RELATIONSHIPS
Rev. Barry W. Szymanski, J.D.
Minister of Pastoral Care
First Congregational Church of Wauwatosa
4 March 2012

Mark 8:31-38

[Jesus] began to teach his [followers] 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. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’ [Jesus] called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, If any want to become my followers, 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. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 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.’

SERMON

Today’s Gospel shows Peter and Jesus’ loving friendship. Peter did not want to hear that his friend, Jesus, was going to suffer and die. However, what Peter did not know was that Jesus’ mission called him to die for us. In everything Jesus said and did Jesus kept pointing to his Father in heaven. When Jesus lived he did not stand alone, but remained in relationship with His Father.

On account of his relationship with each of us, Jesus instructs us that we are to set our minds on divine things, -- not on human things. This is what friendship with Jesus is about: to be in relationship with the divine. It is no wonder that Jesus was exceptionally angry with Peter. Jesus was extraordinarily upset with his friend Peter. Jesus’ words are appalling: Peter, get behind me! Then Jesus calls Peter a dreadful name: Satan! The evil one! A malevolent person! One who must be cast out into the darkness! We would not want to be told by a friend of ours to get away from them. We would be offended – even a tough guy would be unhappy.

What Jesus was trying to get across to Peter was commitment. Marcel, a 20th century French philosopher, made a vital distinction between “believing that” and “believing in.” The concept ‘believing in’ means a person is committed to # someone, or some idea. To make a commitment includes what we believe – but transcends belief.

To make a commitment is to give one’s total self – to act with determination – to act with conviction – to act with resolve.Think about marriage vows – these are mutual commitments promised by one person to another. If each person marrying another truly believes in the marriage pledge they are committing to, then their promises are for poorer and with some wealth, in sickness and in some health, and until the death of one of the parties. When one really ponders marriage vows it is a wonder anyone gets married! But they do, we do, for it is an exciting life to be in love! Love is worth the risk! If we say we believe in someone, we transcend simple faith in that person.When we believe in another person, we are so convinced of who that person is so that our entire being is engaged. I will quote Marcel again: he said: “If I believe in something it means that I pledge myself fundamentally, and this pledge affects not only what I have but also what I am.”

Based upon Marcel’s concept of a fundamental pledge, what was Jesus asking of Peter? Jesus did not want Peter to simply believe that he, Jesus, was the Messiah. Jesus wanted Peter to believe in him, so much so that Peter’s belief in Jesus affected who Peter was as a person. That is what Jesus wants of us. Jesus desires us to believe in him, so much so that our belief in Jesus fundamentally affects who we are as a person. A contemporary theologian, D. Elton Trueblood, who died in 1994, wrote this:

“…A Christian is a person who confesses that, amidst the manifold and confusing voices heard in the world, there is one Voice which supremely wins our full assent, uniting all our powers, intellectual and emotional into a single pattern of self-giving. That Voice is Jesus Christ. A Christian not only believes that Jesus was; A Christian believes in Jesus with all his heart and strength and mind. Christ appears to the Christian as the one stable point or fulcrum in all the relativities of history.Once the Christian has made this primary commitment we still have perplexities, but we begin to know the joy of being used for a mighty purpose, by which our little lives are dignified.”

[From The Company of the Committed by D. Elton Trueblood]

In the remainder of the Gospel passage, Jesus explains himself in detail. We may not like what Jesus said: If you want to follow me, deny yourself – and take up your cross – then follow me. I don’t like the idea of denying myself – Life offers so much! I really want it all! The idea of carrying a cross, after being beaten up and whipped, and then carrying a heavy cross, and, God forbid, having my hands nailed to the cross --- and then my feet! That is not what I thought I signed up for! Nowhere in the nice covenant that I read before I agreed to it does it say this. Yet I don’t want Jesus to tell me to get away from him. Or worse yet, have Jesus call me evil! So I pay close attention when Jesus tells me to put my mind on divine things, not on human things.

Jesus asks you to put your mind on what is divine, and not to focus on what is human. Jesus asks you and me to look at what is beyond our mere understanding, Jesus asks us to try to see the real picture. We are asked, even though we are human, to look beyond what we can comprehend, and see a picture that is not just 3D, or 4D, but 1,000 D. To put on glasses to see not just 180 degrees in front of us, but to see 360 degrees up and down and surrounding us, to see colors beyond what our eyes can see, and to ascend to where God resides.

Jesus lived always pointing to his Father in heaven. Jesus died pointing to his Father in heaven. He never pointed to himself. If we are followers of Jesus, he asks us to look where he was constantly pointing. When we look to God, then our crosses become easier to carry. When we look to God, then the light by which we see life becomes ever brighter and more intense. When we look to God, then the colors of life become more vibrant and saturated. This is the union with God that Jesus wanted of Peter. This is the union with God that Jesus invites us to.

We are called not just to simply believe that God exists. We are invited to believe in God, and to make a commitment to Him. To paraphrase what Marcel said, ‘If we believe in something it means that we pledge ourselves fundamentally, and this pledge affects not only what we have but also who we are. ‘Lent invites us to look inside of ourselves, to see who we really are. And, then, regardless of what we find, to pledge ourselves to God.

God accepts us for who we are. Our good and our bad; our wonderful and our disreputable. Jesus came to walk with us to prove his love for us. In these 40 days, we are invited to spend closer attention to his loving mercy. That is part of our Lenten journey. Amen.