Pentecost 17 September 20th, 2015 Pastor Waldschmidt

Mark 8:27-35

WHEN MR. SATAN KNOCKS AT MY HEARTS DOOR

I JUST SAY "KNOW","NO", "KNOW"

In the name of Jesus, the Lord and Guide of our lives, dear fellow redeemed children of God;

     One of the blessings of going to Sunday School and a Christian Day School is the treasure trove of songs and prayers a person picks up over the years.  Maybe you remember some of the ones I learned too. “Here is the church, here is the steeple, open the doors and see all the people.”  Or remember, “There is a green hill far away without a city wall, where our dear Lord was crucified, he died to save us all.”  One of the little songs or plays my mom taught her Kindergarten classes was, “When Mr. Satan Knocks At My Hearts Door I Just Say No, No No!” 

     That littler sentence taught to little ones is a big one for us to think about this morning as we hear Jesus give a stinging rebuke to Peter.  It was at a spot where Satan was not just knocking at the door of Peter’s heart but instead was sitting at the kitchen table having a cup of coffee.  Jesus rebukes Peter and teaches us what to do when Mr. Satan knocks at our hearts’ door.  We just say Know, No, Know!  I.  Know that Jesus is the one God promised.  II.  No,  to what I want.  III.  Know,  that following Jesus brings crosses. 

   The first quizzes and tests of the new school year are probably happening this week in many of the schools.  So it fits right in that in this part of God’s Word we hear Jesus giving a quiz to his disciples.  This quiz only had two questions.  The first is easy.  Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do men say that I am?”  To answer that question, all the disciples had to do was repeat some of the rumors that they had heard about Jesus.  The disciples quickly pointed out that some said he was John the Baptist.  This rumor was started when King Herod heard about Jesus and the wonderful things he had been doing.  Herod thought that Jesus was John the Baptist come back from the dead. Herod’s conscience was bothering him that he had beheaded John at the whim of his wife and stepdaughter.  Other people thought that Jesus was the prophet Elijah or one of the other prophets.  God had not sent a prophet to Israel for over 400 years.  So now when the people flocked to hear Jesus, they were thinking that the line of the prophets had resumed.  Many of these people were on the wrong track about Jesus- all underestimating him.  They failed to realize that Jesus was the one John the Baptist, Elijah and all of the other prophets had been talking about.  Jesus was the One God promised.  Jesus came to be the Savior for us God had promised-the Savior who would bring us into God’s family through his suffering and death.

     Now Jesus asked His disciples the most important question of the test.  “Who do you say that I am?” Did you ever have someone in your class who didn’t wait to be called on, they just blurted out the answer? Peter the self appointed spokesman for the group doesn’t wait to be called on.  He blurts out the correct answer.  “You are the Christ.”  It clicked in Peter’s mind and heart that Jesus was the One.  He was the Savior God had promised. Jesus was the one Isaiah was talking about when he wrote, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given and the government will be upon his shoulders and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

     So God keeps His promises.  When Mr. Satan knocks at my hearts door that is usually one of the topics he shouts about.  Except he shouts through the door that he doesn’t think God will keep His promises.  And so often that old devil gets me to believe it-maybe you too.  He gets us to thinking that God has forgotten about us.  He wants us to think that God is big liar who makes all these promises about how everything is going to work for good and then forgets about them and forgets about you and me. I’m sad to say that sometimes he even gets me to shout along with him and Adam and Eve that God isn’t good that he doesn’t do what He says. When Mr. Satan knocks at your hearts door, just say that you know that God keeps His promises.  Look at the Jesus standing-the Word of God-the Promise of God made flesh.  He is the Savior God promised.  If He has kept the greatest of promises, do you really think He is going to forget His other promises to you.  “I will be with you.”  “I will hear your prayers.”  “I will provide for you.”  “I will take you to be with me in heaven.”

     Wouldn’t you think that Jesus would have wanted everyone to hear that he was the one God had promised to send?  But we read, “Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.”  This might seem strange at first, but then again we have to remember that many people had mixed up ideas about what the Christ was going to do.  Many were looking for the hero on the war horse who was going to drive out the Romans.  Jesus tells the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ because he did not want people coming to him for the wrong reason.  That brings us to another thing to say when Mr. Satan knocks at my hearts door, a “No” to what I want- the way I think things should be.

   Even Peter had a mixed up idea about what the Christ was going to do.  Peter passed Jesus test but then he got in trouble in class when Mr. Satan knocked at His hearts door.  “³¹He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. ³²He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.”  When Jesus began to speak plainly about his upcoming suffering and death, Peter gets off the track of following Jesus and gets lost.  Jesus was talking about suffering and dying and not about revolting and conquering.  Jesus’ words made Peter uncomfortable and he begins to scold Jesus, as if to say, “Don’t talk like that Jesus, that’s not what we want to hear.”  Jesus has to step in and get Peter back on track by calling Peter’s words what they were, the work of Satan. “³³But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."  God’s plan of salvation was different than Peter’s.  Out of love for Peter and the other disciples, Jesus quickly steps in and reminds Peter that it wasn’t about what he wanted.  It seems like maybe Peter saw in Jesus a new governor for here on earth who would get rid of those Roman soldiers on the corner and maybe Peter could have a nice office in Jerusalem next to Jesus’ throne room.  But here is Jesus talking about suffering and dying.  “Ish” “Don’t talk like that Jesus!”  “That’s not how I picture things going.”  Satan was knocking at Peter’s heart’s door but he was really talking to Jesus.  “Let’s forget about all this suffering and dying talk.”   
     But the Savior didn’t listen to what Peter wanted- to what Satan wanted. Jesus knew that the way to heaven for us was that “The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son purifies us from all sin.”  The part of God’s plan that Peter wasn’t seeing was that God would punish Jesus instead of Peter and you and me.  Because of Jesus’ sufferings and death, we read in Rom. 8:1, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”  Jesus opened himself up to the thunderbolts of God’s wrath crashing his heart so that we would never have to feel them crashing through our hearts.  Love like that makes you want to follow him-to pick up the crosses in our own lives and carry them with a heart that is grateful for what he has done for us.  That brings us to another thing for us to “know” when Mr. Satan knocks at our hearts door.  Know that crosses will come when we follow Jesus. 

      After this private rebuke of Peter, Jesus calls the crowd around him and makes clear the cost of following Him.  “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it and whoever loses his life for me and for the Gospel will save it.”  With these words Jesus was preparing the disciples for the persecution which they would endure after He ascended into heaven.  Peter and the other disciples would learn that being tied to Jesus meant that their lives didn’t belong to them anymore.  They belonged to someone much better.  Their lives belonged to Jesus.  The early Christians gladly denied themselves and lived for Jesus.  When they were persecuted we hear, “The apostles left the Sanhedrin rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the name.  Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.”  Their lives belonged to Jesus.  When people looked at them they saw Jesus.  Paul had to remind Peter of that later when Peter was treating the Jewish Christians better than the Gentile Christians.  When people see you, they see Jesus.  If you are wondering about that, think about how easily it happens that when you say or do something you should not do that people say, “I can’t believe Christians act like that.” Mr. Satan will be right there knocking.  “Being a Christian is weird.”  “You are missing out on something!”  Let’s know that the crosses will come.  No longer living for ourselves means that we will bear whatever abuse and scorn comes our way because we are Christians.  Let’s carry the scorn of an unbelieving world and all the abuse Satan heaps on us when he knocks at our heart’s door.  Like Peter and the other disciples let’s rejoice that we were counted worthy to be scorned for the sake of the Gospel. 

     Let’s not let the devil stop by for a cup of coffee in our hearts anymore.  When Mr. Satan knocks at our hearts door, let’s just say, “Know”, “No”, “Know”.  Amen.