Pentecost XVI- Holly Hartman

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

There is a man who generally can be found in Boston Common, sitting close to the exit of the Boston Common Garage.  If you park your car in this garage, then climb the stairs up to the outside, you will often hear this man singing:

“Does anybody have spare change?   Does anybody have change change change?”

I have walked by this man enough times now to know that, not only does he ask for change, but that he has an incredibly charismatic aspect which warms me, and I suspect, others, to him.  He will comment- in his singsongy voice- on each and every person that walks by him.

 

For example, the first day, as I was walking by, I heard him sing  “Does anybody have a black and white skirt?” and I realized he was referring to me!   I reflexively smiled, which elicited the next line” Does anybody have a nice smile?”.  

This made my day.  I felt noticed, recognized, and for a brief moment, valued that I was identified as someone who has a nice smile.  And perhaps...if a stranger thinks I have a nice smile, then maybe I am perceived as a warm person....which is a characteristic I value, especially in my new identity,  my role as a deacon.  Wow! 

Issues of identity are part of our human experience.  We spend a good part of our psychic energy trying to discover who we are.  And, according to noted psychologist Erik Erikson, if we don’t emerge from adolescents with a fairly solid sense of this, we experience “identity crisis” and may well spend a good part of our adult years figuring this out.   Who am I?   How am I perceived by the world?

In Mark’s Gospel this morning, Jesus raises critical questions of identity when he asks his disciples the questions  “Who do people say that I am?”, and when they answered that question, followed by “ Who do YOU say that I am?”   It was time to get everything out on the table and make sure that these disciples knew who they were dealing with.

Peter knew.  His answer, technically was correct.  “You are the Messiah.”   But, as Jesus is Jesus...nothing is that clear.   Peter might have been shocked when Jesus responded as he did “Get behind me Satan!   For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”    Then he went on to explain that while yes, he was the Son of Man- the Messiah, He was not the type of Messiah that Peter and the others imagined.  He would rise to Glory, yes, in the end, but it was what would happen in the meantime that Jesus wanted his disciples to understand.

So he began to explain to them what lie ahead for him.   The was a Messiah, alright, but a SUFFERING Messiah.  While lie ahead for him was going to be anything but an easy ride.  And if they wanted to continue on this path of following him, there was going to be enormous heartache and sacrifice.  Jesus warned of the need for his followers to “deny themselves and take up their crosses”, and of “losing their lives in order to save them”.  It was going to be difficult, impossible for some, to be faithful followers of this kind of a messiah.  Were his disciples up to the task?  Were they prepared to lay down their lives for the sake of Jesus and his Gospel teachings? 

And what about us.   As Christians,  are we prepared to “deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus”?   Are you?   Am  I?”

In order to answer these questions, we circle back to the issue of our identity.  Because I believe that what Jesus is asking us to do, is know who we are, not in the eyes of society, but in the eyes of God.   

What is our identity in the eyes of God? 

It is no secret that in our society, what defines our identity, most often, is what we DO.  What we do in our professional lives, what our titles may be, what roles we play.  We are doctors, or lawyers, or husbands, or daughters, here at Christ Church we are choir members, or Vergers, Vestry members, or priests.   And we often relate to each other within the context of those roles that we play.   Which is natural and even necessary most times.

 

But what God is asking us to do, and what Jesus is trying to convey, is to look at who we are when all of these roles are stripped away. 

Take my Boston Common friend, for example.  Based on assumptions, I would guess that he is poor, probably homeless, maybe mentally ill.   Not too many people have the guts to put themselves out there like he does, trying to interact with every person that he encounters, and I don’t believe it is just so he can get money from them.  If you walk by him without giving him anything, he continues to sing about you! 

My Boston Common friend is an example of someone whose roles in life have been stripped away.   He probably doesn’t have a vocation, which is why he needs to ask for money.  He may not have a prominent role in a family like many men of his age do- father, grandfather, husband.   Now, in all likelihood, he may be an integral part of the community of homeless men and women that live on or near Boston Common, and he may have an important role to play in that community.

But in an outsiders eyes, in the eyes of “society”, he is someone who, for one reason or another, has been stripped of many of his roles in life.

Some who walk by him may notice his disheveled appearance, his long and uncombed hair, scruffy clothing, and be turned off by his begging, which is really what he is doing.

But others see him as a person who wants to connect with others, has a need to see others and be seen himself.

God gives each one of us the most important kind of identity- the identity of being a beloved child of God, even before we are born.  And NO one is spared this identity- it is there for the taking. 

The hard part is learning to take it, to accept it, and to grow into it.  Because if we could do this easily, we wouldn’t need psychologists like Erik Erikson to analyze identity crisis and role confusion and what happens when we don’t get what we need in life that leads to these unfortunate human conditions.   When we get so caught up in what our parents think of us, then our peers, then society at large, that we lose the essence of who we are suppose to be, who we are suppose to follow, and how we are suppose to do that,  according to our Creator.

If we, like the disciples, were asked directly by Jesus to deny ourselves and take up our crosses, to lose our lives for his sake and the sake of the gospel so that paradoxically it will be saved, what would that look like?

I believe that what is would look like would vary according to who we are.  But I also believe that there is a common thread of truth running through this very difficult challenge that would be real for all of us. 

If we took this seriously, and we should, then I believe that God is asking us to examine who we are when we stripped down to nothing- at least, nothing in the eyes of society.  Who we are when the earthly things are taken away- our homes, our material possessions, our roles in life.   Not that God wants us to be without these things, only that God wants us to put our priorities in order.  Enjoy our earthly things, but be wary of our attachment to them.

Because if we can imagine who we are without these things, then perhaps we can imagine how much we are loved by God.  I believe that that is why those of us who travel to places in the world, accompanying people who live in dire poverty for a little while, are attracted to these people.  I believe that is why I am so taken in my singing Boston Common friend.   Without the veil of worldly possessions, there can be authenticity,  a sense of knowing who we are in the eyes of God.  Beloved.  Cherished, and held in high esteem by the One who has created us.  Expected to do good in the world.  Expected that if we are willing to lose our life- loosen our attachments to our human life- for the sake of God, then we will have a life in God that is deep, true, and working towards all things good.   I pray that we will turn our hearts towards this type of life.