Matthew 16:21-28 , David Orendorff

Last week in our Gospel Lesson (Matthew 16:13-20) Peter was the hero, he was the one upon which Jesus would build the kingdom of heaven because Peter knew in his heart that Jesus was the messiah, the savior. Well, this week, not thirty seconds later, the “Rock” crumbles and Jesus says to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”1 Matthew 16:23

We could be and sometimes are just like Peter. One minute we are being all grace and wise, full of God’s love and then we turn devilish. Like Peter, we are a mixture of the kingdom of heaven and hell.

What makes this shift in us? Jesus notes that the shift in Peter comes with a shift in his mind set; setting his mind not on divine things but on human things. Peter wants Jesus to not have to suffer. What is wrong with this? It seems the loving and caring thing to say.

Peter’s mind got stuck on the suffering and death of Jesus, things human, things we get stuck on. Jesus, however, focused on the divine thing, that beyond suffering and death is resurrection.

It is this ever so significant difference in mindset that moves Peter from being a rock and a friend of Jesus to being a stumbling block and a friend of evil. And it is this same difference in mindset that can either leave us afraid and anxious in the face of life’s inevitable suffering, or confident that whatever comes we shall be raised up victors by the grace of God.

A psychologist that speaks to me on this difference in mindset is Martin Seligman. I had known of Dr. Seligman for several years. The work I knew had to do with why some folks who, even given the opportunities and gifts necessary to succeed, fail. He called the conclusions of his work “Learned Helplessness.”

Then one day as he was presenting learned helplessness to a class a student asked him a question that changed everything. As a result of this question, Seligman shifted the focus of his work and went back into research with this student and others. Years later he wrote a new book, one that helps me better understand Jesus.

The student asked what now appears to be obvious, “Why do some people, given identical circumstances, succeed when others fail?” Seligman and his co-workers later reframed the question in this way, “Why do some folks learn to be pessimistic and are therefore helpless, and others learn to be optimistic and are therefore much, much more likely to succeed?”

The book which is the result of this research is entitled Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life.2 Martin Seligman, PhD.., Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life, (Pocket Books, New York, 1998) Seligman’s conclusion is the same one Peter needed to learn. Succeeding in life, in the face of all kinds of obstacles and adversities, all kinds of resistance and suffering, is mostly a matter of mindset, of attitude.

Before I get too far into this I want to note that there are some of us, perhaps 10% of the population, who have depression and anxiety as a biochemical disorder, as if we are some kind of emotional diabetic. Just as diabetics need to take their medication and watch their diet, those of us with biochemical depression and anxiety need to take our medication and watch our mental diet. Those of us with this condition (and I am one of them) often blame ourselves and increase our misery. There is no blame here for us. Seligman’s work is not a cure for our biochemical disorder. So we are to take our meds. But our meds will not cure us of a pessimistic outlook. For that we need to take the advice of Jesus and set our minds upon divine things.

Seligman understands that some folks are able to overcome obstacles and adversity better than others because they lean toward what he calls a realistic optimism. In his research Seligman observes that there are four dominant attitudes which determine pessimism and optimism, fear or confidence.

First, the pessimist believes that bad things have permanent causes while the optimist believes that adversity is temporary.

Jesus might have said it to Peter this way, “Peter, my suffering and death will pass; it is only temporary as yours will be only temporary. The love of our Father in heaven has for me and for you is forever.”

Secondly, Seligman observes that the pessimist believes that good things have temporary causes and bad things have permanent causes. But the optimist believes the reverse that good things have permanent causes and bad things have temporary causes.

Jesus might have said it this way to Peter, “The adversity of this world, poverty and hunger, wicked priests and the oppression of Rome, even your own failings, is temporary, it shall pass. But the love and miracle our Father in heaven works in us is forever and shall never fail.”
Thirdly, Seligman observes that pessimists see adversity as pervasive, that is, bad things are universal, are everywhere. But optimistic folks see adversity as very specific to just one time and place.

The pessimist believes that life is full of adversity with a few good things interspersed. The optimist believes that life is full of wonderful things and a few hard things. Jesus might say to Peter. “Suffering is temporary. Our Father in heaven’s love is everywhere all the time. It is pervasive and universal.”
And finally, for a pessimist any good thing that happens is just of that one time and place, it is temporary. While for optimists, the good things that happen are permanent; they are universal, of all times and places.

“Peter,” Jesus might say, “don’t you get it? God is God and God is love. God can be trusted with great suffering and even murder, and on the third day we shall be raised.”

“Raised,” for Jesus, is God’s promise that loving salvation is the ultimate victor and the final destination for him and for all creation. Jesus does not fear the coming suffering because he knows that God conquers death in only three days. But Peter, evidently, doesn’t even hear this part of the prediction. Peter’s mindset is that suffering and then death is the end of life. Had he known it the nursery rhyme of Solomon Grundy may have been his refrain:

Solomon Grundy,
Born on a Monday,
Christened on Tuesday,
Married on Wednesday,
Took ill on Thursday,
Grew worse on Friday,
Died on Saturday,
Buried on Sunday.
That was the end of
Solomon Grundy.”

Peter misses that suffering is not the end but is the beginning of life. For Peter suffering and death is permanent and pervasive. For the realistic optimist Jesus God’s grace is permanent and pervasive. This is the difference in mindset that makes all the difference in who lives with fear and who lives with joy, who is on the side of God and who is on the side of the evil one.

Those who would follow Jesus, looking at the adversity of life as limited and temporary and the gifts of life as pervasive and permanent, will have peace in their soul and will be victorious over suffering even in concentration camps, even with terminal cancer, even with a broken marriage, even with whatever adversity life might hand out.

Paul says it this way:

I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.7 Romans 8:38-39”

This is our faith. The cross, once the ultimate symbol of a tortured death, is now the universal symbol of hope and of life in the kingdom of heaven. This is why we rejoice in our suffering and at the moment of our death sings praises to God. This is the mind set on divine things.

Shalom and Amen.

[1] Matthew 16:23

[2] Martin Seligman, PhD.., Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life, (Pocket Books, New York, 1998)

[3] ibid. 44

[4] ibid. 45

[5] ibid. 47

[6] ibid. 48

[7] Romans 8:38-39