Originally Preached August 28, 2005
(Some illustrations are obviously out of date, but you can think of some current ones)

Text: Matthew 16:21-28

This has not been a good week for Jesus.

On Monday, Pat Robertson, the head of the Christian Broadcasting Network and host of the popular 700 Club, called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

“We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability,” Robertson said. “You know, I don’t know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we’re trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It’s a whole lot cheaper than starting a war … and I don’t think any oil shipments will stop.”

Monday was a bad day for Jesus. And it only got worse as the week went on.

Fred Phelps, the pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas announced that members of the church would picket the weekend funerals of two fallen Tennessee soldiers. The families and friends of Staff Sergeant Asbury Hawn of Smryna and Specialist Gary Reese of Ashland City were shocked to learn that Phelps’ group would show up at their loved ones’ services this weekend to protest against homosexuality, although neither man was gay. That little fact doesn’t matter to Phelps who believes that America has been co-opted by gays and that God’s wrath is rightfully killing our soldiers – like these two young men – who, in Phelps’ opinion, are fighting to defend a nation that defies the Bible by harboring homosexuals. The families of these two fallen heroes are brokenhearted not only because of their great personal loss, but also because of the disrespect shown their loved ones.

It was a bad week for Jesus.

And now today, in our Gospel reading, one of Jesus’ closest friends tries to stop Jesus from going to Jerusalem to suffer and die for the salvation of the world.

“Heaven forbid that this should happen to you!” Peter cries.

“Get behind me, Satan!” Jesus replies.

Even his closest friend opposes his work.

Not a good week for Jesus.

Everyone, it seems – from Pat Robertson, to Fred Phelps, to Simon Peter – is trying to turn Jesus into something he’s not, and the Gospel into something it cannot be.

The story of Peter – which is really just an ancient version of what goes on in our world today – identifies a central spiritual struggle that goes on in all our lives. As you may know, the passage immediately preceding this story is the famous one in which Peter – for the first time – confesses Jesus as the Messiah.

What a moment it was! Perhaps you can remember a time in your life when the clouds sort of parted and you saw Jesus in a way you’d never seen him before. Perhaps you were in a church service and felt compelled to go forward at the altar call, or maybe you were just home by yourself when you cried out to the Lord, and SOMETHING HAPPENED! Some invisible veil parted and you experienced the love and forgiveness and inner healing of God’s presence as never before.

Many of us can remember the year, the month, the week, the day, and the very moment Jesus became more than just a word to us.

That’s what it was like for Peter that day when he confessed, “You are the Messiah!”

And Matthew reports that Jesus was so very happy that Peter made this discovery that he exclaims, “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah! Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father in heaven.” And then Jesus goes on to tell Peter he has a grand plan for his life, and that Peter will be the rock upon which Jesus will build his church, and that – you know – is how Peter came to be regarded as the first Pope!

It was the best day of Peter’s life! He found a Savior! He found a future! He found a purpose! He has the world by the tail!

AND ALL IS WELL WITH HIS SOUL!

But then Jesus pulls the rug out from under Peter’s feet.

“I’m going to Jerusalem. There I will suffer and be killed.”

And Peter – stunned by this foreboding news – cries,  “NO, LORD! NEVER! GOD FORBID THAT THIS SHOULD HAPPEN TO YOU!”

And that’s when Jesus becomes disappointed with his friend, and hits Peter with the “get behind me, Satan” stuff. Can you imagine going from “Blessed are you!” one moment, to “Get behind me Satan!” the next?

Well, that’s a symptom of the inner spiritual struggle I’m talking about. One moment, all is well with us and the Lord, but the next moment, we have become the enemies of God.

No one doubts that Pat Robertson and Fred Phelps and Simon Peter…and Marty Singley, for that matter…believe in the Lord and love him!

But our love for God so often hits a snag, and all of a sudden, we find ourselves on the other side.

What do you suppose it is within us that causes this shift?

I guess I might describe it as the enemy within. Jesus came right out and called it “Satan” although he was not trying to suggest that Peter was possessed by some demonic power. Rather Jesus was pointing out that Peter – who had been on God’s side just the moment before – was now, all of a sudden, God’s enemy.

What is this inner thing that causes faithful people to capitulate to the powers of darkness?

I think Sigmund Freud hit the nail on the head when he said that what separates human beings from all the other creatures is that we humans are self-conscious.

[1] In a sense, it’s a lot easier being a dog than it is being a man, woman, or child. You see, animals are born with a set of instinctive responses that enable them to deal with the various moments of life. They live, grow, eat, reproduce, struggle against the elements, and eventually die with no conscious awareness of who they are or what their purpose is. They have no sense of a beginning and an end. Animals do not have to get up in the morning and have a cup of coffee in order to face the world. Animals do not have to take a drink of alcohol to fortify themselves against life. Animals do not have to worry about what others will think of them. They’ll sit down and clean themselves up right in the middle of your high-class dinner party!

Sandy’s niece Karen once had a poodle named Philip. Philip was not good at very much as a dog, but the one thing he was really good at was love. Philip was a lover. He loved everything that moved. Another dog. A cat. Someone’s leg. A mop sliding across the floor. Philip didn’t care. Although he should have cared because one day Philip tried to put the moves on the tire of a car – when the car was still moving. And that was the end of Philip.

But humans are different. We are aware that we have a beginning and an end. We are full of worries and anxieties because we are aware of how big the world is and how small we are. It is our self-awareness that causes us to be anxious about life. And it is that very self-conscious nature of ours that has the potential to turn us into the enemies of God.

Why do we even think about assassinating people? Because we are afraid. Why do we organize against people who are different? Because we are afraid. Why do we not want Jesus to go into Jerusalem and die for the world? Because we are afraid of what will happen to US if he does!

Fear. That is the enemy within.

And when Christians live out of fear what happens is that we erect walls around ourselves. We try to fortify ourselves against different people, different religions, different ideas. And sometimes, fear causes us to create an artificial faith that has solely to do with keeping ME safe, and meeting MY needs, and getting ME to heaven when I die. A great deal of what passes for Christianity in our society today is nothing more than self-conscious fear dressed up in Christian clothing.

“God forbid, Jesus, that this should ever happen to you!”

“Get behind me, Satan, for you are not on the side of God, but of men.”

Do you understand the problem here? Jesus is going to Jerusalem to save the world. But for Peter, the world consists solely of himself and his own little circle of friends.

On the other hand, the Bible teaches that for Jesus, the reach of God’s saving love must get wider and wider! So he will go to Jerusalem and lay down his life for that great big wide world! The Gospel is about more than just Peter! It is about you and about me and about Pat Robertson and about Fred Phelps and about Venezuelan Presidents and about people gay and straight. The Gospel is about the families who’ve lost loved ones in Iraq – both American and Iraqi families. The Gospel is about Jews and Muslims and Christians and agnostics and atheists. The Gospel is about God’s gracious love for the WHOLE world – not just Peter’s world.

So while Peter wants the world to get smaller, Jesus knows that God’s will is for the world of God’s love to stretch and to grow and reach everyone!

And so Jesus says, “Get behind me, Satan. You are not on the side of God.”

So how do you get on God’s side as you live your life as a Christian?

Well, there is only one way to overcome fear.

Do you know what it is?

To love.

“Perfect loves casts out all fear,” the Bible says in First John.

There is no clearer way to say it than this: the only way to overcome the enemy within is by way of committing yourself to living out the radical love that we see in the life of Jesus. That love had no thought of a faith that is mine alone, but considered others the precious children of God. That love reached across borders, and boundaries, and social classes, and political lines, and even religious laws.

Christian love is not afraid to love anyone, anywhere.

It is love acted out in complete trust that God will transform peoples’ lives and the world as they are accepted and loved and understood and cared for.

For some of us, though, that seems a hopeless task. How many of us have wasted love on people and situations that never changed?

Joyce Peterson shared a story during our staff devotion time this week that beautifully speaks to this.

A man was sleeping one night when suddenly his room was filled with light and God appeared. The Lord told the man he had some work to do. God showed him a large rock outside, in front of his house. The Lord told the man he was to push against that rock with all his might. So he did.

Day after day, week after week, the man put his shoulder to the rock. But day after day, week after week, that rock refused to budge. Do you know some people like this? No matter how hard you love them, they just won’t budge!

Finally, the man became discouraged and gave up. That night, he told the Lord, “I’ve labored long and hard, with all my strength, to do what you asked me to do. Yet that rock has not budged an inch!”

Then the Lord answered, “My friend, all I asked you to do was to push against the rock with all your strength. I never said you had to MOVE IT. Your task was to push the rock. My job is to move it!”

Whenever, in our day, people commit themselves to the same radical love of God for the world that was embodied in the life of our Savior, we are pushing against the great stone of hopelessness and despair.

And God promises that in his time and in his own way, he will move the stone!

And when people take up that kind of love, it is a good week for Jesus!

For the Gospel is proclaimed, and God’s love is spread, and the world begins to inch toward salvation.

Go home today…and PUSH!

[1] For a provocative discussion about the human self-conscious and its relationship to theism, see Chapter 3 of “A New Christianity For A New Day” by John Shelby Spong.