We talked last week of the transformation of Peter. We said that we can see the trajectory of Peter’s complicated transformation as a human follower of Jesus within many of our last gospel readings. When Jesus was transfigured, Peter wanted to build three dwellings for Moses, Elijah, and Jesus. Another Sunday was Jesus walking on water. Peter challenged Jesus to prove his divinity when he said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” The next Sunday Jesus is speaking about what corrupts a person, but the message doesn’t quite click with Peter and he asks for clarification. Last week, Peter’s name is changed from Simon to Peter, and he receives the keys to the kingdom. The future of the church will be built on Peter’s witness and work.
Matthew 16:21-28: Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” Then Jesus told his disciples, “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 will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? “For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
The clarity of Peter last week is dramatically shifted this week. Today, Peter perceives with a narrow, short-sighted vision. But, before we roll our eyes and “tsk tsk” Peter, would you or I really understand Jesus either? Do you or I listen to our doctor when he or she says: you need to lose a few pounds, you need to eat more fiber, you need to get 30 minutes of exercise each day, you need to get more sleep and drink less caffeine and wine. I mean, seriously, do we really floss every day like Jan and Joan tell us we should? Nah! So, it’s completely unfair to see the splinter in Peter’s eye when we are unwilling to recognize the log in our own!
I want to shift our focus for a minute off of Peter and to us. Follow me. Put yourself in the world of these people…
*The woman in a broken marriage knowing if she remains she will be crushed, but to leave feels like quitting, and speaking this truth invites shame.
*The fired from his job, a decision that’s blind sighted him and left him feeling responsible and inadequate and devalued and scared.
*The woman receives news that her child is dead and her hope and joy is canceled; what remains within her is a soulless abyss.
*The man who gets a phone call that his sister has died by suicide, and he has so many questions and so much anger and feels self loathing for what he could never control.
Look around the room. These are our stories, your stories. We look back and see our personal timelines, and on that line are gaps, places where that line stopped short. We step closer to see the fine print on that timeline, and when see see the words, we step back with, “Ah. Yeah. I remember that.” And we slowly nod and look down and attempt to swallow the lump that’s jumped into the throat.
Peter has just listened to the words of his beloved teacher say he will die. Jesus did say that he will be raised again, but who would pay attention to those words when they’ve heard the most devastating information? Who of us truly hears the good news when we’ve just been told the worst news imaginable?
Dolly Parton died this week. Someone posted it on a friend text group I’m in, and what was my immediate response? No! Absolutely not! I immediately go to google, and my heart stops cold when I see that it’s true. I feel shock, grief, abandoned, alone. This can’t be. Dolly can’t be gone. We are reminded of her character and selflessness and strength and sass as the tv and social media rerun interviews and performances, and remind us of her relentless generosity.
Tuesday the 25th at 2:00 was our Peter moment. When we said, “No! This cannot be true! This is a lie!”
I believe the moment of recognition that Dolly is no longer in our world was the verbal slap of Jesus to Peter. Jesus has been alluding to this fact and speaking directly of this inevitability for some time, but it didn’t register with anyone.
Satan spoke the words to Jesus in the desert, “Save yourself!” Peter speaks the words, “God forbid it!” Jesus responds in verbal violence that arrests Peter’s attention and shocks him into the inevitable reality of what is to come.
The rest of the gospel is Jesus telling his precious disciples who struggle and try and trip and keep going that they must be willing to lose everything in order to gain everything. The riddles of Jesus still don’t make sense because we cannot see past today. All we see is what is at the tips of our noses. The woman in the broken marriage cannot fathom a life after divorce. The man fired from work cannot dare to hope for another job in this economy. The mother believes she will never laugh again. The brother says he can never trust again.
I don’t believe Jesus expects Peter, and therefore doesn’t expect us, to live in an airy fairy illusion that rejects the pain and betrayal and heartache that this world endures. Quite the contrary…look at Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane begging his Father to take away the cup he must drink from! But it seems to me that Jesus is telling Peter that his death will happen, that when we choose to follow Jesus suffering will happen, losing will happen. Living on this side of death, we will experience struggle. As a matter of fact, whether we follow Jesus or not, we will endure heartache. Honestly, when we choose to follow Jesus, our struggles might likely double. Not only do we endure the fact of simply existing and all that comes by living the human condition, but we will also have to withstand what wants to destroy the grace that comes from Jesus, the love that connects us to one another, and the hope of what comes on the other side of death.
Our transformation, like Peter’s, will move in fits and starts just like Peter’s. We will have moments when we are walking on water. We will have moments when we doubt and are confused. We will have moments when we fail epically and are drowning.
As we move forward, tripping often when we step, accept the training wheels of grace made accessible for us. Receive the verbal slap with understanding and appreciation because it comes from the One who loves and cherishes us despite our frailty. And, as we move forward, may we also continue to put on the armor of God that protects and reinforces and equips us for the corruption of this world. And, if that armor is a coat of many colors and is dazzling with rhinestones, has stilettos for boots, a big blonde wig or fancy hairdo for a helmet, and kindness, compassion, generosity, grace, and joy for a sword, I believe we’re doing the best that Jesus could ever want for us.
Amen.
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