Christ the King-Epiphany, Wilbraham

The Rev. Martha S. Sipe

September 15, 2024 / Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost / Lectionary 24B

Mark 8:27-38

How could Peter have gotten it so right . . . and then, immediately afterwards, so wrong?

When Jesus asks the disciples what people are saying about him, they come up with all sorts of

answers.  But when Jesus presses the question, making it more personal, and asks who they think

that he is, Peter answers brilliantly:  “You are the Messiah.”  Bravo, Peter.  But then in the very next

paragraph, after Jesus predicts that he will suffer rejection and be killed, Peter takes Jesus aside to

reprimand him – and earns a return rebuke from Jesus.  Wrong, Peter.  How did he go from an A+

response to a failing grade in, like, 30 seconds?

I suspect that at least part of the problem was that Peter’s focus was too narrow.  A faithful Jew, he

had been taught to look with expectation for the day when the Messiah would come – the one who

would restore Israel’s faith and its national prospects, too.  We must never forget that, in Jesus’ day,

the people of Israel were ruled by the Romans.  Their kings were mere puppets to the Caesars.  The

people of Israel waited in hope for the day when God’s chosen one would come to restore their

nation, and Jesus, with his healings and miracles and talk of restoration surely looked like the

promised Messiah.  But Jesus’ vision was much wider than Peter’s.  Peter was focused on his and his

friends’ immediate fortunes; Jesus was determined to save the whole world.  And the work of

saving the world required sacrifice.

Then in Jesus’ day and now in ours, sacrifice is not a popular or comfortable topic.  And yet here, in

today’s reading, Jesus’ words not only predict his own ultimate sacrifice, but also compel us to lose

our life in order to save it.  Not because by giving up our lives we earn God’s love and acceptance,

but because by living sacrificial lives we are able to see the bigger picture of grace and mercy.   It’s

not all about us.  It’s about the whole world that Jesus came to save.  And it’s not just about now. 

It’s also about the future.  That’s the big picture.

Just as saving the world required Jesus’ sacrifice, so does the work of saving God’s created world

require sacrifice.  Because we’re in the midst of our Season of Creation and I’ve been thinking a lot

about our stewardship of the earth, I heard Jesus’ words about sacrifice differently this week.  I

wonder whether the life we might have to be willing to lose is our lifestyle.  When it comes to the

climate crisis, there is no doubt that we need large-scale, systemic changes to the way we steward

our resources and produce our energy.  But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t also consider the

ways our lifestyle may be unintentionally contributing to climate change.  I read a great article this

week (which I’ll post on our Facebook page for those who want to read it in its entirety) – an online

article that highlighted some decisions we can make and actions we can take to reduce our carbon

footprint and help combat climate change.  Here are just three.

(1) Long before climate change was a hot topic, we were taught that we shouldn’t waste water.  I can remember, as a child, my mother fussing at me not to leave the faucet running while I brushed my teeth.  But I have to admit that I never before thought about the fact that our water usage also has an energy cost.  It takes energy to treat, pump, and heat water.  So the sacrifice of shorter showers, low-flow faucets, and collecting rain water for our gardens not only conserves water; it also decreases our carbon footprint.  

(2) We’ve long heard that a diet with less red meat is healthier for us – which is too bad because I do love a good steak.  However, decreasing our consumption of red meat isn’t just about our health.  It’s also about the health of the planet.  Livestock farming requires large amounts of land, water, and feed, and it leads to deforestation, water pollution, and methane emissions.  I will confess:  I’m not ready to go vegetarian.  But I am willing to work more vegetarian meals into my diet – not just for my health, but also for the health of the planet.

(3) I am mindful, at this moment, that Tricia and I are about to go away on vacation – a lifestyle privilege in and of itself that I hope I never take for granted.  Now, we considered flying to our destination, but in the end, opted not to fly.  It was a decision we made for cost and convenience, honestly, and not for ethical reasons.  But the fact is that air travel is a significant contributor to carbon emissions.  Now we haven’t flown in quite a while, so I was surprised to see, as I was exploring the possibility of a flight, that you can now purchase carbon offsets through the airlines.  If you’re not familiar with the idea, a carbon offset is a way to compensate for greenhouse gas emissions by investing in projects that reduce emissions elsewhere.  The sacrifice is you pay a little more for your flight; the benefit is you help to protect the planet.  And who’s to say that we only have to add an official carbon offset to plane travel?  We could also consider making contributions to environmental organizations to offset some of our more mundane carbon costs incurred through our travel.

To protect our planet, we’re going to need more than these individual changes in lifestyle.  But I 

would argue that we won’t make those large-scale changes as a society until we, as individuals, see

the big picture, even as Jesus did.  We must understand that it’s not all about us.  Our efforts to

decrease carbon production is about all of God’s creatures, and all the people, all over the world,

the poorest of whom are disproportionately affected by the effects of climate change.  We won’t

heal the earth until we stop focusing narrowly on our present needs and look toward the future. 

And to do that – to pay attention to whole ecosystems and future generations – that will require

sacrifices of comfort and convenience.  But remember, friends:  we follow a Savior who understood

sacrifice.  We follow a Savior with a wide vision of health for all of creation.  We follow a Savior who

gave up his own potential so that we might have limitless possibilities.  There is nothing we cannot

accomplish with God’s help, including the preservation of God’s wondrous gift of this planet that we

call home. 

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https://earth5r.org/9-unexpected-ways-your-lifestyle-contributes-to-climate-change/