2nd Sunday in Lent
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16; Psalm 22:23-31; Romans 4:13-25; Mark 8:31-38
Mark 8:31-38
31[Jesus] began to teach them 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.32He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 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.”
34He 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. 35For 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. 36For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38Those 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.”
. . .
A Battle of Wills
Grace to you, beloved of God, and peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Are you ready to rumble!
On the left corner, weighing an average of 180 pounds is the will of human beings. It is a will that has its mind on the ways of the world. A will that does not commit to anything unless there is something for them. That likes to play judge of the living and the dead. That is an expert on spotting the speckle in the eye of everyone but always manages to miss the log on their own. It is a will that says everyone must earn everything God has freely given, even the air they breathe. A will that trusts only in the precepts of humanity and that, once upon a time, would rather return to slavery than trust in God’s promises and guidance. It is a will that seeks to win at all costs. That seeks to be superior and to have supremacy. A will that relentlessly seeks to justify prosperity on the back and at the expense of the lives of others. That surrenders too often to violence. It is a will that fears scarcity and is blind to abundance. It is a will that would rather seek vindication than rejoice in forgiveness.
On the right corner. Carrying the weight of the whole world. It is the will of God in Jesus Christ. It is a will always ready to forgive a true and contrite heart. It is a will that prays for their enemies and assailants, reminds us repeatedly to have no fear, and announces its intention never to condemn but rather that everyone may have abundant life. It is a will that sits with sinners and invites the meek and the unworthy. A will dedicated to giving up everything to gain the lives of everyone. It is a will that refuses any kind of violence and promises healing to the sick, food for the hungry, clothes for the naked, hope for the hopeless, and freedom from slavery and oppression. It is a will that gives freely and generously so no one can boast. A will that asks us to pay generosity with generosity. That asks us always to forgive and never to judge. It is a will that anointed our Messiah to be the judge of the living and the dead so we could focus simply on loving each other as he did. It is a will that is faithful to the divine promises. It is a will that refuses glory and is committed to walking to the cross so that everyone who puts their faith in the promise of resurrection may never perish but inherit eternal life.
Which will do we think is going to win?
A wise student of the New Testament once said that the cryptic words of our Lord never bother him very much. Instead, the verses where Jesus was brutally honest and crystal clear were the ones that caused him to stay awake at night. The struggles with the way of the cross are real. They precede us for a couple of thousands of years, and they will continue to plague the conscience of the collective of believers for many more to come, way after we are gone.
Make no mistake, surviving teaching documents of the early church as old as the second century make it clear that Jesus was Lord. There was only one way, and Jesus and the cross were it. Everybody who wished to follow him was expected to fall behind the light of the world while it plowed through the darkness. It was a radical proposition in every sense. It needed to be. They were a small band of sisters and brothers against brutally overwhelming forces, and all they had was love for one another and radical faith in God’s promises. I am grateful for them. Many certainly lost their lives as they knew it, leaving behind family and friends or watching them perish. Yet, they carried on, hoping against hope, impossible situation after impossible situation, bearing for us the free gift of salvation by grace through faith. Yet, I am sure they struggled with it all the way through.
It is like we talked before on Transfiguration Sunday. I suspect Peter lost sleep for a few nights. He likely was sure that he was dead to Jesus after all this we heard. But it was never meant for anyone to be dead to him. It is him that is committed to die for us. Nothing can separate us from his love. So much so that six days later, there is Peter, one of the few, having a peak in the magnificence of God. God send them on their way. It is pointless to stay at the top of the glowing hill. There is a world to save. There is more self-interest to deny and more lives to gain and to restore.
We don’t live the same life the first disciples did. It is almost dumb of me to mention it. I honestly don’t think that when Jesus talks to us through these verses, he asks us to act recklessly and put God to the test. However, there may be times in the journey when the cross gets quite heavy, or the world’s pull is too strong. At those times, I am sure that Jesus is hoping against hope that we will stay committed to him as he is to us so that we remain stewards of this priceless gift of faith, so that it will still be possible for Aria and any of others risen from the font, even the ones yet unborn, to be proud of their Savior and the good news they bear. The world needs the love we have recieved. Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. Amen.
Bridging Faith 