He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.
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. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” -- Mark 8:29-33
Knowing there is a God is not the same as knowing God, is it? Acknowledging the initial fact is only the first step on a precipitous, arduous path that most of us choose not to take.
When Peter correctly identifies Jesus as Messiah, he does so with stars in his eyes. He has seen incredible miracles. He has heard astounding sermons. He has stood with Jesus before enormous, adoring crowds. He feels the power and the glory, but he doesn’t know the half of it.
You see, Peter and his fellow followers had always looked to the horizon for a great, conquering Messiah on a charging war-horse, come to set everything right and redeem at last the chosen people in one fell swoop, whisking them off to glory and honor while the other folks were knocked down and left behind. Jesus has to repeatedly, firmly, unequivocally correct this misguided notion. The profane always resist the profound. The gentle are bruised by the harsh. Story time is over, Peter. Wake up to reality.
It is a risky business pointing these things out, but to this day, the would-be followers of Christ regularly require the cold, hard slap of reality. Get behind me, Satan, the truth is the cancer sometimes comes back. Get behind me, Satan, the speeding car doesn’t always stop in time. Get behind me, Satan, starting our third “War to End All Wars” won’t result in Christ coming on the clouds any quicker than did numbers I and II. Prosperity Gospel?!?!?!? Get thee behind me, Satan, God doesn’t intend to be my Santa Claus. God intends for me to be someone else’s Jesus.
“Love God with everything you’ve got, and consider everyone else’s well being to be as vital as your own,” Christ said, summing up the message of all the prophets and scripture from A to Z. Now you and I both know that neither one of us is all that successful in carrying out these two simple requirements. They run counter to what it takes to make our way in this world. Ah, but if we are followers of Christ, the way we are supposed to make in the world isn’t our own, is it?
If I am following Christ to be somehow richly blessed in this world, I might want to turn around now and go back to square one. If I am following Christ to somehow richly bless this world -- yes, here is the path to peace, enlightenment and the kingdom of God.
“For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.”—Mark 8:35
I spent years learning about God in church and Sunday school. Then I met Jesus and found out how little I really knew. Head knowledge and heart-knowledge are so very different. Heart-knowledge gives me strength in adversity; dries my tears of pain and loneliness; heals a heart broken by what someone else said or did.
ReplyDeleteI am not blessed with riches, but I am overwhelmed with the richness of my blessings. He promised to supply my needs, not my wants. As I walk more closely with Him, my needs and my wants are becoming much more alike!
Same here, Mary.
ReplyDeleteI find that the heartaches are more deeply felt, but so are the joys. After a while, most of my base appetites prove bland and shallow. I grow tired of the same games, the same stimuli... even novelty starts to look the same!
My faith provides a deeper, more fulfilling reality. I have yet to find a place or time where the words of Christ don't point the way. There is truth. There is purity. There is love. There is peace. There is simplicity. All of this can be the foundation of our existence if we choose it.
But in choosing truth we will face the ire of falsehood. In choosing purity we will be pressed by compromise. In choosing love we will be attacked by hate. In choosing peace we will be accosted by fear. In choosing simplicity we will be beset with complications.
In choosing the way of the Christ we will become "inconvenient" to many of our acquaintances. So be it. As long as we don't become arrogant and judgmental, they may still seek us -- and who and what we've come to embrace and follow -- when they need a true friend.
Jesus enters Jerusalem humbly, completely disarmed and open to all he meets. That is not an easy way to walk through this world. It wasn't easy for him by any stretch, but he did it.
John Lennon, in his beautiful song "Across the Universe," expresses the openness of enlightenment so well:
Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup
They slither while they pass, they slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow, waves of joy, are drifting through my opened mind
Possessing and caressing me
Jai guru deva om
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes
That call me on and on across the universe
Thoughts meander like a restless wind inside a letter box
They tumble blindly as they make their way across the universe
Jai guru deva om
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Sounds of laughter, shades of earth, are ringing through my open mind
Inciting and inviting me
Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million suns
It calls me on and on across the universe
Jai guru deva om
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
At first glance, the phrase "nothing gonna change my world" looks like a head-in-the-sand approach or a dream-like stupor. But if he means exactly what he is saying and is stepping away from his ego and into a more meditative, loving, humble state, maybe John means that the NOTHING he has learned to attach to material things, the NOTHING that he wants impeding his soul from oneness with THE ONE, is indeed going to change his world. I know NOTHING (as in selflessness towards unity with God) certainly changed my world!
On this the start of the Easter Triduum, it seems totally appropriate to thank Jesus for all he has done for us. While tonight seems APPEARS the saddest night to attend church, I get more out it than I do any Sunday service. Is this wrong? It is definitely my annual Reality Check.
ReplyDeleteIn this life of chaos I will recommit to Him to live a life of truth, purity, love, peace and simplicity.
Thought for this holiest of days: We must continually work hard so that each of our actions is a way of carrying on little onversations with God, not in any carefully prepared way but as it comes from the purity and simplicity of the heart. - Brother Lawrence
(c. 1605-1691)The Practice of the Presence of God