Proper 19

“Are we boycotting Chick-fil-A over this?”

That was a question tossed out to the online community by podcaster Joey Mannarino. He accused the chicken sandwich chain of pushing an offensive political agenda.

More than 110,000 people responded to his poll. Almost half of them clicked, “Yes, boycott.”

The response was nothing new. Chick-fil-A has been shunned repeatedly since 2012, first by progressives and now by conservatives. According to Fast Company magazine, “Chick-fil-A now has the unenviable distinction of being perhaps the only major U.S. brand to be simultaneously boycotted by the left and the right.”

The company has discovered the truth of Abraham Lincoln’s observation: “You can never please all of the people all of the time.” These words are true, despite the fact that historians have not been able to find a source for the quotation. Lincoln is also famous for saying, “Don’t believe everything you read on the Internet.”

If you are a fan of Chick-fil-A, you probably know that they are closed on Sundays.  Not being open for business is a way to keep the Sabbath, as the Bible commands, and it probably cuts into profits. But despite being closed one day a week, Chick-fil-A has recently outearned every fast-food competitor except McDonald’s and Starbucks.

Maybe you think the company deserves a boycott for its politics. Maybe you do not. That’s not really the point. Chick-fil-A has discovered that it cannot please everyone, nor should it. “You can never please all of the people all of the time.”

There is a connection between the chicken and the cross.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is traveling with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi, politically dangerous territory in a Gentile region north of the Sea of Galilee. On the way, Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” (Mark 8:27). They give a variety of answers, and then Jesus makes it personal by asking, “But who do you say that I am?” (v. 29).

Peter offers the correct answer: “You are the Messiah,” the Christ. But Jesus tells them “not to tell anyone about him,” because he is not convinced that they know what being the Messiah is really all about (vv. 29-30).

As they continue to walk along, Jesus begins to teach them that he 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” (v. 31). He knows that the Messiah is going to get criticism from both the left and the right and be subjected to a punishment far worse than a chicken sandwich boycott. In fact, he is going to be killed.

Peter finds these words to be outrageous, so he takes Jesus aside and rebukes him. But then Jesus turns the tables by sharply criticizing Peter with the words, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things” (vv. 32-33).

Peter cannot imagine that God’s Messiah would ever have to undergo great suffering. He sees the Messiah as being so close to God that God would surely protect him from any pain or distress. We get this, don’t we? According to New Testament professor Pheme Perkins, “Christians frequently think that if we pray enough God will remove all trials from our lives.” Some think that prayer alone can cure a drug-addicted teenager or prevent an asthmatic child from having an allergic reaction. “Prayer is important in healing,” she says, “but prayer is an opening up of ourselves to what God wills, not an exercise in forcing God to do our will.”

Sometimes, the will of God includes time in a drug treatment center or a trip to the hospital. Sometimes, the will of God involves the suffering of the Messiah.

Fast Company magazine reports that Chick-fil-A’s greatest periods of growth have come out of times of crisis. Back in 1982, the economy was tanking, and the company’s annual sales were in decline. Instead of focusing on a corporate turnaround plan, the executive committee adopted its first official mission statement. It said that the company would “glorify God by being a faithful steward” and that it would “have a positive influence on all who come into contact with Chick-fil-A.”

The next year, the company experienced growth of almost 30%.

A quarter of a century later, during another terrible economic slump, the president of the company saw that they needed a “radical service makeover.” He drew inspiration from the challenge of Jesus to love your enemies and serve them. Having some fun with the Scriptures, he joked that “Jesus also said in this same chapter, ‘Let your light so shine among [people] that they may see your clean parking lots and taste those hot waffle fries.’”

These changes, made during the pain of the Great Recession, led to four years of double-digit sales increases.

The point is not that God always rewards faithfulness with economic success. No, that would make God into a cosmic drive-through restaurant, one in which you say a prayer into a speaker and then receive a delicious blessing. No, the lesson is that suffering is a part of life, and that even the most faithful among us will face undeserved pain and anguish. Our challenge is always to remain faithful in times of suffering, and to believe that even death is followed by new life.

Remember: Jesus predicted that he would undergo great suffering, and be rejected, and be killed. But after three days, he would rise again (v. 31).

At this point in the story, Jesus tells us what it means to set our minds on divine things, instead of human things. Speaking to the crowd and the disciples, he says, “If any wish to come after me, 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” (vv. 34-35).

All through history, people have denied themselves, taken up their cross, and followed Jesus. They have offered courageous service to others, with some even losing their lives in the process. There have been countless missionaries who have left home and country to bring the Gospel to remote parts of the world. These folks take courageous risks to bring life to others in the face of persecution.

They are not chicken. Far from it. No, they take courageous risks when they pick up their cross and follow Jesus.

Such followers of Christ know that there is really no profit in gaining the world and forfeiting their lives. They would rather risk for others than take actions to save themselves. And while their sacrifices strike us as extraordinary, they are in line with the sacrifices that we are asked to make each day. When we give up status to help another person, we are taking up our cross. When we sacrifice money to make a charitable contribution, we are taking up our cross. When we turn down a position of power to serve our family, our church, or our community, we are taking up our cross.

These are the death-like experiences of everyday life. They cause us to ask ourselves: “How often do we avoid speaking up because we wish to avoid embarrassment? How many actions do we avoid taking because we wish to avoid rejection or loss? In what ways do we fail to give to the church because we will not risk financial insecurity?”

Don’t be chicken, says Jesus. Instead, pick up your cross.

The stakes are very high, according to this morning’s Gospel. Jesus says, “Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels” (v. 38). So, do not be ashamed to sacrifice status or money as you walk behind Jesus on the path to the cross. It is better to feel bad about your generosity than ashamed that you did not sacrifice enough.

Your life will be saved by taking up your cross – not by being chicken.