Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] You're listening to a live recording from Westside Church in Bend, Oregon. Thanks for joining us.
[00:00:06] You know, I think it is always the case when we walk through and talk through the story of Jesus that we're trying to find ourselves in it. Right. This isn't just an informational, like history class of knowing facts and figures, but really, we want to find ourselves wrapped up in the story of Jesus. And if you're like me, you grew up around church stuff. I was a church kid from day one. They announced my birth on a Sunday morning from the platform. And so from day one, I was in church. Any other church kids here among us today? Right. Yeah. And for those of us who've been in this world our whole lives, there's a certain familiarity that sets in. Right. And I have so many stories, and mind you, largely my church experience growing up was a positive one.
[00:00:57] And I remember some funny stories about growing up in church. During the kids musical that I participated in at our church must have been about fourth grade. We were having dress rehearsals for a big Christmas musical that we were doing at our church. And as all the kids were lined up in the seats at the little church we went to, the choir director got up and she said, now you can use the restroom right now. And then the window closes, and you may not use the restroom for the rest of the day. She's very, very strict about this. So we're all kind of mildly scared of her, right?
[00:01:32] And so I was like, I don't need to use the restroom. I'm good. I'm good. 10 minutes go by after the rehearsal starts, and I realize I made a horrible mistake and I really have to use the restroom. And so, as fate would have it, unfortunately it. It's a part of the musical where I have speaking lines, and I'm standing, much as I am today, on the stage under the lights as we're in this dress rehearsal. And I realize that there is no way out of this and I'm not gonna make it. And I wet my pants on the stage during this rehearsal. And I was never so glad that the costumes that we were wearing included black sweatpants and not gray sweatpants. Come on now, somebody. You know what I'm saying?
[00:02:14] So, as you can see, I'm also wearing black pants today, just in case.
[00:02:21] Just in case.
[00:02:23] But we've been around church a long time for many of us, and so what today we want to do is we want to allow the story to become fresh again. Right.
[00:02:33] I don't want to just ride out my Faith. And the rest of my life just having this attitude of like, yeah, I've heard it all before, I've seen it all before. But that even today, as we read God's word, that it would be made alive to us. It's like that song we've sung a lot around here. Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me Fall afresh on me. And today in the story in Mark, chapter 8, Jesus is going to ask this question of his disciples. He's going to say, who do you say that I am? What do you believe?
[00:03:07] And I think it's a challenge for all of us, especially those of us who've been in this decade after decade. Jesus, who do we think you are? Who do we say you are? Who do we believe that you are? Mark, chapter 8. Jesus has taken his disciples on this long journey to a group of villages, Caesarea Philippi, way up in the north. This is away from where most of Jesus miracles and ministries happen in Galilee. They're out of town. It's kind of like a company retreat, right, with Jes and his crew. And so as they're there, Jesus is going to have a conversation that is pivotal in the Gospel of Mark.
[00:03:46] And it is going to be kind of the hinge on which this story rotates. Up until now, it's all been quite positive for the disciples. They've followed after Jesus as he's been healing and performing miracles and making bread. And everyone's loving this.
[00:04:02] It's like a parade every day. People are coming along and getting glimpses of Jesus and they're cheering and they're happy. And now Jesus is going to have a conversation because after this retreat, they're going to head down and they're going to go through a valley, and then they're going to make the slow descent up into Jerusalem, where Jesus is going to face betrayal, rejection and crucifixion. And this is the moment when everything changes for these disciples in the shadow of this conversation, or this conversation is happening in the shadow of a temple in Caesarea Philippi. It's not a temple to a Roman deity. It's not a Greek temple. It's not a Jewish synagogue. What sits at the center of Caesarea Philippi is a temple to the emperor.
[00:04:48] So this cult of Caesar worship was spreading around by design around the Roman Empire. And the Romans were interesting because they would conquer local peoples. And they were actually quite generous that local tribes and villages and cities and nations that they conquered. They were actually fine if those people continued to worship as they would normally worship. They just have this one small thing. You also have to worship Caesar.
[00:05:17] And as long as you also include Caesar in your worship, we'll leave your religions alone. And so it's in the shadow of this temple to the emperor that Jesus has this conversation.
[00:05:31] Mark 8. 27 says, Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and. And went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along, he asked them, who do people say that I am? Well, they answered, some say john the Baptist. Some say Elijah, and others say, you are one of the other prophets.
[00:05:48] And then he asked them, but who do you say that I am?
[00:05:52] And Peter replied, you are the Messiah. But Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
[00:06:00] Interesting. Jesus starts this conversation by kind of taking a poll of what the word is on him on the streets, right? Have you ever done this with your friends? Hey, what do people think of me? It's a bold request. It's a bold question. Do you want to know the answer to that? I don't ask that question. I do not ask that question, and I don't google myself. Have you ever googled yourself? Don't Google yourself.
[00:06:26] Who do people say that I am? And the disciples respond, well, some think you're actually, like, you carry the spirit of John the Baptist, who, if you know the story, was a contemporary of Jesus. And he was out. He's kind of like the edgy, cool guy, you know, he was out in the desert, he's baptizing people, and he's kind of trendy, right? All these people were going out to see John and what he was doing. A real countercultural figure. Some say, well, they think you're. That you think, maybe even like, you're like a reincarnated John the Baptist or others on the other side. They think you're like, old school, like Moses, Elijah, Jeremiah. They think you're one of the old prophets come back to, like, bring back the glory days of Israel and Jesus. I imagine he's kind of nodding his head, huh, that's interesting. And then he drops this on them. He says, but who do you say that I am?
[00:07:17] All those identities and ideologies and personalities that people have put on me and projected onto me. That's interesting. But what I want to know in this moment, actually, is not what everyone's saying about me. I want to know, what do you believe about me?
[00:07:35] And Peter responds with this statement, which to us might seem pretty mild, but to the disciples, and for their moment, it was pretty crazy and very dangerous to say. Peter replied, you're the Messiah.
[00:07:52] You're the promised one. You are the king that has been promised, who has come to change the everything. You are the Messiah.
[00:08:01] And if you think that Peter said this because that's what they were supposed to say.
[00:08:06] At this moment, nobody's talking like this about Jesus. Nobody's claiming that he's the Messiah. No one has really kind of connected the dots to that because they know once they connect the dots it becomes very dangerous because a threat to the Roman Empire, a threat to the state would put all of their lives at risk.
[00:08:26] And so Peter very boldly says, I think you're the guy.
[00:08:30] And what is going through Peter's mind? And as soon as he says it, all the disciples minds is okay, this is what the company retreat's about. We're up on this mountain so he can announce his candidacy for emperor, right? And now we're going to make our march to Jerusalem. And along the way we're going to get all the influencers and we're going to get all the leaders and we're going to get the religious leaders and the political leaders that are warm to our cause and we're gonna march on Jerusalem. And once we get there, he's gonna arrive like a conquering general and we're gonna take back the nation from the Romans.
[00:09:11] And Jesus, knowing that this is where this conversation goes, he says don't tell anybody about this.
[00:09:19] Which again, no, we have the crowd, tell everybody about this. Jesus, let's go.
[00:09:27] But Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him. And then Jesus began to tell them that the son of man himself must suffer terrible things and he must be rejected by the elders, the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead. And as he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things.
[00:09:50] Now we've talked about this before, these are young disciples.
[00:09:54] Think of like parents sending their kids to go train under a rabbi, as sending them off to high school basically. And so Peter, we know from the gospels, is the oldest among these disciples. He's probably the ripe old wise age of 21 years old, ish.
[00:10:13] And so he knows a thing or two.
[00:10:16] And so when Jesus, who, Peter has just put the label of Messiah on Jesus and Peter's bracing for this pep talk about how we're gonna rally and take back the nation from Rome, he's ready for that. Instead, Jesus says, here's how this Messiah is gonna do it. I'M gonna suffer and I'm gonna die and it's gonna be really, really difficult for all of us. And Peter says, no, it's not.
[00:10:43] Not on my watch. Jesus, I've got a better idea. Have you ever had better ideas for God?
[00:10:53] You really, you know, you read and you're just like, oh, man, I think I need to give up that part. But actually, I got a better idea.
[00:11:02] If I hold that back, I could still, if we avoid the suffering there, maybe we could actually. And we want to manage mission for him in a way that looks more like glory and power and all the things that that temple that they're standing next to represented.
[00:11:22] And we want to take Jesus the Messiah and we want to shove him into the mold of Caesar, the emperor, and it never works.
[00:11:32] And we inadvertently lose Jesus in the process. And maybe this is why Jesus says this.
[00:11:39] Jesus turned around, looked at his disciples, and then he reprimanded Peter and said, get away from me, Satan. Woe now, Satan. And by the way, this is Peter's account. This is his gospel. And he notes what Jesus called him. He called him Satan.
[00:11:57] Why would he do that? Well, if you remember, in week one, we talked about how Jesus went into the wilderness and he was tempted by the devil and all those temptations that the devil made to Jesus that evidently were tempting to Jesus, otherwise it wouldn't be a temptation.
[00:12:15] All of those centered around Jesus hopping over and around the suffering and the pain and the sacrifice to get to glory and power and every knee bowing.
[00:12:27] And Jesus, from the very beginning of his ministry, as soon as he steps out of the waters of baptism, he faces down the devil and says, that is not how we're going to do this. The kingdom is going to come and every knee will bow, but not without the suffering and the cross that is before me, because this is my mission, to sacrifice myself for the sake of the lost.
[00:12:50] And so when Peter comes, it's the same old temptation. Jesus, you're popular enough, you're charismatic enough, maybe he was good looking enough. We don't really know.
[00:13:01] You've got all the stuff. You're performing miracles. You're an amazing teacher. People notice the authority. You walk in, you don't need to suffer. Come on, let's go.
[00:13:11] And Jesus says, that is the voice of the devil I hear again, and I'm not gonna fall for it.
[00:13:18] And then he says this, he says, you are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God's. And then calling the crowds to join his disciples, he said, who Listen to this. This is a call for us today. If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross and follow me.
[00:13:37] And for us, that's metaphorical.
[00:13:39] For them, it was not we here, take up your cross, follow Jesus. We're like, yes, okay, great. I'm gonna take 10 minutes of my lunch hour and listen to a worship song. It's taking up my cr.
[00:13:56] They are sitting in a Roman town where crucifixions were probably somewhat common. And so when Jesus says, you've got to take up your cross and follow me, in their minds, they are not metaphorically wondering what it's going to cost them. Jesus is telling them what it's going to cost them, that they're going to find themselves up on a cross just like that and that and that. That they've already seen.
[00:14:20] And what a really bold thing for Jesus to assume that they put so much value on him that they would be willing to walk to their deaths for him.
[00:14:31] You've got to have a really, really high view of the value of somebody to follow them to your own death.
[00:14:41] And this is Jesus unashamedly asking if they have the courage to follow him. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the good news, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but you lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?
[00:15:00] Jesus is onto something here, that he knows our mortality, right? All of us, I said this on Ash Wednesday, that none of us make it out of this alive.
[00:15:13] And even as we gathered for Ash Wednesday this past Wednesday, looking towards the resurrection, right, looking towards Easter, the 40 days of Lent between Ash Wednesday and Easter, I think I really love Ash Wednesday because so much of American Christianity is about, like, living your best life and succeeding in everything you do and up and to the right, and everything's gonna be great if you just, you know, stick with Jesus, you're gonna be wealthy and healthy and everything's good. And then Ash Wednesday, we come here and we say, you came from ashes, you're going to return to ashes. Everybody's going to die. Hallelujah, Amen.
[00:15:52] And it flies in the face of this Americanized Christianity. And why would we even do that? Why don't we just ignore that? Because the reality is that none of us make it out alive. We're all going to face death at some point. And if that is true, then that actually Puts more of a weight on the days and the years that we do have to make sure that we don't spend them in insignificance.
[00:16:16] That this day and the next day is not spent in just collecting trinkets and cheap stuff so that we can get to the end and say, I guess I did it, but that we would give ourselves over to the way of Jesus and that through self sacrifice and following him and taking up our cross, that we would get to the end of our lives and realize that the significance we held was because we put such a high value on him, that nothing was too great a cost to give up to follow him.
[00:16:46] That somehow we will find that it's not about how long we can live or what we can gain, but it's about who we can follow that gives us purpose and significance in this life.
[00:17:00] And this is what Jesus is getting out with his disciples.
[00:17:05] That if they, like Peter, really confess that he is Lord and he is Messiah, that he is the king to come and that there is a kingdom that is worth more than all the other kingdoms, that they would follow him, that they would not try to force him into a mold of other emperors and leaders and kings, but that they would allow him to be who he is. And I think oftentimes we fall into the trap of saddling Jesus with identities and ideologies and ways that are actually not him.
[00:17:38] And he comes back to us constantly and he says, I've heard that. Yeah, I saw that on Facebook too.
[00:17:46] But who do you say that I am?
[00:17:50] And we have a job. I believe this.
[00:17:57] In this moment, we have a job to stand up for the Jesus of the Gospels. Not because he can't defend himself, but because he's being misrepresented right and left.
[00:18:08] And when I see Christians representing Jesus as this power hungry ends justify the means. Do whatever you have to do. Kindness is out because we're going to latch onto power. That is not the Jesus I see in Mark, chapter eight.
[00:18:26] That is the Caesar that I see in the temple.
[00:18:30] And so I think we have a job, everybody. And I'm not encouraging you. Let's go social media and blast everybody. No, I'm just saying. I'm saying embody the way of Jesus.
[00:18:41] Live in a way that looks like kindness and empathy and mercy.
[00:18:46] Reject this idea that power and control is the way that the kingdom comes. No sacrifice, mercy in the way of Jesus, by the Holy Spirit is the way the kingdom comes.
[00:18:58] I just, it breaks my heart that with all the resources that we have as the American church, All the talent and the people and the resources and the money and the buildings that we would somehow get to a place where we misrepresent Jesus so devastatingly.
[00:19:18] Come on now, let's return to the way of Jesus, the way of the Cross, the way that looks like walking through that valley and towards Jerusalem, not to seize control and power, but to lay down our lives.
[00:19:35] Paul was the guy who wrote much of the New Testament, but before he came to know Jesus, he was someone who was convinced that the way of Jesus was a threat.
[00:19:50] And so he committed himself. He was a religious leader, a Roman citizen, very powerful, educated, influential leader. And he committed his whole life to stamping out and stomping down this new movement called the Way, which were those crazy Jesus followers.
[00:20:09] In the Book of Acts, we get where he's on the way to Damascus to do more of this work, to round up and imprison more of these Christ followers, these Christians.
[00:20:22] And on the way to Damascus, very famously, he gets knocked off his horse. A blinding light shines on him, and he hears a voice, the voice of Jesus, saying, saul, why are you doing this?
[00:20:33] Why are you persecuting me? And from that moment, after this radical encounter with the presence of Jesus, Saul now Paul would give the rest of his life in service of the one that he had persecuted.
[00:20:46] And he lost all of the stuff. He lost all the influence in the circles that he was in. Whatever wealth and stuff he had accumulated, that was gone. His reputation was devastated in all of the high society that he was a part of.
[00:21:02] And he finds himself as an older man now in a jail cell for preaching the Gospel. He's in a jail cell in Rome, and he wr these words to a young church in the city of Philippi.
[00:21:15] He says, I once thought that these things were valuable, talking about all his pedigree and education and citizenship and all that. But he says, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done.
[00:21:27] Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for his sake, I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ. This is a man convinced of the value of Jesus. The Jesus he met on the road when he had all the stuff, when he had it all going on, that same Jesus who interrupted his path and set him on a new one. He is now towards the end of his life saying, it's worth it.
[00:22:02] And I hear his voice and it echoes to us today. I know you've got all your stuff and you've got your reputation. To think about. And you've got your lifestyle, and you've got all the things and success.
[00:22:18] But what if Jesus wants to interrupt that path and set you on a new one?
[00:22:25] Is he valuable enough?
[00:22:31] Yeah. Many years ago, Several years ago, Portland Trailblazers were having a great season, and so several of us wanted to go see a game. So we went to Portland, and one of our friends bought all the tickets. And when the group found out how much he spent on the tickets, we were like, wow, where did you buy those tickets? Why are they so expensive? You know? So there was this, like, little grumbling amongst the group about the cost of the Blazers tickets. And so we get to the Moto center, and we go in and we're looking for, based on our tickets, where we're supposed to go. And we finally find this staircase that goes up to another level. And there's an usher standing at the bottom of the staircase, kind of guarding the staircase. That's interesting. So we showed him his tickets, and he goes, gentlemen, right this way. And he kind of steps aside and points, and we're like, huh, That's a strange way to show us to our seats.
[00:23:22] We go up, and before we get to our seats, it opens up into this mezzanine, and before us is a feast.
[00:23:31] And what we didn't know is we accidentally bought club tickets, club level tickets.
[00:23:36] And so it came with all of the things that we could see in front of our eyes. There were candy dispensers and hot dog stands, and there was boxed food and bagged food and food laying out on tables. And I looked over in the corner, and there's a chef in a full chef's uniform, and he's standing on this tablecloth table, and there's a roast duck in front of him, and he's slicing the roast duck, and he smiles at me.
[00:24:00] And in that moment, I realized that I had accidentally wandered into heaven.
[00:24:05] It was beautiful.
[00:24:08] I mean, it's one thing to buy that experience. It's another thing to have no idea it's coming. And then you walk in on it, you're like, oh, wow. And you know what we didn't have after that? There was no more grumbling about the cost of the tickets.
[00:24:20] As we're eating, you know, duck And M&Ms, just back and forth.
[00:24:29] See, when we underestimate the value of something, then the cost feels too high. But when we know the value the cost is, we give it with joy. See, Jesus was talking about the kingdom all throughout his ministry, and in the gospel of Matthew, he talks about how the kingdom of God, the reign of God, the reign of God that is coming to us really good.
[00:24:52] And for people that felt like God was kind of angry and always coming down hard on, like, do we really want his reign any closer?
[00:25:01] And so Jesus, much of his ministry, he's talking about the kingdom of heaven is something that is so good and so valuable and brings such joy. And he said this in Matthew chapter 13. He says, it's like a man who goes into a field and he stumbles upon a buried treasure.
[00:25:18] And so he hides that treasure back in the ground and he goes and he joyfully sells everything he owns to buy that field. Now, it's one thing to begrudgingly and out of obligation and kind of annoyed that we say yes to the work of God, but when we know the value, I will tell you what it will bring us great joy, whatever the cost.
[00:25:40] This is the only kind of following Jesus I want to participate in.
[00:25:47] I just fully reject this idea of, as a Christian, I should be miserable and discontent and sad my whole life because someday in heaven my reward is there. Just putting jewels on my crown, Lord.
[00:26:03] While there is a treasure in heaven that Jesus talked about, I'll tell you what he meets us right here. He meets us on every day that we lay down our lives and we embrace humility over a power grab. He meets us every time that we lay down what we think is going to get us success. For the way of Jesus. He meets us with his grace and his mercy and his presence. And so there is joy along the path for those who follow in the way of Jesus.
[00:26:34] The value of Christ that Paul was so familiar with makes the cost worth it.
[00:26:42] So Jesus asks us today, who do you say that I am?
[00:26:48] Is the value high enough that we place on Jesus to make the cost worth it? 3 things to consider as we move towards communion today. Number one, my understanding of Jesus is incomplete.
[00:27:02] I think this has actually become.
[00:27:05] Is becoming a core value of our church is that we don't know it all. Which is a funny thing to put on your mission statement. We will be a community who does not know it all, but I want to be that.
[00:27:18] Ben said this last week that in a world where everybody knows everything, we dare to be curious about what we don't know, especially when it comes to who Jesus is. I love this idea that I will spend my whole life in pursuit of Christ. At the end of my life, it will be as though I've just got a toe in the dirt depths of the ocean of God's mercy and the knowledge of who Christ is, that all we know about him is just a taste of what is to come. And so this is again for all you church kids in the house today, where you're certain you've heard all the sermons, you've heard this sermon, you could come up here and preach it for me.
[00:27:59] Come on. Now. We have just begun to understand who Jesus is, much like the disciples who walked face to face with him for three years. If anyone could say, I think I figured him out now, it would be them. And at this moment, they are just beginning to see what he's all about. Let it be so for us.
[00:28:15] Number two. Following Jesus will cost me. I never want to have such a low view of the value of following Christ that I have to lower the cost to make it work.
[00:28:27] But when I see Jesus as he truly is, as that thing above all else, the cost becomes worth it. As Augustine wrote, he said, Christ is not valued at all unless he is valued above all.
[00:28:41] Wow.
[00:28:42] That we might embrace the cost of following Jesus because we have seen the value of following Jesus. And finally, the way is worth it.
[00:28:52] The way is worth it.
[00:28:57] So my invitation for us today is that we would live into a life of significance, that the.
[00:29:07] The days and months and years that we have would not be spent out of fear, insulating ourselves from loss and risk.
[00:29:18] Jesus used the metaphor of a man who just had to build barns and build bigger barns to hold all this stuff.
[00:29:25] And in the end, what was it for?
[00:29:30] And for all of us? I hope that our goal and our aim is that we might get to the end of our lives, having poured ourselves out as Jesus did, for the sake of others and for the sake of the kingdom to come, that this is where we find our purpose.
[00:29:55] That as we pursue Christ and we follow him into humility and self sacrifice, that it doesn't mean our relationships get worse. No, they get richer and stronger and deeper. Our marriages get more connected, our relationships in the community become more transparent and open and honest.
[00:30:17] This is not a zero sum game where if I give, I won't have enough. And you're going to take. No, that's not this. The kingdom of God is one of abundance.
[00:30:28] So we give and we give and we give and we find that God's mercy and his resource, his overflowing, overwhelming peace meets us along the way.
