Our dog’s name is Breeze. She has been a huge part of our family since this past September. And she has been a tremendous blessing to us. But she now has a nickname – “Satan.” I beg a little bit of patience from all the pet lovers reading this. It is actually a biblical name. And I don’t call her that in public – just when I’m working out.
Here’s the reason for the new nickname. When I exercise, Breeze goes ballistic. If I’m lifting weights, she will sit and watch me, waiting for that moment that I am done and I relax. Then she skillfully closes in on me and licks me. But that’s not the reason for the nickname – just supporting evidence. The real reason for the nickname is what happens if I do anything involving jumping or running. As soon as I begin, her tail starts wagging. After about the second bounce she begins jumping with me. By the fourth bounce she is usually jumping at me. As the dance continues she will begin growling and nipping at me (all the while her stubby tail wagging ferociously) and pawing at me and shoving me sideways into walls or other objects…until I stop. When I stop, she will stop and stand there panting with her tail wagging waiting for me to start again.
In the midst of this behavior this morning, I told her to git several times. For those not from Texas, that’s a real word that means go away, leave, get out of here. And even though Breeze has lived in Texas most of her life, her mom is from Colorado and apparently she didn’t learn the word “git,” because she didn’t. With the repetition of the word, I began to add a familiar verse to my Texas rebuke and wound up saying, more to myself than to the dog, “get behind me, Satan!”
It was in that moment that I heard Jesus’ rebuke of Peter a little bit differently. The name has always been problematic. Did Jesus actually call Peter, Satan? I think Jesus does that because he has just changed his name from Simon to Peter and was illustrating that he was not acting like the Peter he was supposed to be, but was acting as one who was trying to lead Jesus astray. So redact the secondary name change and listen to what Jesus says.
“Get behind me! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” -- Matthew 16:23
I began to hear this as less of a rebuke and more of a call to discipleship. Jesus is not telling Peter anything other than what he called him to beside the Sea. (“As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men.’ At once they left their nets and followed him.” – Matthew 4:18-20) In both cases, Jesus is calling Peter to walk behind him. To go where he goes. To do what he does. To say what he says. They are both invitations to discipleship.
I wonder how many times I try to lead Jesus. I accepted the call to follow, but often become impatient walking behind Jesus. Instead I find myself nipping at his heels and doing my best to push him forward. As a result, I become a stumbling block…having in mind the things I want and not the things of God.
Life as I know it is lived best when I walk behind Jesus, patiently going where he goes, quietly saying what he says, humbly doing what he does. But sometimes I forget and I get in the way and I need to hear him calling to me to get back in line, “get behind me…”
Here’s the reason for the new nickname. When I exercise, Breeze goes ballistic. If I’m lifting weights, she will sit and watch me, waiting for that moment that I am done and I relax. Then she skillfully closes in on me and licks me. But that’s not the reason for the nickname – just supporting evidence. The real reason for the nickname is what happens if I do anything involving jumping or running. As soon as I begin, her tail starts wagging. After about the second bounce she begins jumping with me. By the fourth bounce she is usually jumping at me. As the dance continues she will begin growling and nipping at me (all the while her stubby tail wagging ferociously) and pawing at me and shoving me sideways into walls or other objects…until I stop. When I stop, she will stop and stand there panting with her tail wagging waiting for me to start again.
In the midst of this behavior this morning, I told her to git several times. For those not from Texas, that’s a real word that means go away, leave, get out of here. And even though Breeze has lived in Texas most of her life, her mom is from Colorado and apparently she didn’t learn the word “git,” because she didn’t. With the repetition of the word, I began to add a familiar verse to my Texas rebuke and wound up saying, more to myself than to the dog, “get behind me, Satan!”
It was in that moment that I heard Jesus’ rebuke of Peter a little bit differently. The name has always been problematic. Did Jesus actually call Peter, Satan? I think Jesus does that because he has just changed his name from Simon to Peter and was illustrating that he was not acting like the Peter he was supposed to be, but was acting as one who was trying to lead Jesus astray. So redact the secondary name change and listen to what Jesus says.
“Get behind me! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” -- Matthew 16:23
I began to hear this as less of a rebuke and more of a call to discipleship. Jesus is not telling Peter anything other than what he called him to beside the Sea. (“As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men.’ At once they left their nets and followed him.” – Matthew 4:18-20) In both cases, Jesus is calling Peter to walk behind him. To go where he goes. To do what he does. To say what he says. They are both invitations to discipleship.
I wonder how many times I try to lead Jesus. I accepted the call to follow, but often become impatient walking behind Jesus. Instead I find myself nipping at his heels and doing my best to push him forward. As a result, I become a stumbling block…having in mind the things I want and not the things of God.
Life as I know it is lived best when I walk behind Jesus, patiently going where he goes, quietly saying what he says, humbly doing what he does. But sometimes I forget and I get in the way and I need to hear him calling to me to get back in line, “get behind me…”
