The Message, February 25, 2024: "Walking With Him," Mark 8:31-38

Author: Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
February 27, 2024

 

“Walking With Him”
A Message by Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
Mark 8:31-38

[For the Children’s Message, I showed the children a list of all of the jobs that I had held before I became a minister. The list included: landscape company, Riverside Amusement Park, McKinstry’s Farm, four restaurants, plastics company, O’Brien Ambulance, paint store, bank teller, construction company, substitute teacher, Harborlight House, Anchorage Home for Boys, Lechmere warehouse, security guard, seafood processing company, Copyright Clearance Center, the YMCA of Beverly, MA, Pufferbellies, and more.]

            That was quite an impressive list, if I do say so myself. Admittedly, several of the jobs on that list were the summer jobs of my youth, and a couple of them were temporary jobs that I held as I searched for my first church.

            Of course, the list does not include working with my stepfather, Ed, at Little River Textiles, or the lawn-mowing “jobs” that my mother lined up for me; many of which I did not get paid for.

            The customer would ask me, “What do I owe you for this, Scott?”

            And my mother would reply, “Oh … you do not owe him anything. A glass of lemonade will be fine!”

            (Note: If anyone is looking for an agent to renegotiate your contract … my mom is NOT the lady for you!)

            As you can tell, I did move around from job to job. My guess is that many of you did the same in your younger years. What I can tell you is that as I looked for my next place of employment, I NEVER said, “You know … I really need to find something that includes more suffering.”

            “You know … I could really use a little more rejection in my life.”

            Even when I enrolled in seminary, suffering and rejection were not high on my list of desired characteristics for the school that I chose. Neither were they criteria in my search and call process interviewing with churches. “I am hoping that the position at your church will really make me suffer.”

            To be sure, suffering and rejection are a very real part of our lives, but they are never a selling point when we are pursuing our vocation of choice.

            If we were to travel back in time two thousand years, and interview the young soon to be disciples, my guess is that suffering and rejection were not high on their lists either. Although, living in the first century certainly had any number of hardships and struggles. Their lives were far from easy and comfortable.

            The passage that we read this morning comes at a pivotal point in the ministry of Jesus Christ. Approximately two years earlier, Jesus had approached them and invited them to follow him. We heard him invite Simon, Andrew, James, and John to drop their nets and follow him. And they did, as did the others.

            Up to this point in Mark’s Gospel record, the disciples had been travelling with Jesus and they had been struggling to understand what was happening. They had never experienced anything … or anyone … like Jesus before. Throughout Mark’s Gospel they were trying to figure out who Jesus was.

            Just two verses before our passage this morning, Jesus was asking the disciples who the people say that he is, and they responded, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others say one of the prophets.” But then Jesus asked them, “But who do YOU say that I am?” And Peter replied, “You are the Messiah!” (Mark 8:27-30, paraphrased)

            Yes! Ding! Ding! Ding! They finally got it! They finally understand what and who Jesus was and IS. And then Jesus did what he had done so many times before, he told them not to tell anyone.

            But then he did something completely new. He offered them a new teaching. He told them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders and the teachers of the Law, and then be killed.

            Imagine what that must have been like for the disciples. They had just been told the BEST NEWS EVER! Jesus was the Messiah!! They had hoped and prayed for the Messiah to come for generations. AND THE MESSIAH HAD COME!!! HE WAS RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF THEM!! THEY WERE WITH HIM!! WOW!!!

            Then he told them not to tell anyone. “WHAT?!?! You are the MESSIAH!! We have been waiting for you!! How can we not tell anyone?! You have come to set us free!! You have come to defeat our oppressors … The Romans!! You will drive them out of our homeland!! This is very exciting news, Jesus!!! How can you expect us NOT to tell anyone?!?! This is a BIG deal, Jesus!!”

             And then Jesus dropped that other shoe upon them. “The Son of Man must endure suffering, and rejection, and death.”

            “HUH?! What?! But you are the MESSIAH!! You do not suffer … you conquer!! You are not rejected … you are embraced and welcomed!! We have been waiting for you!! You cannot die … you are the Messiah!!”

            It is pretty easy to understand Peter’s confusion. If we were in his place, we might even “rebuke” Jesus too. The disciples had a completely different understanding of what the messiah was and how the messiah would behave. The people had been waiting for the warrior messiah. They wanted Superman … not the suffering servant.

            In some ways, the disciples were the first to reject Jesus as Messiah. In some ways, their reaction to this revelation foreshadowed the reaction of the crowd on Palm Sunday. They too expected the warrior messiah.

            Of course, their reaction could also be due to the fact that they knew Jesus and loved Jesus. How could they possibly accept the notion of their friend, their rabbi needing to suffer and die?

            But as we have seen time and time again in Jesus’ life and ministry, he came to turn the world and the status quo upside down. Jesus came to challenge the ways that we perceive and understand the world. After rebuking Peter, Jesus began to teach.

            The disciples of Jesus finally understood who Jesus was. Now he would teach them what it means to follow. Two years earlier he asked them to “drop their nets.” Then in that moment he said, “Take up your cross. This is how you will live if you truly desire to be my disciples. Follow me.”

            Jesus made it very clear from the start that the way before them would not be easy. Jesus did not trick the disciples. He did not do a bait-and-switch. He did not say, “Oh, it is going to be soooo easy to be my disciple! You will pet puppies and slide down rainbows all day.” Instead, he said, “If you choose to follow me, you may be rejected as I will be rejected. You may suffer as I am going to suffer. And you too will have to be willing to give up your lives.”

            Now … let me be clear. He was not calling them … or us … to be martyrs. Although some will be. He is not calling us to hate our lives. He is calling us to change our priorities.

            He rebuked Peter because he was thinking according to the ways of the world. He was being human and thinking like a human being does. But Jesus told him that he must now think as God thinks. His concerns must mirror God’s concerns.

            Those who desire to be a disciple of Jesus must understand that their lives will change. To take up one’s cross means that we no longer pursue those goals and priorities that align with earthly pursuits, and place God at the center. Jesus was also saying that those who follow Him, those who take up the cross must understand that suffering is often a part of serving.

            Jesus does not want us to suffer. God does not want us to suffer. Suffering is NOT a requirement for discipleship, but it is sometimes a result of discipleship.

            Jesus is redefining the meaning of power and success. As his disciples, success is not measured in the trappings of this world. Success is not measured by the accumulation of stuff, or accolades, or prestige. Taking up the cross means that we give up the goals or dreams that are based solely upon the world’s definition of “success.”

            Did you learn the song “Magic Penny” when you were in Sunday school, or went to church camp? Do you remember the lyrics:
            Love is something if you give it away, give it away, give it away.
            Love is something if you give it away, you end up having more.
            It’s just like a magic penny, hold it tight and you won’t have any.
            Lend it spend it and you’ll have so many, they’ll roll all over the floor.

            God gave us love and life to spend … not to keep. Hoarding our lives and our love does not give it to our neighbors.

            When Jesus called his disciples, he told them that he will make them “fishers of men” … “fishers of other people.” That is what it means to ‘take up our cross.’ Our concerns are God’s concerns. We gather other people unto God by sharing with them and caring for them. We “fish” for others by offering our whole selves to God and to one another.

            Those who wish to follow Jesus must be willing to take up their crosses.

            As we make our way through this Lenten season, as we make our way with Jesus toward the cross that awaits him in Jerusalem, we listen to his voice as we walk. We listen to his heart as we walk. And we ask ourselves, “Are we willing?”
            What are we willing to lose?
            What are we willing to take on?
            How much love are we willing to share?

            Yes … there may be risk involved. There may be weariness, there may be exhaustion, there may even be a little pain. But we also know that Jesus will be with us every step of the way. And as we lie down at the end of the day, we will do so knowing that someone felt the blessing of God that day.

            There is no greater love than this, to offer our lives and our love to another.

            That is what it means to walk with Jesus.

            Beloved Children of God, let us lay down our “nets” and take up our crosses. Let us live and love boldly and generously with Jesus by our side. Amen.

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