Where’s the Beef?
Mark 8:24-38
September 17, 2006
University Christian Church, Seattle, WA
Rev. Sandy Messick

• Do you remember the old Wendy’s commercial? The little old lady with the white hair and proper shoes is standing there at the fast food counter with her hamburger. She lifts the bun, and there, the size of a pickle slice, is the sliver of meat. The woman looks up and in a grumpy voice says, “Where’s the beef?” And we know just what she meant. Where’s the good stuff, where’s the part we paid for? Because the rest is just fluff.
• As we listen to this scripture reading I have to wonder, where’s the good news? I look and look, under the lettuce, beneath the pickle, and all I find is doom and gloom. So, where’s the good news in this passage?
• Now really, the story starts out OK. Jesus is with his Disciples, talking about this or that or whatever, when suddenly he changes the subject, “Who do people say I am? What are they saying about me?”
• Now that question seemed easy enough. The disciples answer quickly, “Well, some say you’re Elijah or one of the other prophets, some say Moses returned, some say…”
• Jesus looked them square in the eye, and said, “Enough of all that, who do you say I am?”
• Now as we’d expect, Peter answers for all of them. Good old impulsive Peter who never could remember to raise his hand in class but always blurted out the answer, “You are the Christ.”
• Now in Matthew, Peter gets praised for his answer. “Right you are! Blessed are you! You have won what’s behind door number 1, you have won the keys to the kingdom!”
• But in Mark, Jesus just looks at Peter and says, “Yeah, well, don’t tell anyone,” and goes on his way.
• And for Peter, that’s OK, because Peter thinks he knows what being the Christ means: Peter has visions of royalty, robes, sumptuous dining and deluxe accommodations. Peter’s imagining a rosy future, a place in history, he’s imagining riding Jesus’ coattails into the palace, serving as top advisor to the new King, getting rid of Roman rule, and being firmly established in the upper echelons of a new world order. Peter has it all figured out in his imagination.
• But what he doesn’t imagine, is what Jesus says next:
• The Christ isn’t going to the palace, but to Calvary
• The way ahead isn’t paved with riches and adulation, but with suffering and rejection
• The true meaning of Messiah isn’t about being the greatest, but being the least.
• And that is not at all what Peter expected. That’s not good news. That’s not what he envisioned. That doesn’t fit with his plan for life. And so he does what most of us do when confronted with news we’d rather not deal with: he ignores it, can’t hear it, tunes Jesus out.
• “Oh no, Lord, that can’t be it.” Says Peter. “You’re just having a bad day, you’re discouraged because some don’t like you, you’re only seeing the dark cloud, you’re missing the silver lining. Oh no, Lord, those things could never happen to you (and under his breath, don’t you know he’s saying, and please don’t let them happen to me.)”
• But Jesus isn’t imagining, isn’t delusional, isn’t steeped in negative thinking, he’s telling it like it is. “Get behind me Satan, you’re missing the point. These things are going to happen. They’re going to happen to me because I choose to be obedient, and they’re going to happen to you if you choose to be faithful.”
• There, he said it. Out loud and in front of witnesses. What Peter and the others feared most. What you and I, if we’re honest, fear most.
• If you are going to follow Christ, really follow him, then it means taking up your cross, the means of your suffering, every day, and stepping out blindly in faith.
• Now I ask you, where’s the good news in that?

• Mark’s original listeners knew that Jesus meant this literally.
• Persecution and crucifixion were realities that couldn’t be ignored. To follow Jesus could literally mean you’d be carrying the cross right behind him in the parade to Golgotha. So this wasn’t a simple choice, to be a Christian was literally a life or death decision.
• Some today, are still facing the same choices: I read one statistic that said more Christians died for their faith in the 20 th century than in the 1 st century. Christianity is dangerous stuff if you live in places like, China, North Korea, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and the Sudan.
• We all heard the story of Abdul Rahman the Afghani who was sentenced to death for converting from Islam to Christianity. He escaped to Italy, but others have not been so lucky. Some reports say that as many as 100,000 Christians are held in labor camps in North Korea and that in recent years some 600 churches were destroyed in Indonesia. In many parts of the world, to be a Christian is truly to be taking up your cross daily, the very instrument of your execution. 1
• At least we’re safe here. As Fred Craddock says, “most Christians are never called to make the grand gesture”. That’s reassuring I suppose, but then he goes on to say, that instead, “we are called to pay the price of discipleship a quarter at a time.”
• For most of us, we’ll never be called to make a life or death decision, at least in the literal sense,
• But we are still challenged by Christ. Will we choose the life of following Him, even with the hardships, or the death that comes from denying him? If our faith is to have meaning, it cannot be a once-a-week feel good experience. If our faith is to have meaning, it must be the foundation of our whole being. If our faith is to have meaning, it must be reflected in the decisions we make, in the choices we make, in the directions we choose for our lives.
• If our faith is to have meaning, it will require us to make hard choices in the lives we live.

• How does our faith impact our decisions about money, where we spend it, how much, and on what? Are we willing to make tough choices, sacrificing choices about things we want, and things we know Christ would have us do?
• How does our faith impact our views of our neighbors, our community, and our world? Are we willing to speak up when we see injustice, when confronted with racism, when we witness oppression, even when to do so puts our job or our reputation, or our self-image on the line?
• How does our faith impact the decisions we make in terms of lifestyle, the impact our lifestyle has on God’s creation, how we spend our leisure time, and who or what will come first? Are we willing to deny ourselves, in order to follow Christ?

Jesus knew that if faith is to have meaning, if following Christ is to have meaning, then it affects the whole of our being, every decision we make, every word we speak, every position we hold. And if our faith isn’t that significant in our daily life, well then, it really doesn’t amount to much does it?
Jesus knew, that if we take our faith seriously, following Christ no matter the cost, that there will be costs, and sacrifices, and decisions we’d rather not make. Accepting Christ isn’t a once for all, and they lived happily ever proposition. It’s a take up your cross every day, get ready for resistance every day, stay close on my heels every day, and follow me.

And I ask you again, where’s the good news in that?

• The good news is simply this: We are called to be faithful. 24/7. All the time. We are called to stand up for our faith, to make tough decisions and ask the tough questions, and accept the consequences they bring. But the good news is that we’re not called to stand alone. The good news is that the one we’re following, the Christ for whom we are risking all, is the same one who has already carried his cross. The same one who has already suffered far more than we can think or would experience. The same one who knows what we are feeling when we suffer for our faith, or are rejected for our beliefs, or are shut out for our commitment. The Christ we follow has already been where we’re going, and that’s good news.

But wait, there’s more good news. The Christ we’re following doesn’t leave us in the dust, moving off so far ahead we might as well be alone. No, instead, the Christ we follow is the one who sees us struggling, and moves behind us to help us carry that cross. Who moves beside us to wipe our brow and whisper words of encouragement. Who stands before us lighting the path and reminding us we will never walk alone.

But wait! There is even more good news to be found here! The good news is that the Christ we’re following has shown us the way through the fire, to the glory that waits on the other side. For in the end, our sacrifices, our struggles, our doubt and our despair are not about losing our lives, but about gaining the kingdom. And I’m not talking about a pie-in-the-sky heaven sort of kingdom, but about being witness to the fullness of God’s promises. The good news is that in following Christ we are moving beyond the present indecision, and into God’s glorious future. And that is good news indeed.

And the best news yet is that it is the promise of that good news that gives us the strength to carry that cross, and to follow Christ, in faithfulness, in trust, and with confidence, wherever Christ may lead. And all God’s children say “Amen.”