fail this is the best news because our salvation promise life is never based on our efforts we're never measured by how many times we've read through the Bible or how many majors we accumulate we're never measured at all we're covered covered by the blood of Jesus and secured by the power of the Resurrection so why bother with the invitation if we know we cannot go where Jesus goes and we cannot will ourselves to accept the invitation what do we do my prayer for us is that our response becomes a big chaotic mix of gratitude humility and curiosity I believe we can be thankful for the mysterious workings of Jesus Christ he extends himself to us and guarantees us life I believe that we can ask for and grow in humility as we become more aware of our failings and incompetency pursuing humility to live life within this downward trajectory to know and identify with the overlooked and the marginalized and curiosity curiosity because this Jesus guy the one who identifies as Christ who invites us to suffer and die we can't imagine what he has for us next we join me in prayer father God thank you for this storm of an encounter with Jesus I ask for your Holy Spirit to illumine our imaginations and our minds and our conversations to wonder about what he's calling us to God I asked for this big mix of gratitude humility and curiosity we not only be marked by that individually but as a community father give us eyes to see the people that are overlooked and give us hands to embrace them and to walk with them in your name I pray amen

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Length: 20min 25sec (1225 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 08 2018