SCRIPTURE: Mark 8:27-38
TEXT: 33But 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.” THEME: The price of love might include suffering. INTRODUCTION Moving through the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is expanding all kinds of boundaries. I used to see Jesus’ ministry as an invasion encroaching the boundaries of Satan’s occupation. But Jesus is not just venturing into the territory of the Gentiles, but into the boundaries in the minds of the People of God. Invading boundaries of tradition and cultures that have formed creating prejudice reservations. In this periscope, Jesus is expanding the boundaries of our own thinking. SCRIPTURE I imagine the walk up to Caesarea Philippi lined with Cedar trees as this crew of Jesus’ disciple walk along this path while Jesus asks, “Who do people say that I am?” If we were making a movie of this, we would zoom in on Peter’s puzzled face and then to a ‘flashback’ sequence, at high speed of all that Peter had seen, done and heard with Jesus from the first time that he heard his voice on the fishing boat until now. Teaching, healing, preaching, leading, theological discussion, caring, feeding 5000, calming the seas, encounters with sinners, tax collectors, the crowds, the ill, the sick and demon possessed. The battle between old time entrenched religion and something fresh and new in living with God. All spinning faster and faster in his mind until he blurts out, “You are the Messiah!” Jesus is pleased by his answer, but cautions him not to tell anyone, because not everyone is ready for this information and this could get you killed. Jesus then takes the lead, by taking a Messianic reference of ‘Son of Man’ to speak about the suffering, rejection, death and rising that is to come. Peter is really confused now. His head is ready to explode, so he pulls Jesus to himself and says, “Don’t talk like this”. But Jesus even more forcible says,” The selfishness of this world blinds us to think only about ourselves, but there is so much more for us when we live love for God and others.” Consider this love. Consider a love so great, that it desires the very best for us, and is not deterred by the suffering it causes, because of the very best it creates. Selfishness creates a world that has very little impact for good. Everything that selfishness creates can be taken away. Love creates good for others that cannot be taken away. Love is relational, and our relationship with God has eternal consequences. So, when we read this passage about bearing our cross, it is not about what we are willing to die for, but it is about what can we give our heart to. It is about living love. APPLICATION Jesus invites us to place our focus on divine things. What change to our actions do divine things bring? Our journey with God is to live love. This will lead us at times of episodes of suffering, in order to bringing about something good. Flossing our teeth can really hurt our gums but if we do this, we won’t get cavities, or the poke in the arm to receive the vaccine is a fearful thing, but if it has the potential of preventing me from spreading this deadly virus to someone I love, it’s worth that risk or facing a humiliating admission of wrong so reconciliation can take place with forgiveness. Living love means standing up for what is right even before everyone else is enlightened to see things from its righteousness. Human things are about selfishness; greed, power, popularity and the accumulation of stuff. Divine things are about relationships and loving one another. We bear the cross of being loved by God and loving others. In the movie RED (Retired and Extremely Dangerous) a team of retired agents are trying to figure out who is trying to kill them. As they head towards danger, John Malkovich’s character asks Bruce Willis, “Are we going to get killed there?” Bruce responds, “Is that a problem?” John says, “No, I’m just saying.” Off they go to uncover a conspiracy. They are willing to die to keep each other safe (Love). Don’t tell anyone but loving others could get you killed. As we neared the 20th anniversary of the bombing of the Twin Towers in New York, NPR interview a veteran who served in Afghanistan after 9/11. Upon his return he got a teaching degree and has been teaching in his home town for the past 10 years. One of the classes he teaches is on 9/11 Many of his students don’t make the connection with the bombing of the towers and the War in Afghanistan. Before this interview, as he got dressed for work, he saw a group of women protestors being whipped on TV. Fearful of being repressed by the new Taliban government they took to the streets to protest their liberties being taken away and they were whipped in the streets. He questioned why our armed forces were there. This made me think about the women suffragettes who protested for the right to vote in the U.S and in Britain. Culture is a difficult thing to change but it can with a long persistent effort, conquering nations have tried to change the culture of Native American Indians and Hawaiians. Their nations may not remain, but their culture does. The change of culture comes when the pain is so great changes have to be made or by a new perspective that inform us to leave something behind for doing things in a new way. We are beginning to see this taking place in protest by these Afghanistan women. They are a valuable resource to the development of the new Taliban regime, as they move their culture towards change beyond human boundaries and into divine territory. CONCLUSION As Peter identifies Jesus as the Messiah, it is inconceivable that he will die when they get to Jerusalem. The Kingdom of God that Jesus brings, is not a conquering rule over every nation, but that in every nation of the world there would be followers of the Messiah who would permeate their people and move their culture, thinking, values, nation towards divine things over human things. Divine things that they can give their hearts towards. To evolve beyond human boundaries and towards divine matters such as their relationship with God. This may seem like so little change after 20 years of occupation, but this is what I believe is happening in Afghanistan with women protesting for their rights. They cannot go back to the way thing had been. They are educated, valued contributing members of society and want to be treated as such. A protest for women’s rights would not have happened 20 years ago. This is a short time for any culture to change, but there it is. We need to pray for those who are living love, in ways that will make them suffer for a change in their culture and country for something more divine.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Pastor robbSermons Archives
May 2024
|