Waiting in Line

Second Sunday in Lent – Year B

March 1, 2015

Mark 8:31-38

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."

He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 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. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."

One of the things I find myself doing a lot is waiting in lines of one kind or another. When I go shopping, I end up standing in line waiting to check out. When I go to the bank, I wait in line for a teller. When I go to a fast food restaurant, I wait in line; whether it's inside or outside in the drive through. You go to the doctor, and you essentially wait in line to be called. Just about everywhere you go, if there are more than a few people, chances are you are going to have to wait in a line of some kind.

There are people who find waiting in line to be very difficult. I think you know the kind of person I'm talking about, and maybe you're even one of them. They stand there anxiously moving around, looking around to see if there is a way to move faster, they sigh and complain about the speed of service. If someone up front has a question or a problem, they are likely to loudly make a comment of some kind. Then there are people who make waiting an art form. They seem to be able to calmly wait forever; with a smile on their face, waiting patiently for their turn.

In recent years it almost seems as if waiting in line has become an event in and of itself. People show up and wait in line for days if not weeks to see the newest movie. I think we can all remember the lines a few years a go for the new Star Wars movies and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. People waited patiently for days and days in order to get their hands on the newest iPhone and iPad. When the amusement park puts in their newest attraction, people will wait in line for hours to have a chance to ride it. What is most interesting about those lines, is that people are rarely grumpy, people are rarely grumble and complain; they tend to be laughing and smiling, having a good time. Why? Because they are so looking forward to what happens at the end of the waiting. The waiting is worth it.

The Jewish people had been waiting for the Messiah for a long time, waiting because they felt it was going to be worth it. There were many ideas about the coming of the Messiah that the Jewish people believed, including: Jerusalem and the temple were going to be the focal point of life when the Messiah came, the Holy Land would be restored to be like Eden's garden, the ground would be recharged with life and crops and plants would grow in abundance. In addition, the expectation was for the Messiah to come, claim the throne of Israel, reign as King, and from that position of power destroy all of Israel's enemies and bestow upon the nation all the blessings of God. No wonder the Jewish people were looking forward to the Messiah with expectation and hope.

And then Jesus, who many thought was the Messiah, announces that must suffer greatly, be rejected by the leaders of the temple, be killed and rise again. That was not the Messiah people were looking for, that was not what a Messiah was supposed to do. The Messiah was supposed to triumph over their enemies, not be killed by them. No wonder then that Peter took Jesus aside to challenge him, to rebuke him, likely to remind Jesus what the Messiah was and wasn't supposed to do.

I find that I'm often a lot like Peter, and not just in this situation. Peter plays the role of the 'every man' often in the gospels. He's the one who professes faith, yet finds it hard to declare his faith before the cock crows. He's the one who seeks to believe, and climbs out of the safety of the boat to walk in faith, yet when it gets difficult, his faith crumbles. He's the one who in anger strikes out to defend Jesus. He's me, and he's likely you. Here, he has a problem because who Jesus is doesn't fit nicely with who he wants Jesus to be. I'm like that sometimes, too.

Jesus tells us to love our enemies. But, that's hard to do, and there are often times when I don't want to. Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek when we are attacked. I want to lash out. Jesus tells us to place the needs of others ahead of our own, why would I want to do that? Sometimes I want to cry out, “Jesus, why can't you be like I want you to be? Why can't you want what I want? Why!?” My cry is probably the same cry that Peter had. How does Jesus respond to Peter?

“Get behind me, Satan!” Strong words. It's important to remember that in Greek (in which this text was originally written), Satan was not necessarily the red-skinned, pointy-tailed, pitchfork-bearing ruler of hell we tend to associate with that word. It was a word that also meant adversary or challenger. So, Jesus may not have declaring the Peter was possessed by the devil, but that he had taken on the persona of an adversary or challenger to what Jesus was saying. He was, as Jesus says, wanting his own dreams for the Messiah to be fulfilled, and was placing himself in opposition to what Jesus was instead declaring to be his mission.

“Get behind me!” When I hear those words, my mind goes back to those lines I began this sermon with. Standing in line at school, and someone cuts in line, “Get behind me!” I think that it is in this way that Jesus also used these words to Peter. “Get back in line!” “Step back into formation!” “Get back in step!” Jesus is looking at Peter and seeking to bring him back onto the Way, the path of Jesus, the steps that the Messiah was in fact going to walk. “Walk in my ways, Peter, not in yours.” “Walk in my ways, Erik, not in yours.”

It's a reminder I need. I need to be reminded that I cannot create God in the image I want. When I ask, “What Would Jesus Do?”, I can't convince myself that Jesus will do what I want. When I hear someone say, “What Would Jesus Do?” I remind myself of what the writer Mick Mooney wrote a few months ago:

Once upon a time, a mother made her son a wristband. On it was written: WWJD?This, of course stood for: "What Would Jesus Do?" She instructed her son to look at the wristband before making decisions on how to live his Christian life.

A week later she was shocked to see that her son had become friends with prostitutes, was hanging out with 'sinners' -- even buying people who were already drunk yet another round of beers!

Worse still, he had walked into their church the previous Sunday and tore down the book store, overturned the tables and threw the cash register through the window, he then made a whip and chased the pastor out of the building, declaring he was turning God's house into a den of thieves.

Most shocking was what happened when his mother went to picket the local abortion clinic. To her embarrassment, her son was also there, but he was standing with the women who just had an abortion, and yelled at the protesters: "You who are without sin, throw the first stone!"

The mother was very distressed, but fortunately she found a solution to this terrible problem. She made another wristband, this time it read: WWAPD? This, she explained to her son, stood for: "What Would A Pharisee Do?" She took the old WWJD? wristband and burned it.

Since her son has been wearing the new wristband, looking at it to help him make his decisions, he has become a dedicated tither, a public prayer warrior, an active condemner of 'sinners,' a passionate defender of the Old Covenant law, and has a great reputation as a godly young man amongst other religious people.

Needless to say, the mother is very happy now. She only wishes Jesus would take notice and follow her son's good example.¹

As Christians, we are called to seek to live our lives in such a way that they are in line with the life of the one we claim as Messiah. We are called to follow, to be 'behind' him. It's not an easy calling. If we had to do it ourselves, we would never be able to do it. But, we are not alone. Jesus may walk ahead of us, showing us the way; but, Jesus also walks beside and behind us, guiding us, strengthening us, carrying us when necessary. We are strengthened in our moments of weakness. We are enlightened in our times of darkness. We are guided in those times when we are lost. We are refueled when our tanks are empty. Today we gather around our Savior's table, and receive fuel for our journey.

In Communion we receive real food, real drink, ordinary stuff made from wheat and grapes. Simple things that point to an eternal truth, a memorial of Jesus' act of complete and total love, and service. A celebration and remembrance of his life, his love, and his final act of love on the cross. In Communion we are reminded of the mission of the Messiah, and how through him death no longer has power to destroy… that God's grace is greater than sin and darkness. The Eucharist, first shared by Jesus with his disciples on the night of his betrayal, shared with us so that we might live more fully here in this world, walking the path he first walked for us.

Today, our God offers a gift to feed us. Our Savior longs to be our refreshment, our food for the difficult, beautiful journey of life to which God calls us. When we gather around our Lord's table, we are getting behind God and looking to God to empower us to take up the cross of faith and follow. May it also be our food to help us together to become more fully the voice, the heart, the hands and feet of Christ for our families, for our neighborhood and for our world today! Amen

1http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mick-mooney/wwjd-what-would-jesus-do-_b_6010114.html