September 12, 2021 – Pentecost +16B

“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?” And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him. 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. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 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.” 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. 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. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 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.” Mark 8:27-38

“If any want to become my followers, let them take up their cross and follow me. Those who are not ashamed of my words will enter into the glory of the Kingdom”.

We have heard this teaching from Jesus – about taking up our crosses and following him – but what counts as carrying our crosses for Jesus? I know what does not count” not a bad hair day – not a flat tire on the way to work. Instead we must be willing to publicly display our faith and suffer the consequences that such a display might evoke – from our neighbors, from our family, from our co-workers, from strangers as well.

Look, too many people in our society today carry around the negative words that others have thrown at them throughout their lives – pejoratives, derogative names and other negatives. What we need to remember my friends, is that these names are not what should define us. The words that should and do define us are these:

“You are a loved, child of G-d”.

What pejoratives or negative words are thrown at the church today? Words like: Insignificant – out of touch – judgmental – in decline – too old.

What words should define this church to the community? Well, I would say words like: Ministry, worship, faith formation, service, love, welcoming, hope.

As Christians, we have work to do. We have work to do in the name of our faith in Jesus. We need to find new ways to speak our vision and mission to our neighbors. We need to communicate with one another – not assuming people know something – but being willing to go out of our way to speak to one another, especially if we believe we have had our own slips of the tongue. We need to stop cutting each other up with “hate speech” and get to the business of lifting each other up. And, we need to use our tongues for good. Christians are not supposed to be silent. But what we share with one another should not be just the negative, back-biting, accusatory words that blame others. Instead, we need to speak the words and the love of Jesus. That is what it means to carry the cross for Jesus.

Pastor Dave