I love living in Maryland. My wife loves living so close to DC for work. It’s sad for us to be so far from our families. Mine are in South Carolina. Amy’s are in Texas. Years and years ago, before Walker and Arthur were born, Amy and I took a road trip to visit them. Each day, we drove a little farther west, staying on the highway until the sun set. Heading toward her family, we had the sun in our eyes for several days. We were glad to have a car to get around Houston. We could visit her friends who still lived in town. We could explore on own.

Driving back, our trip home was just as long. But as the sun set each day, I noticed its position behind us, seen only in the rear view mirror. It no longer bothered us as we neared the end of our day’s drive.

I’m reminded of that deliberate turning around when I come across Jesus’ words to Peter: “get behind me, Satan” (Matthew 16:23). With those words, we would hope to orient ourselves away from whatever concerns arose around us, refusing to allow them to distract us from our God-given goals and values.

But why Jesus use them on his most faithful follower, the disciple on whose faith Jesus would build his Church, as we heard in last Sunday’s Gospel reading (vv. 13-20)? Because Peter rebukes Jesus over his talk of a plot to be betrayed and killed. Jesus won’t shy away from the confrontation, even if it leads to suffering and loss.   

“Get behind me,” he says. He’s already faced that choice, and made his decision. Satan is someone Jesus has already spoken to in the Gospel. What Jesus says to Peter is best understood in the context of what he has already said to the tempter. After Jesus was baptized in the River Jordan by his cousin, John the Baptist, and before he began his public ministry, Jesus  

… was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But Jesus answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (4:1-4).

In this way, Jesus committed not to use his personal power to avoid suffering and starvation, conditions which the rest of his country had to face under Roman occupation. He lived in solidarity with the poor and the hungry. The Gospel reads:

Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test’” (vv. 5-8).

Jesus committed not to use his personal connections to help him avoid the fate of too many people who ever spoke out against the power of the religious elite in the Temple. Remember that Jesus’ mother was close to Zechariah and Elizabeth, a Temple priest and a priest’s daughter from a long line of priests. Jesus’ decision to make his own way was not unlike his cousin John’s, who sought authenticity by leaving Temple life for the wilderness. You know that the tempting continues:

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him (vv. 9-11).

Jesus already decided long before he began preaching and teaching that he would have only one Master, the Lord, one God. This is why his message to the disciples is important for us, not only for how we understand Jesus’ ministry, but also how we can begin to understand his offering himself and the kind of costly discipleship he expects of us. “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? (vv. 25-26)”

In Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, the tempter already suggested to Jesus to use his own power to save his life by turning stones into bread, to use his own connections save him his life if he cast himself down from the highest point of the Temple, and to prolong his life and gain the kingdoms of the world by making a deal with the devil. But Jesus sent the tempter away, who would return at a more opportune time. Apparently, this time was now, when Jesus had secured in his disciples a common faith, a shared understanding of his anointing, so that his work might continue after him, without him being around to guide it.

Faith and perseverance are often preached to people who are struggling just to get by. This isn’t meant for situations like that. The message of this passage is that you should keep up your guard when things are going well.

When you’re picking up steam, and things are shaping up, and it looks like smooth sailing ahead, you need to watch out for anything that will lead you astray. You need to keep your eyes away from paths of comfort or ease. You need to keep your focus on giving of yourself for the goals God has given you. You need to stay true to what you committed to at the outset.

For me, it’s important that I remember the values I made a commitment to early in my ministry, and even earlier in my life. I want to help people. I want to connect people to one another. I want to encourage people to care more and more about their neighbors, near and far. It’s important that I remember that when I feel inundated with new tasks and stripped of free time. It’s important that I remember that when I’m tempted to hide from the work before me, in favor of something less demanding.

And I’m not just preaching to myself, though. Things pick up steam for lots of people at lots of different times in the lives. For many children and youth, the fall is a season of increased programs, increased structure, increased opportunities for development and achievement. Their parents and grandparents feel part of the weight that their little ones feel, as children are shuttled from one activity to another, as calls for family support are shared by school teachers and coaches. Things pick up steam.

For young adults, things pick up steam when they have their first career break, and suddenly and without warning, much is expected of them. Long days and night shifts to get the job done can begin to take their toll on their bodies, leaving them tired, agitated, and overwhelmed.

And what about empty nesters and retirees? Are things still picking up steam for them (are things still picking up steam for you)? What about a ministry of yours at the church that seems to be on the cusp of starting a new chapter, or a new development in the community that needs to be addressed quickly and capably? Things pick up steam when even we weren’t looking it. And it’s in the thick of things when we need to remember what we made a commitment to at the start.

This week, I invite you to think about what you made a commitment to early on. Maybe it was that you would live a life that would make your family proud. Maybe it was that you would always make time for a friend in need. Maybe you decided you would always find a way to show someone who wasn’t accepted very much that they could trust you. What values did you claim for yourself, early on?

Maybe you never gave it much thought. Maybe you could ask a friend or a loved one what they see in you, what values are revealed in your actions and in your sentiments that you share. And whatever your values are, you can ask yourself, are you living them consistently? Or, are you allowing yourself to be drawn away from the roles and responsibilities you feel God has given you?

May we all be willing to say to all those distractions, comforts, and detours: “Get behind me, once and for all, and let me serve God.”

I invite your response. Amen.