“A CROSS AND GETTING THE MESSAGE ACROSS”

MARK 9:31-38

[31] And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.

[32] And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

[33] But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

[34] And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

[35] For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.

[36] For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

[37] For what can a man give in return for his soul?

[38] For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

All In The Family was a great television show.   My father still jokes that Archie Bunker was his hero.   One of the things that made All In The Family so great was the way it made you think while making you laugh at the same time.  Gloria did that in one episode Gloria when she challenged the rest of the family with a riddle.  Maybe you remember the episode.  The riddle went like this.  A father and a son are involved in a car accident.  Unfortunately, the father is killed and the son is seriously injured.  When the rush the boy into the operating room the doctor says, “I can’t operate on that boy.  He’s my son.”  Gloria then asks the question.  If the father was killed in the accident what is the relationship between the doctor and the boy?  Archie and Mike suggest that the doctor was the boy’s step-father or adopted father or maybe even a priest.  Those answer are wrong though. Edith is the one who finally comes up with the right answer.  Do know the answer to the riddle? Give yourself a gold star if you said that the doctor couldn’t operate on the boy because the doctor was the boy’s mother.

That riddle was probably a lot more challenging back in the 70’s because there were far fewer female doctors back then.  Something similar to that happened more recently when Drew Faust was installed as Harvard’s 28^th president.  It happened on October 12, 2007.  In her first speech as president Faust made reference to a letter that had been written back in 1953. The letter was written by James B. Conant Harvard’s 23^rd president.  When he wrote the letter he left instructions for it to be given to that the letter was to be given to the first president to be installed and to lead Harvard in the new millennium.  Faust was amused when she opened the letter and it began with the words: ‘My Dear Sir…”

Both of those stories deal with a very fundamental question that you have to answer at some point during your life.   The question is simply this: “Who Am I?”  It’s a question that others will answer for you if you let them.  Just look at Archie Bunker.   His attitude was, “You’re a woman.  You couldn’t possibly be a doctor.” Just look at James B. Conant. His attitude was, “You’re a woman. You couldn’t possibly the president of Harvard University.”

Who am I? People will answer that question for you if you let them.

Who am I?  Madison Avenue will tell you that you’re a consumer who needs to spend a lot of money on their product so you can be a part of the in crowd.

Who am I? You’re an immigrant which means you must be living off of welfare and breaking our laws.

Who am I? You’re a liberal Democrat which means you must be a fan of people who kill unborn babies. You’re a conservative Republican which means you must be an intolerant bigot.

Who am I? You’re an elderly person which means you can’t be trusted to make decisions for yourself.

Who am I? Jesus knew what it was like to have others tell him who he was or who he was supposed to be.   It happened all the time.  The Pharisees said he was a troublemaker who needed to be eliminated.  The people in the crowds saw him as a Santa Claus who was there to do nice things for them.  The Romans saw him as a harmless religious nut.  Even his own mother and brothers thought he’d lost his marbles.  That’s why they went to get him and bring him home.  Jesus was preaching in a crowded house when it happened and you can almost picture his family standing outside and begging him to come to his senses. “Come on home Jesus before you get yourself into trouble.   Forget about all this Son of God nonsense.  That’s not who you are.  You’re supposed to be a carpenter Jesus.”

Jesus didn’t let any of that bother him but when Peter tried to tell him who he was and who he was supposed to be Jesus gave him a good tongue lashing.  Let’s take another look at their confrontation.  It starts when Jesus tells the disciples for the first time that he’s going to be arrested and crucified.  When Peter hears that he says, “God forbid this shall never happen to you.”  In other words, “You’re not going to be that kind of a messiah if I have anything to say about it Lord.”  Jesus wasn’t about to let Peter define him though which is why he stares Peter down and says, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

In other words, “That’s not who I am Peter!  God didn’t put me here to be a grand and glorious messiah.  God put me here to be a suffering servant.  So, I’m going to be a messiah who sacrifices his life whether you like it or not.”

Jesus would tell you this. Don’t let others tell you who you are or who you’re supposed to be.  Warren Buffet the billionaire would agree with Jesus.  Several years ago he shared a wonderful story with his investors in his annual report.  The story had to do with Rose Blumkin of Omaha, Nebraska.  Rose Blumkin started the Nebraska Furniture Mart when she emigrated to this country many years ago from Russia.  At age 94 she was still working seven days a week in the store’s carpet department.  In his annual report Buffet wrote that Rose was clearly gathering speed and “may well reach her full potential in another five or ten years.  Therefore, I’ve persuaded the Board to scrap our mandatory retirement-at-100 policy.  And it’s about time….Good managers are so scarce I can’t afford the luxury of letting them go just because they’ve added a year to their age.”