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From that time on,
Jesus began to show his disciples
that he must go to Jerusalem
and undergo great suffering
at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes,
and be killed,
and on the third day be raised.
And Peter took him aside
and began to rebuke him,
saying, "God forbid it, Lord!
This must never happen to you."
But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan!
You are a stumbling block to me;
for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."
Then Jesus told his disciples,
"If any want to become my followers,
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 will find it.
For what will it profit them
if they gain the whole world
but forfeit their life?
Or what will they give in return for their life?
-Matthew 16:21-26
Blessed are the poor in spirit.
And blessed are the poor.
Blessed are those who weep.
Who are gentle.
And mild.
And afraid.
Blessed are those who are hungry.
And those who hunger and thirst for what is just.
Blessed are the merciful and the peacemakers.
And those who are persecuted
when they stand up for what is good.
Pain and tears may rule the day.
Yet, near is the Dawn of Love,
The Banquet of God
where the last are first.
And weeping is turned into dance.
Where the lowly are lifted.
And the hungry are filled with good things.
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These are the words with which Jesus begins his ministry.
Words that describe a vision
that is
radically other to the world in which Jesus and his disciples live.
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As Jesus speaks,
the crowds fall in love with what they hear.
They, too, grow hungry for the Banquet of God.
So much so that they leave their possessions and sometimes their loved ones behind--there in the boats on the sea--and they go!
Little in their pockets.
Off into the deserts and into the towns.
Exchanging
their daily work for personal bread,
for the building up of a community where they would eventually come to share all that they had.
Giving up their individual purses and lives
for a community where “blessed are even the poor.”
For here, they too share in our daily bread.
“The Reign of Love is near.”
This is how the gospel begins.
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In today’s reading, we find those same disciples,
more than 10 chapters later.
They’ve been following Jesus for quite a while now.
And, although at this point they’ve bumped up against critics,
and cynics
and even opponents on their journey,
the disciples have not yet received any clear indication
that this vision of God’s reign,
this turn to the Banquet of good,
this hope-critique of the empire
might end badly for Jesus---or, perhaps, even for them.
And though they believe that the Reign of God is near,
That it really is
(in every meal they share, they can taste it!)
they don’t yet understand how close Jesus is
and how close they all are
to the cross.
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So,
when Jesus starts talking about death and suffering and enduring great pain,
(to say the least)
it is disorienting.
But he drops it there, nonetheless, for the disciples to pick up and digest, and he sets his sight on this new stage of his mission.
Just like that.
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And, as Jesus then begins down the dusty road,
toward Jerusalem
and the cross
and ultimately the resurrection
(through hell and torture and pain and the tomb),
Peter (understandably perhaps)
seeks to cuts him off.
Peter maneuvers in front of him on the path.
“The Rock on which the church is founded”
(that’s what Jesus called him just a couple of verses ago)
“The Rock on which the church is founded”
quickly becomes “the devil” and a stumbling block.”
Just like that.
Preventing the mission of God
in order to avoid the
long-suffering labor to which Jesus was called.
Jesus’ rebuke is harsh,
said in a way that only friends can speak to one another,
but it makes his point:
If we’re working for a resurrected world,
there’s gonna be some hell to go through along the way.
If we’re working for a resurrected world,
there’s gonna be some hell to go through along the way.
And the cross in Jerusalem was to be Jesus’ hell.
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In one of the Gospels (in Mark) as Jesus is being forced by the guards to carry his cross to the hill, he almost doesn’t make it. He stumbles and falls.
And what happens there in Mark, in a brief one-verse mention, Simon of Cyrene, is “compelled” to help Jesus carry his cross.
Most interpretations see Simon as being forced to help Jesus. And perhaps this was the case.
But I’ve always (also) seen that Simon as a sort of counterpart to Simon Peter (the foundational stumbling block that Jesus calls the Devil today).
As Simon Peter jumps in front of Jesus on the way to Jerusalem, Simon of Cyrene says and does something different:
“I don’t understand this,” he says, “but if you are certain this is your mission, and your pain to bear on the path toward a Resurrected world, then I’ll help you. I’ll be your companion on the way.”
I may be uncomfortable, he says, but I believe in you and I believe in us, and I won’t leave you to suffer alone.
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What this Simon (of Cyrene) knows is that God’s Reign is not about sharing food alone.
Food can solve hunger pains, but other wounds remain.
The Reign of God, the Reign of love is also making sure that when we suffer,
nobody suffers alone.
That picking up one’s cross is never an individual activity.
And that whenever we opt to suffer (if we do) it is not because suffering is good (it’s not)--but because we are looking for resurrection and life and justice on the other side. We take it as a path when it appears that it is a path to the Banquet of Love.
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Fear makes us do some unpredictable things.
Things we never thought we’d do.
Or say.
Or be.
Sometimes fear finds us standing in front of the savior trying to block the way.
It can make us retreat into ourselves, build walls around us, see all others as the enemy, or a threat. It may even convince us that it is ok to kill. Or it may convince us that our sibling in humanity at least suspicious enough to be kept at bay.
Fear sacrifices community for the sake of the individual.
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And, individualism is still the devil.
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It still is the stumbling block on the road toward solidarity among all who suffer. Toward resurrection.
Toward the transformation of crosses used to crucify
into Banquet tables used to feed the world with joy.
Indeed, especially in times like these, the temptation to retreat inwardly and let the world crumble all around us is very real:
to get my own and then get out of here and then never look back.
And yet,
our call to community in Christ is something deeper.
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Still today, when we are church-at-its-best,
the last do become first and the hungry do feast.
Still today,
when we are church
then nobody carries their crosses alone.
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What are you carrying today?
Who are you being called to walk with on the road?
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