Since the Diet election where the Democratic Party (民主党Minshuto) and it’s allies won the majority seats in the lower house Japanese parliament, we have watched Hatoyama getting in and out of cars as he went from meeting to meeting to set up the next government. Then on September 15th, the members of the Diet walked past a box where they inserted their ballot and guess what --- Hatoyama is elected the prime minister. Later that day, Hatoyama dressed in a black morning coat, has a short, formal event with the Emperor. It’s all over and Hatoyama is off to more meetings to set up the new cabinet and government.
Compare that to the US. On inauguration day, for example there is a long parade up to the steps of the capitol. There are universal prayers, music and then of course there is the oath of office. After the oath is a speech by the new president and then after all of that, there are various parties that go on late into the night and in to the early morning of the next day.
It could be for that reason; a simple affair compared to a more complex event, but in the US the inaugural of a new government does not always go smoothly. Take from example, this past Inauguration Day in the US on January 20, 2009.
There were 2 million people at the occasion and millions more watching on TV. Finally, we have the moment where Sen. Barack Obama raised his right hand to take the oath of office. John Roberts, Chief Supreme Court Justice of the United States, laid out the oath: “I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear that I will execute the office of President faithfully.” Oops!
Problem was, the oath was supposed to read: “I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President.” The word faithfully had somehow flipped out of place, landing at the end of the phrase. Chief Justice Roberts gave it another shot. They tried together to get back on track, and then the ceremony continued with the inaugural speech and everyone rushed off to parties.
Of course as Americans are fond of political theater, conspiracy thinking immediately erupted over the oath. Because Sen. Obama had voted against John Roberts’ Supreme Court appointment, some people said the mix-up was intentional. Others claimed that Obama would not and could not become president until he said the oath of office correctly.
Well, just to be safe, Obama and Roberts repeated the oath the next day. But here’s the bigger issue: What does it matter because the phrase “execute the office of President faithfully” has the same meaning as “faithfully execute the office of President.” It’s a distinction without a difference. And because we are here half way around the world a somewhat safe distance from US media, I can tell you that the 20th Amendment to the US Constitution states that the terms of the outgoing president and vice president shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of their successors shall then begin. In other words the oath is an exercise more for show.
What does all that have to do with us? Think about it with me for today were we hear how Jesus asks his disciples who he is, and Peter answers, “You are the Christ.”1 Peter is exactly right in what he says and he does not mess up any of the words of this particular pledge. And yet, getting the words right is not all there is to being a faithful disciple. Peter does not fully comprehend the import of what he is saying --- for instance, Peter is quick to confront Jesus just a few verses later, when Jesus begins to teach his followers that he “--- must suffer many things --- must be killed.”2
Peter nails the statement, but not the office. Peter does a great job with his statement of faith about Jesus, but he has yet to grasp what the job of following the Messiah is all about.
I wonder how we become obsessed with pledges and getting the words right --- perhaps concerned about the exact words of faith or perhaps concerned depending on the particular people we are with --- and miss the focus of this lesson; the specifics of two particular offices: Messiah and Follower. Only when we understand these roles will we be able to faithfully execute the office of disciple of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is on the road with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi, and on the way he asks his followers, “Who do people say that I am?” What are people “Twittering” about?3 The disciples answer, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”4
Jesus makes the question personal, and asks, “Who do you say I am?”5 Peter answers him, “You are the Christ,” the term Christ or Messiah means anointed one: a term which has profound historical meaning as the divinely chosen leader of the people for Jews.
This answer is perfect, and Peter is to be commended for this these words. But Jesus is keenly aware that many people are looking for a practical, military Messiah ? God’s Commander in Chief ? to drive the Romans out of Jerusalem and restore the kingdom to Israel. So Jesus sternly orders the disciples not to tell anyone about him.6
But a pledge --- a statement of faith --- is not enough. More important is the nature of the office, not the office of President or Prime Minister, but Messiah. And that is why Jesus begins to teach them that the Son of Man “must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.”7 To be the Messiah, Jesus has to undergo suffering, death and resurrection --- there is just no way around it.
This is hard for Jesus’ disciples, which is why we also need to look at the office of Follower. When Jesus talks openly about his suffering and death, Peter takes him aside and begins to rebuke him. It’s inconceivable to Peter that God’s anointed leader would have to suffer a humiliating death. But Jesus quickly turns the tables and rebukes Peter, saying, “Get behind me, Satan! You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”8
Most of us focus on the first part of this statement, “Get behind me, Satan!” Or we focus on this slam on Peter who had just given the pldge. But in doing that we may miss the most important message for us as followers: the primary task of faithfully executing the office of disciple of Jesus Christ is this: set your mind on divine things, not human things.
Jesus explains what the office of disciple means. Jesus calls together the crowd with his disciples and says to them, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”9 That is the beginning of the key to executing the office of disciple: to set our minds on divine things, not human things. To do so means to deny our selves, take up our cross and follow Jesus.
Think about that. How well do we do that: deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus? How much do we focus on getting the words right for ourselves or getting others to say it our way “Jesus is the Christ” than on the office: deny, take up, and follow?
Peter’s oath and then denial both come from the same tongue, the same heart, the same man. This means that the particular challenges as office holders, as followers are going to be different, unique as each one of us is uniquely created by God, but no matter what language one uses, no matter how we may stumble over the words, we have each been called: deny, take up and follow. It is not that there is one way to deny our selves, one way to take up the cross and one way to follow Jesus rather it is in only in Christ that we find the strength to do so and it is only in Christ will our statement of faith be honored. Amen.
1 Mark 8:29
2 Vs. 31
3 Vs. 27
4 Vs. 28
5 Vs. 29
6 Vs. 30
7 Vs. 31
8 Vv: 32-35
9 Vs. 34
