As promised in my apolitical opening, this really got going with this clip from Justin Trudeau, where he talked about why it was important to have a gender balanced cabinet.
Now it's a bit flippant to just stop at 'because it's 2015,' that's not all that he said, there is more, of course, and there is more to be said, naturally. But that feeling, that sentiment that is expressed that we should do what we are doing because it's the current year, that's a bit of a meme these days. This has been the reasoning for a lot of things these days, sort of equivalent to last generation's 'we can put a man on the moon, but we can't fix _____________.' You know, insert male pattern baldness, proper pH balance for our hair, using beet juice as a de-icer, anything you'd like into that blank. The implication is that if we can put a man on the moon, we should be able to solve literally any problem at all, no problem. And the idea today is that because it's the current year, we should be able to dismiss anything that came before us, change up anything topically, because it's today. It's now.
And this brings me to the Gospel reading for today, and to the nature of the world as shifting as sand. The easiest way to view this is to think about fashion and style. Why are you getting massive ear gauges put in? Because it's 2012. Why are you getting a tribal tattoo? Because it's 2008. Why are you getting a tongue ring? Because it's 2003. Why are you wearing flannel and khaki? Because it's 1998. There are other things to talk about, but those are just thing that have happened in my lifetime, and each of things were largely done because they were popular, but nobody recognized them as a trend. Pet rocks, pogs, fidget spinners, they're all things that were popular once, and their popularity faded, and we were left with useless cardboard circles that had massive value five minutes ago, and are worthless today. The fads come and the fads go, and none of us sincerely think or believe that we are doing these things because we are being led around and directed by other people. We all think and believe that we are making these decisions for ourselves, and doing what we want to do.
But there are a lot of things we do because other people tell us to do them, whether directly or indirectly. There are a lot of things we get up to because people tell us to do them. "People," tell us to do things, and we go along with it because, well "everyone" is doing it. And this has not changed one millimeter from the time of Jesus until now. When Jesus was talking about the issue of wanting to know who the disciples said that he was, he asked them, 'who do "people" say that I am?' It's a part of the story that we don't often think that much about, but give it some consideration - who are the people? Because the "people" Jesus is talking about haven't changed in two thousand years. Heck, they haven't changed in ten thousand years. This is old. Really old. This concept of taking your cues from "people" is the same as it ever has been. You think it's new, fashions and trends and the like, but it's old as dirt. There's a reason that you can identify fashion over time, that houses and buildings trend differently, that you can correctly predict the decade a photograph was taken based solely off of a man's facial hair, that kind of thing. Do you really think that all these men spontaneously decided to wear muttonchops? Or perhaps it was a style they were following.
Now, to the question. Who do 'people' say that Jesus is today. And ask yourself as you are answering that question, who are these people? Who are they, can you name them, or is it just sort of 'everyone?' Because odds are, if it's just sort of 'everyone,' then odds are that you're looking at a trend more than anything else. You need to think long and hard about why you hold the opinions that you do, why you think about God the way you do. For if it's just a matter of 'everyone says he was a good man,' well, you need to give your head a shake. It's one thing to insist on wearing flared pants because it's 1975, and to pretend you came up with the idea even though there were no straight pants in the stores; but it's quite another thing to insist, up and down, that Jesus was nothing but a nice guy but 'people' had nothing to do with that conclusion.
The disciples had that question to answer, as to what were the popular things that Jesus was called, how did the crowd refer to him, and they gave their answers. They gave their answers, saying that he was Elijah, or John the Baptist, or one of the prophets. That is what the 'people' were saying, and they were getting at, that Jesus was some kind of godly man, a holy man, a prophet, a great teacher, or something of the like. That's all good, to be sure, but that's not who Jesus actually is. The only good answer is the answer that Peter gives, that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. Peter only has that answer because Jesus has first revealed it to him. In other words ,the right answer of who Jesus is is not to be found in what is popular, but rather what is true. The right answer will be found in what Jesus says about himself, his testimony that is trustworthy and true. And that's a different matter altogether.
'People' won't really go along with this though. They won't care for it, they won't like it too much, and they won't really be into the idea that Jesus is The Messiah, the Son of the Living God. They won't like that he is serious about sin, about righteousness, about grace and hell, they won't like that he has a lot to say about leaving a life of sin and moving on from that, that's never going to be a popular opinion, and if you hold to Jesus as he has been revealed in the scriptures, that position is never going to fall in line with what the world wants, because the world changes. But ask yourself two questions: Why do you believe what you believe about Jesus Christ, and secondly, why do you care so much about what 'People' say?
Don't say you don't care. We all do, to some degree or other. We all care what people think as much as we may say we don't. We all want to be well thought of by people, want to be liked, and none of us want to go too far beyond the crowd. We want to fit in with things, and fit in with the way things are going, the cultural zeitegeist, if you will. But I ask you something else, which is, when has that actually fulfilled you? When have you been content, when has your heart been at rest when you have chased the interminably moving 'people' around you. Has that ever satisfied you? When you have done what you were told, when you have believed what 'everyone' thinks, were you ever finally pleased? Or had things moved on? By the time you caught up, did you find that your positions were now outdated, had now been dismissed, discarded, and altogether replaced? Likely. Likely you couldn't keep up, and never would be able to. So, perhaps we need to look at things in a different way.
"People" will always be looking for something different, something new. By the time you've caught up, they've moved on. Jesus started as the son of God, then was Elijah, one of the prophets, John the Baptist, he was a great moral teacher, a conflicted, indecisive man, a married man, the king of France, an Atheist, a Muslim, gosh, any one of a number of things, and it keeps on changing. But every once in a while, things are right to begin with, and don't have to change. Things like Chuck Taylors, the Rubik's cube, Star Wars, Tube socks, the Bible, Ghostbusters, all that stuff that gets worse the more you change it. It meets a need, and the need is met so well that it doesn't need to change. Let Jesus be who he is. You don't need to ask other 'people' who Jesus is, because the need that he is there to meet is one that can't be improved by changing things. He's not here to be a good teacher, a prophet, a confused gentleman or anything else - he's here to be the messiah, the son of the living God. He's here to be the savior, the one who takes away the sins of the world, the one who lets you admit fault, have it be forgiven and to grow from it. The most important person to listen to is Jesus on this question, as he will tell you, quite directly, who he is, and what he is here for. To fall into the hands of sinful men, to suffer, to die, and on the third day, rise again.
If you have anything to add to that, any further queries, have a word with Peter on that one.
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