Mark 8:31-38
If you want to have some fun, you should try sitting with
a bunch of preschoolers sharing their joys and concerns. I do this every month
with our church’s preschool children. We all sit in a circle on the floor, pass
around a stuffed lamb, and take turns sharing our joys and concerns – just like
we do in worship every Sunday. You might not think three- and four-year-olds
would be able to manage joys and concerns, but they can manage pretty well.
Many of them, in fact, will tell me that they have both – a joy and a concern.
I always ask them which one they want to tell us first, and usually they want
to start with their concern. I’m not sure why. Maybe the concern is what feels
most pressing. Or, maybe they’re thinking ahead and want to end on a high note.
I will admit, they do get a little confused at times. Last
week one little girl said, “I have a joy; Elena is my best friend!” and I told
her how glad I am that she has Elena. Then she said, “I have a concern, too.
Tony is my best friend!” So, there might be some important subtleties about
preschool social life that I am not getting. Or, she might have been a little
confused about the nature of joys and concerns.
They are still working on figuring out what qualifies as
good news and bad news.
This business of good news/bad news is on my mind because
of the gospel. Because I’m waiting for the good news. And sometimes in our
world, and in this passage from the gospel, it seems to be scarce.
Sometimes it seems as though the gospel is all bad news. Especially
today.
It begins with Jesus telling his disciples about all the
bad things that will happen – the suffering, the rejection, the crucifixion. Yes,
he also said that on the third day he would rise again, but I doubt that they
heard that part. I think suffering, rejection, and death would have taken up
all their bandwidth. You know, like after you hear the word cancer, all the
words that come after it just sound like a drone in the background, because the
word cancer is reverberating too loudly in your head. If you are invested in
someone, you are invested in their bad news. Suffering, rejection, death.
Imagine how alarming this sounded to his disciples.
Remember that just a short while ago they dropped everything and followed him.
They dropped their nets, left their boats and their families. They’ve gone all
in.
Now, admittedly, their decision to follow Jesus was not a
rational one. They didn’t tally up the pros and cons before dropping their
nets. It was purely a Spirit-led thing. And while they have been following him,
they’ve been trying to sort it out, put the pieces together and figure out just
what kind of program they are following.
Right before Jesus began telling them all the bad news of
things to come, Peter had made a remarkable breakthrough. In answer to Jesus’
question, “Who do you say that I am,” Peter said, “You are the Messiah.”
The Messiah; the Anointed One; the Deliverer of Israel.
Good news: Jesus is the one they have been waiting for. This, finally, would
have given Peter a framework for understanding just what they were all about.
This would have helped him see some sort of agenda for the work ahead. And the
agenda didn’t include suffering, rejection, and crucifixion. That’s not good
news. This conversation has become –
Disorienting? Perhaps. But Peter was determined to stay
oriented. And he did what he felt needed to be done: gave Jesus a little
talking-to. Or, as Mark says, Peter rebuked him.
Don’t you wonder just what Peter said? Maybe he expressed
concern about morale among the disciples. Maybe he told Jesus he really needed
to improve his leadership skills. Whatever it was, it got a reaction out of
Jesus, who then turned around and rebuked Peter. And here we don’t need to
wonder what he said, because, apparently, everybody heard.
“Get behind me,
Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
I think he shouted it. I think that, at this point, it was
no longer a small group lesson between Jesus and the Twelve. This was like
screaming at your dinner partner in the middle of a crowded restaurant.
Suddenly, you are the focus of everyone’s attention.
So Jesus turned his attention to them. Speaking to the
whole crowd, he began to talk of how following him would mean hardship, it
would require selflessness. He let them know that they were welcome to try, but
that following him would mean turning away from worldly things for the sake of divine
things. And it did not sound like good news.
It was distressing news, because they thought they
understood about divine things. But it turns out they didn’t understand it at
all. And here is where I want to invite you to put yourself into the crowd,
hearing Jesus’ words.
Here you are in this crowd – interested in Jesus but not
knowing much about him yet. How does it feel to hear these words? Maybe you are
there because you have heard things about Jesus that make you feel so hopeful.
He heals those whom others have given up on; he cares for those whom others
have forgotten. He speaks in a way that has the ring of truth. How does it feel
then, to hear this man in whom you have placed so much hope, say “take up your
cross” if you want to follow me? Does it feel like good news?
It turns out we’re not very good, either, at
distinguishing between divine things and human things, as Jesus put it. We
might not be as good as we think at knowing the difference between good news
and bad news.
As the Apostle Paul said, in his letter to the
Corinthians, it’s about knowing the difference between what is foolish and what
is truly wise. And, he added, being willing to look foolish, at times, in the eyes
of the world. Or, as he suggests in the letter to the Romans, as we read today,
it is about knowing the difference between what has been promised by God and
what is just plain human desire. It is not easy for us to distinguish these
things.
This is especially significant during this season of Lent,
when we are invited to go deeper into what might seem like the bad news. In
Lent, we are encouraged to go all in, as those first disciples went all in,
experiencing the good and the bad, the joys and the concerns. In fact, during
Lent, we are particularly invited into the deep sadness and pain, those places
we don’t normally choose to go. And, strangely, we may find deep joy and peace
in these places.
The church of Jesus Christ is founded on the gospel, which
is another word for “good news,” but the reality is we spend a lot of time on
what many would consider to be “bad news.” In fact, it has surprised and
confounded some that we seem to find our greatest joy in what looks to all the
world like bad news.
During Lent we devote a little extra time to contemplating
our sinfulness, our weaknesses, our failures. Fun, right? This doesn’t seem
like anything that would increase our joy. But, if we walk into these dark
places in trust, we may discover a sense of release, which brings joy and
peace.
And what we might realize is that the bad news is always
there. The pain, the sinfulness, is always there whether we choose to look at
it or not. But if we walk into it, eyes open, Christ will set us free of it.
And that is good news.
Paul’s words to the Romans help shed light on this
difficult matter of bad news and good news. He said that faith and
righteousness will be reckoned to us who believe in the God who gives life to
the dead, who calls into existence things that do not exist, and who is able to
do what he has promised to do. God is able to do what he has promised to do.
God does not eradicate suffering and death. God does not
fulfill all our wishes like a Genie in a bottle. But God will do all that God
has promised to do, and the secret is knowing what God has promised to do.
You and I will also suffer. You and I will live through
good days and bad days, we will experience loss and maybe even rejection. But
what God has promised us is forgiveness and reconciliation. We get there, to
that good place, by walking with Jesus.
So often, the important things we learn in life come by
serendipity. So it is, sometimes, with my preschool friends. One day, I asked a
child if he had a concern or a joy to share and he said he had a conjoy. I have
found that to be a useful word.
My friends, if we walk this walk with Jesus, we will go
through places of deep concern. But this walk will lead us to places of deep
joy. In fact, I would say the life of faith is a life full of conjoy.
May you seek to know the difference between the foolish
and the wise, the human and the divine, the bad news and the good.
May you, too, get behind Jesus, follow him wherever he
will lead you.
May you find the places of deep peace and joy that sustain
us through this life and into the next.
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