WATCHWORD:
27 Jesus and his disciples now left Galilee and went out to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along he asked them, “Who do the people think I am? What are they saying about me?” 28 “Some of them think you are John the Baptist,” the disciples replied, “and others say you are Elijah or some other ancient prophet come back to life again.”29 Then he asked, “Who do you think I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.” 30 But Jesus warned them not to tell anyone! 31 Then he began to tell them about the terrible things he would suffer, and that he would be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the other Jewish leaders—and be killed, and that he would rise again three days afterwards. 32 He talked about it quite frankly with them, so Peter took him aside and chided him. “You shouldn’t say things like that,” he told Jesus. 33 Jesus turned and looked at his disciples and then said to Peter very sternly, “Satan, get behind me! You are looking at this only from a human point of view and not from God’s.” 34 Then he called his disciples and the crowds to come over and listen. “If any of you wants to be my follower,” he told them, “you must put aside your own pleasures and shoulder your cross, and follow me closely. 35 If you insist on saving your life, you will lose it. Only those who throw away their lives for my sake and for the sake of the Good News will ever know what it means to really live. 36 “And how does a man benefit if he gains the whole world and loses his soul in the process? 37 For is anything worth more than his soul? 38 And anyone who is ashamed of me and my message in these days of unbelief and sin, I, the Messiah, will be ashamed of him when I return in the glory of my Father, with the holy angels.” Mark 8:27-38
Meditation:
Grief and Joy
This past Sunday, September 12, Pastor Judy Follis returned to our pulpit after an absence of over three years. It was a joyous reunion, a reunion of friends in the presence our Lord and Savior.
Her topic was one we could all relate to, on a personal level, Heartbreak. Aside from a personal point of view, it was an appropriate subject considering the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the previous day. Looking around the congregation on that Sunday, nearly everyone had lost a loved one in the not too distant past, so all were familiar with that unique emotion, grief.
The Gospel lesson for Sunday was Mark 8:27-38, in which Peter declares, “You are the Messiah.” This is the beginning, a gentle wave, a foretelling of the heartbreak of the Cross to come just a year or so later. The disciples cannot accept that, as the Messiah, Jesus will suffer rejection, betrayal and be killed. Neither Peter nor the other disciples want to hear that. There’s so overcome with denial that they missed Jesus final statement, “…after three days will rise again.”
How so like us. We so don’t want hear bad news. Maybe it’s unexpected, and right away your mind wanders, and maybe you miss something the doctor said. You heard, but you stall for time, with a “What?” The news is just as bad the second time, and those difficult first moments of your “new normal” begins.
We don’t like adversity, we don’t like something that is going to change the smooth path of that our life has been taking. The fairytale is coming to an end and reality is facing you. For the disciples, and for you and I, we would rather deny it for a period of time hoping it would go away. But, alas, it doesn’t, and all of the “adjustments” begins, the treatments, the medications, the tests. You look for hope, and you find it in the One thing that has not changed in your life, the primary place Jesus plays, as he always did.
This encounter with the disciples where Jesus asked, “who do you say I am”, occurred during the first half of his ministry. Over the next year and a half, they would witness His ministry, which would have reinforced the positive image of him. But then, there on the Mount of Olives, before Gethsemane, before the trial, before the crucifixion, before his death and burial, they hear again those words they don’t want to hear. They don’t want to be prepared for what is coming because they don’t want what is coming to come. Denial.
Their grief is real, but then, there on a hillside, north of Capernaum, they experience a joy like nothing they had ever felt before. Our Lord and Savior appearing and speaking to them, to us, reassuring us. He truly is The Messiah, God Incarnate. So, it is in our lives, our Savior comes and stands there with us in the difficult times, and we imagine a nail-scarred hand holding ours in love. We will never be alone. Amen.
Bulletin Board:
Words of wisdom from a Watchword reader: Thank you, we need to be reminded of our special time with just Christ, alone.
Closing Prayer:
Heavenly Father, Lord and Savior, Messiah, you are the Creator God. Your Holy Spirit dwells within us, Lord, and we are so grateful for Your Presence, even when we are going through the valley of the shadow of death, those dark places, those difficult times in our lives, there is never a moment when you’re not there, supporting us, loving us by your presence. There is no way that I can express the depth of my gratitude for my being Yours. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for I need you every hour, every moment, every breath. It’s in the name of Jesus I offer these prayers. Amen.
