Lent II (Fr. Fred)

​    A Jewish father wanted his son to get the best education possible, but Jacob had just flunked out of the eighth grade. Desperate, his father approached the Rector of the Episcopal Church, who agreed to give Jacob a chance in their parochial school.

     At the end of the first six weeks, Jacob brought home his report card with an A in every subject. “What happened, son?” the father asked in delighted amazement.

     “Well, papa, “Jacob explained, “they begin every day with a service in the chapel, and right over the choir is a statue of a poor Jewish boy nailed to a cross, and there’s a smaller statue of the same thing in every classroom. These people mean business!
 
      Sometimes our religious art isn’t interpreted correctly…
 
     The disciple Peter doesn’t quite understand the meaning of the cross either, but thank God for Peter!  He is such a source of hope for you and me, and not in the way that we might expect.  Peter—the leader of the disciples, the rock upon which Jesus would build his Church, the chief of the apostles, the one to whom the keys to the kingdom of heaven were given, St. Peter—this Peter is such a source of hope for you and me.  I am so thankful that Peter didn’t get everything right the first time, or the second time, or the third time!  He didn’t make just little mistakes; he made gigantic mistakes!
 
     In one breath, Jesus would praise Peter for his great faith, and in the next he would chastise him for his lack of faith.  Jesus wasn’t being inconsistent; Peter was inconsistent.  Even we, who struggle with our inconsistencies and doubts, can look at Peter and marvel: “How can you be so thick-headed, so weak at times?  When will you get the point, get with the program?”  But that’s the aspect of Peter’s personality that should give us all hope.  For Jesus was patient with Peter; he stuck with him until he did get it right.  He sticks with us until we get it right.  He chooses imperfect people to carry out his work.  And so there’s hope for you and me.
 
     They’re near the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry.  He’s taught them much of what he wants to teach them.  They’ve witnessed incredible miracles.  So one day Jesus asks the disciples who people say that he is.  After hearing their responses, he asks, “But who do you say that I am?”  Peter responds, “You are the Christ.”  St. Matthew tells us that Jesus praises Peter, calls him blessed, because God has revealed this to him, and then tells him that he is a rock and that he will build his Church on that rock.
 
     Then, in the portion of the Gospel according to St. Mark that we heard today, Jesus goes on to prepare the disciples for the purpose of the coming of the Messiah.  He tells them that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the leaders of Judaism and be killed, and on the third day be raised.  Peter doesn’t get the point.  St. Mark tells us that he rebuked Jesus.  And then Jesus says to Peter, the rock on which he would build his Church, “Get behind me, Satan!  For you are not on the side of God, but of men.”
 
     Jesus goes on to say, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”  Peter was able to say the words of faith, to call Jesus the Christ, the Messiah.  What he wasn’t able to do was accept the consequences of that statement of faith.  Jesus wants us to praise him not only with our lips, but in our lives.
 
     The words of our Lord are no more palatable in our day than in Peter’s day.  We live in an extremely hedonistic society.  The culture tells us to indulge ourselves, not deny ourselves.  I call this Burger King theology: “Have it your way.”  If something gives you pleasure, have it your way, do it.  If it isn’t pleasurable, then don’t do it, or stop doing it.  If you really want something, why wait?  Have it your way; charge it.  If life is not making you happy, if you’re too sick to enjoy yourself, then end it.  If it feels good, do it, and do it only if it feels good.  In a nutshell, that is the philosophy of our culture, from the greatest of us, to the least of us
 
     It isn’t coincidental that our culture is also plagued by alcohol and drug addiction, violent crime, child abuse, spouse abuse, and a host of other afflictions.  Living life with the self as the center ultimately is not only self-destructive, but also is destructive to those around us.  Hedonism, living life according to the pleasure principle, is attractive on the surface, but it’s false because its end is destruction—destruction of marriage and family, of morality, of self-respect, of life itself.  It simply is false.
 
     Our Lord’s response to Peter shows us another way.  “If any would come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”  In saying we should deny ourselves, Jesus isn’t talking about giving up something that we like once in awhile.  He is talking about conversion—taking ourselves out of the center of the picture and putting God in the center.  That takes effort, because it doesn’t come naturally.  Hedonism is what comes naturally, but remember, hedonism is a false path.  Putting God in the center means taking the time to pray about decisions we have to make and asking the question, “What would God have me to do?”
 
     To take up our cross is to share in Christ’s work of saving the world.  It follows naturally from self-denial, as we seek to make Christ known through our willingness to forgive, through standing up for what is right when such a stand is unpopular, through suffering patiently when under attack.  In denying ourselves and taking up our cross, we will be following Christ, for we will be living not according to our plan, but according to God’s plan.