“Speaking of Jesus…” ~ Proverbs 1: 20-33 & Mark 8: 27-38
September 15, 2024 ~ Northwood United ~ Rev. G. Scott Turnbrook
Earlier this week, we lost one of the world’s great theatre voices. At the age of 93, James Earl Jones moved into the peace of the Lord. Jones will be forever remembered for his rich voice that reverberated with the hearts and minds of theatre and moviegoers. He was one of the few performers to receive all four of the EGOT awards throughout his life receiving Emmy, Grammar, Oscar and Tony awards. When he spoke, his rich baritone speech touched the ears of the listener. They resonated through our soul and stayed with us in ways that few other voices ever could. Hi memorable voice as Darth Vader in Star Wars: “Luke, I am your father” and those words stayed with us decades later. Speaking to Simba in the Lion King as Mufasa: “A king's time as ruler rises and falls like the sun. One day, the sun will set on my time here, and will rise with you as the new king.” Isn’t it interesting how some voices can be like that. Certain voices have authority, power, resonance…they stay with you; they shape and form you. They become…part of who you are…and who you are…becoming.
When I imagine what Jesus’ voice was like. I think it must have been like that…but even more powerful. Touching, soft…yet powerful, prophetic and probing, resonating in the listener’s ear ~ shaping and guiding the formation of, what would become, the Body of Christ. It must have guided, and shaped, and transformed all who heard Jesus speak. In the absence of recording technology, people recorded Jesus’ words in their minds and their hearts. His words would have remained with his listeners: “let the little children come to me”, “the last shall be first and the first shall be last”, “love one another”. And those powerful words that we pass through the generations still resonate two millennia later.
The opening text that David read refers to the timeless voice of wisdom that the Holy Spirit offered through the generations. It begins: “Wisdom cries out in the street; in the squares she raises her voice. At the busiest corner she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks.” There is a timeless voice that has spoken since the beginning. That voice is recognized in the prophets calling people to justice; that voice is recognized in the comforters offering care to the afflicted; that voice is recognized in Jesus who poured out the divine Word of God. Words have power and when they echo the divine wisdom of God, they touch our hearts and stay with us eternally.
But here is the problem: Jesus did not want us to merely hear his voice; he wants our very lives to proclaim who he is. That is the dilemma we encounter with Jesus’ question: “But, who do you say that I am?” The people had been listening and listening and listening…they had listened to the prophets through the generations and waited for the ‘One’ to finally come along and speak God’s pure voice. The rumours had been circulating: was Jesus the next John the Baptist, or was he Elijah, or one of the prophets? Truly he must be! Yes…we have heard his words, now let us sit at his feet and worship Him for He has finally come. He is here. Yet, Jesus will not let us merely listen; he charges us to proclaim who he is. He calls us ~ not to merely listen ~ but rather to add our voice and speak about Jesus.
I love Peter in this passage because, as the one who will later be the proclaimed founder of Jesus’ church, Peter gets it wrong. And if Peter gets it wrong, it provides lots of grace and hope for those of us who struggle with this message. To Jesus’ question “who do you say that I am?”, Peter proclaims: “You are the Messiah.” To the listener of this passage, it seems that Peter gets it right. As a person of faith, if someone asks you: ‘who is your Messiah?’, it would make sense for you to have a ready answer…right? Yet, we quickly learn that Jesus will not allow the faith to be that simple! In response to Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Messiah, the text (curiously) reports that Jesus “sternly orders them not to tell anyone about him”. Now we are puzzled! Not to tell anyone! Isn’t this the basis of the Christian faith? Isn’t this the basis of the church? Of evangelism? Of sharing the faith? Jesus speaking once…and continuing to speak eternally speaking through the generations. Yet that is not how Jesus guides us. In fact it is a new way of speaking we learn about: Jesus sternly ordering us not to tell anyone about him. Stern! Just imagine that tone of voice…DO NOT TELL ANYONE ABOUT ME.
So, how then are we advised to speak about Jesus? Jesus proceeds to tell about his future…He will be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes…killed. And three days…rise again. And then he teaches HOW we might speak about Jesus: ‘If any want to become my followers, [you must] deny yourself and take up [your] cross and follow me.” I wonder if speaking about Jesus is more about living like him, and less about speaking about him? Consider this…if ALL we did was speak about Jesus, then Christianity would have continued to be a passive faith summed up with the sole purpose of the transmission of a verbal message. Once the listener heard and proclaimed, “Jesus is the Messiah”, the job of the church would (for that person) have been completed. Yet, Jesus sternly orders against this. In Jesus’ response, we move away from talking about Jesus and towards living a life that proclaims Jesus’ Way.
So, what does this look like? How do we live a life that is about Jesus, rather than merely proclaiming him Messiah with our lips? Well…the good and bad news is that Jesus doesn’t get too specific. It’s bad news because it’s not simple and easy to apply. It is good news because it will never be outdated and each of us can find our unique expression within His answer. It seems that ‘speaking about Jesus’ has to do with the way we give our unique lives away rather than saving them. Speaking of Jesus is about the giving away and not keeping. Moving away from our comforts and into the living of our faith. Jesus’ cryptic answer has been puzzled over by theologians of the past and all of us modern day theologians who struggle to make sense of them today: “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.”
So how does this look? Giving your life away…giving away your time, your love, your care. Giving what God has gifted unto you…away. Martin Luther King described it this way: the ultimate measure of a [person] is not where [they] stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but where [they] stand at times of challenge and controversy. Nothing worthwhile is easy. Your ability to overcome unfavorable situations will provide you with time to demonstrate your true strength and determination for success. Always set your standards high, your greatest achievements lie within the infinite feats you achieve in your life.
So, people of Northwood, if Jesus calls us to a shift away from merely speaking of Him as Lord with our lips. How then will we live lives that proclaim Him as Lord. Our lives, then, become the sum of all the little things that we do as people of faith. Living as Jesus’ people is deep way in which we live out this passage. What if you considered the living of your life as a proclamation of your faith: ‘that Jesus is Lord’? How might you arise in the morning and greet the day…and those in your household? How might you go into the world? Your community, your workplace, your places of leisure? How might your life be a witness to the shining light of Jesus? What if all the small little things we do add up and proclaim our lives as being Jesus’ people?
And this, I know, seems like a tall order from Jesus. I mean, we just nicely into a September restart and already we are being challenged to our very core. Perhaps that was the very point that the lectionary committee placed this text here. “Who do you say that I am?” is a key component of our faith. It is not proclaimed with our lips, but rather with our lives. And the good news is that, while we stumble with this challenge like Peter did, over time it will get easier to live into this Way of Jesus.
We commenced this morning’s conversation remembering James Earl Jones and his powerful voice. I was doing some reading about him earlier this week. I found it interesting to discover that Jones’ poignant voice did not begin that way. I was surprised to learn that he needed to overcome quite a stutter in his youth. Beginning with a vocal stutter that would have been difficult to listen to! Yet, over time, James Earl Jones perfected the voice that will forever be remembered in the hearts of many. I wonder if that is a good way to think about our faith. We practice our faith, occasionally getting it right. Sometimes more often than not, stumbling and getting it wrong. But over time, we increasingly become Jesus’ people. We follow in his way; we go astray getting lost; we find our way back. We are the church proclaiming him crucified and risen with each day we are given. Amen.