So What? by Rev Steven R Mitchell, Mountain View United

So What?
Rev Steven R Mitchell
Mountain View United, Aurora, CO 9/16/2012
Based on Mark 8:27-28
 One of my favorite “classic” T.V. shows from the 80’s is the “Golden Girls”.  Sophia Petrillo, the oldest member of that household, is my most favorite character, because she seems to hold the true wisdom when it is most needed.  So I have developed an adaptation of how she might look at this morning’s reading out of Mark.
 Scene: Dorothy is having a discussion with her mother Sophia over Dorothy’s identity crisis.  To which Sophia shares one of her typical motherly stories which are filled with great wisdom and comfort.  Sophia begins her story with: Picture it, Caesarea Philippi, 0030 AD.  A band of men wondering around the countryside trying to hide from Herod, the King of Israel, who had just murdered John the Baptizer for identifying the King’s sinful marriage to his brother’s wife Herodias, but I digress; finding themselves in the middle of a Roman colony.  Roman soldiers walking around at every turn, just looking for an excuse to arrest any Hebrew that seemed suspicious. 
As these guys are marveling at the great white marble temple that was built to honor Caesar, Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” The disciples answer back with, “Some say you are John the Baptizer; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”  Then Jesus asked them, “But who do you say that I am?”    “You are the Messiah,” they responded.
 Sophie with a seemingly blank look on her face, stops with a very long pause in her story.  After a number of seconds of silence, Dorothy anxiously asks, “What happened next?”  Sophia replies with, “He turned to the crowd and told them to deny themselves, pick up their cross, and follow him.”  With a puzzled look on her face, Dorothy asks her mother, “What does this have to do with me?”  Sophia again with a blank look on her face says, “absolutely nothing, I just liked the story.”  Dorothy not being satisfied with her mother’s response and a waste of her time in listening to her mother ramble on about a story that had no obvious point continues to bemoan about her identity crisis.  Sophia says, “Look pussycat, “So what”, who cares how people identify you?  The important thing is “who do you think you are?  How do you identify yourself?”  Because, when you know who you are, then everyone else will know also.”  End of scene.
 Was Jesus having an “identity crisis” and needing to have the support through opinion polls as a way of helping him identify “who” he was and “how” his mission would be shaped?  Possibly, but I think the story is asking us to think in a more personal direction.  Caesarea Philippi was a Roman colony, the “evil empire” so to speak.  This discussion might very well have happened right in front of the temple for Caesar, again, symbolizing the human kingdom, with all that it brings, which for the Hebrews meant enslavement.  With Peter declaring his view of Jesus as the “Messiah”, Jesus was able to understand how at least Peter was viewing who he was and what the expectations would be.  The Hebrew image of “Messiah” was solely one of a “political” image.  In Peter’s announcement, Jesus now understood that Peter saw Jesus as a political figure, one who would re-establish the earthly kingdom of Israel.  Because of this image, Jesus then in front, out in the open crowd tries to correct this understanding that he, Jesus, was not interested in an earthly kingdom, but rather was trying to teach people about God’s kingdom.  A kingdom not built on exploiting people in which to gain power, but rather a “kindom”, a community that is strong because of the giving of self for others.
 So the real question is, “what does Jesus mean to you?”  “Why do you or would you follow Jesus?”  Peter, in seeing Jesus as “Messiah”, implies that Peter was expecting some sort of political appointment, some position of power and authority in the new kingdom.  What is the “pay-off” in following Jesus?  This is the question that society is asking the church.  “What will I receive if I follow Jesus?” 
 In our own personal lives, we might say that we “follow” Jesus, but we all live in an empire that is physical and not based on the teachings that Jesus presented.  How do we live our lives in the shadow of this physical empire?  We are faced with this reality every second of our day.  It doesn’t just happen once a week, when we wake up and realize it’s Sunday, and then struggle with “do I get up and go to church today or do I stay in bed and just relax for a change.”  The historical reason for coming to church on Sunday is to celebrate and rejoice in our relationship with God.  It is that space in our week when we intentionally take some time out to hopefully have an experience where the veil that separates us from God can be thinner than usual, so that we can feel more connected with our creator.  It is in our daily living that we confront the ideas of Jesus with that reality of the earthly empire.
For several generations now, the church has not done a good job in sharing with people, “What it means to believe in Jesus.”  As a result we have less folks celebrating on Sunday mornings and huge portions of our population saying, “So What?  Why should I look at this Jesus person?  What am I going to get out of it?  How is my life going to be richer for following Jesus?
 Part of the problem is many of us have been taught a Jesus that focuses on doctrines and set statements about who he is, which isn’t who Jesus was.  Jesus was relational, interested in how each of us treat the other.  Jesus was about helping, expanding, including all of humanity, not about restricting, punishing, or excluding some.  We have two generations that have very little knowledge about Jesus and the church and what knowledge they do have is filled with negative behavior, so why should they be interested in learning about “who” Jesus is? 
 These two generations are very keen on friendships, and honoring those relationships over financial gain.  They are more interested in making sure everyone is receiving a fair shake and are less concerned with “rules” and “requirements”, and are more concerned with “equality.”  They see those who say they “follow” Jesus as being more of the empire of exclusion, exploitation, and of being punitive, because this is what they have watched on T.V. Christian programming, personally experienced from many churches, and in the political arena when Jesus is quoted when passing laws that re-enforce the attitudes of “as long as I have mine, the rest of you can suffer.” 
 Most of us sitting here this morning are pre-boomers and boomers.  Our generation thrived on self-achievement, self-actualization, and self-satisfaction.  Hear the difference?  Our children and grandchildren are of a generation that thrives on friendships, community as a support system (I would rather hang out with my friends this weekend instead of work overtime), and are more prone to group processing to achieve a goal.  In reality, I see Gen X and Gen Y values aliened more closely with how I understand the teachings of Jesus than the generation that I am a part of.
 I also see that Mountain View United, as a community of faith has in its core values most of what is attractive to these two generations.  Our quest is “how” are we going to let people know about Jesus?  Again, I think the answer comes back to each of us in being able to answer the question, “What does it mean to me, to believe in Jesus?” and “How do we pick up our cross and follow Him?”  Amen