"Dear Jesus... Dear
Peter..."
Mark 8:27-38
March 4, 2012
Dear
Jesus...
I
am writing this letter to inform you that I hereby resign as your disciple.
This afternoon’s outburst was too much. And to call me Satan in front of all
the others! I’ve had it.
I
guess you don’t understand that I care
about what happens to you. You're
a dreamer. Why you're the type who would go running right to Jerusalem
Just
like your telling the rest of us to keep our mouths shut about the healings and exorcisms you do. People
appreciate your humility. I find it one of your more attractive qualities. Luckily,
James and John and I understand
it's just your modesty and we spread the word anyway. And keeping
us quiet about these astounding
things you do is irrelevant anyway. The folks you help are so ecstatic, they blab it all over the place. After all, a blind man
goes home and he can see; he's
got to give some explanation.
Perhaps
what hurt me most this afternoon
was that I got no real recognition for having been right about who you are. You are the Christ, the Messiah, aren't
you? I'm not at all sure why the idea came to me. Certainly the crazy way you act sometimes should convince me you're not. But when you confronted us with
the question, "Who do you
say that I am?" it hit me all of a sudden,
with power: "You are the Christ." Why it hadn't struck any
of us before is obvious. You don't act like a Messiah is supposed
to act.
You
squabble with respectable people
and then turn around and make friends with poor folks, and with sinners:
con men, prostitutes, unwed mothers, adulterers, scoundrels.
But
it did come clear to me today. You
are the Messiah. I know
it. It came to me 'out of the blue,'
as it were. I still don't understand how it can be. It doesn't make a bit of sense to me, but it's true. I can feel it in my bones.
And
then, on the one hand you tell me that I am the rock on which you will build
your church, and that you give me the keys to your kingdom, but then you go and
say don’t tell anyone you are the Christ. You are too confusing to be a good
leader.
And
then all this talk about suffering and dying. That's no way for the Christ to
talk! Where's your faith? You tell us to trust God and
then you come back at us with all this doom and gloom.
Jesus,
you're never going to get anywhere
inviting people to carry crosses. You are a visionary, an idealist,
and that's great. But you've got
to be practical, too. If you're
the Messiah, all the more reason to stay away from Jerusalem
And
you tell me I'm not on the side
of God? You're the one who'll go and get the Messiah killed. Well, I don't want any part of it. I'm through.
And you'll lose the rest
of the disciples if you keep talking this crucifixion rubbish You'd better
remember who your friends are. I'll
be gone by the time you read this.
Peter
Peter
read through the letter, seeing if he might add anything. He folded it up and
left it where he knew Jesus would find it.
Sure
enough, as Jesus woke early the next morning for prayer, he found Peter's letter and he began to
read. He smiled to himself and then began to write.
Dear
Peter,
You
write to me saying I don't understand how much you care about what happens to me. But Peter, I do understand that. I see into your heart more clearly than you see into mine. I too, care what happens to me...
too much I care.
Your
rebuke of me, to flee my fate of
suffering, tempted me, my
friend. Just like Satan tempted me in the wilderness as I began my ministry. I was in danger from your words.
It
would be a wonderful thing,
would it not, to continue to travel through Galilee
together healing the sick and casting out demons. This is a good work we are
doing.
But
the Son of Man is not called only
to this work. A greater work
lies ahead. And Peter, I write you honestly, I am able to do this only by the
Spirit's strength. Your enticing words make it ever so much more painful.
You
write that you want me to give you some assurance that you were correct - that I am the Messiah, the Christ of God. But at the same time, you say you feel it in your bones. What word of mine could add or take away from
this sense within you? You have been with me all this time. What would a mere
word from my lips change? You have already
received a message from my life and the Spirit has confirmed it.
Your
problem is not with what I say or do not say about the Messah, the Christ. This
would not put you at ease. Instead your problem lies in what you take the
Christ to be. You look for the Messiah, the Christ to be a successful ruler of
our nation who will save Israel
But
the Lord is doing a new thing. In
weakness, God will show strength; in suffering, God will prepare love; in shame, God will shine forth in glory. The Son of Man will be crucified, yes. He will not be the
first. He will not be the last. But in that suffering death, God will reach out to suffering humanity, in oneness with them. In the mystery of the cross, God's very self will share the suffering of all
victims of crucifixions, of every
cruelty and every act of abuse.
I
do not think you heard me yesterday
when I said, "And after 3 days, the Son of Man will rise again." The crucifixion will not
be the end of our story, dear
Peter. It will only be the beginning.
God cannot be defeated by the
evil of the cross. God's victory will be
real. The powers of this world will try to convince you that the cross
is the power of death, but I tell you , my friend, you will come
to see in it, the power of a love that conquers death.
The
powers of this world try to keep us worrying - fretting about this and that: the
strength of our movement, the plans of the religious rulers, whether we have enough bread for supper. The powers of this world try to frighten us with crucifixion and
death, thinking they will turn us away from
the calling God has for us. And I'll tell you a secret, my friend. I am frightened. I pray that somehow we
will not have to carry this through.
It is a frightening thing to
face the cross. But many things in this life are frightening.
It is a frightening thing to ask for forgiveness.
It is a frightening thing to come back when you've gone away. Sometimes
it is frightening to reach out to help
another. It's even frightening to receive
help sometimes.
But
just as you, Peter, have this sense about who I am, I have this assurance that God
will not fail us, now or in Jerusalem
Instead, Peter, let us learn to speak of
living in the presence of God, rather
than in the presence of the world.
For when we begin to live in God's
presence, we begin to know God's love that transforms the heart, by the Spirit.
Peter,
I trust God because I live in
God's presence each moment. I know
God's care. I know God's forgiving love. Only in this way, can I begin to take up my
cross. I can give myself for others, because I know that I am God's. I know the Lord will never abandon me. I know
that God will be with me.
I
would also like you to be with
me, Peter. But perhaps you cannot come just now. You will have to judge
that for yourself. Whether you
stay away or return, remember
you have a place in my heart. May
the peace of God be with you, my friend, however the Spirit leads.
Jesus
Perhaps
you find such a letter from Jesus in your own heart. Maybe some part
of you has fled from Jesus in anger, or in fear or frustration.
Jesus would like you to be with
him. Perhaps you feel you cannot
be just now. But I tell you today, in Jesus' name, you have a place in Christ’s
heart.
May
the peace of God be with you, however the Spirit leads. Amen.
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