Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity – morning
Sunday 16th September 2018
Proper 19 – 16th Sunday after Trinity – morning
Isaiah 50. 4-9a
Mark 8.27-38
Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs
Most of the time it is a joy to live in a community like Pattingham… But there are always downsides to any situation. And the downside of living in a village can be the way rumours and rumours of rumours can spread through the community. And with each re-telling, a story can become embellished or ‘improved’ – to such an extent that the story that becomes ‘common knowledge’ may be very far removed from the true situation – or conversely, only tell us half of the information!
The truth is that we all carry around with us a very dangerous item. Can you guess what I am talking about? Not a gun or a dagger or a stick even…. our tongues!.
The tongues were out and wagging about Jesus in his lifetime… Some said he was a prophet; some said he was Elijah or John the Baptist come back to life (!); some no doubt dismissed him as a fraud and a charlatan – like so many of the healers and miracle workers who were quite frequent characters in 1st Century Palestine.
Mark in his Gospel is keen to emphasise issues of identity. And now Jesus presses the disciples to commit themselves rather than shelter behind the general gossip about his identity. “Who do you say that I am?” – You can sense can’t you, that this is a turning point in the narrative…. if this were being televised, this would be the question on which the episode would finish… the Duh, duh, duh-duh-duh-duh, Duh! Moment (with apologies to Eastenders)
And it is Peter who was the first to answer Jesus’ call to follow him, who is also the first to acknowledge Jesus as “Messiah” – God’s anointed one. The one for whom all Israel had been longing and waiting for hundreds of years. That title carries with it immense expectations.
Matthew and Luke attach it to Jesus at an early stage in their Gospels, but this is its first appearance in that of Mark. We can picture Peter – ever the impetuous one – realizing that he knew something he did not know he knew! A real lightbulb moment.
But the perfection of this moment is short-lived. Jesus goes on to begin speaking in an alarming way about his imminent death and suffering. As far as Peter is concerned this is way off-message… you can almost hear him saying,” whoa there! – You can’t go around talking like that! These fellows have given up everything to follow you – they expect something a bit more positive than talk of death and suffering!” The perfect moment is shattered.
What Peter is saying is of course quite sensible and wise – but it is the wisdom of the world, not of God. Jesus is living by quite different rules. He has in mind the gift of life, bought at great cost, because it is of infinite value. God’s life should not be confused with the poor imitation that might tempt someone who feared conflict and pain.
Easily said of course; easily heard; but very difficult to live by, no matter how sincerely we may think we believe it!
Jesus persists in offering his dangerous invitation, not only to the disciples but to the crowd as well. Sparing nothing of what following him will mean. His challenge to them (and therefore to us too) is to consider what may be lost by refusing.
Politicians and public figures have to choose their words wisely; consider how much freedom to allow their tongues.
This week we have heard Boris Johnson using immoderate language when criticising the negotiating position of our government in the Brexit talks.
We have also heard strong words from our Archbishop – likening the gig economy and those who profit from the exploitation of the poor to “an ancient evil”. And there were / are plenty who think he was wrong to speak out on such a political topic. In fact he almost apologised to the TUC that he would be speaking quite a bit about God… as he put it “It’s sort of my job!” And actually his speech was full of references to the Bible – and as archbishop Tutu once said,. “You cannot read the Gospel without engaging in politics!”
Following Jesus is always likely to be a hard calling – his is a dangerous invitation. God’s Word – as we encounter it in the Bible, – is a dangerous book (which was why for so long the religious authorities sought to prevent it being translated so that ordinary people could read it for themselves!) And all human beings – made as we are in the image of the eternal creator God, carry with them a dangerous weapon – our tongues. God invites us on a risky, costly and dangerous path, but with him to guide us, what have we really to fear?
Dear Lord, help us to use our tongues wisely; to praise you, to speak truth (even when it is unpopular) and to help others with loving words. Amen.