June 20, 2010

    Whose in charge here? I need to speak to the boss. Are you in charge? Are you the boss? Sometimes I like to pretend that I am in charge. I am the boss of my own life and I can do whatever I want. But that attitude conflicts with my lying on the floor during my ordination two weeks ago when the entire congregation prayed that all of the all of the saints and holy men and women of God pray for me. There on the floor, I was admitting that I was not in charge and proudly confessing that Jesus is my boss.
    Today, we gather as community to profess that we are not in charge of our own lives. We confess that our answers to life's problems, our own way of responding to the many injustices in the world may not be the best. Jesus invites us to follow him, not to lead him around or pull him out when it is convenient. We remind ourselves that Jesus is the boss and that we want to follow Jesus. But we cannot follow what we do not see. We must first see Jesus' active in our lives if we are to follow him.
    Who do YOU say that I am? Jesus asks us to tell him where we are discovering his presence in our lives. Peter comes to his confession that Jesus is “The Christ of God,” not because he studied theology or read a good book on the incarnation but because of his daily encounters with the person of Jesus. Peter watches Jesus work, he hears him speak, he journeys with Jesus. We too, must watch Jesus at work in ourselves and in those around us. We too must listen to what Jesus wants to say both to us and through us. We too must allow Jesus to touch us, to heal us, to make a difference in our lives and to discover Jesus in those whom we touch – in our friendships and in our families.
    When Jesus asks Peter, “Who do you say that I am?”, Jesus wants a personal response. It is tempting to think that Jesus is quizzing us, as if there were a single right answer and Peter got it right so now we are off the hook. Quite the contrary,  Jesus is asking “Who do YOU say that I am?”. We are not off the hook. We are called to reflect back on the past week to see where it is that Christ has led us? Have we allowed Jesus to lead us or have resisted going where Jesus might lead? Have we allowed Jesus to speak through us to those closest to us or have we dominated the conversations and let Jesus' voice play quietly in the background (if at all)? Have we allowed Jesus to move us to touch and to heal others or have we continued to hurry through life failing to recognize those call out for our attention? Following Jesus is more than just giving a good answer to the question, it must be followed up with how we live and respond to people and events in our lives.
    In the Spiritual Exercises, Saint Ignatius invites us to consider that whoever would like to follow Jesus is to be happy to eat, drink, and dress as Jesus does. Likewise they are to work with Jesus in the day and keep watch in the night, so that afterwards they may have part with Jesus in the victory, just as he has shared in the labors. Following Jesus is a profoundly personal experience. Jesus reveals himself in your life quite differently than he does in mine and yet we believe it is the same Jesus journeying with us. We come together as a community to celebrate the ways that Christ's presence has been made known to each of this past week and to look forward in hope to the ways in which that presence will be revealed. We come together to share our answer to the “Who do YOU say that I am”.
    In so far as we follow Jesus, this community becomes the body of Christ sent out into the world to reveal Jesus.  You are called to carry Jesus into the world, you are called to be compassionate, to be reconcilers that heal divisions, to be healers bringing hope to those who are suffering, and to be teachers sharing the light of wisdom to those in darkness. This mission is lived out at home, at work, in the ways you play, with friends, on the phone, and in what you text or blog about.
    In order to allow Jesus to be your leader, to follow Christ, to deny yourself, to take up the cross, and to give up your life you must answer Jesus' question “Who do YOU say that I am?”. Seek Jesus revealing himself in your life and upon seeing him, follow him. Listen to Jesus speaking in your life and when you hear him, answer him. Follow Jesus, go where Jesus goes, do what Jesus does. In following Jesus, you will learn not only who he is but who you are called to be. You will find yourself gradually transformed into the body of Christ and while at times rejected YOU will become a living answer to the question “Who do YOU say that I am”.