In last week’s gospel, Jesus posed the question to his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Judging by his reaction to Peter, a fitting question to ask now is, “Who do you think you are?” His words appear to be spoken in anger and perhaps they were.
I imagine Peter was stunned when Jesus scolded him for his well intended advice by saying, “Get behind me, Satan!” What was so wrong about what Peter had said? Nothing really except that he was perhaps unwittingly trying to prevent Jesus from following God’s will.
While he meant well in his prayer that God would spare Jesus from the pains of crucifixion, Peter was refusing to accept God’s will. As Jesus pointed out, “You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” Peter still expected the Messiah to be an earthly king who would rid his homeland of the Romans. Judging the situation at hand by human standards instead of God’s standards, he was an adversary bent on stopping Jesus from following God’s will.
So, who do you think you are? When we offer advice, do we ever ask ourselves if we are thinking as God does or are we thinking as human beings do? How often do we follow Peter’s example and set our sights on human concerns rather than the divine? More often than I suspect we care to admit or realize. In spite of their good intentions, many people give advice that cause others to trip and fall because they are ignoring God’s standards.
For example, pregnant women who for whatever reason cannot or will not accept the unborn child in their wombs are often advised to get an abortion. The advice may be a quick solution to the problem at hand but one thing Project Rachel revealed to me years ago is that few women are left emotionally or physically unchanged by a surgical procedure that takes less time to perform than a commute from here to Seattle. Down the road, some eventually discover the link between their abortion and their present health issues and when they do, they find themselves regretting that they had ignored God’s wisdom.
From the start of our faith journey at baptism until that point when God will judge us, there will be countless moments when people in our lives will advise us on what to do. Some counsel will be worth heeding while other advice will be well worth ditching. Be it advice we give or receive, we should ask ourselves, “Would Jesus give that same bit of advice?”
In his rebuke, Jesus raises a haunting question we cannot afford to ignore. “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” He is warning us that we will be repaid according to our conduct in this lifetime and if we focus on worldly things rather than him, we risk losing everything in the end. The damage caused by making choices that would not be deemed acceptable by God may seem insignificant but danger lurks anytime we ignore God’s wisdom.
Many of our neighbors consider themselves Catholic yet we rarely see them here at Mass. Convinced by others that missing Sunday Mass is not wrong, despite what the Church tells us, they are absent from the Eucharistic gathering for any number of reasons. That bit of worldly advice has lured them into a weekend routine that allows them to become even more distant from understanding God’s way of thinking.
Few Christians set out in life intent on ignoring God and identifying instead only with the world and its secular ways. Keep in mind that the path to conformity and worldliness, which Jesus cautions us to avoid, often begins with seemingly harmless steps yet eventually those who continue to venture down that path find themselves thinking less and less as God does, thus less able to see the value of his wisdom over worldly wisdom.
Paul advises us, “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind so that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good, and pleasing and perfect.” This can only be done through prayer. For Paul, a life lived according to God’s will is the most basic form of worship there is.
Jesus cautions that we cannot follow him unless we take up our cross. “Be ready to offer your life for my cause,” he is telling us. To be a committed Christian, one must be willing to suffer. Martyrdom isn’t the fate of most Christians but those who are committed to him accept the sufferings that come into their lives because of the choices they make for the sake of the Kingdom. They find themselves taking up crosses of inconvenience, of bearing witness, or for some, of martyrdom. That may not seem so attractive against the backdrop of worldly lures but Jesus also tells us that those who lose their lives for his sake will find it.
We are urged to think as God does regardless of the cost. God doesn’t want us to suffer but sometimes suffering and sacrifice might be required of us as we respond to our call as disciples.
Jeremiah, Paul, Peter, and Jesus all found themselves standing at crossroads where they had to decide which way to go: the way of their times or the timeless way of God. They all knew that ultimately the way of God would be the most satisfying yet also the more costly choice to make. They would agree with the poet, Robert Frost, who wrote, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”
The message of these readings is simple yet challenging. We should keep the advice we heard in mind when giving advice or before accepting advice, for the choice we make could make all the difference when the day comes that we find ourselves standing before the Son of Man.