First the Bad News

Mark 8:31-38 Then he 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. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But 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.”

He 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. 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? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those 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.”

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You don’t usually want to lead with the bad news.  When you call a relative who worries way too much.  The kind of person who assumes the worst every time the phone rings; the person who follows “Hello,” with “What’s wrong?”  When you call that person you might start the conversation with, “Hi; we are fine,” just so you can get on with other things.

You don’t lead with the bad news when you are reporting to your boss on a project you’ve been working on.  First you tell her about the successes, then you can fill her in on those areas where you’re still having problems – if you have to.  If it’s not necessary to talk about it then why say anything?  But if you have to share the bad news, it’s probably best to start with the good news. 

In general, it’s best to start with the good news.  But in this passage from Mark’s gospel, it’s all bad news.

Why is it that the church tends to lead with the bad news?  No sooner do you get settled in your seats do we make you confess your sins, like it or not.  It’s as though we’re afraid you might have been a little too happy when you came in this morning and we want to bring you down a notch.  You have to face the bad news before we let any good news be heard.

It’s a wonder anyone sticks around.  It’s surprising that anyone comes back for more.  And in the season of Lent we double down on the bad news, don’t we?  We ask you to spend six whole weeks looking for things to feel bad about.

Consider the traditional Lenten disciplines, like fasting.  My mother-in-law, a Baptist, once told me flat out, “I just don’t see the point of it.”  She said, “I’ve tried to have an open mind about it, but I just don’t think there is anything to be gained by making myself suffer.”  I think a lot of people would agree with her, that self-denial is pointless.  To be fair, I think one might say there is more than enough suffering in life without having to go out and look for it.  And that may be true.

But still, I don’t know how you reconcile that position with stories like this one from the gospel.  How do you make sense of “Deny yourself; take up your cross and follow me” if there is no point in self-denial? 

I think you should know something.  Were it not for the liturgical calendar and the common lectionary, I would be unlikely to select this passage for preaching.  I believe I can speak for many preachers when I say we would prefer to deliver good news most of the time.  And it’s not just because we are by nature “people pleasers.”  It’s because we like good news over bad news just as much as you do. 

It’s clear that Peter didn’t like the bad news – particularly now.  Jesus and the disciples had been riding a pretty good high.  They’d been sailing around the region of Galilee feeding the hungry, healing the blind and the deaf, and casting demons out of innocent children.  Peter and the others still didn’t really understand just what they were a part of, but it looked like something exceptionally good.  They were riding a good wave right now.  And it doesn’t seem like a good move to suddenly start talking about death and denial and other unpleasantness.  Besides, none of those things seem likely to occur from where Peter is standing. 

In the verses preceding this passage, Peter has just made the ultimate statement of faith: You are the Messiah.  Quite right.  And everyone knows that the Messiah will triumph – not suffer a miserable failure.  So when Peter tries to advise Jesus against all this negativity, there are reasons.  However, his reasons are flawed, the same way our reasoning is very often flawed.

Jesus answers him, “Peter, you are setting your mind on human things, not divine things.”  Let’s sit with that for a minute.  Actually, Peter believed his intentions were completely in sync with the divine.  The long-awaited Messiah had come. God would deliver the people of Israel.  The blind would see and the deaf would hear and the kingdom of God would prevail.  If anyone, it is Jesus who is more preoccupied right now with human things – human suffering, specifically. 

He says if you want to save your life you need to lose it.  He says if you want to be my follower, you need to deny yourself.  He says you need to pick up your cross and follow me – follow me.  And you and I know where Jesus is going, don’t we?

I can see how it’s surprising to Peter, given all the goodness they have been witnessing.  And I can see how it is disturbing to Peter; because it seems to negate all the work they have been doing to relieve suffering.  I can see why it’s discouraging for Peter, because he doesn’t know how it will all unfold.  There will be plenty of darkness ahead and more than enough suffering.

But here is where we finally get the good news.

Mark’s gospel is directing us to the crossroads of human suffering and divine presence.  What Mark wants us to see is that the place of suffering is the place where the divine meets humanity in the form of Jesus Christ.  Mark was writing to a community who knew suffering as well as they knew anything.  He wants them, and us, to be assured that Jesus will meet us in our suffering.  But there’s more: he also wants us to know that Jesus calls us to never turn our backs on suffering. 

The truth is, suffering is always with us; the poor will always be with us – Jesus said so himself; war will always be with us; and death will always be with us, until the kingdom comes in its full glory.  In the meantime, we can certainly try to banish suffering by filling ourselves up with pleasant things, comfortable things, things that calm us.  We can try to keep away suffering by distancing ourselves from any unpleasantness in the world around us.  We can do these things, but it is actually dangerous to our souls. 

One thing Jesus has clearly shown us is that God is always with those who suffer.  Scripture shows us that God is on the side of the weak and the afflicted.  Where there is suffering, there is Christ.  If we shut ourselves off from the suffering we would risk cutting ourselves off from the presence of God.  And without God, what good is there?

I like it when church is happy.  But not at the risk of denying those for whom there is no happiness. 

And so, with the gospel, we lead with the bad news – always.  Give the bad news its moment in the spotlight.  And then, without fail, the good news will shine all over it.