Instant Christians?

Lent 2B, Gen.17:1-7, 15-16; Mark 8:31-38; St. Paul’s, Smithfield, NC 2/25/2018

 

Jim Melnyk: “Instant Christians?”

The other day I was reminded of a fun story with an interesting connection to today’s lessons from Genesis and Mark.  Back in the 80’s the Ukrainian-born comedian Yakov Smirnoff came on the scene.  “When he first came to the United States from [the then Soviet Union] he was not prepared for the incredible variety of instant products available in American grocery stores. He says, “On my first shopping trip, I saw powdered milk—you just add water, and you get milk. Then I saw powdered orange juice—you just add water, and you get orange juice. And then I saw baby powder, and I thought to myself, ‘What a country!’”

Smirnoff is joking, but there are many who make these assumptions about Christian Transformation—that people change instantly [and permanently, when they come into relationship with God, and then we’re disappointed when we blunder.] There’s the belief that when someone gives his or her life to Christ, there is an immediate, substantive, in-depth, miraculous change in habits, attitudes, and character. But in reality there is no quick fix to the brokenness we experience in our lives. We can’t just go to church as if we are going to the grocery store: Powdered Christian. Just add water and disciples are born… (Author not cited in Synthesis).

And all kidding aside, many Christians tend to teach this form of Instant Transformation – and we have our own version in the Episcopal Church, don’t we?  Just add water!  I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit – and after a bit of chrism across the forehead we are “marked as Christ’s own forever.” 

But, the waters of Baptism aren’t some magical potion we sprinkle or pour on the dehydrated souls of our loved ones to get instant, mature-in-the-faith Christians.  Holy Baptism reminds us that we are God’s own beloved – that we belong to the household of God – but living into that promise is a life-long journey with many twists and turns along the way, with all kinds of roadblocks and wilderness desserts along the way.  And even though those called by Jesus in Mark’s gospel respond immediately, they have a long row to hoe before they really get what Jesus is teaching – they don’t become full-fledged followers of Jesus until they experience not only the cross, but the resurrection as well.

Today’s lessons from Genesis and Mark are like two exams – two tests – I suspect we struggle to pass every day.  In Genesis 17 God comes once again to Abram saying to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless.”  But Abram is far from an instant disciple. 

This is the THIRD time God has had to pop in on Abram.  The promise is first made in chapter 12, when Abram and Sarai are called to leave their home and go to a land God will show them along the way.  The two start out okay – they even get to where God wants them to be, but as far as the Promise is concerned, Abram and Sarai get sidetracked.  God shows up in again in chapter 15 to remind Abram of the Promise, and then again in today’s lesson.  “Pay attention, Abram!  Why do I have to keep reminding you?”  The desire to follow is there for Abram, but the follow through is a struggle.

And then there’s that bit about Abram needing to be “blameless,” which sounds like instant goodness, doesn’t it?  But the meaning of the word in Hebrew isn’t about living in some state of “moral purity,” as if one could suddenly – instantly – become perfect.  In this context being “blameless” means offering our “complete loyalty” to God.  Abraham will continue to struggle with God’s call in his life – he will be anything but an “Instant Disciple” – he will certainly never be accused of having it all together – but he will remain loyal – he will remain faithful – despite his faults – and that’s a challenge for us. 

This brings me to the second test I’m sure we would have found challenging as a first century follower of Jesus, and a test I suspect most of us often struggle to pass today as a twenty-first century followers of Christ. Having just been named the Christ of God by Peter, Jesus pronounces his impending crucifixion – throwing Peter and the others for a loop.  Jesus then gathers the whole crowd around and says, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their own cross and follow me.” 

Taking up our cross isn’t as simple as giving up chocolate or beer, TV, or Facebook for Lent.  Jesus is calling us to follow his example – calling us to be willing to give up our own lives if it could help turn the world to God’s dream for creation – to God’s dream of a just, merciful and compassionate world.   

Carrying our own cross could mean being vilified, ridiculed, or even threatened with death for our willingness to take a stand for justice. We certainly see that happening to many youth in the news today.  It could mean living with chronic illness or pain, or being willing to lovingly give up some of our own freedom to care for a loved one who is chronically or critically ill.  It could mean letting one of our children or a spouse fall down in the midst of an addiction – knowing that if we continually jump in to rescue them they may never find recovery.  There are so many ways to carry a cross – a cross that is much more than a temporary inconvenience or annoyance in our lives.  And that’s hard stuff – even scary stuff at times.

Those listening to Jesus know they are being asked to follow, and in its deepest sense, accept the death penalty for doing so.  There is no other way of understanding the cross for those who, throughout their lifetimes, saw thousands of crosses dotting the landscape like obscene Roman-built picket fences along the highway.  And I’m not sure, faced with that reality, how I would have stood up as a first century follower of Jesus – even in spite of the resurrection.

Not long ago I came across a fitting passage: “The life which you, and we, and Jesus [choose] at our baptisms is a life where day by day we must [elect] to love, and not to hate, to be friends and not enemies, to forgive and not hold grudges, to heal and help and hold and not to injure, wound and scar.  It is the choice to live such a life that eventually [costs] Jesus his own” (Brother James Koester, Brother Give Us a Word).  “Take up your cross, the Savior said, if you would my disciple be; take up your cross with willing heart, and humbly follow after me” (Charles William Everest, The Hymnal 1982, 675).

Abram’s witness calls us to be blameless before God – not morally perfect – not holier than thou – but rather to be completely loyal to the One who promises us life.  Christ calls us to carry our own crosses with all the harsh reality the cross can mean – to stand in the breach on behalf of all God’s people – to follow the Way of Jesus in all of its paradoxical glory – because in the end, taking up our cross and following Jesus is the way that leads to life. 

Perhaps, my friends, we don’t need to pass the test after all – Hey, even Abram, who spoke with God, and the disciples, who walked with Jesus, couldn’t pass the test with flying colors.  That’s where God’s grace, and love, and mercy, come in.  Perhaps, in the end, we just need to be willing to sit for the exam. Amen.