LENT 2B – Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16; Psalm 22:22-30; Romans 4:13-25; Mark 8:31-38 –

8 March 2009 - A sermon given by The Rev. Peter A. Munson for St. Ambrose Episcopal Church, Boulder, Colorado

The Ups and Downs of Being a Christian

INTRODUCTION – Two of Peter’s bigger moments

As far as I know, my parents named me Peter just because they liked the name, not after the disciple/apostle in the Bible who was one of the original twelve followers of Jesus. Haven’t said that, since that apostle and I share a name, I always seem to pay a little more attention when one of our gospel lessons features Peter. Am I similar to this guy? Sometimes I think so. Sometimes I’m not so sure. But either way, I’m paying attention.

Today’s gospel lesson doesn’t make its full impact on us unless we remember what came right before it. So I am going to remind you of what that was.

According to Mark, immediately before the events of today’s gospel, Jesus took his disciples to area of Caesarea Philippi. This city was 25 miles north of the Sea of Galilee, 40 miles southwest of Damascus, in the area that we now know as the Golan Heights. It was the capital city of Philip’s territory, Philip being one of the sons of Herod the Great. This Herod, who died right after Jesus was born, had built a temple in Caesarea Philippi, which had long been associated with the Greek god, Pan. Before that, it has been associated with the worship of Baal. On the side of a cliff in Caesarea Philippi, there were little niches carves into the rock, in which were depictions of Pan.

It was here, in a place long associated with Canaanite and Greek and Roman gods, that Jesus asked his disciples one day, “Who do people say that I am?” And they answered, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah, and still others, one of the prophets.” And then Jesus asked them “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.” And according to Mark, Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone about him, i.e., that he was the Messiah. (Mark 8:27-30)

According to Matthew, who records this same incident of Jesus bringing the disciples to Caesarea Philippi and asking them who people say he is, and then asking the disciples who do they say he is, Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” To which Jesus answered, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church…” (Matthew 16:13-18) Peter, of course, means “rock”. As they stood there, right next to this rocky cliff where people worshiped other gods, Jesus gave Simon a new name, and said that on the rock of such faith he would build his church.

Peter must have been feeling pretty darn good about himself, don’t you think?

And then we pick up with today’s gospel. “Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priest, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly.” (Mark 8:31)

“Then”, as in right after Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Messiah. Perhaps they had made the journey back to Galilee, for suddenly a crowd is gathered around Jesus, and he is suddenly talking about those who are thinking of following him. But even if they had returned to Galilee, this is the very next thing that happens, according to Mark. Jesus tells them that he will suffer and be killed, and on the third day rise again. And what happens?

That’s right. Peter took him aside, away from the other disciples, and began to rebuke him. Evidently Peter, who had just confessed Jesus as the Messiah, had a different notion of what the Messiah should be. And he didn’t envision a Messiah who would suffer and be killed. Where would that leave them?

And what happened next? “But turning and looking at his disciples, he [Jesus] rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

So here’s the sequence: Peter is the star pupil, confessing Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus called him blessed, for God the Father has revealed this to him. Jesus says he must suffer and die, and be raised on the third day. Peter takes him aside and gets in his face, and says something to Jesus that makes it clear he thinks Jesus it totally off track. Jesus then literally and symbolically turns his back on Peter for the moment, rebukes him, and says that anyone who would try to divert him from his course is being influenced by Satan, and has his mind on human things, not the things of God.

THE UPS AND DOWNS OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

How do you think Peter felt now? What’s that expression? He’s gone from the penthouse to the outhouse, all in just a few days time. The star pupil now wants to run and hide, but Jesus is right there, and the other disciples, and then a crowd. I’m sure he was very tempted to get lost in that crowd – walk away and not come back – this one who just a while earlier had been “the man”.

It struck me, as I allowed myself to identify with this disciple whose name I share, that this is what the Christian life is like sometimes. We have our “ups”, and sometimes they are really big, spiritual highs, and we are on “cloud nine” with Jesus. And then something happens, and we are way down, feeling either stupid or confused or lost or angry or rebuked or perhaps abandoned by God, and we feel like we are in a deep, dark valley.

I experience a little bit of this last Sunday, only this particular time it happened to be in the reverse order. I was very tired after church last Sunday, after having facilitated the Vestry retreat on Friday night and Saturday. And what I really wanted to do was go home. But I was scheduled to lead the 2 pm communion service at Frasier Meadows, a retirement community here in Boulder. I went and got a sandwich. The sandwich shop was full, so I got it to go, drove to Frasier Meadows early, and ate it in my car. I called Julia. “I don’t really feel like doing this today. I’m tired. I just want to come home. I’m supposed to offer these folks something, and what they don’t know is that I don’t even feel like doing this today. I think I’ll talk to Heather about leading this service next time.” Julia listened. I got out of my car, grabbed my vestments, the communion kit, and my prayer book, and walked toward the building, and the chapel.

The almost 90-year-old woman who coordinates the schedule with the various Episcopal priests in Boulder was there to greet me. “Hi, Rev. Munson. Thanks for coming. I don’t know if you got my message, but we have a new resident in the Alzheimer’s wing who wants communion brought to her, and I didn’t promise her anything, but I was wondering if you could take communion to her in her room after this service.”

Did I mention that I was tired and felt like going home? I actually thought about it for a few seconds. Did I want to stay afterward? No, not really. But did I want to come all the way back here tomorrow, when I was already in the building? That sounded worse. “Sure, I can do that,” I heard myself saying. Carlen said, “Great, I’ll have a couple of the women at this service take you down there after we are done here.”

And so we worshiped together. You’ll recall that I didn’t preach last Sunday – Heather did. So after we read the lessons, I talked about Lent. Sort of made up a homily on the spot, building off some of what Heather said in the morning, how we often give things up for Lent for really stupid reasons. The fifteen residents were nodding and laughing. I talked about how dying – spiritual dying – is a big theme in the New Testament… that we must die before we can be born to something new that God is calling us to. Yes, I talked about dying to a congregation where the average age is above 85! One of the lovely men I’ve gotten to know over the years at this service is now blind and 99 years old. He sat in his wheelchair in the front row. He spent most of the service crying, and speaking out loud several times about his love for the other people in the room. It was quite touching.

When the homily was over and I was setting the altar for communion, I heard one of the ladies say (You know how elderly people sometimes speak loudly because they are hard of hearing?), “He gives a good sermon, and he keeps it short!” I started smiling inside. “Okay, Lord, I get it. You know better than I. Maybe I was supposed to be here today.” After the service, the “short sermon” woman was one of the three who escorted me down to the Alzheimer’s wing. I met the woman I was told about out in the hallway. Her daughter was with her. It turned out her daughter lived in Arvada, really close to where we live, and teaches freshmen at CU in the one of the resident hall programs. We went into the woman’s room. I found out she had a major stroke in January.

We shared communion together, the three of us. The woman was not very responsive. Her daughter and I had been carrying the conversation. Then I asked her if I could pray for her. She said, “Sure.” I said a little prayer. After I finished, she said, “I appreciate you praying for me.” Then her daughter said, “That’s the first thing she’s said that clearly in a week.”

Soon after that, I found my way to my car and drove home. I was still very tired. But something had shifted inside of me. I met Jesus in these various octogenarians and nonegenarians (is that a word?) at Frasier Meadows.

LOSING OUR LIVES

“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?” (Mark 8:35-36)

This life-long journey of following Jesus has its ups and downs, and they are not always just mini-swings. Sometimes the lows are like being in the valley of the shadow of death, and sometimes the highs are so amazing that we can’t really put them into words. The best we can do is cry or holler or say, “I can’t really describe all the joy that I am feeling inside right now!”

But I think sometimes our lows have something to do with trying to save our life, and saving our life has something to do with thinking “I know what’s best for me” and the corollary: “I know what’s best for you!” Peter thought he knew what was best for Jesus, and Jesus saw that Peter was coming from a place where he was only considering what he thought was best for him, and he said, “Get behind me, Satan!”

I thought I knew what was best for me. I couldn’t bring myself to actually do it, because I didn’t want to back on out on a commitment I had made. But inside, I was thinking, “I don’t want to be here. The best thing for me would be to go home.” And do what exactly? Take a nap? Go for a walk? I ended up having that walk later that afternoon.

Yes, sometimes when we are in our down places, I think it’s because we think we know – better than God! – what is best for us. Somehow God knew I needed another lesson in dying. Somehow, God knew I needed to be at Frasier Meadows with those 17 other people last Sunday, when I was convinced I needed to be somewhere else.

The Jews of Jesus’ time were already experiencing what it felt like to be an occupied Jesus time. And what was one of the things he said to them? Lose your life! You think you know what’s best for you! You think you know what kind of Messiah I should be! You don’t know nearly as much as you think you do. Let go of your best-made plans. Let go of trying to be in control of everything. Let go of our ego, which is so easily offended. Get out of yourself, and look around. Give up yourself for someone else, and you just might just discover your real, authentic self. Don’t set your mind on human things. Set your mind on divine things.

If you want to really live, you must stop paying so much attention to those words spinning around in your brain that have to do mainly with “I, me and my”. Ironically, if you want to really live, you do have to turn inward. But we don’t turn inward to find “me”. We turn inward to find “the Spirit in me.” We turn inward to find “Christ in me, the hope of glory.”

That Spirit in me is often stirring things up and turning things upside-down, and just like Jesus after his baptism, driving us into the wilderness. That Spirit in me turns the wisdom of the world on its head and says, “Ha! You thought you could secure a strong future for yourself in the stock market? Ha! There is only one real, never-failing foundation, and it is Me – the Spirit of Christ in your life. All other gods will fail you. Just try them all, if you don’t believe me!”

CONCLUSION

Jesus calls us to follow, and to keep following. This is what it means to be a Christian – to stay on the journey, to stay the course, no matter what. Through all the ups and downs, through all the steps forward and the steps backward, in the moments when we confess Jesus as our Lord and Savior and Messiah, and in the moments when we deny him or tell him, in our arrogance, what is best for us, and what is best for Him. Through all of these daily steps and missteps, we follow.

I look around and see people here today who have been following Jesus for 10 or 25 or 45 or 65 years. I salute you for staying the course, despite your own missteps, and through all the bruises and scars you’ve suffered - some in your families of origin, some in your current families, some at work, some in this church, some in other churches. Yet, you are still on the journey with Jesus. You inspire me, and I salute you for your perseverance in faith.

Jesus says to you and to me today, “Keep losing your life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel. For what will it profit you to gain the whole world, and forfeit your life?”