Sermon, 06-20-04

 


 

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A Pivotal Moment

Mark 8:27-37

copyright © 2006 Don Simmonds


First Presbyterian Church, Salem, Oregon


2nd Sunday in Lent, March 12, 2006

There have been some interesting moments in Sports since the first of the year — a new golf season has begun and Tiger is back… along with some serious competitors; spring training has begun, and folks in our wider family are rooting for the Red Sox, and the Cubs; and the Winter Olympics gave us some wonderful moments. Of course, it hasn’t all been wonderful — The Trailblazers haven’t done all that great so far; and neither have the Bulls. And the Super Bowl wasn’t all that exciting this year. In Chicago, there would have been a lot more interest in the Super Bowl if ‘da Bears had been playing the Steelers, although, I suspect, the outcome would probably have been the same. Nevertheless, there was interest leading up to the game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Seattle Seahawks; and, in our household, great sorrow at the outcome! Although, as the game progressed, we weren’t all that surprised …as Noreen’s son from the Seattle Suburbs said: “it’s hard for 11 men to beat 15.” Anyway, during the week leading up to the Super Bowl one of the sportswriters of the Chicago Tribune shared some of the story of Seahawks linebacker Isaiah Kacyvenski. Mike Downey1 began his article: “They had no heat. No TV. No phone. No electricity for months at a time. They ate thanks to food stamps or out of a church’s gift basket. Sometimes they went through a trash bin to dine on a restaurant’s scraps. … The family was homeless twice. The seven of them slept on a neighbor’s lawn in a tent. The abusive, alcoholic father finally wore down the mother, who filed for a divorce.” As a student, Isaiah would go to the public library to read and, in high school, along with good grades, he began to have some success in football. Then, his mother — the glue that had held the family together — was killed in a car crash. Mike Downey continued: “…it was almost too much to bear…he could let life beat him down or he could get on with it. And then, Harvard, of all places, offered him a chance to study and to play football, in that order.” Well, Isaiah became the first player in Harvard’s history to start every game. He made all-Ivy League teams, graduated…and then was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks, and…was a starter for the Seahawks in the Super Bowl. Without any self-pity, Isaiah said: “everyone’s situation is different, and difficult, in its own way, I imagine. This is just mine”.

I was touched by what I read about Isaiah’s life. And his story brought to mind some things my late seminary professor, mentor, and dear friend, Roy Fairchild, had shared. Roy said that life, and the Spiritual Experience, gives us two extremes, two poles — the Via Positiva… the positive way… and the Via Negativa… the negative way. The Via Positiva — the positive way — is portrayed by the word “light” — and all that that particular image conveys. One’s experience of Life, and of God, in this way — is positive; one is aware of God as Creator and Comforter, as Strengthener and Sustainer, as the Giver of Grace and Goodness. Easter and the Resurrection are experiences of the Via Positiva. The Via Negativa — the negative way — on the other hand, is portrayed by the word “darkness” — and all that that particular image conveys. One’s experience of Life, and of God, in this way is, indeed, negative; one is all too aware of despondency and despair, pain and pressure, suffering and sorrow. God is often experienced as “Antagonist.” Good Friday and the crucifixion are experiences of the Via Negativa.

As I reflected on all of that, it occurred to me that both the Via Positiva and the Via Negativa are — for each of us — part of our experience during Lent… and throughout all the seasons of life. Life brings us moments of testing and pain and death… as well as moments of hope and grace and life. I think today’s Gospel lesson gives us insight into those moments that come from both poles of life’s experience. This text is the transition point, the pivotal moment, at the very heart of Mark’s account of the Gospel — Jesus’ ministry in Galilee is basically concluded and now we find him turning toward Jerusalem and what awaits him there. Jesus asks the disciples if people have an idea who he is, and they report what they’ve heard. Then he asks the disciples if they know who he is — and Peter blurts out that he is the Messiah, the Anointed One of God. Of course, Peter, as well as the other disciples, thought that meant he was the One who would become the New David, the One who would drive the Romans out of Israel and bring Israel once again to her place of prominence and power in the world. That was everyone’s expectation of who the Messiah would be and what the Messiah would do. It’s no wonder Peter reacted so strongly when Jesus began to tell them that now they must go to Jerusalem, where he would be betrayed, suffer, die - AND rise on the third day. Barbara Brown Taylor talked about it this way: “He was going to die…and it was going to be awful: bloody, painful, humiliating. He did not want them to be fooled, however. When the time came, they were not to believe Jesus’ death was some horrible mistake that should have been avoided. They were to believe that God was in it, working to turn his hurt flesh into a body that would last forever. That was what he wanted them to know… but Peter heard only the first part… the suffering and death part…. Which is why he exploded ‘God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you!’”2 Jesus responded to Peter’s rebuke with his own rebuke “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” This is the harshest rebuke Jesus gives anyone, anywhere in the Gospels. And maybe that was because Jesus had already faced the tempter and didn’t want to have to go through that struggle again. Again, Barbara Brown Taylor said: “God had given him a vision of his death that was not all dark. It leaked light. There was clearly something that lay beyond it, and he knew his job was to walk toward it instead of running from it. It was a vision he tried to share with his disciples, by daring them to follow him. If they were not afraid to lose their lives, he told them, they might be surprised to find them.”3

As we know, the disciples did follow Jesus to Jerusalem where they experienced all that the Via Negativa could possibly bring. But, as we also know, there they experienced the Via Positiva in a way that not only changed their lives, but the life of the world as well!

On this particular day, however, after rebuking Peter, Jesus said: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 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”. Well, that same invitation, and challenge, of course, is given to us, today — we are called to deny ourselves, to take up our cross, and to follow Jesus. And that, of course, means more… much more… than just giving up chocolate for Lent, even though that can be a huge sacrifice for some of us! Seriously, though, denying oneself is more than just denying oneself ‘something,’ whatever that something might be; it is, rather, denying one’s ‘self.’ William Barclay, in a day before inclusive language, said that we can “understand the meaning of this if we take it very simply and very literally. ‘Let him say no to himself.’ If a man will follow Jesus Christ he must ever say no to himself and yes to Christ. He must say no to his own natural love of ease and comfort. He must say no to every course of action which is based on self-seeking and self-will.”4

That, of course, was a huge challenge for Peter and the disciples. Self-seeking and self-will was just as much a part of their mindset then as it is ours today. “It’s all about ME” didn’t start with our generation! The disciples and their countrymen thought that prestige and power was “where it was at” as the saying goes. Jesus, on the other hand, challenged their presuppositions… and still challenges ours! He proclaimed, by what he said and how he lived, that real power, the power of God, is not found in lording it over others… but in serving others, in giving one’s self to and for others. By what he said and by how he lived, Jesus affirmed God’s deep and abiding concern and caring and compassion for the poor, for the widows and orphans who were the most vulnerable in his society, for the outcasts, the despised and despairing, the lepers and the blind and the deaf and all who were challenged, and needed a healing touch. Jesus understood that he was called to bring God’s concern and caring and compassion to the least of his brothers and sisters, those who knew the Via Negativa because it was what they experienced every day of their lives. Jesus also understood that his “yes” to God’s call would result in a violent “no” from those whose vision of life and God was different. That’s why he knew that the way before him was going to lead to pain and suffering and death…and, according to those few words that Peter missed, to new life.

This text, of course, is such a gift… and such a challenge… to those of us who would follow Jesus today. As we journey through the Via Negativa of Lent, we are blessed to know “the rest of the story,” the Via Positiva of Easter, which changed everything. Because of Jesus’ Resurrection, we discover the new life that comes out of despair and death. And it is by Jesus’ life and death and resurrection, we discover that power, real power, is experienced, and expressed, by serving others; by giving one’s self away, by living for others and not just for our selves. It’s true, of course, that in spite of knowing the reality of the Resurrection, we still have just as difficult a time saying “no” to ourselves as did Peter and the first disciples. It’s still difficult to put God’s concern for the “least among us” before our concern for ourselves. And yet that IS what our Lord calls us, and challenges us, to do. In commenting on this text, Lamar Williamson writes: “the cross Jesus invites his hearers to take up refers…to painful, redemptive action voluntarily undertaken for others.”5

Lent, of course, is the season during which we focus on the cross, on the Via Negativa of our spiritual journey and our life with and for Christ. Well, during Lent this year, let us focus, not so much on our selves, not even on our own spiritual journey, that we lose sight of the ministry to which Jesus calls us. He calls us to follow him to Jerusalem; he calls us to deny our selves, even as he denied himself, to give our selves, even as he gave himself. He calls us to work in our community and our country and our world on behalf of those who have little or no voice, little or no power; he calls us to work on behalf of the least among us, on behalf of those who experience the Via Negativa each and every day. Very few of the poor, the hungry, the sick of our world end up like Isaiah Kacyvenski. Most of those whose daily lives are defined by darkness and despair — the Via Negativa — need the caring and the compassion — and the advocacy — of those of us who have experienced the Via Positiva of the Resurrection! Rob asked the question in his Parson to Person of February 19: “Who will be the witnesses in our own generation to the strength of a life that serves, rather than one that demands service; a life that gives itself away, rather than a life that tries to pull all things to itself; a life that is marked by humility rather than one filled with pride? Do you know such people? Some of them become famous, quite apart from their own desires simply to serve in simple and out-of-sight ways. But many such people are known only to those who have been surprised by the gift of a life that gives itself away for the sake of others.” Rob ended by saying: “Be strong. Be a quiet hero of the faith. Be a Blessing."6

My friends, along with our brothers and sisters in Christ, we are those who are called to be quiet heroes of the faith, called to be a Blessing, called to be Jesus’ very presence in our world today, reaching out to the least among us, as well as advocating on their behalf. As we respond to Jesus’ call to follow him, let us strive to understand what it means to say “no” to our selves, and what it means to say “yes” to our Lord, realizing that this can be a pivotal moment for us…and for the least among us as well. As we respond to Jesus’ call to follow him, let us remember that he is the one who empowers us to live in and by the power of the ultimate Via Positiva — his resurrection — not just for our own sake, but for the sake of this world, so very much loved by God. May our “yes” to our Lord during this Lenten Season be a pivotal moment for us…and, because of us, for the least of God’s children for years to come. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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NOTES

1 - From an article by Mike Downey in the Sports Section of The Chicago Tribune, February 2, 2006.
2 - God in Pain, by Barbara Brown Taylor. Abingdon Press, 1998, p. 58.
3 - Ibid., p. 58-59.
4 - The Daily Study Bible, The Gospel of Mark, by William Barclay, Saint Andrew Press, 1962, p. 208.
5 - Interpretation, Mark, Lamar Williamson, John Knox Press, 1983, p. 154.
6 - The First Presbyterian, Salem, Oregon, February 19, 2006.


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