Getting busy - living or dying

In this week’s gospel reading (Mark 8.31-38), Jesus makes the first of his passion predictions, telling the disciples that he is on his way to the City of Jerusalem and that he will be betrayed, suffer and died but then three days later, he will rise again. Peter’s reaction to this news causes him to take Jesus to the side of the road and in front of the others, begins to take Jesus to task over the notion that he must suffer and die. Doesn’t it make you wonder what it is that Peter might have said in that moment? I can imagine that he painted a great and grandiose scheme where Jesus is suppose to rout the Romans, restore his great grandfather’s kingdom and kept it there for eternity. OH! Let’s not forget that Peter and the others were going to be ministers in the government that will never fail and never fall. And you need to take into account that Peter has just watch Jesus heal a blind man and has just declared Jesus to be the Messiah. It is all pretty heady stuff especially when one considers that Jesus tells them not to tell others that he is the Messiah or about what they know.

Why does he do this? Maybe it is because of how people react when they think they have something: especially when one believes they are getting sick... our culture tells us that there is always a pill or a purchase or an action that is going to make us feel better or righter or whatever, so that you do not have to feel the way you do now.

Maybe I can make my point better this way: A few years ago, a large department store tried marketing a doll in the form of the baby Jesus. The advertisements described it as being washable, cuddly, and unbreakable," and it was neatly packaged in straw, satin, and plastic. To complete the package, the manufacturer added biblical text appropriate to the baby Jesus. To the department store executives, it looked like a sure-fire winner, a real money maker. But they were wrong. It didn't sell. In a last-ditch effort to get rid of these dolls, one of the store managers placed a huge sign in one of the store windows. It read: “Jesus Christ, reduced to half price, get him while you can.”

There is a reality at work here. People would rather build a temple than be one. There are many people who are religious and many more who are nice people. Jesus did not come and die that we would be religious or nice – he came and died that we might be holy. He gave himself that we would be God’s own possession, a holy nation and a royal priesthood. The community Jesus came to build is a work of faith both on the part of us and on the part of God not a walk into success. The secret is not in being successful, but in giving and being faithful. So maybe we need to get busy living or get busy dying so that we can move into the kingdom and into greater life that is with God, after the three days is over.