Matthew 16:23: But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
I woke up this morning without a thought about what today represents. My “I will never forget” got lost in the checking off the “to-do” list of a typical Saturday morning. But, I do remember that Tuesday morning 20 years ago. I remember opening up my computer at home (when I should have been in class) and doing a double take at what I was reading in the news. Unreal. It was too big to take in. I remember asking the questions “What happened?” and “why did this happen?” and “who did this?” and “why did they do this?”
We know a little something about those people now. Though they have done nothing that should make us want to honor their memory, learning about their motivations might teach us something about ourselves.
We know that the people who hijacked the planes had a belief. We all have beliefs.
Though many of those men espoused the same religion, there was a force at work in them that was even deeper than the theology they followed. It is that same age-old search for power, honor, and meaning that will often drive people to be extreme: extremely short sighted and extremely unrealistic. Idealistic, but unloving. Intelligent, but unwise. And, by all accounts, merciless.
They spent their lives to destroy other’s lives.
Again, I do not want to honor their memory. Far from it. What I want to do is make the point that what we believe overflows into what we do. This is not merely about right doctrine. It is primarily about what- or better yet “who”- we rely on.
What we set our heart on and who we rely on will shape the path of life we will live.
Just before Jesus rebuked Peter (above), Peter had boldly stated that Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus’ response was one of joy: “You are blessed Peter! You couldn’t know that yourself. The Father had to reveal that to you!” (My paraphrase) But, Peter still had other heart beliefs: the Messiah shouldn’t suffer. The Messiah can’t die.
Peter still didn’t “get” Jesus. Jesus had to push back on Peter so that Peter would no longer act out of his misguided beliefs. Peter, at that point, was will to act in similar ways to the men who hijacked those planes. He would fight for a cause- a noble cause to be sure!- but he would miss the heart of what Jesus wanted to do. Jesus did not come to instill fear in people that they might cower before his kingship, but to sacrifice his own power and honor that people might find meaning in him.
Jesus had to change Peter’s understanding of Himself so that Peter would follow Jesus’ way and not his own.
So that leaves us with a question to ponder: if it is true that we do what we believe, then what does authentic, mercy-filled faith…confidence…reliance…trust…belief in Jesus look like in real life?
Join us as we gather tomorrow night and live out our faith in Jesus together, exploring what it means to simply trust the Suffering Servant whose own belief moved him to spend his life for those who live in fear AND (shockingly) those who cause the fear that we all might not live in terror, but in a full hearted trust.