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June 20, 2004; Proper 7, Year C
    The Rev. Harold "Skip" Comer, Rector

As I read the Gospel reading for today I thought of the game show, “What’s My Line?”  I’m sure that at least some of you remember it.  I remember the host; I believe that it was John Daly, directing the panel through their questions in an attempt to discover what the mystery guest did for a living or the unusual activity or hobby that they had.

Who is Jesus?  Well some on the panel thought that he was John the Baptist reincarnated.  John had been beheaded by Herod sometime earlier.  Others thought that he was Elijah, the great prophet who was to return to proclaim the coming of the Messiah.  And still others identified him as an ancient prophet.  It was Peter who figured it out, Jesus was “The Messiah of God.”

Controversy has surrounded the identity of Jesus from the very beginning.  Today many take for granted that Jesus is who he claimed to be.  Yet others, and not just Jews and Muslims, but Christians also, have only accepted Jesus as a prophet or great teacher.  How do we find out who Jesus really is?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian, in his book, Letters from Prison, raised the question, "Who is Jesus Christ for us today?"  Bonhoeffer raised this question as he was sitting in a German prison camp toward the end of World War Two, just days before his execution for refusing to recant his faith in Jesus Christ.  Even though the allied forces were advancing into Germany, he had no reason to believe that they would arrive before his execution.  Nor did he to expect Jesus Christ to set him free with twelve legions of angels.  The Lord no longer seemed to work in that way, if indeed he ever had.  So Bonhoeffer asked, "Who is Jesus Christ for us?"[i]  He was put to death for refusing to renounce or keep silence about his belief in Jesus as the Christ.

When we pray in the Lord's Prayer, "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." we are probably not thinking about being confronted with having to renounce our faith in order to live.  At the beginning of the twentieth-first century in America it is hard for us to imagine dying for our faith.   Yet it is happening in other countries around the world even as I speak.  What are we willing to die for?

I would like to think that I am willing to die for what I believe in, but I must admit that I have not really thought about it a whole lot.  Our Gospel reading for today has caused me to think about who Jesus is for me and how important he is in my life.

I took the question, "What are we willing to die for?" and applied it to our Gospel reading.  Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"  I do not believe that Jesus was searching for affirmation of his identity with this question.  He already knew who he was, but he also knew that it would be of little consequence until others realized that he was "The Messiah of God."

Jesus was unwilling to die as John the Baptist, Elijah or a prophet.  Even though John the Baptist and several of the ancient prophets died because of their proclamations and refusal to renounce their faith in God, this was not who Jesus was.   He refused to be put to death until people acknowledged his true identity.  We all know from his story, that not everyone acknowledged Jesus as "The Messiah of God."   And for many of those who did acknowledge him as the Christ, the Messiah, their fate was death.

Even though other world religions accept Jesus as a prophet or sage, for Christians he is the promised Messiah of God, foretold by the prophets and heralded into the world by John the Baptist.

"Who is Jesus Christ for us today?"  I believe that Bonhoeffer, like Jesus, was searching for more that a verbal response.  They were searching for the response that is lived out in the daily lives of all of those who have come to know the true identity of Jesus Christ and have entered into a relationship with him.  The answer is revealed in our values, priorities and commitments.

What I have to say next is not is not easy for us who live in America.  To be a follower Jesus requires that we put God and others before ourselves.   To follow Jesus, is like he said, “to deny oneself.”  Not that we necessarily have give everything that we have away, but certainly our focus cannot be on ourselves and the accumulation of wealth and possessions.  To follow Jesus involves the willingness to share what we have with others – especially those who are less fortunate.  One thing is for certain about Jesus, because of him, this world is a better place to live.   It wasn’t just his teachings and miracles, it was the example that he lived and the sacrifice that he gave for our salvation.   Jesus valued those whom society and religion had deemed unworthy.  He cared for and reached out to all people.  The sacrifice on the cross was preceded by a life of sacrificial service to others.   

Several years ago a book was published entitled Plastic Jesus.  At that time, many people were putting plastic statues of Jesus on their dashboards.   Some would joke that given the way people drive, Jesus would want to jump out the window.[ii]

Sometimes that is the way we treat Jesus – artificial like Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny - that he has no influence in our lives, just something that is nice to have around or believe in.[iii]

But then there are those words, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.  For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.”[iv]

To carry one’s cross is an attitude toward life.  Some see it as any burden they have to bear for someone else.  Yet we must remember that Jesus does not throw a cross on us!   He invites us to pick it up.  To bear the cross is voluntary.  We do it because of what Jesus did, and means, for us.  It may be a burden at times, it may even constrict our lifestyle, we might resent its limitations at times, but we shoulder it none the less because it is what we are called to do.  It has made a difference in our lives, and now through it we seek to make a difference in other peoples lives.

To carry one’s cross is a way of life, Jesus’ way of life, which he bids us to take up and following in his footsteps, make the journey that leads to the kingdom.

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