Gracious God, be with us now as we turn to the pages of your Word.
We ask for your Spirit of Wisdom, to help us understand your will for us. Amen.
The Reading: Mark 8:27-38 NRSV
Peter’s Declaration about Jesus
27 Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” 29 He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” 30 And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.
Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection
31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36 For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37 Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38 Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
May the Light of Christ dwell where the Word is spoken. Thanks be to God!
Sermon: “Jesus: A Radical Leader” Rev. Lorrie Lowes
“Sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me!”
Do you remember this little sing-song phrase that we were taught to use as children when someone called us a mean name? Back in the 1950’s, when I was a child, this seemed like a good snappy comeback, but we know better now. We know that names can have a huge effect both immediately and in the long run. At their best, a label you give someone can encourage them or build up their confidence. We might call a child a good reader, a big help, or a hard worker, for instance. Labels like that can not only build self-esteem, they also set an expectation for future positive behaviour. On the other hand, labeling someone as useless, or careless, or stupid has the opposite effect of lowering self-esteem and might even keep someone from trying. These effects can last a lifetime. So, perhaps the phrase we used as children had it all wrong. Broken bones may hurt, it seems, but they have a better chance of healing than a broken spirit.
In today’s lectionary readings, names play a prominent role. The Old Testament reading is about how, when making a covenant with Abram and Sarai, God gives them new names. This elderly, childless couple have been told they will bear a child and will give rise to a multitude of generations – as numerous as the stars. Abram, which means “exalted ancestor”, becomes Abraham, “Father of Nations”. Sarai, meaning “my princess” becomes Sarah, or “the source of nations and kings”. God has given them the seemingly impossible promise of a child when they are in their 90’s and he has sealed this promise with new names that will match their legacy.
Name changes aren’t just something that happened in ancient times; we still have this practice today. Traditionally – and even presently, though not as often - a woman changes her name upon marriage. Education might lead someone to become “Doctor”, a vocation might give one the title of “Father” or “Reverend”. An endorsement by the electorate might make someone “President” or “Prime Minister”. Each of these titles changes the role of the person it is given to, and it changes our expectations of them as well. Each of those new names comes with added responsibilities and changes in the way, or even the place, where one lives. These are just a few examples. I know you can think of others.
In the New Testament, the changing of names comes up again. Simon, the fisherman, becomes Peter, the rock on whom Jesus will build his church. Jesus himself is known by many titles, right from the time of his conception. The angels call him the “Son of God” and “Prince of Peace”, God calls him “Beloved Son”, he is known to the people as “Rabbi”, “Teacher”, “Healer”, even “Lord”… and through it all, he remains unflustered – until this day when he asks, “Who do you say that I am?” When Peter calls him “Messiah”, everything changes.
“Don’t tell anyone this!” he tells them – sternly, we read in the book of Mark. Why is this such a bad thing?
“Messiah” is a title we are comfortable using in speaking of Jesus. In fact, it’s a title we would not usually think of using in any other context. Messiah is a word that means “saviour”, a word that is often interchanged with “Christ” by Jesus’ followers. It is a title reserved for him alone. When the word is used, Jesus is the first, and usually the only, example that comes into our minds. But what did that title mean to the people of that time? It wasn’t a new word, coined just for this man. The word, “Messiah” already had a definition – as “saviour” and it also had a connotation, especially to a people who were oppressed by a mighty military power.
All throughout the Bible, Old Testament and New, there are stories of war. Power is held by force. Power only changes hands through military might. If you are going to be in charge of the way the world works, you need the biggest army and the strongest weapons - first to win the battle, and then to keep people in line with your vision through fear and threat.
All the power in Jesus’ time was held by the mighty Roman Empire. They had won war after war. Their show of power and influence was so great at this point that fighting wasn’t even necessary. They proudly claimed a time of peace, the “Pax Romana”. But that peace was maintained by the constant threat of the incredible power the Romans held – politically, economically, and militarily. The people were hurting and the only hope of salvation they could imagine was to raise an army powerful enough to beat back the Romans. They needed a messiah, sent from God, who would be an amazing commander of a magnificent army.
So, when Jesus asks his disciples, “What are people saying about me? Who do they say I am?”, he seems ok with the comparisons to John the Baptist, Elijah, and the prophets – men who preached the importance of changing the way people conducted their lives, who warned people of the need to repent and start fresh. But then he asks them, “Who do you say that I am?” and Peter responds, “You are the Messiah.”
Jesus doesn’t rebuke him at that point, or deny the title. Perhaps he thinks that, coming on the heels of the comparison to John and the prophets and the messages of change, that his disciples are beginning to understand his message of using love instead of might to change the balance of power. He warns them, however, not to tell anyone else this. I think he knows that, until everyone understands his message, that title of Messiah will bring with it the expectation that he will overpower the Roman machine and take over the control of the land and its people. The expectation that it is something he can do on his own.
He begins to tell them that the road ahead will not be an easy one, that he will suffer, that he will be rejected not only by Rome but by their own religious leaders, even to the point of execution but that his death will not be the end of this story.
But Peter blows it by rebuking Jesus. “Don’t say such things! God forbid it! This must never happen to you!”
And Jesus realizes that the title “Messiah” still carries that more common connotation of the mighty saviour with a God-given power to destroy the enemy, to topple the Roman Empire and lead the nation in a way that turns that balance of power upside down with the Jews at the top and the Romans at their mercy – even to Peter, the one he called the Rock, the one on whom he placed his hopes of building a new, peaceful and just world for all. Even Peter expected God’s kingdom to prevail through conquering the enemy, through a leader empowered and protected from harm by God, a leader who would defeat the enemy and put the faithful in their rightful place of power over all.
And Jesus, who gave Simon the new and strong name of Peter, now calls him Satan. I can’t imagine anything more harsh. Why would Jesus equate his loyal friend with Satan?
Let’s think back to last week’s reading. Jesus was baptized by John, commissioned by God, and immediately sent out into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. In the gospel of Mark, we don’t hear the details of that temptation, but we know the story from Matthew and Luke. If you are the son of God, turn these rocks into bread. Jump from the highest tower and let the world see how God will save you from harm, or join your forces with me and you can have total power over the world to make it just the way you want. Was Satan suggesting that he do anything evil? Not really. He was giving him solutions to the very human problems of hunger, and pain or injury. He was telling him that he could have enough power of to force the world to change. These were called temptations because they were easy solutions, right at his fingertips, solutions that would make everything better immediately. He would no longer be hungry. The world would see that he would be saved by God and so they would worship him, and that he could make the laws that forced people to behave in the way he saw fit. They were tempting because they were a way of looking at the problems through the eyes of a human rather than through the perspective of God.
“Get behind me, Satan!” he shouts at Peter, “For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” He heard in Peter’s words, that same reasoning that Satan had used to tempt him in the wilderness: This doesn’t have to be a painful process! You can just march in there and tell them who’s boss! God will make sure you - and all of us – will come to no harm.
Tempting… there would be no war, no pain or injury, at least not to Jesus and his friends, and the brutal power of the Romans would be defeated. No fuss, no mess, just a smooth and glorious transition of power from Caesar to Jesus. But… was that what God was looking for? Was this the divine plan? Would the transformation that God was looking for follow? Or would the human desire for power and riches just go underground until the very human son of God came to the end of his life on earth?
Jesus was certainly a leader – but his style of leadership bore little resemblance to that of Caesar or any emperor, or king, or any leader the world had seen. He didn’t lead from the top, he empowered from the bottom, from the midst of the margins of society – in the company of the poor, the sick, the ostracized members of society. He had a large and growing following, but he didn’t attract them with promises of power and wealth, he used wisdom and insight. He was building a force that had the potential to destroy the Roman Empire, certainly, not with weapons of destruction or force however, but with love and justice for everyone – even the oppressors. He didn’t set out to destroy but to build in a new way. It was a radical way of looking at the suffering and inequities in the world. He wasn’t out to lead his followers in a bloody takeover, but to head them into the slow and difficult process of transformation, from seeing creation as something to own and control, to seeing creation as a gift and a responsibility. He wasn’t leading in hopes of a quick fix but in the vision of an entirely new way of relating to each other, to the world, and to God. He knew that he was on a divine mission, but he also knew that he was dealing with humans. God may have been able to say, “Let there be light” and make it so, but that same God had said, “Let there be people and let them have minds, and hearts, and free will.” Jesus’ style of leadership was radical for the time. I think it is still radical by today’s standards. Its power doesn’t lie in the speed of change but in the slow and thorough transformation of thinking. Jesus was a transformational leader.
What does this term mean? Well, a search through Google and the dictionary offered this:
A transformational leader is someone who:
- has a vision and articulates that vision clearly and appealingly,
- explains how to attain that vision,
- acts with confidence and optimism,
- expresses confidence in their followers,
- emphasizes values with symbolic actions,
- leads by example, and
- empowers followers to achieve the vision.
When I think of the most powerful transformational leaders of our time, I think of Martin Luther King, Jr. I think of Ghandi and Nelson Mandela. All inspirational men who began the process of change during their lifetimes – not change that had happened completely but a vision and an example that influence our thinking even today. Transformation is slow, it has to be if it is to be thorough and lasting.
When I checked with Google to see if I was on the right track and to add other examples to my list, these names were sometimes mentioned – but the first and most touted examples were men of power in the business world – Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Elon Musk… MLK, Ghandi, and Mandela share a place on the more comprehensive lists – and so do Ivan the Terrible, Hitler, and Donald Trump. What does this say about the human mindset? The human understanding of successful change most often involves individual power.
Jesus’ understanding of leadership was radical for the time. It is still seen as radical today. He wasn’t the Messiah that the people thought they needed – and I daresay he isn’t the hero we wish would show up to fix the world today.
From the beginning of the creation story, Satan has always been there to offer temptation. It began with a piece of fruit and the power of knowledge to Eve and Adam. We humans find those temptations difficult to resist, perhaps because, just like Peter, we set our minds on human things rather than divine. We want change to happen quickly, without confrontation or pain. We want to see the results in our own place and in our own lifetime. We don’t want to love the opposition, we see them as our enemies and we want them to be silenced.
The mission of Jesus to transform the world didn’t fail. It is still a work in progress. It didn’t die with his death on the cross but rises again and again in the efforts of those who are willing to face the cost. Jesus understood fully the power of temptation over the human mind. He didn’t banish Peter from the group. He, later, even acknowledged that Peter would give into temptation again by denying that he even knew Jesus after his arrest, but he trusted him to carry on where he left off.
We all fall prey to temptation from time to time. It is part of being human. However, God loves us still; Jesus has faith in us to carry on the work, understanding full well the power of the temptations we face in this human existence. He knew it would be hard. He included it in the prayer his followers recite together all over the world: “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” Perhaps we need to realize that Satan is not a being separate from ourselves, nor an outside enemy that needs to be beaten. Perhaps we need to see Satan as something that resides in each of us, in our human drive for survival and in our fears. Falling into temptation is not a reason to give up; it is a reminder to us all to say, “Get behind me Satan!” and then renew our efforts to bring God’s vision to fruition in the world. Perhaps only then, will we be able to love one another - even those we view as enemies – as we love ourselves. A radical vision from a radical, transformational leader! Amen.
Prayers of the People and the Lord’s Prayer Rev. Lorrie Lowes
God of many names, whose love surrounds all creation – thank you.
For this walk of life, and all we meet on it, for the days and the nights, and for your presence in it all – thank you.
Help us to share our burdens and our joys with you and with each other, knowing that you are our God and we are your people, forever.[4]
Today, in this season of Lent, we pray for transformational change in this suffering world.
We pray for all those in need, for those who suffer, for those who live with the results of the struggle for power and material possessions that permeate our world.
We pray for our leaders, that they might set their minds on your divine vision in spite of the human temptation to look inward.
We pray for ourselves, that we might recognize that temptation within us and that we have the will and the courage to put it behind us, that we might carry your vision in all that we do.
We pray for our community as we continue to struggle with the reality of the pandemic and with the changes it demands in our ability to reach out to one another. We pray for those who are isolated, those who are ill or injured, those who have lost employment, those who have lost loved ones. Today, we pray particularly for the family and friends of Vernon Sulway as we mourn his passing.
Help us to recognize your presence in the joys and in the struggles of our earthly lives. Help us to continue the divine mission Jesus began.
All these things we ask in the name of Jesus, a Radical, Transformational Leader who calls us to recite this prayer together.
Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kin-dom come, thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, And forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kin-dom, the power and the glory, Forever and ever, Amen.
Invitation to Offer Rev. Kim Vidal
For the love of the world, Jesus offered everything he had, even life itself. In response to this powerful gift of love, let us offer our gifts and our lives to God, as we share in our offering.[5]
I now invite you to offer your gifts of time, talents and resources as expressions of your gratitude to God’s blessings. If you are not on PAR and wish to send in your offering and donations, you can drop them in the slot by the kitchen door of the church or mail them to BCUC. You can also send in your support through e-transfer. Thank you for your continued love and support to BCUC.
Offertory Prayer
Caring God, may we offer not only our material gifts, but our whole selves, to you and to all those who need our support in the quest for justice.[6] We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ who led by radical example. Amen
Sending Forth Rev. Lorrie Lowes
Child of God, Follower of Jesus, Christian,
Member of the Church…
these are your names.
Live fully into your identity.
Go with boldness into this new week,
knowing that God’s blessings,
the strength of Christ,
and the guidance of the Holy Spirit go with you. Amen.
Hymn: “Jesus Christ is Waiting” - Voices United #117 – BCUC choir
