The Second Sunday in Lent
The Rev. George Pejakovich, Assistant to the Dean
Grace Cathedral
03/08/09

Mark 8:31-38

PETER WAS STUNNED INTO SILENCE. IT WAS AS IF HE WAS SUDDENLY AND INEXPLICABLY CLUBBED OVER THE HEAD BY THE ONE HE LOVED. WHAT HAPPENED? WHAT DID HE DO TO DESERVE THIS? HE HAD JUST STEPPED FORWARD AND PROCLAIMED BOLDLY THAT THE ONE HE HAD BEEN FOLLOWING FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS WAS THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD. TO THIS BOLD ASSERTION, JESUS RESPONDED WITH SUCH LOVE FOR HIM THAT HE CHANGED HIS NAME FROM SIMON TO PETER, “THE ROCK,” AND SAID TO HIM “ON THIS ROCK I SHALL BUILD MY CHURCH.” THEN, IN THE NEXT MINUTE, JESUS STARTS TALKING ABOUT GOING TO JERUSALEM TO DIE. “I CAN NOT LET THIS HAPPEN,” THOUGHT PETER, SO HE GOT IN FRONT OF JESUS AND SAID, “NO, GOD AND I WON’T ALLOW IT!” IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE, THE ONE HE LOVED CAST HIM ASIDE AND CALLED HIM “SATAN,” THE ADVERSARY OF GOD. “WHAT HAPPENED? ALL I DID WAS TRY TO TELL HIM HOW MUCH I LOVED HIM. HOW CAN MY LOVE FOR HIM CAUSE HIM TO BE SO ANGRY WITH ME?” THEN, TURNING AWAY FROM PETER, HE ADDRESSED THE REST OF HIS DISCIPLES SAYING, “IF ANYONE WOULD COME AFTER ME, HE MUST DENY HIMSELF AND TAKE UP HIS CROSS AND FOLLOW ME.” SO, PETER WAS LEFT STANDING THERE IN THE DUST OF THE ROAD, WONDERING “WHAT DID I SAY WRONG? WHAT DID I DO?”

THE MAN, SIMON, NOW CALLED PETER, HAD BEEN A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSMAN, RUNNING A MODEST FISHING FLEET. HE KNEW THE WAY OF THE WORLD AND HOW THINGS WORKED. HE KNEW HOW TO GIVE ORDERS, HOW TO PLAN FOR SUCCESS, AND HOW IT WAS POWER AND MONEY THAT RAN THE WORLD. HE KNEW ALL ABOUT THE EFFECTS OF POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS OPPRESSION ON HIS PEOPLE, AND WHAT IT MENT TO TRY AND MAKE YOUR WAY IN THE WORLD AS A SECOND CLASS CITIZEN FROM GALILLEE IN A LAND DOMINATED BY THE RICH RELIGIOUS PEOPLE OF JERUSALEM AND THE IRON HEELS OF THE ROMAN LEGIONS. HE KNEW THAT THE ONLY WAY TO SUCCEED WAS TO MAKE ENOUGH MONEY OR GAIN ENOUGH POLITICAL POWER, BETTER YET BOTH, TO CHANGE THE WAY THINGS WERE. IF THIS JESUS WAS THE MESSIAH, HE WOULD LEAD THEM TO A NEW AGE OF GLORY, IN WHICH THEY, WITH JESUS AT THEIR HEAD, WOULD CAST OFF THE YOKE OF OPPRESSION AND THEN THEY WOULD RUN THINGS THE WAY THEY SHOULD BE RUN. ALL THIS TALK OF DYING WAS DEFEATIST, AND POINTLESS, AND HE COULD NOT LET JESUS GO ON LIKE THAT; YOU DON’T WIN BY DYING. NOW, HERE HE WAS, REJECTED BY THE ONE HE FOLLOWED AND LOVED, AND TOLD THAT HE WAS NOT “PETER” BUT “SATAN.”

WHAT PETER, AND THE REST OF THE DISCIPLES, WOULD COME TO UNDERSTAND WAS THAT JESUS WAS CALLING THEM TO A NEW WAY OF LIVING, A WAY TOTALLY IN OPPOSITION TO THE WAY IN WHICH THEY KNEW THE WORLD WORKED. HE WAS CALLING THEM AWAY FROM THE PURSUIT OF POWER, WEALTH, PRESTIGE AND GLORY TO THE WAY OF SACRIFICE. HE WAS CALLING THEM AWAY FROM THE WAY OF THE “SELF” TO THE WAY OF GOD. HE WAS CALLING THEM TO LOSE THEIR LIVES IN HIM AND IN HIS LIFE AND DEATH, FOR ONLY BY LOSING THEIR LIVES IN HIS WILL THEY FIND THEIR TRUE LIVES.

AS THE GREAT ENGLISH WRITER C.S. LEWIS WROTE, “CHRIST SAYS: GIVE ME ALL. I DON’T WANT ONLY SO MUCH OF YOUR TIME OR MONEY OR WORK, I WANT YOU. NO HALF – MEASURES ARE GOOD ENOUGH. HAND OVER THE WHOLE SELF, ALL THE DESIRES WHICH YOU THINK INNOCENT AS WELL AS THE THEORIES YOU THINK WICKED - - THE WHOLE OUTFIT. AND I WILL GIVE YOU A NEW SELF INSTEAD.” AS JESUS TOLD HIS DISCIPLES, AND AS HE TELLS US, “WHOEVER WOULD SAVE HIS LIFE WILL LOSE IT; AND WHOEVER LOSES HIS LIFE FOR MY SAKE AND THE GOSPEL’S WILL SAVE IT.” THE LIFE TO WHICH JESUS CALLS US IS THE LIFE OF THE CROSS; THE SAME CROSS TOWARD WHICH HE WAS HEADING IN JERUSALEM. IT IS THE LIFE OF THE CROSS OF SACRIFICE; THE CROSS OF THE LIFE IN WILLING SUBMISSION TO THE WILL OF GOD.

IT IS NOT THE LIFE OF CHRISTIAN GLORY THAT WE HEAR PREACHED FROM THE TELEVISION BY MINISTERS WITH GREAT HAIR AND THOUSAND DOLLAR SUITS WHICH TELLS US THAT THE LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN IS ONE OF CONSTANT AND COMPLETE BLESSING. WHEN YOU HEAR THESE SO CALLED MINISTERS OF THE GOSPLE PREACH THE WONDERFULL MESSAGE THAT IF YOU GIVE YOUR HEART TO JESUS ALL WILL BE WELL, YOU NEVER HEAR ABOUT THE CROSS WHICH THE CHRIST COMMANDS YOU TO CARRY. IT IS ALSO NOT THE LIFE OF THE MESSAGE OF THE JOYS OF PERSONAL SALVATION, WHERE THE ONLY THING OF IMPORTANCE IS WHETHER OR NOT YOU ARE SAVED.

THE WAY OF THE CHRIST IS THE WAY OF THE CROSS. WE ARE SAVED FROM THE WORLD AND SAVED FOR A CROSS, AND THE ONLY WAY TO BE SAVED FROM THE WORLD AND FROM OUR SELVES IS TO BE LOST IN THE WAY OF THE CHRIST. WE MUST LOSE OUR SELVES IN HIM, FOR ONLY BY LOSING OUR LIVES IN HIS LIFE, CAN WE WALK THE WAY OF THE CROSS TO WHICH HE CALLS US. THE WAY OF THE CROSS IS THE LIFE LIVED AS A SACRIFICE TO GOD FOR THE SAKE OF OTHERS, AND THIS LIFE IS POSSIBLE ONLY BY THE COMPLETE AND UTTER LOSS OF THE SELF IN THE LIFE OF THE CHRIST OF GOD. WHEN EVER WE HANG ON TO A BIT OF THE OLD SELF, WHEN EVER WE TRY TO KEEP A BIT OF OUR SELVES BACK FROM OUR LORD, WE ARE LEFT STANDING IN THE DUST OF THE ROAD AS AN ADVERSARY TO GOD.

THIS LENTEN JOURNEY ON WHICH WE NOW WALK IS AN ANNUAL REHERSAL FOR OUR LIFE – LONG WALKING OF THE WAY OF THE CROSS. IT IS A TIME FOR US TO REFLECT ON, AND TO DEEPEN OUR COMMITMENT TO THE WAY OF THE CROSS. WE WALK AGAIN WITH JESUS AS HE HEADS TOWARD JERUSALEM, KNOWING THAT THERE A CROSS OF PAIN AND SUFFERING WAITS FOR HIM. WE FOLLOW HIM AGAIN IN OUR SCRIPTURE READINGS AND LITURGY, REFLECTING ON HIS SUBMISSION TO THE WILL GOD, AND, IN SO DOING, REFLECT ON OUR OWN WALK OF THE WAY OF THE CROSS. IT HAS LONG BEEN A PRACTICE TO “GIVE UP SOMETHING” FOR LENT, AS A SYMBOLIC GESTURE OF OUR COMMITMENT TO THE CHRISTIAN LIFE OF SACRIFICE. THE ONLY THING WHICH THE CHRIST ASKS YOU TO “GIVE UP” IS YOUR SELF. IT IS NOT OUR ADDICTION TO COFFEE OR CHOCOLATE WHICH OUR LORD DEMANDS OF US AS OUR PERSONAL SACRIFICE, BUT THE TOTALLITY OF OUR SELVES – TO LOSE OUR LIVES COMPLETELY IN HIS.

SO TO WALK THE LENTEN WAY THIS YEAR, PICK UP A NEW CROSS AND ADD IT TO YOUR OWN. IN QUIET AND LOVING SUBMISSION TO THE CALL OF THE CHRIST, TAKE ON A NEW MINISTRY, ADD TO YOUR LIFE OF SERVICE, FEED THE HUNGRY, CLOTHE THE NAKED, COMFORT THE AFFLICTED, LOSE YOUR SELF IN THE SERVICE TO OTHERS. WALK THE WAY OF THE CROSS, FOLLOWING THE CHRIST WHO CAME INTO THIS WORLD TO DIE THAT THE WORLD MIGHT FIND LIFE THROUGH HIM. FOLLOW HIS CALL TO DIE WITH HIM, DYING TO THE WORLD AND TO YOUR SELF, THAT IN HIM, AND THROUGH HIM, YOU MIGHT HAVE LIFE. THERE IS NO GLORY AND POWER IN THE LIFE OF THE WAY OF THE CROSS, THERE IS ONLY THE LOVE OF GOD FOR HIS PEOPLE EXPRESSED THROUGH A LIFE OF SERVICE AND SACRIFICE. WE CAN EITHER PICK UP OUR CROSS AND FOLLOW HIM, OR BE LEFT STANDING IN THE DUST BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD.
AMEN.