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May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight,

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the Lord our strength and our Redeemer. Amen.

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A few years ago, I remember watching a press conference where a golfer responded to

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a question about why he got so angry at this cameraman who was following him around on the

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golf course. I expected the golfer to say something like, well, he was moving during my shot and

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distracted me so I lost my temper. Nope. Instead, the golfer said he didn't like the cameraman

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following him around because after he hit a bad shot, he didn't want the video clip of him hitting

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a bad shot and then throwing a temper tantrum to ruin his brand. Well, I understand that

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businesses and nonprofits and even churches have brands. I was surprised to hear this golfer say

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that he needed to protect his brand. But I shouldn't be surprised though, since the advent

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of social media, the branding of an individual has become a thing. Essentially, an individual

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curates their brand by sharing aspects of their life and personality on social media,

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aspects that fit the image of the brand they want to put out there that they want to market.

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Branding yourself also conveniently means omitting the parts of your life that don't

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fit your brand. For example, if I want others to see me as a good golfer, I'm going to make a lot

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of social media posts about my last great score or my last great shot. I'm not going to talk about

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the eight I made on the last hole or the shank I hit into the next fairway. And if I do tell about

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those bad shots, I will do so with sort of a self-deprecating humor that still holds me in a

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positive light. I wouldn't want people to think I'm too good to be true. But even still, I'm in

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control of the narrative. I'm in control of who I want others to believe I am. But as we all know,

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the person that we create for others on social media or even in real life doesn't usually equal

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the person that we actually are. There's a gap there. In last week's Gospel lesson, and again in

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today's Gospel lesson, Jesus is trying to close the gap between who people say he is and who he

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actually is. If there has been any brand attached to Jesus at this point in his ministry, it would

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be the image of a crown, a crown that a king wears. Jesus of Nazareth is supposed to be the

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long-awaited King who will, like his ancestor King David, rule an undivided Israel, an Israel

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that is free from Roman occupation, foreign occupation. Today, however, we see Jesus

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introduce a different kind of brand, a different kind of symbol associated with his ministry,

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a symbol that none at the time would associate with salvation. Jesus, of course, introduces the

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image of a cross as the symbol of his brand. And a cross, as we remember, is the Roman style of

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execution. And Jesus' tagline is, those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who

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lose their life for my sake will save it. So now, Jesus' number one PR guy thinks this is a

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terrible idea. Peter pulls Jesus aside to have a private meeting to talk him out of this terrible

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marketing idea. Jesus, however, will think nothing of it. He rebukes Peter and says,

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Peter, you're no better than the competition. You're no better than the enemy. Get behind me.

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Peter can only see what's right in front of him. Through Peter's eyes, there's nothing beyond the

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cross. The cross is supposed to completely eliminate your brand and face from the universe.

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And to be fair, Peter hasn't seen the other side of the cross, the death and the resurrection like

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we have. And like the competition, Peter believes salvation comes from defeating the enemy by force,

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from squeezing out the competition. Now, even those of us who live on this side of the cross,

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on this side of the grave, aren't too different than Peter on occasion. On some level, we believe

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that life would be better if they weren't in the picture anymore. If so and so weren't in charge,

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or the president and the economy would be better, we'd have better immigration policies,

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we'd have better access to health care, our war veterans would be treated more fairly,

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and the list goes on. And I'm not saying that our leaders don't have an effect, but I'm saying that

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we can't completely blame them. Our issues are complicated, and we should struggle to address

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them as a culture and a society. However, to completely blame the other is short-sighted and

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self-centered. As Jesus says to Peter, when we think that solutions are as easy as blaming the

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other, as squeezing out the competition, we are setting our mind on human things and not divine

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things. Ultimately, as we see again and again, and this is the whole point of the gospel,

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the answer does not come from within the system, because the whole system is corrupt. It is a

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universal problem. We all have it. Jesus himself said, a house divided cannot stand. So the answer

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must come from outside the system. And that's why the kingdom of God, that's what we mean when we

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say the kingdom of God is breaking in. If we've learned anything over the last several weeks,

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in the gospels, we've learned that we can't save ourselves. We have no power in ourselves to save

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ourselves. Like the Canaanite woman, like Peter walking on water, the only thing we have to offer

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to our salvation is the plea for help. It's a plea that says, Lord, have mercy. But Jesus didn't just

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come to save us individuals from our sins. Jesus comes to save the whole world from the destructive

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forces of sin and death. The entire system needs to be changed and transformed. And when earthly

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systems are threatened, any system, they are they retreat into self preservation mode and become

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defensive. And the kingdom that Jesus is bringing into this world is a huge threat to our earthly

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systems, especially to those who benefit the most from them. Those who benefit the most will do all

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in their power to prevent the status quo from changing. For the Romans, crucifixion is how to

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put an end to a threat against the system. So therefore, for Jesus, the cross becomes the

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instrument of salvation. The cross becomes Jesus' brand. And eventually, the cross will become the

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church's brand. Now, one of the biggest criticisms of the church over the centuries is the gap that

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exists between the cross the church proclaims on Sunday and the story the church lives Monday

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through Friday. The church and her people are supposed to be evidence of a God who enters into

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our pain and our suffering and transforms it with an unending, non-judgmental, grace-filled,

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sacrificial love. But the story that is often heard out there is a story about the church,

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is a story of a people who are more concerned with their own life and salvation than the life and

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the salvation of others. Those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who save their

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life, or those who lose their life for the sake of the gospel will save it. Now, if you're anything

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like me, you might be defensive at this moment. It's easy to name all the ways that our life and

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our church has been that light, God's presence in a dark world. And I know you and the church have

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done plenty of things to shine that light in a dark and hopeless world. However, this isn't a do

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better sermon, this isn't a pat yourself on the back sermon, this is a take up your cross sermon.

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And the cross isn't your brand, the cross isn't something you wear or proclaim for your own sake,

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for your own benefit. As St. Paul says to the Corinthians, it is not ourselves that we proclaim,

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but Christ crucified in ourselves as his servants. We proclaim and carry the cross, the brand of Jesus

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for the sake of the world, for the sake of the gospel. A brand that was forged into this world

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through Jesus's death and resurrection. A brand that we are given in baptism, a brand that we

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uphold with our baptismal vows. And when we uphold this brand, when we take up our cross,

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there will be a cost. I don't know what your cost has been or will be, I can't give you a prescription

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on that. Yes, 10% of your time, talent, and treasure has been the standard the church has taught,

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but that number is really just a descriptor of a life of faith, it's not a prescription. In other

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words, when you choose to follow Jesus, when you choose to take up your cross and really give

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yourself to the way of Christ, then you might expect to sacrifice 10% of your time, talent,

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and treasure. Now some have paid a much greater price, some have paid less. However, there are

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no shortcuts to a life of faith. In the end, we will all see that nothing short of our entire life

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is demanded when we take up our cross. You can only have one foot in this earthly world and one foot

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in the heavenly kingdom for so long. There will be time from the gap between our earthly systems

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and God's heavenly kingdom will stretch you so far that you're going to have to choose between one

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or the other. Will you choose the brand that promises the illusion of safety now, only to

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leave you dead for later? Or will you choose the brand that might cost you whatever life you thought

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you needed now, only to give you the life you never knew you needed later? Those who want to

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save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for the sake of the gospel will save it.

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Amen.