You see, I keep wishing that Jesus
will come and take away all my troubles as if he were one of those great
designer drugs they advertise on TV. You know the ones I mean, right? The
ones where everyone is happily riding bikes or rowing boats or hiking mountain
trails while the announcer quickly reads off all the possible side effects in a
very low voice. These ads do remind us that prescription drugs are serious
things and that talk to our doctors; but my emotions say “hmm… bike!” or "ooh…
vacation!”
I like my Savior the same way. Yeah,
sure, I hear all about taking up my cross and following him. But what I really want
is for God to fix everything, and a savior who will solve all my problems, so
life won’t seem so hard.
Oops! Wrong savior!
If you have ever suffered from
wrong-savior syndrome, you are not alone! Peter had the exact same problem!
Even after he confessed that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God,
he cannot bear to hear the truth that this same Jesus, this same Messiah, would
have to be arrested, handed over to his persecutors, tortured, killed and then
on the third day rise from the dead, so he blurts out: “God forbid!”
If ever there was a case of wrong
savior syndrome, this is it!
Jesus knew that Peter and the
others were just a little mixed up about this. But look at where he decides to
clarify this! Mark says all this happens, not in Jerusalem or in a local
synagogue but in a Roman garrison city called Caesarea Philippi, a city specially
built as the local expression of Roman power in an occupied land. This was
where their troops were stationed and supplied. From here they could monitor
and even, if necessary, shut down the sliver of land between the sea and the
mountains that connected Africa, Asia Minor, and Europe. And here the Roman
gods could be worshipped out of sight of the local religionists.
Mark’s Gospel tells us that Jesus
chose this center of Roman imperial power to start telling his followers about
what it means to follow him.
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. (Mark 8:34-35)
Jesus tells his disciples that
following him is like carrying your own cross—in the very place where they
make, store, and deploy crosses by the truckload!
For those of us prone to
wrong-savior syndrome, it feels like a cup of ice water thrown in the face! He
is telling us to “snap out of it!” so we don’t get our saviors mixed up.
Peter and the rest know by heart
the original covenant promise to Abraham that we heard this morning was for
many fruitful descendants, all of whom would be loved and protected by God. It
was a covenant promising a future of life.
Now Jesus is renewing and
reviving that covenant of life– but it looks a very different from what we’ve
grown to expect. Jesus promises life to us if we have the courage to face
death.
Looking at it that way, I kind of
think that Peter’s urge to take Jesus aside and rebuke him starts to make a lot
of sense.
At least to me!
Our lesson from Romans tells us
what we need to enter into this covenant when Paul says that “it depends on
faith….” Paul reminds us of Abraham and Sarah who, hoping against hope,
[Abraham] believed that he would become ‘the father of many nations.’ … He did
not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good
as dead. … No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew
strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was
able to do what he had promised.”
Many of our Christian brothers
and sisters around the world, may pay that cost of discipleship with their
literal, physical lives, but the truth is that most of us won’t go out in a
blaze of martyred glory. Most of us will carry our crosses one small step at a
time, one spiritual discipline at a time, one act of generosity, sacrifice, or
love at a time.
How ever we end up carrying our
crosses, following Jesus will cost us one thing: change!
When Abram and Sarai committed to
God’s covenant with them, they were changed at such a fundamental level that
they got brand-new names, Abraham and Sarah, that echoed their former selves
but with brand new identities.
When we sign on to Jesus’
covenant of life, we start a journey through our own deserts and wildernesses, and
we emerge on the other side deeply changed. We can finally let go of our urge
to rebuke Jesus, to remake him in our image, because he will remake us to be
like him.
Instead of Jesus taking away all our
problems, he gives us the strength, the grace, and the courage to take on our
problems—to carry our cross.
Following Jesus makes a
difference because he makes the life of faithfulness possible. Jesus
blazes the trail for us to follow. He creates a truly human life
possible, lived under the mercy of God.
This is the cure for
wrong-savior-syndrome. Jesus’ cross helps us carry our crosses every day. When
we choose to be open and honest about our faith in a way that tells the truth
without being obnoxious, then we discover what is means to not only carry our
cross but also how to follow Jesus.
But I have to tell you, I still get
my saviors mixed up. Whenever I am tired or overworked or feeling pressed upon
by a world changing faster than I can handle, then I go for the fake savior…the
one who will knock heads and take names, or the one who agrees with all my
opinions, or the one who judges everyone else but not me. Or at least the one
who is comfy and cozy and never challenges me to grow.
The good news is that there are
things we can do to help us get back to the Real Jesus, to follow our Real
Savior: a good place to start is to go back to our baptisms, and to go back to
the broken bread and poured out wine of the Sacrament, to look to our Christian
companions. When we go back and confess Jesus as messiah and savior and,
without shame or fear, orient our lives towards him, then we discover that God
has given us everything we need to follow him.
And the best part of all, even though we are prone to wrong savior syndrome, Jesus, our real savior has never, ever forgotten us.
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