The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity

13^th September 2009 9:00am Sung Eucharist

Preacher: The Dean

Readings: Isaiah 50:4-9a, James 3:1-12, Mark 8:27-end

Let faith and action be one

“Who do people say that I am?” This is the question Jesus asked his disciples. And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” He then asked them further, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.”

The disciples answered Jesus' question politely and with the words people with conviction had said about Jesus. But at the time, there were others who had different comments and criticisms about Jesus. Some said , “Is not this the carpenter's son?” ( See Mt 13:55 ). What good is to be found in someone who does manual labour? Some said he was a person who ‘liked to drink and eat and is a friend of sinners.’ In other words, he was not a socially prominent person, or from the upper classes nor a leader in society; he is only suitable to be with people of the lower classes.

Nathanael (also called Bartholomew) later became an apostle. When he first met this Jesus from Nazareth, he did not see anything extraordinary about him. His rather scornful comment was, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” ( Jn 1:46 ) How could anyone with such a poor background be of any great worth? Even more derogatory, some said Jesus consorted with the devil because his power to cast out devils came from Beelzebub, the ‘Prince of Devils.’

In the hearts and minds of people, each one judges Jesus differently. Some like him very much, others strongly dislike him. He is really a very controversial person.

Today, though in the hearts of Christians Jesus is God and Savior, there are some Hong Kong people who have a very negative impression of him. They call any remark about Jesus they consider exaggerated or unrealistic, ‘talking about Jesus,’ which is a derogatory phrase. To them, ‘talking about Jesus’ is equivalent to talking nonsense. In the eyes of many modern people, Jesus is not even worth a penny!

So today if Jesus stood before us and asked us, who would us say Jesus is ? We may have many ‘standard answers’ which we learned from other people. For example, Jesus is God, Savior, brother, friend, bread of life, vine, shepherd. Or he is almighty, he is Lord of history; he is everywhere, he will come again to judge the living and the dead… and so on. But if we ask ourselves seriously ‘Do you really believe these answers?’ how would we answer? Would we answer courageously ‘I truly believe’?

But if Jesus has really saved us and has enabled us to stand up and lift up our head, why would we still feel inferior? If Jesus is really our brother, our friend, why is our relationship with him so tepid? If Jesus is really our spiritual food, nourishing our spirit, why are we so indifferent when we receive Holy Communion, or after receiving this ‘spiritual food’, why is it we do not have the strength to face life's challenges?

If we believe Jesus is really a shepherd, why do we not turn to him after sinning, lack the spiritual energy to turn to him and rely on him? If we believe Jesus is almighty and is the Lord of history, why do we think that those who control history are the political leaders of Beijing or Britain or the United States? Why do we not have full confidence in our world’s future? If we really believe that Jesus is everywhere, why do we dare to sin in secret? If in the presence of companions we dare not try use trickery, why would we do so in the presence of Jesus? Do we not know that Jesus sees the ‘secrets of the heart’? If Jesus is to come again to judge humankind, why do we not make efforts now to build up treasure for eternal life?

Some say knowledge is difficult, but action is easy. Others say knowledge is easy, but action is difficult. Some people try to combine knowledge and action. But they are two different realities and cannot be taken together. To be able to unify the two is the highest kind of wisdom. Faith is also like that.

So in the later part of the Gospel reading this morning, we read that Jesus challenges his disciples to take up a cross to follow him as an action to respond to their acclamation.

The image of ‘Taking up the cross’ has its origins in the whole culture of crucifixion, which was a form of execution to the lowest, that was compounded in its cruelty by humiliation and disgrace. As such, Jesus was reminding his followers that they would find themselves on the same level as the lowest.

In fact, this is the heart of Christianity. Hence Jesus further said, ‘Anyone who saves his life for his sake will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.’ Here, Jesus was talking two things : one about this life; the other about the next.

About this life he’s saying that, if we seek self-fulfilment selfishly or sinfully, we won’t be fulfilled at all. Sin may satisfy for the moment, but it doesn’t fulfill long. In fact, if we have a conscience at all there is nothing that will break our heart like breaking the commandments. There is nothing that will make us spiritually unhappy like doing wrong. About the next life, he’s saying there is no provision up there for immoral earnings. If, at the end of an immoral life, we have an accumulation of wealth or power, we cannot take it with us and we’ll lose it all in the end.

However, he also reminds us that anyone who lives generously and nobly, who makes sacrifices in his name, is building up treasure in heaven. Temporal loss, eternal gain. That’s the paradox and the wonder of Christianity.

Now we make sacrifices, we take up the cross, when we live a good life, do the right thing, keep the commandments. We take up the cross when we do our work conscientiously and well. We take up the cross when we look after a young kid or an elderly. We take up the cross when we accept the sickness and sorrow that comes our way, when we are really generous towards others, especially the suffering and the poor. We take up the cross when we show our willingness to be God’s faithful steward. It’s not easy to be good, hard-working, loving, patient, generous. And we may be finding it quite hard right now. But, according to Jesus, it’s the Christian way – the action of discipleship. It leads to a great measure of fulfillment in this life and eternal happiness in the next. Life is immeasurably enriched if we live in conformity with Christ’s teaching and in union with himself.

If we visit St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, when we down in the crypt, we may come across a memorial to an American painter called John Sargent. In fact, he designed it before he died. It has a message for us. There is a figure of Christ in bronze hanging on the cross. The arms are outstretched, of course, the head is bowed, crowned with thorns and in deep shadow. The initial impression is one of despondency and defeat. Then it is noticed that Jesus’ feet are decisively planted on the coils of a serpent, that on each side of the cross, under the outstretched arms, stand a man and a woman, each holding up a chalice, sharing at once, not just Jesus’ suffering but in the benefits of his redeeming grace. Over Jesus’ head it is written a Latin sentence, which can be translated as ‘Take away the sin of the world’.

The whole thing is an inspiring depiction of the triumph of the cross. We tend to equate cross-carrying solely with unhappiness, to think of it almost exclusively in terms of ‘slog’. That there’s an awful lot of slog in it there can be no doubt. But there’s merit in it too. There’s merit in making our sacrifices and engaging in our struggle, in union with Christ, in love for the Father, out of love for others, in reparation for our sins, in letting our prayer be ‘us’. Whatever about the cross in the first Century was anything but disgrace. May we always be conscious of that. The Lord always helps us to carry the cross that’s hurting now, and he gives us a sense of purpose, even of victory, as we hold up our chalice under his outstretched arms.

A Chinese idiom says, “if we study hard we get closer to being wise, if we practice to the best of our ability we get closer to having a kind heart, if we acknowledge shame we get closer to being courageous. Knowledge, kindness and courage are three virtues which can only be recognized by practice. We can say also that we can attain true faith in Jesus only if we carry it out in our daily lives.

Let us not only have faith in Jesus but also carry his cross in our everyday lives, and in this way be in contact with Jesus, grow in knowledge of him and build up a strong relationship with him.

When Jesus one day comes to ask us who he is, let us be able to say in all truth and sincerity, ‘You are Christ, our Savior. We have loved you already and want to love you for all eternity.’