Slippery But Following?
Mark 8:27-38, Lent 2b, March 4, 2012 with Genesis 17:17-15,16 in b.g.
Have you ever thought that you have known best, that you had it figured out? Be careful – really think about that.
Once there was a young boy named Johnny. It was late winter, almost spring. Johnny lived in Saskatchewan, where the sloughs freeze over in the winter. It was great, because you could skate on those sloughs. Yet as spring neared, and the snow melted on the sloughs, and then froze again over night – it was even more wonderful. Then you could skate on the smoothest ice. It was like glass. You could effortlessly glide over that smoothest surface.
Johnny often did that. But as spring neared and the temperature rose, both of his parents would warn him, that he must stop. Although the ice was smoothest then, it wasn't always very thick. In fact the thinness of the ice made skating very dangerous. One early morning, even before the sun rose, Johnny woke up. He looked outside. There was a full moon. The light of the moon reflected off the ice of the slough across from their farm house. Johnny slipped on his clothes, carefully and quietly gathered up his skates and oh, so carefully, opened the house door. Then he literally ran across the road, laced up his skates and began to glide out onto that slough. He felt so free, racing from one side to the other, turning and skating backwards. What did his parents know? They were there snoring in their beds, while he was outside, living it up!
But then Johnny heard a "CRACK". Before he could move, there was another and another, CRACK. And now, in what seemed like less than an instant, Johnny was plunged into the frigid water. In an instant he rose to the surface, gasping for air, clutching, grabbing, reaching desperately with his already numb hands to the edges of the ice, trying, so frantically to lever himself up onto the ice. But it was no use, for he slipped. Or, when he did manage to grab onto the ice, it gave way under his weight. Now Johnny realized, he was dying.
But then, through the icecycles already forming around his eyelids, he noticed a dim figure slowly approaching him, crawling slowly but carefully over the ice. The figure cried out, "Son, hang on". Johnny's dad was not sleeping, not snoring. Johnny's dad was out there on the ice with him. Johnny's dad had brought a long plank – and was sliding it along the ice in front of him. He was risking his life, to attempt to save his son. It felt like an eternity, but somehow Johnny's father extended that plank, propping it under Johnny's arm. Then Johnny was levered up out of the water enough, enabling Johnny to clamber onto the ice and slowly, but surely edge to safety. Johnny's life had been saved – but only by his father who in doing so had risked his own life. Now Johnny, never again ventured out onto any ice as spring neared. He thought he had known what was going on, but he didn't really have a clue.
Peter also thought that he knew what was going on. Jesus had asked those disciples who others thought he was. They had given a number of possibilities: a prophet, John the Baptist, Elijah. Now Peter gets the words right: Jesus is the Messiah, the anointed one of God. That's exactly who Jesus is. To be sure, Sometimes we also get the words right. But Peter doesn't't have a clue what those words mean. Peter can't begin to comprehend what Jesus would have to do. Nor, does Peter understand what it would mean for himself, or for anyone to follow this Jesus.
You see, Peter thought that Jesus being the Christ, the Messiah, would have power – power as humans define power: being over others, with whatever that may take – violence, domination, deception. This is the kind of power that dances in the end zone, deriding one's opponents, or purchases the biggest toy, looking down our nose at our neighbour who doesn't have that toy or a house or a car like us.
It is then that Jesus begins to teach the disciples and all who would follow him, what it means for Jesus to be the Messiah. Are we paying attention to what Jesus says? "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."
But Peter will have none of it! Peter thinks he knows best. To the best of his ability he may even "love" Jesus. So Peter takes Jesus aside and begins to in Mark's words "rebuke" Jesus. No, no, no Lord! The Messiah, the Christ ("you") will not be dominated by others. You will dominate. The Messiah will not die, but will lord it over others.
But Jesus then rebukes Peter, publicly. The words are harsh: "Get behind me Satan". Jesus will not be deterred from his mission. Jesus realizes that what he is dealing with are incredible powers – powers of evil, of death, of destruction. Powers that have the ability to deceive especially the brightest of we human beings. These are Powers that would have us believe that we are the center of the universe, that, because of our hard work, our above average intelligence we can procure our own lives, or even strike a deal with whatever forces are out there.
Who then needs God? I mean in this 21st century aren't we god like? Even now we are mapping the human genome. How long will it be until we can generate life all on our own?
But, be careful. When we give into such thinking, when we yield to such temptation, we are more Johnny like than god-like. When we treat the earth as if we are not part of it, but ravage it, and exploit it we are skating onto very thin ice. When we view others as "things" instead of "our brothers and sisters", as commodities to be used rather than people to be valued and cared for, we have already plunged into frigid waters. When we think that we know more and are wiser than any who have come before us, the ice has not already cracked but we are unable to escape that which has trapped and is entrapping us.
We need to listen. In order to listen we need to be still, for more than a mega-second. By God's grace we need to our eyes opened, our ears unplugged, our hearts and minds made receptive to all that is around us. Hear and see the wonder and the beauty. Feel the pain and the angst of ourselves, of others, of all creation. Hear and respond to the wonder of this just, holy and yet mercifully loving God. It is God who dares to become vulnerable to us in order to rescue us from ourselves, from the dastardly powers of evil and death. How foolish we are to not see God, coming across the ice of our own making, risking God's own life, indeed emptying it, in order to deliver us. How stupidly arrogant we are to think or feel that God is irrelevant – even as we are dying!
Dear people , this morning Jesus asks, "What shall we give in return for our lives"? Is there anything we could give which would be worth our lives: our tfsa's, our rrsp's, our homes, our vehicles, our reputations – anything that we have or could possibly do? Indeed, Jesus also asks, "What will it profit us, if we gain the whole world and forfeit our very selves", which too often happens as we compromise our beliefs, our values, our love for God and others.
Don't we see? Jesus has to come across that ice. He must go to Jerusalem, to be rejected, to suffer, to be killed. It is in what happens to Him that we begin to see ourselves. We are the ones who put him in such a horrible place. We do that by who we are and what we do, and don't do. Yet, Jesus comes to us, because He loves us, even in our state. He shows us what God will give in return for our life – God's own life. ..!
And we, being lifted up out of the frigid waters of our own making - whom will we trust? Whom are we following right now? Amen.