Scripture: Mark 8:31-38 (NRSV)
DEVOTIONAL: The old trunk of an apple tree had been lying on the floor of my garage of a number of years. It was gnarly and crooked. At some point, it had been exposed to moisture, so some fungal activity had started to change the color of the wood. By all appearances, the trunk looked like it should be headed to the fireplace.
But I could see great potential in the wood. Bowls of all shapes were hidden under the rough appearance of the trunk. I knew by cutting with my bandsaw and using sharp tools on the turning lathe I could expose the “new life” of the apple wood. As I applied a beeswax finish to each bowl, the rich color of the wood emerged in a wonderful, transformative way — from firewood to beauty. The bowls delighted family members and friends who received them as gifts.
The text for today is a story of faith in the transformative power of Christ. The friends of Jesus didn’t want to hear of his impending death. They — like us — weren’t interested in thinking about suffering. But Jesus calls for a sea change in our thinking by outlining a shift from human to divine understandings. By letting go of the old way of thinking — through denying self and losing life — a new life pattern could be exposed in ways similar to the transformation of the apple wood.
This is an upside down teaching. It means letting go for the sake of the good news — news filled with hope. The present is what we know, therefore it is easy to keep our attention there and miss out on the possibilities of the future. Our faith grows through Christ’s hope — and hope strengthens our faith.
Scripture: Mark 8:31-38 (NRSV)
Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
34He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”