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March 8, 2009--Second Sunday of Lent

Lectionary Texts: Genesis 17:1-7; Psalm 22:23-31; Romans 4:13-25; Mark 8:31-38 or Mark 9:2-9

Sermon Text: Mark 8:31-38

Lead, Follow, Or Get Out of the Way

My parents taught us to never get into fights. My dad would always remind us that Hulls can run better than they can fight. Truly, none of us were built to endure a fight. Tall and lean--downright scrawny when we were younger--our bodies would have a much better chance at getting out of a fight alive by running rather than taking our chances with our bony little fists.

Although we were taught not to physically fight, it was impressed on us to stand up for what was right--to stand up for those who were being ganged up on or to whom we were to be loyal--family, friends, and those who could not defend themselves. There were several times in school where I stood toe-to-toe with kids much larger than I to defend someone.

I used words, not my bony fists. I got in some upperclassmen boys faces when I was a freshman in high school for making fun of the way a young woman with physical disabilities walked. I told off some mean kids at a girls basketball game for hurling racial slurs. I even stood up to teachers if I thought that they were mistreating my classmates. My little brother, Dean, had similar convictions and was suspended for fighting in defense of a kid who was in the special needs program, being picked on by bullies.

We did not fight for these things to look cool or to be tough, we fought because it was the right thing to do. It is just what you do. You just stick up for those who need sticking up for, you stick up for those who are being wrongfully accused. It is natural . . . it is a good thing.

Simon Peter would fully agree with us. Peter was the one who was so loyal that he drew a sword and cut off a dude’s ear to protect his rabbi. Peter was the one who was always quick to go toe-to-toe with oppressors and stand up for the little guy. Peter strove to protect our precious Jesus and we think that these are all good things . . . until we read this passage.

Apparently, Jesus did not think that defending and protecting loved ones was always a good thing. Although Jesus stood up for the disenfranchised in every way and was a champion for the poor, the rejected, the marginalized, He got on Peter’s case for defending Him--for trying to spare Him.

We tend to be in Peter’s camp--hearing what Jesus says He is going to go through while we are thinking, “oh no, not that Lord . . . isn’t that a little much? Certainly you do not have to go that far. After all, you are God and can’t you think of a shinier, happier way to save the world from sin and death--you know, less blood and all that?”
We think these things even as Peter gives voice to our collective concerns: “No, Lord, do not even say that . . . this cannot happen to you.”

Much to our shock and surprise, Jesus is not charmed by this demonstration of loyalty. Quite the opposite is true--Jesus comes down hard on Peter. This was not an instance where Christ employed gentle guidance or patient tutelage. He goes ahead and brings out the big guns: “Get behind me Satan.” Whoa . . . Satan? Seriously? Jesus is calling Peter Satan for sticking up for Him? There is probably no harsher thing that God could have called Peter than that.

There was a zero tolerance rule for cursing in our home growing up so my brother and I had to get pretty creative with our put-downs. We called each other names, without cursing, but names just same: stupid-head or idiot-stick. Silly things, but Jesus did not waste His time on curses or silly put downs, when He said something, it held meaning. To call Peter Satan was showing the evil in what he was doing.

Then, after showing Peter the evil in doing nothing more than sticking up for Him, Jesus says this, “you are setting your mind on human things, not on the things of God.”
This gives us a little window into how God feels about how we humans make decisions and form our lives around just what we know, how we feel, what we think is best. Even the things that we think are virtuous, Jesus could blow out of the water if they are focused on human points of view, such as: saving ourselves from hardship, avoiding pain so we do not have to deal fully, not forgiving someone who has done something bad to us, or trying to keep our friends and family from the pain that could very well finally turn them to God.

Worst of all, in the human point of view is this: not receiving and accepting the amazing sacrifice and victory that Christ has accomplished for us. It’s basic within the human point of view to not want to accept a gift that is extravagant--especially when it was so costly for the giver. It is natural for us to not want another to endure hardship for us. And it cost Jesus everything to give us this gift. Our human point of view would rather urge Jesus to do something easier and then we will think about accepting a gift from Him. But by not taking it, we are only succeeding in losing out on everything. The victory has been accomplished and it is there for the taking . . . if we would only receive it, pick up our crosses and follow Him.

To not receive it or to wish that it could have been offered in a less costly and less “yucky” way, we are, like Peter, rejecting the very essences of the Gospel. As Christ explains in this passage, in order to receive Him, we must participate with Him in ministry. To be found in Him at the end of all things, we need to stand up for His Love today, take His love today, spread His love today. For what will it profit us if we gain the whole world--everything in it including fame, fortune, comfort, success--and lose life that is life.

Chasing after things that are not eternal, is giving away our lives to things that do not matter. Yet we wish all the time--if we were honest--that it were not required of us to pick up our crosses. We live as though our relationship with Christ is delegated to the Sundays it’s convenient for us to come to church, or when we have a hard time in life, or when we are at the end of a relationship. We do not have Christ as the center of every decision; instead He is an afterthought at best, or at worst a road block to what we want. Christ have mercy.

Although Peter was well-meaning in his defense of Christ, he missed the point just as we so often do. Whenever we choose the easy route, rather than the one the Christ calls us to; whenever we put our own comfort and needs before the comfort and needs of others; whenever we allow fear to hold us back; whenever we choose for ourselves what is best for us, rather than allowing God to show us His way; whenever we act outside of God’s love, we may as well hear the words: “Get behind me Satan. You look simply at the things that matter to humans, but I died so that you could set your sights higher!”

If we reject the unsavory parts of being a Christian we compromise our ability to serve the One who gave it all so that we might have life.

Oswald Chambers writes in My Utmost for His Highest:
May God not find complaints in us anymore, but spiritual vitality--a readiness to face anything He brings our way. The only proper goal of life is that we manifest the Son of God; and when this occurs, all of our dictating of our demands to God disappears. Our Lord never dictated demands to His Father, and neither are we to make demands on God. We are here to submit to His will so that He may work through us what He wants. Once we realize this, He will make us broken bread and poured-out wine with which to feed and nourish others.”1

He will give us all we need in amazing ways if we are made to be broken bread and poured-out wine. He will use us in tremendous capacities and, meanwhile, keep us full of the amazing fruits of the Holy Spirit. We are invited to become a part of what He is doing.

We can go from complaining and small-minded folk who want nothing more than a get out of jail free card from the sufferings of life to a forgiven and empowered people who are not afraid of anything save for being outside the will of God. With Christ before us, beside us, behind us, above us, and below us, no power of this world could stand in the way of His love through us.

Ready your hearts as you proceed through this journey of Lent so that, come Good Friday, you are ready to, in humility and appreciation, approach the cross with Christ and then, on Easter, receive with fullness of joy and life the glorious resurrection.
Let us set our minds on the things of God, not on the things of humanity . . . let us look higher!

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

1. Chambers, Oswald, My Utmost for His Highest: An Updated Edition in Today’s Language, Discovery House Publications, 1992. Quotation found on the entry for May 15th.