(see also Mark 8:27-30) for context.
Dear beloved in Christ...
In our Gospel reading there is much to grab our attention as Jesus is in process of predicting his death and resurrection. We hear about how Jesus must suffer many things and that we are called to take up our cross and follow Jesus. These are the two verses within our reading that are most focused upon and for good reason. We will focus on those verses as well today but, I would like to bring your attention to a question that is often overlooked within the context of what Jesus is saying today. The question is, “What will a man give in exchange for his soul?”
I am sure you have seen that question entertained within the reels of Hollywood. We have observed stories that depict a person seeking fame or glory of some sort and a well dressed person coming to the dreamer’s aid. The well dressed person is of course Satan who offers the dreamer a contract. Sign with your blood and all that you desire will be yours. After the dreamer signs the contract, he obtains his dreams but, the devil often does something to destroy both the dreamer and the dream in the end.
If the devil approached us with contracts to trade our eternal soul for a brief stint at fame and fortune, I would think most Christians who place their love and trust in the Messiah would simply say, “No way” and go on with their days. But we know that the Devil does not come at us so plainly.
I would like you this morning to think about Jesus as your pastor. When you hear the words you are about to hear in just a moment, please look past this overweight 42 year old man who stands at the pulpit (as I pray you always will do) because I don’t want Jesus’ words to be stifled. There should be nothing in your spirit that seeks to interfere with Jesus’ word’s either and the reason I bring this request to our attention is because in our text we can see how easy Satan can come into the most dedicated of Christian souls and twist the truth.
Just moments before Jesus began to explain his ultimate purpose for coming to this world, Peter shared a confession of faith and the power behind that confession was indeed the Holy Spirit. Peter, in response to Jesus’ question of, “Who do you say that I am”, said, “You are the Christ.” Now if Peter were in our congregation right now, he would be just like you and I. He would be confessing his faith before his Christian family and before his Lord. He would recognize that the Holy Spirit lives within him and has created in him the faith into which he clings. Yet to show us just how sneaky the devil is and to convince us of how quickly the ground upon which we stand can become overturned by such things as pride, selfishness & stubbornness to name a few, we have Peter’s next statement of faith to read.
Immediately following the words of Jesus that spoke about what the future held for him; that Jesus would suffer many things, be killed and rise again in three days Peter rebuked Jesus. Jesus would have none of this personal pride, selfishness and stubborn nature that Peter displayed in his rebuke. Some could say, “Peter simply loved Jesus enough to not want him to suffer. Peter also was too wrapped up in those words of death that he totally looked past the words of life that Jesus offered.” But Jesus did not recognize those possible excuses. Instead Jesus said to Peter, “get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
So instead of Satan bringing a contract for us to sign in our own blood, the devil works to manipulate our spirit so that we would rather have in mind the things of man. I am quite doubtful Peter even realized that the rebuke he gave to Jesus would move Jesus to mark Peter’s words from Satan. Just moments ago Jesus gave the Holy Spirit credit for the confession Peter offered and then right away comes a rebuke from Jesus. How quick the devil seeks to tear away at our faith, at our confession and at what our purpose is to be in Christ.
Jesus as our pastor reminds us not to have in mind the things of men. Jesus our pastor reminds us of who seeks to attack and destroy us. Jesus as our pastor now shows us what else he wants us to reflect upon in this Gospel text so that our response to Jesus can be more like Peter’s first confession rather than his second.
It is interesting to me that after this bit of conflict that Peter displayed before Jesus, Jesus pulls his disciples together and says the following, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.”
If I was in the group of people that Jesus called to himself, and I had the opportunity to see how quickly Peter went from one who proclaimed Jesus to one that sought to deny Jesus’ will, I would have been all ears to listen to Jesus. I have just been convinced that I cannot trust on the strength of my faith or time spent at church or even my past dedication to Jesus because if Peter can flip so quickly, whose to say that I would not?
So, Jesus as pastor begins to counsel his people, so that they could have what is needed to stand on solid ground and to not allow themselves to have in mind the things of man. Jesus as pastor provides the first step to owning and living out a Christian Life.
First our pastor tells us to deny ourselves. Our natural way of life is to think of ourselves and our own happiness. The Christian life is supposed to be centered on God’s Will, something that Peter did not do for that moment. The child of God looks upward to God for guidance, “I will lift up mine eyes to the hills from wence cometh my help.” Thus only the new person in Christ can confess, “What pleases God, also pleases me.”
Second our pastor tells us to take up our cross. Our natural way about things is to avoid the difficult tasks and things that might be burdensome. You and I know however, that Christian tribulation and the trials that we discussed last Sunday (Rom 5:3-5) are God’s way of refining us. Thus we willingly take up our cross, trusting in God’s Word, Wisdom, goodness and GUIDANCE. As we trust in God’s Word we also discover that God will lighten the cross we bear because all the things we go through will (in God’s promise to us) work together for good to those that love God. (Rom 8:28).
Jesus our pastor then guides us to follow him. Some people believe this following of Jesus is quite an easy thing to do. Such souls often put restrictions on following Jesus. Some say following Jesus can be done just when I go to church on Sunday and others put a percentage upon how much they are willing to follow Jesus.
Now this congregation has a great story to tell others when we offer up Christian witness. There are many of you here today that travel 25 miles, 35 miles, and one family that I have learned is willing to travel 50 miles to come to church. That sort of reminds me of when all of Jerusalem traveled to hear John the Baptist preach and to receive Baptism. You travel to hear God’s Word, to Worship the Lord with your Christian community and as I understand things, to serve God by making a different as a community in the lives of others. Now that is a great start and a wonderful witness of what God’s people are willing to do to follow Jesus and I can’t wait to see what the Lord will do here at Faith Lutheran, that will guide us in other ways to follow Jesus.
You and I know that following Jesus has much to do with the actions we take. At the moment Peter denied Jesus’ plan of death and resurrection, Peter was not following Jesus. That is why Jesus said, “get thee behind me Satan!”. Therefore, I am asking God as a member of Faith Lutheran, as your pastor and friend, that God would continue to help Me to follow Him, to continue to deny myself, to continue to carry my own cross all the while I dedicate my life to His Word and Will. I pray you continue to ask God for the same thing for myself even as you do for yourselves. That is how we become a stronger community in Christ, with greater purpose. We seek to grow with each other in prayer, worship, witness, Word and Service. We seek God’s Will not our own. We seek what would make Jesus happy, and less of what makes us content. We share the trials and even the temptations we have had so that we might pray with each other during the hardship and rejoice with one another after the testing of our faith has produced perseverance.
Yes! There is much that our Pastor Jesus offers in counsel today. There is much that he guides us to do all throughout His Word but let us not forget the reason why we are able to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus.
Jesus our pastor, who is also our teacher, first taught his disciples that the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed. Lucifer, the one who used to be known as a seeker of light, would so love for us to see only darkness in these actions. He would love for us to look beyond the words that say of Jesus…SUFFER MANY THINGS……REJECTION……. DEATH! Yet the core of why we are hear today first and foremost rests on the fact that God was willing to send his one and only son to go through all this pain, for you. When you drive all those miles to church, I pray you think about the reason why you do so. You come to church because you love Jesus. We come to church and worship our Lord because Jesus was willing to take our punishment upon himself.
Our response to these actions is not one of simple respect but, of pure dedication, loyalty, purpose and service to Jesus. We hear these great stories about how a person who died, gave up their organs and saved lives. We see how this action has brought total strangers together; it was because of this selfless sacrifice. How much more does Jesus bring us together, as a community in Christ.
Let us also not look past the words that Peter looked past while rebuking Jesus. Jesus said, “and after three days rise again.” If Jesus did not rise from the grave our faith would be useless. Just as if we put money in the bank but, never bothered to withdraw any of it, so our faith would be useless if Jesus did not rise from the grave, defeating Satan and the wages of sin. But since our faith is sure, there is much that we wish to do to honor Jesus.
When Jesus asked, “What will a man give in exchange for his soul? Our answer in faith is not a useless answer. Our answer says, “we will give nothing to you O devil!” We will not give you an laziness, or selfishness or any stubborn thoughts. Instead, we will exchange our will for God’s Will. We will give over this world for a cross to carry. We will seek to rebuke the things that keep us on the path of man’s will and rejoice in the things that move us closer to God. We will pray! We will worship! We will study God’s Word! We will serve! We will witness because Jesus had a contract, that he signed in his own blood and that contract has purchased our souls for His service and for His Glory.
Jesus our pastor has spoken! We have heard his Words and we confess with Peter again, “You are the Christ, the son of the living God!” Our life is yours! Our will is yours! Our work is yours! And most important, our soul is yours to raise up on the last day.
Amen!
To pastors: Do not be discouraged when the people you serve think more about their own needs than about God’s Will. It took them years to get into their bad habits. It will not be you that changes their hearts but, the power of God’s Word. Continue to love them and have patience with them even as Jesus has with you. Continue to model that which Christ wants us all to model. Pray with them and teach them to pray. Worship with them and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Serve, even if you must serve alone and trust that God would help you.
Doug
