Woke up this morning with my mind stayed on Jesus
Woke up this morning with my mind stayed on Jesus
Woke up this morning with my mind stayed on Jesus
Allelu, Allelu, Alleluia
This is the song that came into my mind as I was working with today’s gospel lesson.
To really understand this lesson,
it is helpful to go back a few verses.
Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” 29He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.”
ding ding ding!
You are right, Peter!
But Jesus’ response is strange.
He asks them not to tell anyone.
Then Jesus goes on to tell his disciples that they are going to Jerusalem . . .
So Peter speaks up – “No way, Jesus! That can’t happen to you, of all people.”
Why, Jesus has just confirmed that he is the Messiah,
the savior they have waited for.
Surely God wouldn’t let such a thing happen to God’s own, beloved Son?
But Jesus’ response to Peter is immediate, and harsh.
“Get behind me, Satan” he says.
Satan – the sa-tan – is the adversary, the tempter.
Satan is any force which seeks to deflect us from the way of God,
and that is what Peter is doing –
trying to deflect Jesus from his God-given path.
Last week we heard that Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness for 40 days. Satan tried to persuade Jesus to grasp worldly power and take the easy way
(You know you’re hungry, Jesus - turn these stones into bread –
make a spectacular display of yourself so all will worship you –
bow down before me and I will give you the world),
In a similar way, Peter wants Jesus to be the super-hero Messiah he has expected .
Peter is letting his own expectations and desires for himself and for Jesus get in the way of hearing what Jesus is saying –
and in the way of following where Jesus is going.
When he rebukes Peter, Jesus says that Peter is looking not from God’s perspective,
but from a human perspective.
Jesus turns to his disciples and begins to explain to them what kind of Messiah he will be – so different from what they expect –
and what he expects of them.
If you want to follow me, Jesus says, you must also be willing to take up a cross,
if that is where serving God will lead you.
If you try to hold on to your life, Jesus says –
to your power, your security, your happiness, your rights, your things –
you will lose the life that really matters.
But if you are willing to give of yourself –
following the way Jesus leads
then you will know abundant life, lived in the grace of God’s love.
Fr Doug reminded me this morning that the Greek word Jesus uses here translated “Life” is the word psuche – our psyche,
as in psychology, psychiatric, psycho-somatic
It means the soul, or the ego – or we might call it the “self”
And here is where Jesus invites a new perspective.
Our culture is pretty focused on the self:
self-esteem, self-love, self-indulgence, self-giving
Our culture is not very big on self-denial.
But the self-denial to which Jesus calls us
is not the opposite of self-fulfillment or self-esteem.
It is not a demand for asceticism or self-hate.
Just giving up things will not make one Christian.
What is difficult for our culture to understand,
is an orientation to one's life that is not focused on self at all,
either as self-esteem or self-abasement, as self-fulfillment or self-emptying.
But that may be just the life Jesus models for us.
Maybe following Jesus means not focusing on the self at all –
not self-love, not self-esteem, not self-denial or self-hatred –
but focusing one’s attention fully on God,
as Jesus always did.
This is not easy, by any means.
I sure don’t know how to do very well.
But as I hear Jesus’s words today I wonder if that is the way he is trying to lead –
to focus fully on God and God’s work of love in the world.
Take up your cross.
Give up your life.
These are not easy words to hear.
I am glad Jesus says them in the middle of this story about Peter
because Peter is a disciple a lot like us, with good days and bad days,
full of faith and full of doubt.
Peter jumped out of a boat and walked on water –
then sank like a stone as doubts overtook him.
But Jesus lifted him out of the water before it closed over his head –
that time and many others.
Part of being human is that our attention falters,
we lose focus and begin to sink.
But always we are invited to return – to look again to Jesus,
to be lifted up again and follow where he leads.
Woke up this morning with my mind stayed on Jesus
Woke up this morning with my mind stayed on Jesus
Woke up this morning with my mind stayed on Jesus
Allelu, Allelu, Alleluia
Woke up this morning with my mind stayed on Jesus
Woke up this morning with my mind stayed on Jesus
Allelu, Allelu, Alleluia
This is the song that came into my mind as I was working with today’s gospel lesson.
To really understand this lesson,
it is helpful to go back a few verses.
Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” 29He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.”
ding ding ding!
You are right, Peter!
But Jesus’ response is strange.
He asks them not to tell anyone.
Then Jesus goes on to tell his disciples that they are going to Jerusalem . . .
So Peter speaks up – “No way, Jesus! That can’t happen to you, of all people.”
Why, Jesus has just confirmed that he is the Messiah,
the savior they have waited for.
Surely God wouldn’t let such a thing happen to God’s own, beloved Son?
But Jesus’ response to Peter is immediate, and harsh.
“Get behind me, Satan” he says.
Satan – the sa-tan – is the adversary, the tempter.
Satan is any force which seeks to deflect us from the way of God,
and that is what Peter is doing –
trying to deflect Jesus from his God-given path.
Last week we heard that Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness for 40 days. Satan tried to persuade Jesus to grasp worldly power and take the easy way
(You know you’re hungry, Jesus - turn these stones into bread –
make a spectacular display of yourself so all will worship you –
bow down before me and I will give you the world),
In a similar way, Peter wants Jesus to be the super-hero Messiah he has expected .
Peter is letting his own expectations and desires for himself and for Jesus get in the way of hearing what Jesus is saying –
and in the way of following where Jesus is going.
When he rebukes Peter, Jesus says that Peter is looking not from God’s perspective,
but from a human perspective.
Jesus turns to his disciples and begins to explain to them what kind of Messiah he will be – so different from what they expect –
and what he expects of them.
If you want to follow me, Jesus says, you must also be willing to take up a cross,
if that is where serving God will lead you.
If you try to hold on to your life, Jesus says –
to your power, your security, your happiness, your rights, your things –
you will lose the life that really matters.
But if you are willing to give of yourself –
following the way Jesus leads
then you will know abundant life, lived in the grace of God’s love.
Fr Doug reminded me this morning that the Greek word Jesus uses here translated “Life” is the word psuche – our psyche,
as in psychology, psychiatric, psycho-somatic
It means the soul, or the ego – or we might call it the “self”
And here is where Jesus invites a new perspective.
Our culture is pretty focused on the self:
self-esteem, self-love, self-indulgence, self-giving
Our culture is not very big on self-denial.
But the self-denial to which Jesus calls us
is not the opposite of self-fulfillment or self-esteem.
It is not a demand for asceticism or self-hate.
Just giving up things will not make one Christian.
What is difficult for our culture to understand,
is an orientation to one's life that is not focused on self at all,
either as self-esteem or self-abasement, as self-fulfillment or self-emptying.
But that may be just the life Jesus models for us.
Maybe following Jesus means not focusing on the self at all –
not self-love, not self-esteem, not self-denial or self-hatred –
but focusing one’s attention fully on God,
as Jesus always did.
This is not easy, by any means.
I sure don’t know how to do very well.
But as I hear Jesus’s words today I wonder if that is the way he is trying to lead –
to focus fully on God and God’s work of love in the world.
Take up your cross.
Give up your life.
These are not easy words to hear.
I am glad Jesus says them in the middle of this story about Peter
because Peter is a disciple a lot like us, with good days and bad days,
full of faith and full of doubt.
Peter jumped out of a boat and walked on water –
then sank like a stone as doubts overtook him.
But Jesus lifted him out of the water before it closed over his head –
that time and many others.
Part of being human is that our attention falters,
we lose focus and begin to sink.
But always we are invited to return – to look again to Jesus,
to be lifted up again and follow where he leads.
Woke up this morning with my mind stayed on Jesus
Woke up this morning with my mind stayed on Jesus
Woke up this morning with my mind stayed on Jesus
Allelu, Allelu, Alleluia
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