If this worship service was not a worship service, but another exciting installment of the hit TV show "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?", our Scripture lesson for the day would provide the million dollar question.

It is the question Jesus poses to the disciples as they journey through the region of Caesarea Philippi. And its answer, the theologian Paul Tillich once said, is the center of Mark's Gospel, and the very heart of the Christian message.

To put it simply, the question is, "Who is Jesus?"

Now this is more than just a question of identity, like the kind we experience here in our growing congregation when someone comes up to you and starts a conversation that makes it seem like you've known each other for years - but you haven't got a clue as to who the other person is. And not only because of our large numbers, but also because of our increasing age, this sort of thing happens a lot in Tellico Village.

In fact, just the other day, I overheard such a conversation between two people whose lives are best described as one big ongoing senior moment - Carl Burke and Bob Puckett.

They were sitting together on a park bench over at the golf course, feeding the pigeons and enjoying the warm sunshine.You know how Bob and Carl love each other's company. Why, they've been friends for about 400 years. Well, just as I came within earshot, Carl turned to Bob and said, "You know, I'm embarrassed to tell you this, but the other day, I was writing someone a letter, and made mention of you, but - for the life of me - all of a sudden, I couldn't remember your name. It just completely escaped me! And I've been thinking and thinking, trying to remember, but even now I'm still drawing a blank! I'm so terribly embarrassed," said Carl, "but what IS your name?"

Well, Bob turned to Carl with a look of sheer disbelief. He just blankly stared at Carl for what seemed like several minutes. Then, in a barely audible whisper, Bob said, "How soon do you have to know?"

But this is more than just a question of identity. In fact, verses 27 through 38 in this eighth chapter of Mark form a kind of turning-point in our development as Christians. It begins with a statement of belief, but it ends with a call to faith. And this movement from passive belief to living faith is a journey we must all undertake!

"Who do people say I am?" Jesus asks. And the disciples answer that some say Jesus is Moses-come-back from the dead, and others say Elijah come-back-from-heaven, and still others say he is one of the prophets come-back-from wherever-retired-prophets go.

Now, its interesting that Jesus focuses the spotlight - if only for a moment - on what other people believe about Jesus. Sometimes, its only by looking at others that we are able to clearly see ourselves. And when you take a close look at each characterization offered - Moses, Elijah, one of the prophets - we encounter three predominant scenarios we human beings desperately want faith to be.

Moses was the giver of the law. And some of us crave for a Moses-type religion. You know, by the time of Jesus, the law of Moses had been developed into 613 precise rules, comprised of 248 commands and 365 prohibitions. And then, to bolster all this, there had been created 1,521 "emendations", as they were called, to provide even more guidance for life. And this is what many people seek from faith - a step-by-step structured guide to everyday living. Ten easy steps for becoming a successful Christian husband. Eight principles for producing healthy Christian kids. Four spiritual laws to guide people to salvation. Rules to live by that will guarantee success, make us healthy people, and keep the devil away. Many people think of the Bible this way - like its an owner's manual with step-by-step instructions for moving safely along the highway of life. My friend Eddie thought this way about the Bible. And so, when he read, "If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off"...he did. Or at least he tried to and now has the disability to prove it.

But while many people seek a precept-by-precept kind of faith like that represented by Moses, others want an Elijah kind of religion. You remember this Old Testament character and his ministry of supernatural power. Elijah is the one who confronted King Ahab about his unholy marriage to Jezebel - the one who duked it out with the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel by calling fire down from heaven to ignite the altar - the one whose mood swings (probably from some undiagnosed bipolar disorder) lifted him to the heights, and dropped him to the depths of despair, like that day under the juniper tree when Elijah cried to God, "Enough is enough! Take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers." Elijah - who indeed was finally taken up to heaven riding a chariot in a whirlwind!

And, to be honest with you, there are many moments when I want my faith to be Elijah-like. Times of hurt and loss and disappointment when I want Jesus to just make the problems go away. I remember a young woman who was regularly battered by her husband. She stayed with him - hoping beyond hope that some miracle would come along to make him change and stop beating her. That miracle never came. I remember an unemployed man who believed with all his heart that God had just the right job for him, but saw no need to go out and try to find it. I've known people caught up in a web of immoral living, unable to get out because they are waiting for God to miraculously take away their unholy desires.

Oh, from time-to-time, we all want a faith that promises an easy escape from the realities of life, and requires little or no work, or sacrifice or pain of our own. How we wish we could just get on that chariot with Elijah...and fly above life's hurdles!

You know, one of the jobs of the prophets was to point out the sins of the nation. Reading through the newspapers these days makes me think there are more prophets today than ever before in history! Praise God! Why, who among us is unable to identify what is wrong with America? Al Gore says its people like George W. Bush. George W. Bush says its people like Al Gore. Jesse "The Body" Ventura says...lots of interesting things, most of them pronouncements of judgment on others. Do you think it was when they took prayer out of schools that things started sliding down the slippery slope? Or maybe that minister from Kansas had it right - as described in a popular email that's circulating these days - when he prayed before the state legislature and seemed to blame society's problems on pluralism which he said is really nothing more than an acceptance of perversion, and on welfare which he said is a reward for lazy people. Oh, my gosh, there are many prophets in the land today! And most of them, including all of the above - I think - are false prophets. But then, there you see the problem. We all love to stand in judgment of others. For some, its the best kind of religion there is.

Who do people say I am? Why, some hope Jesus is like Moses who will give us step-by-step guidelines for successful living. Some hope Jesus is like Elijah who will bring us miracles to keep us from having to face life's difficulties. And some hope Jesus is like the prophets who find self-satisfaction in railing about the speck in our brother's eye - without offering any hope to heal it - and all the while exempting ourselves from seeing the log in our own.

But now, Jesus changes the question. He turns to his followers and asks, "Who do YOU say I am?" And in asking this new question, there is no doubt that Jesus is disqualifying all the previous answers.

And it is in this moment that Simon Peter receives a revelation from God. In this one, dramatic moment, it suddenly becomes clear to him. The clouds part, and a new reality comes into view.

"You are the Messiah!" he says.

In Moses, we caught a partial glimpse of the One who indeed is able to guide us safely and triumphantly through life. In Elijah, we saw a preview of the One who is indeed able to calm the troubled seas of our lives and our world, sometimes by miraculous means. In the prophets, we observed a faint premonition of the One who is not only able to judge with righteousness, but to bring justice and healing to the nations and the people within.

"You are the Messiah!" Peter says.

Friends, there is something you need to know about this person in whose name we meet today. Jesus is more than all the things we want or dream religion to be! Jesus is the Messiah!

Jesus is the One selected and empowered by God to make the world right! Jesus is the One with the power and authority to untie and unravel the inextricable knot of evil that holds our world and our lives in destructive bondage. Jesus is the One with the unique calling of bringing enemies together and forming friendships where now there is hatred. Why, the Bible tells us that, in his presence, the lion charges out of the bush to devour the lamb, but is transformed along the way, and chooses at the last moment to lay down and play with the lamb instead. And Jesus' job is to do the same thing for people set against each other because of bitter experiences like divorce, and betrayal, and injustice, and political difference. Jesus came to make it possible for estranged families and nations to find love again and learn to live in peace.

This is what the word Messiah means!

And the Messiah is the One who has been given the ultimate responsibility for untangling the tragedy of illness and death that stalk the lives of human beings. Because of his power neither illness nor death are able to become permanent tragedies for us. Why, one day, you and I will discover that our losses are not forever! And they are not permanent experiences because, when they occurred, this Messiah stepped directly into their midst, and disarmed the powers of evil and kept them from winning the day. And one day, your eyes will open to a greater reality than you can even imagine now. And there, in that new day brought about by the love of God, you will see them standing there- your husband, your wife, your parent, your child, your friend holding hands with Jesus and telling the wonderful story of how, when the darkness became greatest, they felt a hand on their shoulder, and turned to see the Messiah. And he led them to joy and safety until the Day you could be together again.

The One who, even as we worship today, is busy at work making the world right with God - uniting all people everywhere into one family - working to create a world of economic justice in which the poor and the hungry finally have an equal place at the table - giving divine strength to those who are humanly weak - going to find the one lost sheep, even if it means leaving behind the ninety-nine to do it - reconciling all people to God - Jews and Christians, Hindus and Buddhists, theists and atheists - he is embracing them all and wooing them to come to the salvation of God.

But so what? What does this have to do with us?

Well, if Jesus is the Messiah, then we have someone to call on, and to study, and to lean on for the living of our personal lives. He is not just the Messiah, but our Messiah! For finding our way through life. For confronting our problems. For rebuilding broken relationships. For living triumphantly despite our limitations. For forgiving others their sins, and for finding forgiveness for ours. For facing life and death with confidence and hope!

He is our Messiah. But Jesus is also the Messiah of the world. And so, we have a job to do. He calls us to take up our cross and follow him. Not to simply believe that Jesus is the Messiah, but to embody his Messiahship in our own lives!

Who will represent the hope of the Messiah to the family who's just lost a loved one, or to the cancer patient in the hospital, or to the homeless person on the street, or to the child with a learning disability? Who will represent the hope of the Messiah to flood victims in Mozambique, or to little Elian Gonzalez and his badly fractured family? Who will represent the hope of the Messiah to the family of Cary Ann Medlin who was killed by Robert Glen Coe twenty years ago? And who will represent the hope of the Messiah to Robert Glen Coe who will probably be executed for the crime this week?

Only those who are willing to take up the cross, and follow him.

For across the centuries comes the million dollar question. You've polled the audience, and used the 50/50, and you've even phoned a friend. There are no life lines left. You're on your own to answer the greatest question of life.