March 8th

Theological reflection 

March 8th

Emptying of the Self 

Our gospel reading tonight encapsulates the complicated relationship between Jesus and Peter.  Jesus has come off a rough week, the religious leaders have turned against him, members of his own family are suggesting that he might be losing it, and his friend John the Baptist has been beheaded.  People around the area are talking!  “Who is this Jesus guy?”  Some people are saying he’s a prophet, others claim he is John the Baptist resurrected, and others say he's just a crazy guy on a rant.  

So Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do you say I am?”

As I reflect on this scene in the gospel, in my imagination the apostle Peter, ever the teacher’s pet, immediately raises his hand saying, “Oooh Jesus, pick me, pick me…I know!  You are the Messiah, the liberator, the one who is going to defeat our enemies, establish a throne, and rule from it forever!”  I can’t help but think that poor Peter thought he was on the cusp of winning disciple of the year.

But instead of responding enthusiastically, Jesus shares with his disciples how he is going to have to face intense suffering, rejection and even death, at the hands of his enemies. 

Peter understandably objects, saying to Jesus.  “Lord, don’t talk like that, we’re not going to let that happen to you!” Jesus responds, “Get behind me, Satan.” Which is, I suspect, a strong way of saying “Don’t tempt me.”  This is a bit of insight into Jesus’ psyche that choosing the easier path is still a very real temptation for him.

If you remember the story of Jesus’ time in the wilderness, Satan offered Jesus a way to avoid suffering in a eerily similar way Peter did.    

Then Jesus (says Scripture) was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. 

3The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ 4But Jesus  answered, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” ’

5Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, “He will command his angels concerning you”, and “On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” ’

7Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” ’

Like his response to the Devil, Jesus’ response to Peter was a strong rebuke, not something Peter was prepared to hear.  Peter just could not wrap his head around the idea that this messiah, the man he chose to leave everything for, was willing to be humiliated, suffer, and die—in Peter's mind, unnecessarily so. 

He goes on to explain to Peter, that you thinking in human terms, not divine ones.  Jesus talks about Peter being short-sighted in how God works, that the key to the coming kingdom of God, or even a meaningful life, is not to avoid suffering at all costs!  He reminds Peter that God works not through power or control or might, but through suffering and sacrifice.  To paraphrase Jesus, “If you are going to follow me, you are going to have to be prepared not to win, but to lose.”

In the gospels, this is a recurring conversation between Jesus and his disciples.  Relinquishing power and pride was part of their calling, their journey together.  It was unavoidable.  And each time one from the group resisted or objected to that calling, still believing the way of Jesus was a road to greatness, they were firmly rebuked. 

It was counterintuitive for Jesus’ followers that the emancipation of their people would not come by riding in on a war horse through the front gates of the Holy City, but by trudging through the back door of Jerusalem on a colt, cheered on by peasants rather than the social and religious elites.  Their freedom would come not by acts of power and violence, but by acts of healing and mercy, not by destroying his enemies, but by loving them. 

For us today, the way of Jesus, this idea that mercy and forgiveness, humility and service lead to an abundant life, continues to challenge what is normative in our society.   We live in an ultra-consumeristic world that preaches happiness and fulfillment is found by adding rather than subtracting, in consuming rather than in emptying.  We think we have an void in our lives that needs to be filled stuff.  When the truth is, there is no such thing as lives that are empty.  That unsatisfied feeling we have is because we are focussed on the wrong stuff, we have the wrong priorities!  The whole of Christian practice is letting go of the ego, resisting the desire to win or the need for recognition, money, and power.  This emptying opens the space for what truly matters to freely enter.  

In his book, Falling Upward,  Franciscan priest Richard Rohr said this.

The human ego prefers anything, just about anything, to falling, or changing, or dying. The ego is that part of you that loves the status quo – even when it's not working. The ego hates losing….Yet one of the best-kept secrets, and one that is hidden in plain sight.  The way up is the way down, or if you prefer, the way down is the way up.

In order to take Jesus’ vision seriously, Christianity requires the continuous practice of letting go.  

If any want to become my followers,” says Jesus, “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, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?

For those who do not like to fail, who do not like to be wrong, who want to be regarded by the rest of the world as successful and respected, these words of Jesus are challenging.

The reality is none of us gets to opt out of suffering.  It may be delayed, it may be unfairly distributed, but we all must and will suffer pain, humiliation, and of course death.  But instead of fighting that reality, Jesus invites his disciples, invites us, to embrace suffering - to embrace struggle.  Take the more difficult way of peace over the sword, the way of grace over retribution, the way of sacrifice over excess, the way of love over hate, and the way of surrender over control.  In contrast to everything the world tells you, this is the path Jesus reveals for how to really live and find true fulfillment and joy.