Welcome to God-Mart!

The Holy Gospel According to St. Matthew, the 16th Chapter

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea

Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

You probably know what it’s like to go shopping at Sam’s Club or Costco.  Staring up at a cliff-face of pallets filled with row after row of toilet paper in 144 roll packs.  In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus has taken the disciples shopping as well, although the disciples weren’t staring up at a selection of single or double ply.  They were shopping for the One they would follow.  

Jesus had taken the disciples to Ceasera-Philipi which is in the very Northern part of Israel near the headwaters of the Jordan River.  It was a very cosmopolitan town, where Jewish culture met the world and under Roman rule, this town was dedicated to the god Pan and also had a temple to Caesar.  But Pan and Caesar were just the big-volume gods.  In Caesaria-Philipi there were way more to choose from... in this town, it was like going shopping at god-Mart because into the face of the cliff just outside of town, the people had carved niches into which they placed their various gods.  So, looking up at the cliff face with a vast variety of gods looking down on them, Jesus asked the disciples, “Who do you say that I am?”  In other words, as you look out at all the choices in front of you today, which one are you going to put in that shopping cart with the sticky, wobbly, squeeking wheel, and take home?  

It was a good question.  But it wasn’t JUST a question for disciples back then.  It’s a question for us too.  But before you answer, hold on a minute.  You might think Jesus was asking each disciple then... and you and me now... for an INDIVIDUAL decision... a personal choice but the truth is, that’s not what Jesus was asking at all!  When Jesus asked “Who do you say that I am” the “YOU” he used was PLURAL.  Jesus was asking them as a group... as a whole.  “Who do Y’ALL say that I am…together… what have y’all decided…who will y’all follow... together?”  And so, while Peter played the part of the spokes-model for the group, it wasn’t his decision alone... it’s what they chose TOGETHER.  

Again we see that being disciples is not really about... not even mostly about you or me as individuals deciding to follow Jesus... It’s actually WAY more about being part of a community of faith.  Being a Christian is much more a group activity than an individual activity.  I know that rubs against what the loud people often say about faith and while there is a small element of the personal, private and individual in our faith, there is an overwhelmingly larger, more profound and infinitely more meaningful part of our faith that can only be experienced in community.  So as we shop for the One we will follow... we’ve got to shop TOGETHER as a community of faith.  So, grab a shopping cart with a sticky wheel and let’s start shopping... TOGETHER.  

So, welcome to god-Mart!  As you can see, here at god-Mart there are literally endless choices of gods to follow.  As we head down the first aisle, you’ll notice this super shiny god on the end-cap.  It’s the god of prosperity.  It’s super sharp, that’s for sure... and a REALLY popular choice.  This god comes with finely tailored Italian suits, perfectly straight white teeth and AMAZING hair.  With this god comes the message that the reason to give to the church is so you can get MORE in return.  For this god, success and wealth and riches are the ways people are blessed and poverty is a sign of sin.  If you are poor, it simply must be what you deserve.  Like I said, it’s a very popular choice but let’s hold off a minute; there are lots more gods to look at, so let’s shop around a bit before we make our choice. 

Just around the corner is another very appealing god.  It’s the god of comfort.  Choosing that god will make sure things stay small, comfortable and easily under our control... just the way we like it.  It smells like grandma’s house and fresh baked chocolate chip cookies every time you walk in the door.  This god allows you to not see the injustice in the world, doesn’t ask you to speak out on behalf of someone else and never asks you to give up what makes you comfortable so that someone else might be included... plus... there’s cookies!  Cookies are tempting, that’s for sure... But, don’t decide yet!  There are a lot more gods at god-Mart.  There’s an endowment god that keeps things up and going in a church even if it requires life support.  There’s the god who looks like a old, white man with a beard in a cloud and there’s the god that’s anything but a white old man with a beard in a cloud.  There’s the god of music, a god of traditional liturgy, a god of contemporary worship, a god of pipe organs and a god of electrified bands... there’s the god of buildings, the god of youth and family and a denominationally exclusive god that lets you think your people alone have all the right answers... there’s a god with a shockingly colorful vocabulary and another one of the new arrivals... an emerging god with ink and piercings.  Some of these might be tempting... might sound like just what we want or need... but remember, we have to decide together, and we only get to pick one.  So let’s keep shopping… Now, over here, in amongst all these millions of choices there is also the choice of Jesus, the Son of the living God.  That’s the one the disciples chose in the Gospel story, but that was way back then!  Just because that’s what THEY chose on their trip to god-Mart, that doesn’t mean that’s what we have to choose!  

But, just out of curiosity, what would it look like if WE chose to follow Jesus, the son of the living God.  Well, I’ve got to warn you... that one is hard to follow.  After all, this is the Son of the LIVING God… and living means moving, CHANGING, risk-taking so that one is always challenging.  Following this one… following Jesus means going out there into the world, speaking up against injustice, putting his ideas into actions.  It means working actively against things like institutional and systemic racism and seeing that the things happening in Ferguson happen here too and seeing that we too play a part in it all.  It means fighting for those who need healing, not just with a one time donation and not just when it’s trending, but for the long haul and for the forgotten.  It means going where JESUS wants us to go (not where we want to go) and between you and me, Jesus ALWAYS goes to the places and people on the margins.  He goes where things aren’t exactly familiar, under control or comfortable.  He often asks his disciples to leave things they like behind and open themselves to something VERY new.  It means opening our hearts to people different from us, challenging our deepest fears, seeing the world through their eyes and seeing every person as the equal and marvelous and essential child of God they really are.  It means trying it someone else’s way, making their hopes our own, sharing the control and moving ourselves out from the safety of the way it used to be and into a new way nobody has EVER done it that way before!  It means dying to what we want as individuals... to what has been comfortable in the past and to playing it safe and being resurrected to a new life lived only in Christ; in a loving, self-sacrificial way for all people.

Well, there are a lot more gods on the shelves but have you seen enough?  Have y’all decided?  In my experience, lots of people SAY Jesus is the one they want, but when they think nobody’s looking they put Jesus back on the shelf behind a case of Ramen noodles and grab an easier one to follow.  So Prince of Peace, as we look at a future filled with a bunch of unknowns and challenges... as we look at a world that seems this summer to be more unhinged with injustice than usual... which One will we as a congregation put into that shopping cart with the rattling, annoying, sticky wheel?  Which One will we choose to follow?  Among all the possible answers that the world has to offer us, who will we together, say that Jesus is?  Amen.