Pentecost 16 A A

I was sitting in the Empire Plaza this week and there were a few preschool groups wandering around. You've seen the kind I'm talking about, about twenty, three year-olds all holding hands or paired off in two or threes and walking together. Well one of the groups was just clearly having a bad day. They weren't staying in line, some were crying, none seemed to be listening. So the leaders got them into a different sort of line and had them play follow the leader. You probably remember the game from when you were a kid, you would all walk in a line, then the leader would skip and so everyone would skip. Then the leader would run and so everyone would run. This is what they were doing, it went on for a while, they had the kids doing some pretty funny stuff, walking like ducks, mooing like cows. Like Simon Says but the leaders were just as into it as the kids and there was no way to end up "out". By the time the game was over all of the criers were laughing, the line was perfect and everyone was listening. So they paired back up and off they went on their way.

In our lesson today Peter tries to change the direction that Jesus is going in and Jesus says no. You can't redirect me. As much as you want to, as painful as it is for you, as much as you just want to sit down in the path and cry. We won't have any of that. To highlight how serious he is Jesus then says "get behind me Satan" to Peter. A famous and well known phrase. Peter who just last week was called the rock, the rock upon whom the church would be built now gets a stern rebuke, get behind me Satan.

Here's the thing though Jesus wasn't telling Peter to leave and never come back. He also wasn't saying, by calling him Satan, that Peter was capable of only evil. Instead he was saying to Peter that it was time to follow and to do just what he was told for a while, no matter how strange and awkward it might look.

As adults we don't really play follow the leader anymore because while it holds the rapt attention of a three year old, if we all tried to play we would be bored out of our minds and possibly falling all over ourselves. But we learned something important from our Kindergarten teachers by playing that game. The same lesson that Peter learns in the gospel text for today.

Sometimes when things are overwhelmingly impossible what a person really needs to do is locate the leader and start following for a while. In fact we play grown up follow the leader all of the time. I was in a small group led by Bishop Burkat of the Southeast Pa Synod, at a synod event recently. She was talking about how we do effective work in the church. She claimed that almost anything that a church needs a leader for can be taught to a member of a congregation with little to none of the terrifying implications that taking over a task carries with it. You do it by following the leader and there is all kinds of evidence for this method in the Old and New testaments, including the in the lesson we read today.

The process starts like this: First you find someone doing what you need to learn and you watch once. Then you do it side by side with them once with them leading. Next you lead and do the task side by side again. Finally you do it by yourself and the former leader watches. You repeat this as many times and you need and poof you're ready to go, even to lead others. Follow the leader church style, for grown ups!

We can use this model to learn how to run a coffee hour up in the fellowship hall, we can use this model to learn to teach Sunday School, we can use this model to learn to preach. Jesus used a similar model to show his disciples how to teach, how to preach and how to heal. When he said follow me he meant it and he taught them how.

That might have actually been why Peter was so afraid in our lesson. He felt like he was on top of the world with Jesus there to lead him. He was the rock of the church. He had the power to heal, he could literally walk on water! But what Jesus was talking about in this lesson was not being there anymore. At least that is what Peter heard. He heard Jesus say I'm going to die and that is the last thing Peter heard. I'm willing to bet that Jesus wasn't even done speaking when Peter started to rebuke him. To scold him and plead with him to change what he was saying.

All of this because he had a very real concern. His leader was going away. He wouldn't be able to see him anymore. What happens when you are playing follow the leader and then, suddenly, you can't see the leader anymore?

A few things in this case.

First you have to change what you're following. If you can't follow the literal steps and motions of the leader you have to listen to their voice to see where they are going and where they are leading you. If Peter had listened closer he would have heard the good news that was directly linked to the bad news that Jesus was sharing. Yes Jesus said that he would die but he also said that through him death would be overcome. He said that within Peter's very lifetime he would see death overcome and subsequently the kingdom of God alive and growing here on earth.

In order to listen like that though there is an element of letting go that needs to happen. Peter was much too occupied with his own needs and concerns to even leave room to hear Jesus speaking.

In explaining more to Peter Jesus says pick up your cross and follow me for those who want to save their life must lose it. Essentially he is telling Peter to put down as much of himself, his own insignificant worries, pains, fears and concerns as he needs to in order to be able to listen and follow.

At one of the camps that I was at the summer we took a night hike around the perimeter of the camp. Through the forest and a meadow, over a couple of little streams. And it was very dark. No lights, just a sliver of a moon. But the leader had been over the terrain many times and she lead the line holding a hand of the person behind her and we all took hold of the hand of the person in front of us and were led through the dark. The leader could tell the people around her where there was a bump or drop or some other kind of hazard and the message would get passed along. She would squeeze the hand of the person behind her to indicate a need for caution and the message would go down the line.

As you might imagine holding both a hand of the person in front of you and of the person behind you meant that you really couldn't carry anything that you didn't need for the hike. Water bottles, sunscreen, toys, papers etc. all had to be put aside so total attention could go to following the leader and keeping the followers behind you safe and directed.

We also had to put aside any disputes that we were having, any dislike for the people around us, any worries that would keep us from paying attention, any fear of the unknown, of trying a new thing, of learning from someone else had to go too, because you really needed to walk with confidence. This is what Jesus meant when he said put down yourself, your life and take up the cross.

He wasn't asking that you lead a life of unimaginable suffering just for the sake of it, quite the opposite. He was asking that you put aside all of the obstacles that distract you and weigh you down. Anything that keeps you from living fully into his love. Anything that closes your ears to the good news of the resurrection and the coming of the kingdom of God. These words are a call to put down anything that keeps you from following the leader. Let go of anything that keeps you from hearing his voice in the night and walking on the path that he shows you. Amen