MARK 8:27-35
SOME OF YOU PROBABLY HAVE HEARD THE
STORY OF THE DUCK AND THE SCORPION. THEY WERE STANDING AT THE EDGE
OF A RIVER AND THE SCORPION, NOT BEING ABLE TO SWIM, BEGGED THE DUCK
TO TAKE HIM TO THE OTHER SIDE. “DO I LOOK LIKE AN IDIOT?” SAID
THE DUCK. “IF I DO THAT YOU WILL STING ME AND I'LL DIE. NOTHING
DOING.” “I WON'T,” SAID THE SCORPION. “YOU WILL BE DOING ME
A FAVOR AND I WOULD NEVER STING A FRIEND.” FINALLY THE DUCK
AGREED. THE SCORPION CLIMBED ON HIS BACK AND ABOUT HALF-WAY ACROSS
THE RIVER, THE SCORPION STUNG THE DUCK. “WHY DID YOU DO THAT?”
SAID THE DUCK. “NOW WE'LL BOTH DIE.” “SORRY,” SAID THE
SCORPION. “IT'S WHAT I DO.”
THE LAST SENTENCE IN THE GOSPEL SEEMS
A BIT DISCONNECTED FROM THE REST, DOESN'T IT? THE LORD HAS THAT
INTERCHANGE WITH PETER, WHO HAS JUST REALIZED THAT JESUS IS THE
MESSIAH; AND THEN WHEN JESUS PREDICTS HIS PASSION AND DEATH, PETER
REBUKES HIM. AT THAT POINT, JESUS CALLS HIM SATAN, THEN HE TURNS TO
THE CROWD AND TALKS ABOUT THE REQUIREMENT FOR BEING HIS DISCIPLE.
WE ALL WOULD LIKE TO BE DISCIPLES,
WOULDN'T WE? MAYBE SOME OF US ARE, MAYBE SOME OF US THINK WE ARE,
AND I SUPPOSE A FEW OF US DON'T REALLY CARE. BUT I WONDER IF WE
REALLY THINK ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A DISCIPLE, SOMEONE WHO WISHES
TO COME AFTER JESUS, AS IT SAYS IN THE GOSPEL. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO
“TAKE UP MY CROSS” TO LOSE MY LIFE IN ORDER TO SAVE IT?
IN JESUS' TIME, ALL THROUGH THE ROMAN
WORLD, THERE WEREN'T MANY PEOPLE WHO COULD READ AND WRITE; AND THERE
WEREN'T MANY THINGS YOU COULD READ EVEN IF YOU KNEW HOW. KNOWLEDGE
AND WISDOM WERE TRANSMITTED ORALLY. IF YOU WERE A MAN, YOU WOULD
HAVE TO DECIDE WHAT YOU WERE GOING TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE; MAYBE FOLLOW
THE TRADE OF YOUR FATHER; MAYBE JOIN THE ARMY; MAYBE BECOME A LEADER
OF YOUR RELIGION, JEWISH OR PAGAN. THERE WERE ALWAYS A FEW, THOUGH,
WHO BECAME DISCIPLES. WE KNOW THAT THERE WERE VARIOUS PHILOSOPHIC
SCHOOLS – EPICURIANS AND STOICS AND PLATONISTS AMONG THE GREEKS;
VARIOUS SCHOOLS OF PHARISEICAL THOUGHT, BUT ALSO SADDUCEAN THOUGHT
AMONG THE JEWS; AND IF YOU FELT CALLED TO BECOME WISE, YOU MIGHT
BECOME A DISCIPLE OF SOMEONE WHO PROFESSED ONE OF THESE PHILOSOPHICAL
OR RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS. THIS MEANT THAT YOU BECAME A DISCIPLE OF A
MASTER. MOST MASTERS HAD AT ANY ONE TIME BETWEEN FIVE AND EIGHT
DISCIPLES. THE MASTER WOULD INTERVIEW THE POTENTIAL DISCIPLE AT GREAT
LENGTH; THE DISCIPLE WOULD SPEND SOME TIME FOLLOWING THE MASTER
BEFORE BEING FULLY ACCEPTED. THAT'S KIND OF WHAT THAT SCENE IN THE
GOSPEL OF JOHN IS ALL ABOUT, WHEN JESUS ASKS ANDREW “WHAT ARE YOU
LOOKING FOR?” AND ANDREW SAYS, “WHERE DO YOU LIVE?” AND JESUS
REPLIES, “COME AND SEE.”
THE DISCIPLE LIVED WITH THE MASTER;
RECEIVED INSTRUCTION FROM HIM; ASKED AND ANSWERED QUESTIONS, BUT ALSO
IMITATED HIM SIMPLY BECAUSE HE WAS THE MASTER. WISDOM, AFTER ALL, IS
NOT JUST IN THE HEAD; IT HAS TO DO WITH HOW YOU SPEAK, HOW YOU TREAT
OTHERS, EVEN HOW YOU EAT AND BRUSH YOUR TEETH. A GOOD DISCIPLE
SLOWLY BECAME SO MUCH LIKE THE MASTER THAT A THIRD PARTY COULD TELL
WHICH DISCIPLE BELONGED TO WHICH MASTER. EVENTUALLY WHEN THE MASTER
FELT THE DISCIPLE HAD LEARNED ALL HE COULD, HE WOULD SEND THE
DISCIPLE OFF TO BECOME A “MASTER” HIMSELF. THIS SYSTEM OF
INSTRUCTION IN WISDOM WAS WIDESPREAD; NOT ONLY IN THE MEDITERRANIAN
WORLD, BUT IN CHINA AND INDIA AND PERSIA AS WELL. CONFUSCIUS AND
BUDDHA AND ZOROASTER ALL HAD DISCIPLES, WHICH IS WHY THE RELIGIONS
THEY FOUNDED MANAGED TO GROW AND BECOME WIDESPREAD.
NOW THE GOSPEL STARTS TO HANG
TOGETHER, DOESN'T IT? JESUS REBUKES PETER: “YOU ARE THINKING NOT
AS GOD DOES, BUT AS HUMAN BEINGS DO.” SO PETER'S JOB, IF HE WANTS
TO BE A DISCIPLE, IS TO THINK AS GOD DOES. AND IN ORDER TO DO THIS,
IN ORDER TO FOLLOW JESUS AS A DISCIPLE, HE HAS TO LOSE HIS LIFE,
BECAUSE IF HE KEEPS ON BEING PETER, IF HE TRIES TO SAVE PETER, HE
WILL NOT BE ABLE TO FOLLOW JESUS. AND JESUS LIKENS THIS PROCESS TO
TAKING UP A CROSS; IT'S NOT EASY, ITS PAINFUL – IT'S LIKE THOSE
POOR GUYS BEING FORCED TO CARRY THEIR CROSSES TO THEIR OWN
EXECUTIONS, SOMETHING EVERYONE HAD WITNESSED ONE TIME OR ANOTHER.
SO BACK TO THE QUESTION. IF I WANT TO
BE A DISCIPLE, WHO IS MY MASTER? WE KNOW THE ANSWER TO THAT. IT'S
JESUS. AND WHERE IS HE? IN THE CHURCH HE FOUNDED, WHICH SAINT PAUL
CALLED “THE BODY OF CHRIST”. JESUS CREATED THE CHURCH TO MAKE IT
POSSIBLE FOR YOU AND I AND EVERYONE WHO WILL COME AFTER US TO BECOME
DISCIPLES. AND LIKE THOSE DISCIPLES OF OLD, OUR TASK IS TO IMITATE
OUR MASTER, TO LEARN WHAT HE WANTS US TO LEARN; TO CHANGE THE WAY WE
THINK AND ACT SO THAT WE ARE CONSTANTLY GIVING UP OUR LIVES AND
TAKING ON HIS LIFE. A SERIOUS DISCIPLE IS GOING TO BE CONSCIOUS OF
THIS PROCESS; HE IS GOING TO HAVE A PLAN OF PRAYER, OF STUDY, OF
ACTION; HE IS GOING TO HAVE A WAY TO BENCHMARK PROGRESS. MAYBE SHE
WILL TAKE THE TASK SERIOUSLY ENOUGH TO HAVE A SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR,
JUST TO GET SOMEONE ELSE TO MAKE SURE SHE'S ON THE RIGHT PATH. AND
IT WILL BE DIFFICULT AND SOMETIMES PAINFUL AS WE PROGRESS FROM
THINKING THE WAY WE DO NOW TO THE WAY GOD THINKS.
WE READ ABOUT MASTERS WHO HAVE THEIR
DISCIPLES DO THINGS THAT DON'T SEEM TO MAKE SENSE. ONLY AFTER THEY
DO THEM DOES THE MASTER REVEAL HOW THIS FITS INTO THE PLAN. A
DISCIPLE COULD NOT BE A CAFETERIA DISCIPLE, PICKING AND CHOOSING
WHICH TEACHINGS OF HIS MASTER HE WOULD FOLLOW AND WHICH HE WOULD NOT.
A TRUE DISCIPLE WOULD BE IN IT ALL THE WAY. A DISCIPLE OF JESUS HAS
TO BE LIKE THAT; IF JESUS, SPEAKING THROUGH HIS CHURCH, SAYS
SOMETHING, THE TRUE DISCIPLE WILL DO HIS BEST TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS
BEING SAID AND TO CONFORM HIS OWN LIFE AND HIS OWN THINKING TO WHAT
HE IS BEING TOLD.
TODAY JESUS TELLS US WHAT WE NEED TO
DO TO COME AFTER HIM; THAT IT WON'T BE EASY; THAT IT ISN'T OVER IN A
SHORT TIME; IN FACT, IT WILL TAKE ALL OF YOUR LIFE. BUT IN THE END
THERE IS THE PROMISE OF ETERNAL LIFE.
BUT SOME OF US DON'T REALLY WANT TO BE
DISCIPLES; WE DON'T WANT TO CHANGE OURSELVES; WE ARE LIKE THE
SCORPION, WHO WOULD RATHER DIE THAN CHANGE.
