Homily for the 22nd Sunday
Jesus rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” (Mt 16:23)
Did you hear what Jesus called Peter? Satan. In front of everyone, Jesus said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan.” (Mk 8:33) This rebuke comes right after he praises Peter saying, “You are the Messiah.” What did he do to receive such a harsh rebuke? More importantly, how can you and I make sure Jesus doesn’t call us ‘Satan’?
After the rebuke, Jesus provides the answer to this question. He said, “You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” Unfortunately, Peter did something that you and I do all the time: thinking as human beings do and not as God does.
Let me offer five examples over the course of a couple of days where I caught myself thinking as human beings do and not as God does. I think you’ll recognize some of the same thought patterns in your own manner of thought.
1st Example. I was invited to preach at the Community Prayer Service in Newton. It is an interfaith service, especially for those who are looking for a word of comfort, healing and support. Though I am usually tired and rest on Sunday evening, I thought I should attend this the week to see what it’s all about and get a better feel for the gathering and format.
As the time approached, I started thinking as any human being would think. The inner narrative went like this:
You’re really tired. You don’t need to go. Stay home, and take a nap. It won’t matter if you go tonight or not. They won’t miss you.
Listening with my ears tuned to the mind of God, however, I heard a different story:
Slash some water on your face. Fix a cup of coffee. It’s important that you attend. Get in the car and go!
Lesson: Thinking as human beings do selfishly prods a person to avoid small but important acts of self-denial. Thinking as God does uses small acts of self-denial to enlighten the world or at least a small part of it.
2nd Example. I went to the service, and it was a blessing. Pastor Fred Thompson was the preacher. He is so well known in Newton he might be considered “Newton’s Pastor”. He came up to me and said he was going to preach a message on Ephesians: “Giving thanks always in everything.” As the service was about to start, the human thinking kicked in, a mind with a slightly inflated ego:
I preached a pretty good message on this a few weeks ago. I bet his message isn’t going to be nearly as good as mine. Maybe he should have consulted me ahead of time. What can he say that I haven’t already heard? I always seem to get left out, overlooked, slighted, and unappreciated….
And on and on. But then I listened. It was a powerful message that pierced my heart. At one point, he said, “Note that scripture doesn’t say, ‘give thanks for all things’ But ‘give thanks IN all things. Sometimes those things are ‘bad’. Wow.
On my way home, I started thinking more with the mind of God. The inner voice mused:
How can I have a more thankful attitude? I thought about all of those things for which I can be grateful.
Lesson. Thinking as human beings do builds up one’s own ego. Thinking as God does builds up the body of Christ.
Example 3. I was about halfway home, looking forward to finally kicking back and relaxing, and I remembered that my wife asked me to pick up some fatback for the Crowder peas she was fixing for supper. In my thankful euphoria, I drove right by the grocery store that was on the way. I was almost home and I realized my oversight. My human mind kicked in:
You’re almost home. You’re tired. You don’t like ‘fatback’ anyway. Give her a call and tell her you really don’t want to go back.
So I fumbled with the phone and couldn’t quite get the right screen to dial and drive at the same time, probably providential fumbling. Fortunately, the mind of God then kicked in:
Keep your eye on the road. Toss the phone aside. Turn around, and get her the fatback! Quit making such a big deal out of it.
Lesson. Thinking as human beings do makes a big deal out of little requests. Thinking as God thinks means we sometimes need to follow Nike’s slogan and “Just Do It” for the greater good.
4th Example. Now my trip home gets a little weird. While at the service key employee in my plant texted me that his father had died. Sad, but not unexpected. My human mind said,
Just text him back when you get home and express your condolences. No need to call. You don’t have the right words to say anyway. In the text, just tell him you’ll pray for him and his family.
As I was driving to the grocery to get the fatback, he called me. He said, “Did you just try to call me?” In all of that fumbling with my phone in the car, my phone dialed his number. When I heard his voice, I realized how inappropriate a text was for this situation. I said, “I didn’t try to call, but this is a holy coincidence.” We had a good conversation about his dad.
I realized that sometimes a text or an email isn’t good enough. People need a phone call. I’d like to think I started thinking as God does, but I didn’t. The phone gets all the credit.
Lesson. Thinking as a human means we sometimes aren’t thinking at all. But if we pay attention to the coincidences, the little details surrounding our life, God will show us how to think.
5th Example. Two days later, I went to the funeral of my coworker’s father. He was one of the founders of the Oxford Fire Department. It was one of the most moving, touching funerals I have ever attended. The liturgy flowed naturally. The sermon highlighted his virtuous life and put this in perspective with his and hopefully our heavenly destination. The walk to the gravesite was incredible. Bagpipes were playing, and about fifty firefighters lined the sidewalk at attention. The graveside service included a little ceremony with a bell – the one that rings when the fireman comes to work, again when there is a fire, and a third, when the job is done. The bell then rang three times. Lastly, the siren from Oxford Fire Station went off, at the same time someone’s beeper started paging the firefighter by name saying it was time to report for a new assignment. There wasn’t a dry eye in the cemetery.
Before we began to walk out to the gravesite, however, one of my coworkers told me about a problem that had come up at work right before she left. It was one of those annoying issues that goes back ten years or more and triggered years of negative emotions. As I’m walking, my human mind started thinking:
How dare he do this again. When I get back to work, I’m going to give him a piece of my mind…
An on and on about arguments that have gone on for decades.
Then I noticed the solemnity of the occasion, the firefighters, the procession, the cemetery, the family. The human mind was silenced and I started thinking as God does:
This is an incredible tribute to life and death. You are part of something much larger than yourself. Embrace the moment.
Lesson. When we think as human beings do, we think about the pain and regrets of the past. When we think as God thinks, we are focused in the present, what is taking place here and now, and push all of those other thoughts aside. We enter into a world that is much larger than ourselves.
Final Lesson. When your mind begins to race with thoughts, ask yourself: “Am I thinking as human beings do, or am I thinking as God does.” That change in perspective will change your life.
Saint Paul summed it up: “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 2:5)