15th Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 19
Mark 8:27-38
"Faith and Works"
27 ¶ And Jesus went on with his disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, "Who do men say that I am?"
28 And they told him, "John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others one of the prophets."
29 And he asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Christ."
30 And he charged them to tell no one about him.
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, 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 on the side of God, but of men."
34 And he called to him the multitude with his disciples, and said to them, "If any man 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; and 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 life?
37 For what can a man give in return for his life?
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."RSV
Grace and peace to your from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen
"An old boatman in Scotland had the job of taking passengers across a like in his rowboat. One day, one of the persons on board inquired concerning the oars the boatman was using. One oar had the word FAITH carved on it and the other WORKS.
The old man said, "I’ll show you the reason." He put one oar into the water, the one marked FAITH and began to row. The boat would just go in circles. Then he took the oar out and put in the one marked WORKS and began to row. The same thing happened, the boat went in the opposite circle.
Then he picked up both oars, FAITH and WORKS placed them in the water and began to row. As he pulled these oars together, the boat began to move forward in a straight line. To the passenger who questioned the oars he said, ’That is the way in the Christian life -- one is no good without the other."
The principle that both FAITH and GOOD WORKS are important in the life of a Christian was demonstrated very well by that story. Our lesson this morning deals with the subject of faith and works. It is a very difficult subject to understand. But it is a subject that is important for the life of a Christian believer.
First let us look at the faith part.
In our gospel lesson, Jesus is in the middle of his public ministry. He is in northern Galilee, and he is now heading down to Jerusalem where he knows that the cross, suffering and death await him. As he begins this most difficult part of his ministry, he has to know if he has done any good ? He has to know if anyone has figured out who he is, why he has come. He doesn’t ask the crowds, but he asks the men who have been with him night and day for a year and a half. He asks the ones who are suppose to know him best. He begins by asking them what others are saying about him. They tell him, some say you are Elijah, other a prophet. Then Jesus brings the question from out there to home, he asks them, "But who do you say that I am"
But who do you my disciples say that I am? Who am I in your eyes?
Notice they all don’t start talking at once. There is a long pause. What were they thinking this was a test and they did not want to get the answer wrong? Were they worried Jesus would get offended by their answer?
Then good old Peter probably could not stand the deafening silence any longer and blurts out the famous four words, "You are the Christ."
You are the Christ, faith’s most famous words. Peter understood who Jesus was, he knew that Jesus was the Messiah, the son of God, the one who would bring God’s good news into the world. Peter knew who Jesus was, he thought, and blurted it out. "You are the Christ." Peter blurted out those famous words because we think he understood who Jesus was. Jesus was the Saviour who came to earth to save us from our sins.
After the Peter answers the question, "But who do you say that I am", Jesus tells the disciples that he must go to Jerusalem. Our Lesson says: "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."
Peter answers the question of faith, but we will see that he had a difficult time seeing the work that Jesus had to do. He could not see the work of faith that Jesus had to do on the cross.
Peter takes Jesus aside and as the text says "And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him."
Peter goes from the one who knew who Jesus was and could not let his faith see Jesus was to be the suffering Messiah.
And Jesus could not let stand Peter’s rebuke stand so as the text says:" But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter, and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are not on the side of God, but of men."
Peter goes from understanding who Jesus was, to not understanding at all within a few short sentences. Peter wanted Jesus to be the kind of Messiah that was like an earthly king. But Jesus saw that He was the suffering Messiah who would give his life for the people.
And then Jesus tells the disciples and us that we too but forsake our lives for the good of those around us.
and said to them, "If any man 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; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.
Jesus was the suffering Messiah and we must also be willing to suffer, to give of ourselves for the sake of Christ. This is where the idea of Works and Faith come together.
We have faith in Jesus which allows us to help our neighbor. We have faith in Jesus so that we may serve others. Works and Faith. Faith and Works they go hand in hand.
Our gospel lesson this morning asks us who Jesus is. Then asks us what are we gong to do about it.
A faith that is alive is a strong two edged sword. It believes in the salvation who for us by the cross of Calvary, where the body of Christ was broken and His blood shed for our sins. At the same time, faith is willing to work to be expressed in our actions as we minister to those who have felt the brokenness of the world as they are visible around us.
Faith must believe in Christ’ s action on the crosss.
The following story I believe, sums up what faith means in the life of a Christian.
Far away in a lonely desert stands a water pump in the sand. You are a solitary traveler, and your canteen is empty and you come upon that pump. Tied to it is a hand written sign put there by some pilgrim.
The sign reads "I have buried a bottle of water to prime the pump. don’t drink any of it.
Pour in half of it to wet the leather. Wait, and then pour in the rest. Then pump. The well has never gone dry, but the pump must be primed to bring the water up. Have faith, believe. When you are through drawing water, fill the bottle and bury it in the sand for the next traveler."
Having come upon this pump in the desert with this sign and being out of water, what would you do?
Will you dig the water bottle from the sand and drink from it? Or will you believe and believing dare to pour that water every drop of it down into the old trusty pump? Because you trust, you take a risk, both for yourself and for the next person who will pass that way. What will you do?
Faith in Jesus Christ is just like that. We must trust in our belief that He is the Saviour as Peter says: "You are the Christ."
Can you say that Jesus is the Christ, the Saviour in your life? Can you risk saying those words, Jesus you are the Christ in my life? Faith means you are willing to trust your whole being to Jesus, who is the Christ? Like the water bottle and pump, are you wiling to trust all to Jesus?
That brings us to the next part of our gospel lesson, works.
Jesus says who who has faith must be willing to sacrifice for others. Jesus says: "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
We must be willing to reach out to others with our faith.
But sadly many are like Charlie Brown and Linus int he following Peanut cartoon:
"Charlie Brown and Linus come across Snoopy shivering in the snow. Charlie Brown says:’Snoopy looks kind of cold, doesn’t he?’
’I’ll say, replies Linus, ’maybe we’d better go over and comfort him.’
They walk over to the dog, pat his head and say, ’Be of good cheer Snoopy.’ Yes, be of good cheer.’
And in the final frame, the boys are walking away, still bundled up in their winder coats. Snoopy is still shivering and over his head is a question mark."
The boys were not willing to really get involved with Snoopy’s plight. They gave lip service to his suffering, but no action. There was no sacrifice. There was no willings to get involved with Snoopy’s plight. They could have found him a blanket. They could have given Snoopy one of their coats. But no, they only gave lip service to his plight.
Sometimes the church, you and I are like that. We talk about a problem, but are not willing to really get involved to solve.
A poem by Bob Rowland says this about how we might be:
" I was hungry and your formed a humanities club and discussed my hunger. Thank you.
I was imprisoned and you crept off quietly to your chapel and prayed for my release.
I was naked and in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance.
I was sick and you knelt and thanked God for your health.
I was homeless and you preached to me of the spiritual shelter of the love of God.
I was lonely and you left me along to pray for me.
Your seem so holy, so close to God. But I’m still very hungry and lonely and cold.
Thank you, thank you thank you"
Someone has said:
" Believing in Jesus and following Jesus are not the same! The call is not to watch and admire from a distance, but to join in the procession, become part of the parade. For our Lord is not some great cosmic clown who puts on a show in the center right for the religiously inclined, rather, he is the Messiah, as Peter affirmed, who calls men and women to hit the trail of life with him; to work up a swat and get their hand dirty on the behalf of the guilt-ridden, the down-trodden, the broken, the bruised and the rejected, that God’s Shalom might become a reality for all of this children."
Becoming part of the parade, following Jesus means we must be willing to sacrifice, to give part of ourselves in the process. We must be wiling to work, to give, to sacrifice. We must allow our faith to become active in love. Our faith is alive as it believes in Jesus as the Messiah and as it is alive in the lives of those around us.
"Then he picked up both oars, FAITH and WORKS placed them in the water and began to row. As he pulled these oars together, the boat began to move forward in a straight line."
"Jesus calls men and women to hit the trail of life with him; to work up a swat and get their hand dirty on the behalf of the guilt-ridden, the down-trodden, the broken, the bruised and the rejected, that God’s Shalom might become a reality for all of this children."
Amen
Written by Pastor Tim Zingale September 11, 2006
