“For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” What do you think of when Jesus says that? Jesus says this right after calling one of his most trusted friends Peter, Satan. This elicits a specific response because we know who Jesus is speaking to and the eventual outcome. But what if we took that sentence entirely out of this story? What if we imagined Jesus saying to each of us, “For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
How does this sentence apply to you and me? Of course, we want to be compared to Peter when he does all the right things. But all too often, instead of mirroring the good behavior of characters like Peter, we mirror the willful mistakes made by Peter and the other disciples.
Jesus wonderfully elaborates his scolding of Peter. After Jesus scolds Peter, he calls a crowd to him and begins to teach. I imagine the moment looking like this: Jesus begins to teach, and Peter pouts on the periphery. At the same time, all the crowds are enamored by Jesus. I also imagine Jesus looking out of the corner of his eye at Peter, feeling Peter’s pain, and praying that Peter will hear this lesson from Jesus.
If anyone is to follow the path Jesus is creating for us, he or she must deny self, take up his or her cross, and follow Jesus. Remember that when Jesus is saying this, the cross is not the symbol of hope and love that it is today. In the first century, the cross, or crucifixion, was the most potent form of deterrence against political agitation in Roman provinces.[1] In fact, in the Third Servile War, which made Spartacus famous, the Roman general Crassus captured 6,000 of the slaves who revolted and crucified them along the Appian way from Rome to Capua. Crassus left them on the crosses to make it known what the recompense was for going against Rome.[2] When Jesus says to the crowd, take up your cross and follow me, he provokes a response to let all know that this is the hard way, not the easy way.
Jesus continues, if your goal is to save your own life, you will end up losing it. However, all who lose their lives for the sake of the Gospel will be saved. Jesus follows this up with the question: what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? Jesus is not condemning hard work, making a better life for your family, or self-preservation. What Jesus is saying is that if you think all those things come from you, and there is no need to thank your maker and redeemer, you may live it up big now, but you are creating a disposition that, when the time comes, will reject Jesus. Self-reliance, with no demonstrable reliance on God, is the path to Hell.
Instead, Jesus implores us to give of ourselves for the sake of the Gospel. To daily die to the need to pat yourself on the back. Jesus wants us to tell everyone we know that all we do, we do for the honor and glory of God’s Kingdom. The difficulty of that is it prevents us from doing things we know Jesus would reject, when we want to do them. We call those things sin. When we use the tools Jesus has given us to make our decisions, we can always offer our actions to Jesus. That tool is to love each other sacrificially and to give of self for others. However, not one person here is perfect. Not one person here can, by his or her own will, stop sinning. That is the point of what Jesus is saying, that we cannot make anyone perfect. The only one who can make us perfect is Jesus. Jesus perfects us. Jesus perfects the world. He will do this when he returns in glory. We have to receive the perfection he will offer us when we meet him.
What is your expectation when you meet our Messiah? In the first century, the expectation was the Messiah would be a Davidic King. He would free Israel from the powers of the world, like Babylon, Persia, and Rome. When Jesus showed up, he showed them their vision of the Messiah was far too small in scope. The Messiah was not here to save one race of people but to open access to a relationship with God through Jesus to all people. The Messiah is not Messiah for some, and savage conqueror to the rest. Ask yourself do you crave the Messiah who will save as many as possible, or just the ones who you think should be saved? I think those who focus on who is outside the covenant with God are on the path to Hell because their focus is on Hell. But those of us who focus on the saving grace of God will be open to receive that grace, will be able to celebrate in perfection God’s kingdom because they will have been made perfect through Jesus Christ Our Lord. We must keep our hearts set on Jesus, follow his lead, and allow his teachings to influence all of our actions.
[1] Dictionary of Biblical Imagery page 184.
[2] The History of Rome Podcast.
Sermon preached by the Rev. Christian M. Wood
Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota, Florida
16th Sunday after Pentecost
September 12, 2021