" Walking Away From the Cross"

 

Proverbs 1:20-33    Mark 8:27-38

 

     Words from the book of Proverbs.  "How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?  Behold, I will pour out my thoughts to you, I will make my words known to you."  Those words from the Proverbs shed light on our Mark reading this morning.   The disciples were content on being simple.  Jesus is the Messiah.  He is going to take over the city.  We will reign with him.  Then they discovered it wasn't quite that simple.

 

     I think a lot of people are content being simple.  All we have to do is confess faith in Jesus and we will be saved.  God is on our side, we are right and our enemies are wrong.  I think Abraham Lincoln had it right when he said, "We should not invoke religion and the name of God, claiming that God is on our side.  We should pray and worry earnestly whether we are on God's side."

 

     For a moment Peter was on the side of Jesus.  He confessed that Jesus is the Christ.  Moments later Jesus was rebuking Peter.  "Get me behind me Satan!  For you are not on the side of God, but of men."

 

     God will not allow us to remain simple.  God pushes us to new insights and new understanding.  "I will pour out my thoughts to you, I will make my words known to you."  And God sends us Jesus and Jesus speaks and lives out the word of God right before our eyes.  And it was not a word that we expected.  Rather than a word about taking over the city, it was a word about suffering and death.

 

     Last year when we were on the Youth Mission trip in Milwaukee we were driving by a by a bus stop at the end our work day.  We had to stop at a light and while we sat there we could see two men fighting at the bus stop.  Actually it was a one man fight as one man was just beating the heck out of another man.  There were a lot of people around.  We drove away, other people walked away.  No one wanted to get involved.  We were in one of the roughest neighborhoods in Milwaukee.  We all did the safe thing, that which was best for us. 

 

      The title of the book we are reading in our Sunday School class is "If you are going to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat."  Eleven of the disciples did the safe thing, they stayed in the boat.  Only Peter got out of the boat and got his feet wet.

 

      After Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, Jesus began talking about how the Son of man must suffer and be killed.  And Peter began to rebuke him.  Peter was tempting Jesus to walk away from the cross.  Don't go there Jesus. It's not safe.   

 

      Peter was not alone in his thinking.  It appears that the closer Jesus got to the cross, the more his followers began to walk away from the cross, including Peter who denied three times that he even knew Jesus.  While Jesus was walking toward the cross, others were walking away. Is that our experience?  We say we believe, but are we walking farther away from the cross or are we walking towards it?  Are we taking any risks for our faith, are we reaching out to people different from us, do we ever put our reputation or our safety on the line for the sake of the gospel?

 

       When I went to El Salvador it was my third trip to Central America.  One of my parishioners asked me why I continued to go there.  My response was that I need that time to be reminded of what it means to follow Jesus.  

 

         Isn't that one of the reasons we take mission trips?  I think it is one of the main reasons why the middle school young people went to Charleston, West Virginia and the adults and senior highs went to Gautier, Mississippi.  I think it is one of the reasons we work in the food pantry and help with Meals on Wheels and work with IHN.   They all serve as a reminder of what it means to follow Jesus.

 

         In our day to day activities it is easy to lose focus. We are surrounded by so much wealth.  We are called upon to risk very little for our faith.  It is helpful to go and be with Christians who are risking their lives for their faith.  It is meaningful to see that when we share a cup of cold water, it makes a difference.  Actually we are given much more than we could ever give. 

 

     One of the things we need to think about as individuals and as a church is whether we are walking away from the cross or toward the cross.  Are we content to remain simple, hearing just what we want to hear or are we listening for the word of God?  The last verse of our Proverbs reading began with these words "He who listens to me will dwell secure."  

 

      When Peter got out of the boat, he actually took a few steps on the water.  But then when a gust of wind blew he began to sink.  And then he cried out, "Lord, save me."  And immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.

 

       It may be that for every one person walking toward the cross there are eleven people walking away from it.  If we are one of those people walking away from the cross, there is still time to turn around and face the other direction.  If we are one of the people walking toward the cross, we may find that we are walking all alone, when everyone else is going the other direction.  It may be like a stampede and we feel like we are getting trampled.  And with Peter, we find ourselves crying out, "Lord, save me."  And immediately Jesus will reach out his hand and lift us up. 

 

       Jesus will lift us up where he is, he will lift us up to the cross.