Another true story in the life of little Mikey Carlson! I've always had a pretty good ear and, as much as I love to read, I learn even better by listening.

When I was in 4th grade, my school district began teaching foreign languages (something I wish schools still did!). While the district offered French, Spanish, and German, for some reason which I can no longer remember, my 4th grade class was selected to learn French.

Because I'm a good listener and have a good ear, I soon discovered that I was pretty good in French! I could imitate the accent pretty well and, without much effort--and, as was typical for me at that age I didn't give it much effort--I could learn and recite the dialogues that were the heart and soul of learning foreign languages in those days (Allo, allo! Ici George. Qui est la?). But then came 7th grade.

In 7th grade God saw fit to seat me next to John Frymark, one of my very best friends. And, even more than loving to listen to my teacher instruct me on the weighty matters of French grammar, I loved listening and talking--throughout class--to my good friend John. As a result, even though I continued to take French classes up through college, I could never overcome the deficit I created for myself by failing to listen to--and nearly failing the class on--French grammar. You can know a lot about speaking French--you can have a great accent and converse with great abandon--but, if you don’t know French grammar, you don’t know--and will never master--French.

I’m calling today's message Step 2 because the Apostle Peter--and, in fact, all of Jesus’ disciples--had a similar experience with Jesus as I did with 7th grade French class. Because they weren't listening to Jesus--because they couldn't or wouldn't listen to Jesus--Jesus’ disciples missed a crucial step toward truly understanding and “getting” who and what Jesus really is.

Today, let's try to do better, shall we?

But first, Mark--the writer of our gospel--relates a story that shows or illustrates the problem that Peter and the disciples are about to undergo.

After the second time that Jesus feeds thousands of people with just a few fish and scraps of bread, he and his disciples visit the village of Bethsaida in Galilee. There some people bring a blind man to Jesus and beg him to let the man receive his sight.

Jesus takes the blind man away from the crowd and puts saliva in the man's eyes while laying hands on his head. “Can you see anything?” Jesus asks. The man looks up and says, “I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.”

A second time Jesus lays his hands on the man’s head. The man looks intently again and ... his sight is restored. This time, he sees everything clearly!

Isn't that strange? It takes two steps for a blind man to fully receive his sight. After Step 1, he sees people, but they look like trees, walking. After Step 2, his sight is fully restored.

And then, guess what? The very next story the gospel tells is the one we read this morning. And, once again, it will take Jesus’ disciples 2 steps--or at least two steps--before they can see clearly who and what Jesus is.

“Who do the people say I am?” Jesus asks his disciples. “Some say ‘John the Baptizer,’” they said. “Others say ‘Elijah.’ Still others say ‘one of the prophets.’”

“But who do you say that I am?” asks Jesus. Peter answers, “You are the Messiah.”

It’s so tempting to think that, already, here we have both Step 1 and Step 2! It’s so tempting to think that Step 1--the equivalent to Jesus laying hands on the man and the blind man saying, “I can see people but they look like trees, walking"--is the crowds’ opinion of Jesus. “Some say John the Baptizer. Others say Elijah. Still others say one of the prophets.”

If this were true, you see, then we could say that merely calling Jesus the Messiah is the equivalent of Step 2, the step where the blind man’s sight is fully restored.

In other words, if this is all it took for disciples to know who and what Jesus is--just call him Messiah!--then, for instance, we could call the baptisms of Ayden and Juliana today, Step 1 in the process of their becoming Christian. “They’ve made a good start but they don’t know everything yet. It’s like them seeing people, but they look like trees, walking.”

Step 2, you see, could then be something like simply taking Ayden and Juliana to Sunday School! Once they’ve attended Sunday School for a while, we could assume they’ve reached Step 2. In answer to Jesus’ question, “But who do you say that I am?” they could answer, “You are the Christ, the Messiah.”

Oh, if only it were that easy! But it isn’t. Step 1 actually begins with the confession of Jesus as Messiah, a fact made plain when Peter tries to stop Jesus from telling the disciples about the suffering and death he must undergo in order to be the Messiah.

“Get behind me, Satan!” Jesus says. “For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

At this stage, Peter’s ability to look on Jesus and see who and what he really is is like Step 1 for the blind man. When he looks at people, he sees trees, walking!

And so, Jesus tells him. “It is necessary that the Son of Man proceed to an ordeal of suffering, be tried and found guilty by the elders, high priests, and religion scholars, be killed, and after three days rise up alive.” Jesus said this simply and clearly so they couldn’t miss it.

He continues. “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for?”

Do you remember what happened to me in 7th grade? Because I failed to listen to what I was being taught, I missed a step--a crucial step--in learning and mastering French. Even though I kept trying, without that missing step, I just never could fully comprehend the deep mysteries of that language.

The same is true for Christianity! If we miss Step 2--if we miss the part where Jesus tells us what it means to call him Christ--we’ve missed the step that will let us comprehend the deep mysteries of our faith.

Can we do better? Can we be wiser than little Mikey or the Apostle Peter? I hope and believe so! In time, the apostle Peter was entrusted by Jesus with leadership in the church. But what Peter learned is what we also must learn.

What does it mean to call Jesus the Messiah, the Christ? For Jesus, it means suffering and death. Time and again, Jesus explained, “that the Son of Man 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.”

But, even more importantly, having Jesus as our Messiah has deep and lasting impact on us! There’s a different center in our lives. Different values govern us.

Don’t be like little Mikey! Listen again now when Jesus explains it to you. “Don’t run from suffering;” he says, “embrace it. Follow me,” says Jesus, “and I’ll show you how! Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self.”

Little Mikey learned that there are certain things in life that, if you miss or ignore them, you’re missing out on a lot.

Jesus agrees! After saying, “Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self,” he concludes, “What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for?”

What indeed! Don’t lose out. Follow Jesus and find your self. In Jesus’ name. Amen!