Mark 8:27-35 - What Are The "Things of God"? - September 12, 2021

I know that we Lutherans tend to be a rather reserved, subdued kind of people – but I’m stunned that none of you stood up to silence me as I was reading our Gospel lesson; no one came up and took me aside and said, “Pastor, you really shouldn’t be saying these things.” There are a number of shocking things in our text, aren’t there? The fact that even after his baptism and his miracles – the people still didn’t know who Jesus really was; that Jesus warned his disciples not to tell anyone who he really was – he’s forbidding evangelism, really?!?; Jesus’ announcement that he must suffer many things, be killed, and after three days rise again; that Jesus would call Peter Satan; that he would teach that if anyone wants to follow him, he must also deny himself, take up his cross and follow him – through shame, suffering, and even death; and last, but not least, that Jesus commands his followers to lose their lives – is Jesus encouraging suicide? It’s all very shocking. You may not have tried to silence me – but Peter did try to silence Jesus. Why? Well, according to Jesus, Peter was acting like Satan because he had the things of men, not the things of God on his mind. The obvious question is: what are the things of God?

There’s an easy – albeit theologically lazy – answer to that question. The answer that has always been popular and is especially popular in the church today. It suggests that the things of God are denying yourself, taking up your cross and following Jesus. This theory argues that Peter rebuked Jesus for commanding his followers to do these things; that these are the things Peter refused to accept. And it sounds quite reasonable, doesn’t it? These three commands are certainly Godly. They are good, doctrinally and biblically sound advice for running your life. There have been hundreds of books and sermons and devotions that use this text to proclaim themes like “God’s Plan for Your Life,” “How to Be a Christian,” or “Christianity in Three Steps.” And in every case, you’re told that if you really want to be a Christian, if you really want to be saved, then you must deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus – and the more you do these things, the godlier you become.

I’m not suggesting that those things aren’t godly. They are; they come right from Jesus’ own lips. I do, however, reject the idea that these are the things that Jesus rebuked Peter for not minding. Why? Just follow the text. Jesus doesn’t issue his call to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me until after he had called Peter Satan and rebuked him for having his mind on the things of men, not the things of God. Peter’s problem was not that he didn’t want to obediently do what Jesus told him to do.

What we have here is an opportunity to refresh our understanding of the distinction between justification and sanctification; between what God has done for us and what God is doing in us. Peter was always very “mindful” of the need for sanctification, for holy living. Peter was one of the first people to follow Jesus – even when he was still a no-name rabbi (Mark 1:16-18). He was one of the first to give up his career as a fisherman, leave his home and family, and spend three years wandering around Israel. When many disciples left Jesus because he wanted to feed their souls not only their bellies, Peter didn’t leave, he said that there was nowhere else for them to go (John 6:66-69). When Jesus prophesied that all of the apostles would abandon him, Peter vowed to never leave him and later would even promise to die with him, if necessary (Mark 14:31). Peter was devoted to what we might call 3rd Article Christianity – the article that deals with us and our good works. He’d do anything for Jesus; he believed he could do a lot for Jesus.

Now that sounds good right up until you remember the rest of Peter’s story. When the shame of arrest and possible torture rose up before him in the Garden of Gethsemane, he didn’t pick up that cross, he ran away (Mark 14:50). When he was pressed to give his confession in the temple courtyard, he didn’t deny himself, he denied Jesus, three times (Mark 14:66-72). Later, when Jesus called Peter to follow him in preaching the Gospel to Gentiles, Peter initially said certainly not (Acts 10:14). Peter may have intended to live for Jesus; to lead a sanctified life, but when the rubber met the road, he failed miserably.

The things of God that Jesus accused Peter of not minding didn’t involve sanctification but justification; not the 3rd but the 2nd Article of the Creed: that Jesus must suffer many things; be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the experts in the law; be killed; and after three days rise again. These are the things of God Peter didn’t want to mind, didn’t want to hear about, didn’t want to study, didn’t want to know.

Are we any different? I’ll tell you this: many of our kind neighbors out there aren’t. When we knock on their doors to invite them to our church, do you know what most of them are interested in? What kinds of programs do you offer for my children, for women, for marriage, for child-raising, for career and personal success? In other words, many people aren’t interested in the things of God but rather the things of men. What about you? Which sermon do you find more practical and relevant: the one that is filled with “how-to” instructions or the one filled with instruction on how Jesus did it all? The one that claims to have the secret to making you a “winner;” or the one that tells you that by nature you’re a “loser” and need someone else to win salvation for you? The reason that so many people, even Lutherans, are so drawn to “how-to” Christianity is because the human heart is, by nature, inclined to the law. Like the crowds on Pentecost (Acts 2:37) and the jailer in Philippi (Acts 16:30) our ears itch for someone to tell us what we must do to be saved. So it’s music to our ears when Jesus finally says, “Here’s what you can do: deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.” The problem is that these three commands are not the things of God but the things of men because they are things for men, not God to do. When you believe that Christianity is all about you and what you’re supposed to do, you’re no less Satanic than Peter was.

Now, Peter does deserve a little credit, doesn’t he? After all, he had the first half of the 2nd Article down. He knew who Jesus was. He confessed: You are the Christ. Peter knew that he was the only Son of God the Father, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He knew that he was the Christ, the Messiah, the One God had repeatedly promised to send starting already in the Garden of Eden. Peter didn’t object to who Jesus was, he was fine with that; he rejected what Jesus had come to do. He rejected the second half of the 2nd Article; the part about Jesus’ suffering under Pontius Pilate, being crucified, dying and being buried. Did Jesus really have to be so harsh with him? Did he really have to call him Satan? Well, yes. Not only because Peter didn’t want his friend [suffer] many things; be rejected…be killed; and after three days rise again but because he didn’t think they were necessary; he didn’t think he needed Jesus to do those things for him – he thought he could save himself.

How about you? Are you satisfied with “deny yourself, take up your cross, follow Jesus, DIY” Christianity? Do you think that being a Christian is mostly about your coming to church, receiving the Sacrament, trying to be a faithful spouse and a good parent and a responsible citizen? Would you be content if we skipped over the 1st and 2nd Articles of the Apostles’ Creed right to the 3rd – the one about us? If you ever begin to believe that Christianity is about what you can and should do then you have to ask yourself: can you deny yourself enough to please God? I’m not asking if you can deny something about yourself: your pride, your greed, your lust, your fear, your addictions. I’m asking, can you deny you; the me, myself and I that dominates your thinking and speaking? Are you willing to be slapped, spit on and mocked? Are you willing to not only fail to be thanked for the good things you do but be blamed and shamed and punished for what others have done wrong? Are you willing to follow the will of God even if you know it will lead to shame, physical, mental and emotional suffering, and even death? I’ll be honest: I’m not. I complain when people don’t recognize the good things I do. I don’t want to take responsibility for the wrong-doing of others; I try to distance myself from it. I don’t stop daily to pick up crosses of suffering and self-denial – I avoid them at all costs. And the stark truth is that if my salvation depends on my sanctification – I’m doomed; I’m going to hell.

The truth is that I don’t need a life-coach to construct a better version of me; I need a God who humbled himself to become just like me – with the exception of my self-centered sinful nature. I don’t need tips on how to deny my sinful self; I need One who was willing to deny his perfect self. I don’t need self-help directions; I need a Savior. The good news is that that is exactly what Christianity is all about. The single most important thing God had in mind – going all the way back to the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:15) – wasn’t to tell humanity how they could make themselves right in his sight – but how he would send One who would. The fact is that none of us has ever denied ourselves enough to satisfy God. But Jesus did. Jesus was the Son of God, the rightful heir of all the riches and the glory of heaven – and yet he denied himself, he humbled himself to be born to a peasant woman in a barn here on earth. Jesus did what I’ve never done, what I will never be able to do: he took up the cross of our sin and guilt and shame and carried it to Calvary where evil men nailed him to it. Jesus followed his Father’s will through excruciating mental, emotional, physical and spiritual pain – all the way through hell and back. And when he had finished burying our sin and guilt and the tattered, filthy shreds of our failed lives of sanctification in the grave – he rose again from the dead to prove that his work was finished. This thing; this work that only Jesus could do was what was and is front and center in the mind of God – and it’s what he wants front and center in our minds as well.

I know that in preaching this text this way some may accuse me of being antinomian, that is, against the Law. That I’m suggesting that because Jesus died for our sins, we can live however we want. That’s not what I’m saying. Sanctification is important. Following God’s will in our lives is important. Good works are important. It is important that we take Jesus’ command to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow him seriously. But this must always, always come after the 2nd Article truths of Jesus suffering, dying and rising. The things of men must always follow the things of God. This doesn’t come naturally to us. That’s why we don’t naturally appreciate sermons about what Jesus did for us as much as sermons about what we should do for Jesus. We don’t find them to be “relevant” or “practical.” Like Peter we tend to have our minds on the things, the works, the doings of man instead of the things of God. But the truth is that no matter how hard we try, our denying, taking up and following will never be good enough. The things of men can only lead to death. We need the things of God – specifically the Son of God, Jesus Christ – his suffering, his being rejected, his dying, his rising – for life.

Jesus wants us to leave here today with a proper understanding of the difference between the things of men and the things of God. The things of men, the things that we can do to please God and others – even our own denying, taking up of crosses and following Jesus – look so noble, so wonderful, so shiny. But what we really need is not noble, wonderful or shiny – what we really need is bloody and disgusting and helpless – because we are, in the end, bloody, disgusting and helpless. We need the things of God – the bloody, gruesome, and lonely life, suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. Lose yourself in Jesus’ self-denial; his bloody cross; his perfect following of his Father’s will and then you will have found true life, now and forever. Amen.