“You are the Messiah.”
The words seem so certain. The words come out so confidently. The words project out of Peter’s firm lips; Peter knows that he is right.
I have seen those lips before, those firm lips that declare confident religious statements. Those lips cross my path a lot. They speak their confidence on the bus. They speak their confidence over coffee. I cannot even take a nice quiet flight without hearing those certain lips.
On a flight from Arizona, I had just settled into my seat, raised the pillow to my head, and closed my eyes to let all around know that I intended to rest and not talk about poodles or how we wish we got more peanuts on this flight. That is when the lips sat down next to me.
“How are you doing?”
“Fine, I’m just trying to rest after a long week.”
The words were out of my mouth, and like watermelon seeds well on their way toward your sibling’s face, I could not suck them back in. A person never says, “after a long week” if they intend to get some rest. Never. Because, the only response to that can be:
“So, you’ve had a busy week, what do you do?”
“I’m a fork lift driver. I’m a toll booth attendant. I take plastic bags of trash out of apartments all day long.” All of these would have been acceptable answers for someone who does not want to hear those confident lips start spurting. Those careers foster no more than a 30 second conversation. But, no...I’m honest. I believe in truth. I believe in love of the neighbor, even annoying airplane seat mates. I believe that I said the worst thing someone who wants sleep should ever say, “I’m a pastor.”
And that is when it started.
“A pastor huh? What do you think about homosexuals? I think they and their homosexual agenda are ruining the moral fabric of our nation. What do you think?”
What I actually was thinking was, “why are homosexuals the first thing anyone talks about with pastors on airplanes?” I am certain all of you would be happy to know that I do not think about homosexuals every minute of my life. For a happily married pastor, I think that this is a good thing. I do think about hungry people. I do think about people struggling to forgive those they love. I do think that Jesus cared much more about these subjects. And mostly, I was thinking at the time that I needed a little sleep. Did I not just say that I needed rest? With that thought in mind, I confidently declared in a pastoral tone, “I don’t…I mean…Uhhhhh.”
This must have been a satisfying answer because he responded, “And, women who get abortions. Don’t they care about life? Don’t they care that they have a life? I think someone should show them just what they are doing and take their life.”
Letting those words fall between us, I looked out the window and saw something that immediately horrified me that he apparently did not see; we were still at the gate. This was a three hour flight.
The guy was confident. The guy was very religious. The man understood a great many things. The man got under my skin because he was so much like me. In the end, you do not want me to get going either. Those firm, confident lips of Peter will form on my mouth and I will declare a great many things to you.
Now, the problem with Peter was not that he spoke confidently. It is much more complicated than that. In fact, what he did say was the truth. This is Peter’s great declaration, “Jesus, you are the Messiah.” He got it right. He spoke the truth. He will be remembered centuries later because of these words.
But, he will also be remembered for Jesus’ words to him, “Get behind me Satan. For you are setting your mind not on Divine things but on human things” when he disagreed with Jesus' plan for the future.
Peter’s problem was not that he spoke confidently, it was that he did not understand what he was saying. Being the Messiah does not mean that Jesus will become a strong king who will set the world straight and create peace with a strong presence and strong commands.
That image is how many churches present Jesus by the way. They own huge lit crosses and place powerful thrones in the front and center of the sanctuary. But, this image is not what it means to be the Messiah.
Instead, being the Messiah means that Christ will suffer and die; and in suffering he will save the world. That looks more like a small bloody cross in the back corner of the church.
Peter was confident, but he did not understand what he was saying. This is the human condition is it not? Are we not constantly getting ourselves into trouble because we are confident in our beliefs, but in the end we really do not understand what we are saying. We really do not stop and think whether or not our confident beliefs line up with God’s vision of love for the other; love to the point of suffering for the other.
Christ’s self-sacrificing love does not make sense. Right and wrong makes sense. Heaven and Hell makes sense. These we can confidently declare. Dying for your enemy is not as easy to understand.
These are much harder words to declare confidently to your neighbor on a flight:
“Hey, I think that when you get home you should lay your life down for your enemy. You know, go a die in place of the woman who had an abortion…so that she might have a new chance at a life that she completely messed up.”
That is much harder to declare confidently. But, it is also the way of Christ.
It is not as easy to understand, but it is the type of God we have. Christ lays down his life in love of you, and me, and the annoying neighbor on the plane.
When someone has given up their life for you, life seems to take on a characteristic other than confidence, it seems to take on something that looks more like humility and gratitude. Do not worry. If you keep reading, Peter will get to that point eventually in the story. And eventually, so will we.
All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.
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