NOTE: I am putting my weekly sermons on the church website. It will be on for two weeks (usually posted on Friday) and then placed in the Archives area by date. You can download in a matter of seconds.

Let me know what you think. The church Email is: SLUMC@att.net, Phone: 480.895.8766

Sunday, September 14, 2003
Sermon: "Who Is This Man?"
Scripture: Mark 8:27-38
Reverend Larry Gerber

Companies are rolling out the mobile billboards in the form of Kissmobiles and Mr. Peanut's Hot Rods, and sometimes we feel we need to proclaim our faith through similar eye-catching advertisements. But Peter cuts to the chase with a simple confession, and so should we.
It's 11 feet high, has two kisses, one hug, is adored by children, weighs over 13,000 pounds and is completely mobile. The Hershey Kissmobile. Once you see it, you won't forget it — which is the whole point. Dan Brice, who drives one of these rolling ads, feels like a rock star, given all the attention he gets. He's in charge of three of the Kissmobiles, which each average 50,000 miles a year in the 48 weeks they are on the road. Recent college graduates are usually behind the wheel. Hershey's calls them Chocolate Ambassadors. Their job? Spread the good news of milk chocolate.(I will hand out several "hugs and kisses" at this point) Each Kissmobile consists of three fiberglass candies on a raised platform, the first housing the driver's cockpit, the second a multimedia center featuring "kids' karaoke," and the third — it is actually a Hug, not a Kiss — is a giant refrigerator holding no fewer than 230,000 Kisses, which are given out to children. But Kissmobiles aren't the only mobile eye-catching advertisements on the road. There's the Schick Shave Shack, Oscar Mayer's famous Wienermobiles, Mr. Peanut's Hot Rod, The boxy Spammobile, the Meow Mix Mobile and the Goldfish Mobile. Asked what it is like to drive the eye-catching Goldfish Mobile, 28-year-old Rob Knowles responds in all seriousness that low overpasses can be a problem for his 13-foot-high, 22-foot-long Pepperidge Farm cracker on wheels, and that taking corners too fast can cause "fishtailing." That isn't surprising, considering this custom-made five-ton fiberglass advertisement, which sports giant black sunglasses, has the aerodynamics of a float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. The resurgence of rolling billboards is backed by market research indicating that taking advertising on the road sells products by creating "consumer impressions." There's nothing like a 27-foot-long hot dog to make a visual impact. Experts say these cars generate local news coverage and build brand awareness. Advertising with odd autos works. Jesus, on the other hand — at least in Mark's gospel — expects a lower profile. He isn't interested in self-promotion and big advertisement. He doesn't hand out T-shirts or hats with his face on them. He has no bumper stickers. Mark's messiah keeps a strict "Don't-tell-a-soul" policy. This approach certainly bucks today's religious marketing technique for creating consumer impressions. Jesus is everywhere — shirts, hats, even billboards. Or bumper stickers, to wit: • Warning: In case of Rapture this car will be driverless. • Got God? • Eternity: smoking or non-smoking? • Jesus is coming, everyone look busy. • Lord, help me to be the person my dog thinks I am. There are "Jesus loves you" smiley beanbag babies; little plastic cross-shaped containers filled with bubbles; religious pencils; "Jesus is the Light" key chains; Crusader dress-up costumes for kids complete with the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation and sword of the Spirit; "He lives" roll stickers; Lamb of God resin lambs; God erases sin erasers; religious tattoos; pens, pins, posters and Inspirational Jesus sports statues for football, baseball and soccer, featuring a playful Jesus. All for spreading the word. (I hope to obtain some of these items, and pass them out during this time of the sermon) We buy it. We wear it. We display it. Do we really hope it sells Jesus? Is this what God wants of us? Nietzsche asked, "If the Messiah has come, where are his people?" His people are often putting up billboards instead of laying down their lives. Bumper sticker evangelism — tract theology — may work for chocolate, but not for the "Christ, the Son of the living God." The text suggests that there are at least two ways we get the word out. The first is our confession. The creed is important. What we believe and say we believe matters. Peter cuts to the chase with a simple confession. When asked about Jesus, he simply says that he is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Ba-da-bing. There it is. A three-word creedal statement that sums it up. Who's Jesus? He's the Christ. We should know what we believe and when asked, say so. Not, of course, to draw attention to ourselves. Jesus makes this clear: "And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward" (Matthew 6:5). Deep faith is inherently private and not for public display. "But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you" (Matthew 6:6). In any case, Jesus isn't a product, nor is he reducible to product. The Kissmobile or the Goldfish Mobile do make a lasting impression, but not the one we want for the Christ, Son of the living God. Shrinking the Savior of the World to the size of a bumper sticker trivializes the power of his message, the possibility of salvation and the power of his person. If we believe he is the Messiah, then let's remember what that means and be able to say it clearly when asked. Second, we get the word out through conviction. Following Peter's confession, Jesus went on to warn that, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it" (8:34-35). You deny yourself and take up a cross — that's conviction. That requires total regime change. That's counterintuitive. That sends a message. Confession without conviction is hypocrisy. Conviction without confession is blind fundamentalism. Who is Jesus? He is the Christ, God's Messiah, the Chosen One, the Prince of Peace, the Way, the Truth and the Life. Who is Jesus? He's the bread of Life. The Living Water. The Sheep Gate. The Rock of Salvation. The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Meanwhile, let's let our lives do the talking. Nothing spreads the word like lending love when needed, laying down your life for a friend, going the extra mile or turning the other cheek. Nothing spreads the truth like giving clothes to the naked, feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, tending to the ill or visiting the dying. We're not talking Testa-mints and sin erasers here. We're talking about Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the Living God for whom we will deny ourselves, take up the cross and follow him. (I will distribute several of "The Cross In My Pocket", and while distributing them, will read the saying that goes with the why of carrying a cross in my pocket. This can be obtained from the church office, or better yet, why not go to a Christian bookstore and buy one for yourself, if you do not already have one)

Let me know what you think. The church Email is: SLUMC@att.net, Phone: 480.895.8766