For Sunday
Proper 17A
Collect
Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.
Amen.
Reading
Reflection
There’s an old preacher’s story that tells of a time when the preacher weaves a tale about people living in absolute poverty. And at the end of the story, the preacher uses a four-letter word, to the horror of the congregation. Then he points out that the greater horror was the poverty. And that the outrage is misplaced.
This story comes to mind when I think about this moment; when Jesus says to Peter “Get behind me, Satan!” It is the kind of alarming, name-calling, uncouthness that we are so prone to be outraged by. But, for Jesus, and any devoted follower of his, the far greater sin is what Peter was trying to do: prevent Jesus from accomplishing his work.
Yet, the idea of being a distraction or a stumbling block is just not our idea of sinfulness. At least when it comes to keeping people from dying, for instance. But I’m sure I’m not the only one who gets distracted by trying to forgive other people’s distractiveness.
Of course, Jesus isn’t calling Peter names. And he isn’t casting him aside or humiliating him in front of the class. However, Peter is displaying hubris, stepping out of line, and threatening to derail the entire project.
At the root of this moment is Peter’s misunderstanding. Of his role, of disciple behavior, and of Jesus’s mission. And the reason for the misunderstanding is not ignorance or stupidity. It is in a conviction— but one that does not come from God. A conviction that winning looks like the death of others, not of self. That the one who he just named Messiah should conquer. And that Peter’s role is to protect life in all circumstances.
God’s project is about life, death, and new life. By attempting to protect Jesus from dying, he’s preventing new life from being created. Our own impulses to protect have the potential to blind us. Not from the good we are trying to do, but the good that God is trying to do…that we, in our virtue, are preventing.