Mark
8:31-38
In the
spirit of the season I have a confession to make. Conflict makes me uncomfortable. So when I hear about Peter rebuking Jesus and
then Jesus firing back and rebuking Peter I don’t like it. What is all this rebuking about? In fact, what does it even mean to
rebuke? It’s not a word we use very
often. Conflict avoidant or not, we may
scold our kids or lecture our significant other, only on rare occasions, of
course. But rebuke? We probably don’t think what we’re doing is
rebuking because it sounds so harsh and it can be, but perhaps a more helpful
way to think about it is to consider that “to rebuke” really means to put
someone in their place.
So with
that in mind, I don’t know about you but I certainly feel more comfortable
turning our attention to today’s reading from the gospel of Mark. Now what’s going on here is a continuation of
what just happened right before our reading began. Jesus has just asked his disciples who they
think he is and Peter declares, “You are the Messiah.” And with that confession the disciples
finally know Jesus’ proper place as God’s Messiah. So now that “the cat is out of the bag,” so
to speak, Jesus takes this opportunity to teach the disciples what being the
Messiah actually means. The Son of Man,
Jesus explains, must undergo great suffering and rejection and even be
killed.
My guess
is that it is Peter now who is feeling rather uncomfortable because he, along
with all the other disciples, know that the Messiah’s proper place is in
triumph not in suffering, rejection, and execution. So Peter being Peter takes it upon himself to
pull Jesus aside to inform him that he’s got it all wrong. Peter is determined to put Jesus the Messiah
in the place that he thinks is most proper, a place of glory and triumph and so
he rebukes him.
However,
in doing so Peter, a disciple, someone who signed on to follow Jesus, is now
suddenly trying to reverse roles and take the lead by telling Jesus what to
do. But Jesus is having none of
that. In response - for Peter’s own good
- Jesus is quick to put him back in his proper place, that is, behind
him. “Get behind me, Satan!” rebukes
Jesus.
Poor
Peter. Just moments before he had been
totally in sync with Jesus, seeing what many couldn’t see - that Jesus was the
long awaited Messiah. And Peter was more
than ready to follow, follow that is, until it became clear that God’s Messiah
wasn’t leading where Peter thought he should go and that’s what led to all this
rebuking. But Peter’s story is not
unique. Aren’t there times when we feel
as right and as bold as Peter and ask God to just move on over and let us take
the lead in our lives or the lives of others?
Circumstances where we feel pretty confident that we know what’s best
and just wish that God would follow our instructions? But there are other times when we do want to
follow Jesus yet without even realizing it we do things to take control of a
situation instead of letting go and getting behind Jesus so that we can follow
and he can take the lead in our lives.
Which
brings me back to my years in high school, when for a few weeks in P.E. class
we were taught social dance. We learned
how to do the foxtrot, the waltz, the swing, and for those who were really
advanced, the polka. Although it wasn’t
cool to say so back then, and perhaps it’s still true today, I loved it. Not only did it save me from changing in and
out athletic clothes in the middle of the school day which was such a pain, but
learning how to dance like “old people” turned out to be quite fun. Who knew?
But there was a problem. It
wasn’t the dance steps that came relatively easy to me. My problem was that I couldn’t stop leading
my partner. And as you may know,
tradition has it that in social dance the boy leads and the girl follows. I can’t tell you how many times I heard my
teacher shout across the gym for all to hear, “Kathleen, stop leading!” With that rebuke I was reminded to pay more
attention and let my partner lead - which usually lasted for a few steps -
until it completely slipped my mind and I went right back to leading once
again.
It’s not
easy for any of us to surrender control and follow someone else’s lead - and
you know I’m not just talking about social dance here. Jesus certainly knew this about us because
after putting Peter in his place Jesus gathers the entire crowd, not just the
disciples, but everyone who was around so that he can tell them something
really important, where their proper place is - where our proper place is:
Behind Jesus. If any want to become my followers, Jesus says, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
Sobering
words, which at first may sound just as appealing as an invitation to a death
march. But really it’s quite the opposite, it’s a call to dance with God. To dance the dance of abundant life with the
first step of this dance, starts with denying ourselves. Now just to be clear, denying ourselves is
not about hating ourselves because we are called to love ourselves as Christ
loves us - and that’s a whole lot of love.
Nor does denying ourselves mean deciding to make life hard - to give up
things that bring comfort, joy or pleasure - doing that is just a different way
of trying to control which in this dance leads to a lot of stepping on toes and
nothing feels right. Rather, denying
ourselves is about letting go, letting go of the idea that it’s our right to be
in charge of our lives, that we should be the ones to dictate what steps to
take and when to take them. Denying
ourselves is surrendering our claim to be in charge so that Jesus is able to
take the lead. For when we are willing
to follow his lead, responding to the gentle guidance and prompting of God’s
Spirit, then we are able to pick up the cross of Christ. Jesus’ cross that is all about giving in a
world that takes, loving in a world that hates, offering mercy when others seek
vengeance, forgiveness when others condemn, compassion when others are simply
indifferent. This is God’s dance that we
are invited to join in. This dance of
denying ourselves and taking up our cross which leads to abundant life.
Now we
are all pretty clumsy when it comes to this dance. We may even feel like all we have to offer
are two left feet. No matter, God in
Christ desires to dance with each and every one of us. But if you’re like me, you’ll need lots of
reminders and sometimes even a loving rebuke.
Yet keep in mind that it is always good news when Jesus speaks to us and
says, Get behind me and follow my lead.
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