Who do you say I am? – a sermon on Mark 8:29a by Rev Ralph Adams.

Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

By way of introduction let me say, life can be full of questions… questions like, ”Who will I marry?” ”Where will I live?” ”What job will I find?” These are important questions. They’re very basic to our lives. We need to ask such questions. And unless… and until… we can find answers to such important questions, life is bound to remain somewhat uncertain.

You may well ask, given the present circumstances, ”What could be more important to me than the choice of a career?” Job security looms pretty large in our estimation at the moment. Especially as the COVID-19 pandemic continues unremitting, after having caused employment to be so uncertain for so long.

This situation impacts on our ability to earn a living. It determines whether we can support a family or not. Some people in this day and age, would give an arm and a leg just to have a secure job. So it can seem to make a lot of sense, to concentrate your attention on your job security and stuff like that.

Then again, what about a marriage partner? Choosing between this one or that, could mean the difference between a happy life and years of heartache. So you say to yourself, ”I don’t want to marry the wrong person.” But neither do you want to miss out on a partner… so you look for possible choices. And your pursuit in this direction may cause you to lose sight of other important issues.

So, these are important issues in their own right. The consequences of choosing a life-long career or a life-long mate will stick with you for the rest of your life. But as important and basic as these questions are… nothing we can ask of life is as important or as basic as the one dramatic question Jesus will pose for us today.

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