"stumbling and bumbling"
Ryan Jensen, Preacher
Exod. 3:1-15; Ps. 105:1-6, 23-26, 45c; Rom. 12:9-21; Matt. 16:21-28
August 31, 2008
We just read and listened to an account from Matthew that includes the scolding of Peter. Just in case that there is anyone out there who is hearing this story for the first time, I think it will help to support this text by remembering the stories that come immediately before and after it.
Had we been reading Matthew straight through, we would have come across a story just before today’s reading in which Peter is in good shape. It is there that Peter names Jesus as the Messiah, and it is there that Jesus responds, “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed to you that I am the Messiah, but it is rather my Father in heaven who has done this. And I tell you, you are now named
Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.” It is a proud moment in the history of discipleship.
In the Matthew text that comes immediately after today’s reading, Jesus takes Peter, along with James and John, and Jesus becomes transfigured before them. It is there that God reveals the true identity of Jesus. Peter witnesses the transfiguration. So it is that after today’s reading, Peter remains in good standing with Jesus.
With these two accounts in mind, it seems strange today that Peter would make such a terrible blunder in his response to Jesus. Jesus was in the process of showing his disciples that he would go to Jerusalem, suffer, be killed, and three days later rise from the grave. We do not know the exact words of Jesus here, but we are simply told that he was showing to the disciples the things that would happen.
I can’t help but imagine that everyone was stunned to hear Jesus demonstrate these things. For all of us hearing it today, this is not a news flash. We know the whole story. It is for Peter and the rest of the disciples that this breaking news had to have been a shock. I imagine that the disciples watched in awe as Jesus went on to show them the things that would happen. I imagine that they were not unlike all of us who have been glued to the Weather Channel and web sites, waiting to see where hurricane Gustav will turn next. The disciples were hanging on to Jesus’ every word.
It was in better weather that the disciples had followed Jesus to this point. They watched as he preached, healed, performed miracles, and fed the hungry. There had surely been minor storms along the way, but their leader remained with them. It is in today’s story, however, that things take a turn for the worse. Jesus moves from discussing the building of the church to telling about the end of his own life. Talk about shifting gears. Our text today begins with, “From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples…” We do not know how long Jesus did this but we do know who was first to interrupt.
Just as Peter was the first to call Jesus the Messiah, it is again Peter who first speaks up. He pulls Jesus aside and says: “God forbid it! This must not happen!” Jesus replies like a parent who is at the same time angry and disappointed. Jesus says, “Get behind me you devil! You are a stumbling block to me, for you are not setting your mind on divine things, but human things.” Jesus then breaks the private conference with Peter and begins to address the disciples as a whole.
I was thinking about what happened to Peter here and my mind drifted off to the days of the middle school cafeteria. It was there that when a tray of food or glass was loudly dropped, that the whole lunchroom would become dead silent for about two or three seconds. Immediately after that, it was the custom that everyone in the lunchroom would then look at you and respond with a chorus of ooo’s. It was silly but effective in really embarrassing the person who had dropped their lunch.
There are also those times when you try to talk to another person while competing with very loud music or some other noise. And it is at the same time that you begin to scream over that noise that the noise suddenly stops. You then realize, only a second too late, that the loud noise has been replaced with the sound of your own voice. You are then left standing there, with everyone looking at you, wondering what it is that you are yelling about... “Who is that guy and what is he yelling about?”
I imagine that Peter must have felt some of the same embarrassment. It is when Jesus replies to Peter that the spotlight suddenly shifts. We don’t really know if the disciples were in on Peter’s rebuke of Jesus but surely they heard Jesus’ reply… What did you say to Jesus, Peter? And did I hear Jesus call you Satan? And why are we now being lectured because of what you did? The argument of Peter has clattered to the floor and his actions are left hanging heavily in the air. But why did Jesus say what he did?
Jesus calls Peter Satan because Peter is doing the same thing that Satan did when tempting Jesus. Earlier in Matthew, we find Satan taking Jesus to the top of the temple and saying, “If you are the son of God, throw yourself down. It is written about you that God will send angels to save you and that your feet will not dash against the stone.” Jesus did not fall to the temptation of the devil and Jesus is not about to fall to the rebuke of Peter. So when Jesus says, “Get behind me Satan,” Jesus is saying, “Peter, do not try and tempt me away from what must happen. I will show you the way… get behind me and follow. If you are going to be a disciple, then your place is behind me.”
Jesus goes on to call Peter a stumbling block because Peter is worried about human things instead of divine things. There is also more here than meets the eye. In the Greek, the words Peter and rock are one in the same. Again recalling the Matthew text that comes immediately before today’s story, we find Peter confessing that Jesus is the Messiah with Jesus responding, “On this rock, I will build my church.” While somewhat abstract, it seems that Jesus is saying that he will build his church on the confession or the faith of Peter. It is there that Peter serves as a rock that promotes discipleship.
So it is that when Peter is called a stumbling block that his rock-like character takes on a different quality. Rather than serving as a foundation to faith, Peter is now a rock that lies in the way.
Because he has questioned what Jesus has proclaimed, Peter is now something that causes others to stumble. He is a rock that is tripped over.
It is because Peter demonstrates this very human quality that I wonder about the nature of his rebuke of Jesus. It is again after Jesus predicts his death that Peter proclaims, “This must never happen to you!” Surely Peter cares for the life and wellbeing of Jesus. I do not question that. No one wants a loved one to die. But if Peter is like you and me, surely he is also concerned about himself. It is, after all, the living who are left behind to grieve the dead. In addition to grief comes much more. After the death of a loved one, people have to learn how to adjust. Peter is facing a life without Jesus and that is too much for him to bear. He becomes wrapped up in his own worries and forgets everything that Jesus has just said. All Peter hears is the word “dead.” Lost to him is the part of the story where Jesus promises to rise from the dead. Peter has his mind set only on what he can see, not what he cannot. Do we blame him?
There is much of the liturgical year that is easy to believe. On Christmas, Jesus is born. Because babies are born every day, that part is easy to consider. The same goes for Good Friday. Because we know that all life comes to an end, it goes without saying that Jesus died. Furthermore, it is not that hard to consider that this death came as a result of crucifixion. That was, after all, a common form of punishment and torture at the time.
Similarly, Christians confess—without too much soul searching—that Jesus was a great teacher and prophet. But what about Jesus being the son of God? What about life after death? There we can join Peter in stumbling in our faith. While our minds are accustomed to the things of the human world, the world of the divine is a different matter. It is as we sit on the sidelines with Peter that Jesus goes on to say what will be required of us.
Jesus says, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” What does Jesus mean when he says that we should to take up our cross? Pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer offers this: “The cross means sharing the suffering of Christ to the last and to the fullest. Only those who are fully committed in discipleship can experience the meaning of the cross.” I personally find this difficult to comprehend. Jesus tells us to take up our cross. Bonhoeffer tells us that the cross means sharing in suffering. It certainly sounds like a tall order. It sounds that way until we consider the alternative.
Considering that alternative, think about what life would be like if there were no call to take up our cross in following Jesus. We know that there would still be pain and suffering in the world, in our families, and in our own lives. We know that homelessness and hunger would continue to exist. We know that death would continue to be an untimely and often painful process. In other words, if we refuse Bonhoeffer’s interpretation of Jesus’ words, then we refuse sharing in the suffering of Christ, preferring instead to suffer in the lonely misery of ourselves.
Jesus never promises to pay off faith will health and well-being. Jesus rather promises to be with us every step of the way. Should we take up our cross in following Jesus, we will find that Jesus is also shouldering the load. In real language, this means that discipleship to Jesus means being in relationship with others. If we get behind Jesus, we will find that there are many others who are already there, following along. There are those in this particular church who are sharing in the suffering of others. There many more outside of this church and community who are doing the same. The more we follow Christ, the more we will discover that we are not alone. The suffering of the world will end only when God ordains it, but should we cast off the weight of that world and replace it with the weight that Christ offers, we will find that the load is much easier to bear. This is a direct reference to Jesus’ promise that his yoke his easy and his burden light.
Getting back to what Jesus tells us today, we must remember that this yoke is a spiritual yoke. It has to do with things of the divine world. Should we get stuck too much on those human things, we will get caught up in things like ignorance, pride and arrogance. Those are the things that lead us to believe that we can strike it out on our own and make it by ourselves. Those are the things that lead us to negative and shallow concepts what it means to follow. Sticking to the human things, one of the things that I dislike most is getting behind one of those big eighteen-wheelers on the interstate. Just think about having to drive behind one of those for about thirty or forty miles. All you see is the back of the truck and if it’s raining, your windshield is constantly getting covered with a sludgy combination of water and dirt. Following, in that sense, is pretty bad. I would rather be out front where I can see what is ahead. That’s a pretty basic example, but I think it demonstrates the reluctance that many of us feel when it comes to following. This point is becoming even more clear as the November elections loom ahead. Each of us has our own take on who we do NOT want to follow. Where will they lead us? And why can’t we have some say in where we are going?
It is however in following and getting behind Jesus that Dietrich Bonhoeffer offers this: “Bewilderment is the true comprehension. Not to know where you are going is the true knowledge.” Saying that again, “Bewilderment is the true comprehension. Not to know where you are going is the true knowledge.” This is advice that Peter and the rest of us all need desperately need to hear. The more we accept our bewilderment of what comes next, the less like stumbling blocks we will become. Our call is to trust in Jesus.
Next Sunday is “Invite-a-Neighbor Sunday.” Thinking about the challenges that might come with actually inviting someone to this event, I was reminded of what takes place this time of year in my home town of Shelbyville, Tennessee. Last night ended the ten day event of the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration. Most locals simply refer to this as the Horse Show. So it is that when trying to explain the Horse Show to friends in other places, that there is usually a lot of explaining that has to take place. When inviting them to come and check it out, I have to first tell people that it is a pretty big deal. School lets out for it. And because there are about 20,000 people in the city of Shelbyville, and because the stadium holds about 30,000 people, the town really has to rally around this thing to get it to work. When people ask, “Well, what happens there?” I tell the truth as I understand it, “Well, you have a lot of these horses that walk kind of funny. And the horses go around this track while judges try to pick out the horse and rider that are doing the best job of walking that way.” For some people, this is enough. They are interested to learn more. But there are others who say, “I am not really into horses.” To them I reply, “Well, it’s really about a lot more than horses. You can buy a cedar stick and whittle on it. And there is really good food there, including these really good doughnuts that are made right out there near the horse stalls. There are lots of people to watch. I remember there was one year when Zsa Zsa Gabor walked right past me.” It is because the horse show is a part of who I am that I stumble all over myself in encouraging others to come and check it out.
I think it is the same here. “Invite-a-Neighbor Sunday” is not all about packing the pews nor is it simply about any one component of the church. This is an opportunity for us to take part in evangelism. By handing an invitation to our neighbor, we participate in the Great Commission of Christ. This is also an opportunity to practice discipleship. When we reach out in loving our neighbor as ourselves, we are taking another step in following Christ. So invite your neighbor. If someone wants to come for the food, that is okay. If someone is only interested in seeing what kind of people attend this place, that’s fine. If you are pretty sure that that your neighbor will not even show, it makes no difference. When we take a chance in extending an invitation to our neighbor, we can trust that Jesus is right there with us. While we may stumble in our words or be clumsy in our presentation, we can trust that the Holy Spirit will be present to do the hard part for us. Our call is to trust in Jesus. We extend the invitation but only God changes the heart.
In today’s reading, none of the disciples seem prepared to hear the good news. We are not told of anyone who said, “Tell me more about that after death part.”
Peter was certainly not ready to hear what Jesus had to say. Peter became a stumbling block to himself, to his fellow disciples, and to Jesus. But this does not mean that Peter is a bad person or that Peter is permanently doomed to the error he made. Jesus corrects Peter and gets him back in line. Jesus leads the way.
This is the same with us. We will stumble and bumble and fall over ourselves in trying to second guess what it is that Jesus is calling us to do. Sometimes we will get it right and great things will happen. But there are other times that we will miss the point. With nothing but good intentions, there will be times when we open our mouths too soon, when we will fail to do what is right, when we will disappoint others, and when we will drag others into the consequences of our mistakes. There is no question that we, as disciples of Jesus Christ, will stumble along in doing some or all of these things. But this is okay. The trouble is real only if we think that we have the power to turn things around. The challenge for Christian discipleship is remembering that Jesus is the leader and that we are the followers.
Did Peter mess up? Yes. Did Jesus ever tell Peter to get lost? No. During the transfiguration. Peter went on to see Jesus with a face shining like the sun and clothes that were dazzling white. Is our story and our hope any different? Jesus continues to show and lead the way. In humility and faith, let us follow.