September 3, 2017
“For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but lose their life?”
A great depth of meaning lies beneath the surface of these 16 words—one word in particular—which were spoken by Jesus in Caesarea Philippi, as He and the disciples drew ever closer to Jerusalem and Jesus’ death on the cross.
But before we go about “unpacking” these 16 words and how they might affect our own salvation, I’d like us to take a short detour through a fictional small town in Maine, Castle Rock, and a very strange and unique store which has just opened there. The name of this new shop is “Needful Things,” which is also the name of the book by one of my favorite authors, Stephen King. And whether or not you happen to be a fan, please trust me when I tell you that there are very few authors with King’s unique gift for capturing the ethos and the pulse, while at the same time painting a wonderfully descriptive portrait of daily life in a small town.
Add to that the fact that in several of King’s novels, and Needful Things is one of them, you find definite biblical themes and undercurrents of good vs. evil, providing some very rich soil for sermon material.
In the early pages, King does a masterful job of building the anticipation among the citizens of Castle Rock, leading up to the opening of “Needful Things.” Try to imagine a sign appearing on 1st Street here in Dixon, over a long-vacant storefront that simply says, “Needful Things”—no clue as to the nature of the business, or the opening date; and the windows are papered over. Everyone’s speculating; everyone’s guessing until, suddenly, one day the shop opens its doors. And while it’s not strictly speaking really a curio shop, or even an antique store, when one enters “Needful Things,” his or her eyes are drawn immediately to some “thing” on display that they instantly covet, and come to believe that they cannot live without. Anything from a 1956 autographed Sandy Koufax baseball card for 11-year-old Brian Rusk, to a luxuriant red foxtail that once adorned the antenna of Hugh Priest’s 1953 Chevrolet convertible. And what’s more, those who seek after these “Needful Things” don’t necessarily even need money to acquire them. Or, if money is involved, it turns out to be a ridiculously small, almost inconsequential amount, like 85 cents from young Brian Rusk for the Koufax baseball card. No, the preferred currency at “Needful Things” comes in the form of strange favors asked of his customers by its owner, Mr. Gaunt, who, we soon come to realize is a “Satan-like” figure whose strange little favors, soon threaten to destroy Castle Rock, leading to turmoil and hateful divisions among its citizens. The book also reveals how these “Needful Things” that people thought were so necessary to ensure their happiness, and just couldn’t imagine living without, turn out to be shabby, useless “nothings” that bring only heartache and distress.
As the story unfolds, it’s easy to dismiss the misguided yearnings of the citizens of Castle Rock as something we would never fall prey to. And yet, if we’re being honest with ourselves, and of course from God, as we pray at the start of every service, “no secrets are hid”—who among us has not, at some point in our lives—said or thought something like, “My life just won’t be complete unless there’s a huge, high-def flat screen TV on the wall in time for the Super Bowl.” Or, “I’d do just about anything to get front-row tickets to that concert, play, or whatever.” And it’s not just about wants or desires for material things. What about those desperate thoughts, even prayers for someone to be healed or cured so they wouldn’t have to die. I think we’ve all been in that position. And, of course, sometimes we get those things we’ve desired or fantasized about: People do win the lottery; someone gifts you with those concert tickets; or prayers are answered, and a relative or friend is healed. All good so far: Because nothing is asked in return. You get lucky; you receive a gift; and prayers are answered. But what if, at the very moment you were at your weakest, when you had just expressed your desire for something, or for some result . . . a “Mr. Gaunt” suddenly appeared in your life, offering to give you exactly what you want, asking in return, what he assures you, and what seems to be, a very small and seemingly harmless “favor.” And have you ever had the experience of suddenly acquiring one of those seemingly impossible objects of desire, only to discover that it really wasn’t all it was “cracked up to be”; that it added very little, if anything at all to the quality and enjoyment of your life. Often, when that happens, we find ourselves moving on to the next so-called “essential” or “needful” thing in search of true happiness and, as one author has observed, we end up “trivializing” the very idea of necessity by confusing those things that are truly “needful”—things that both give and sustain life, with those things that in the end actually “sap our lives” away. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit Order, referred to such things as “Attachments.”
In the eyes of Jesus there must never be any confusion in our lives as Christians between those so-called “needful things,” and those “things” which are essential to our salvation.
This is exactly where Peter, and where many followers of Jesus today, miss the boat. They all want a “Messiah”—but, only on their terms. In Peter’s case, his Messiah did not end up nailed to a cross just a few days down the road. The Messiah of their dreams, Peter and the other eleven, was more of a “warrior,” someone who would lead a Jewish army to defeat the Romans and rule over all of Judea—just as King David had done years before. But their desires and God’s plans were not exactly on the same “page,” or even in the same book, for that matter—or as Jesus admonished Peter in our Gospel, “ . . . you are setting your mind not on divine things, but on human things.” –God’s eternal plans extended to our present day and beyond; while Peter and the others were thinking only of their situation and their time.
Or, to put it in line with our theme today—the “Needful Thing” in God’s long-term plan and in the disciples short-term, self-centered goals—could not have been farther apart. The “Messiah” in God’s plan was not a king in the image of David, but rather one whose “Kingdom,” as Jesus would soon tell Pilate was, “not of this world,” A “Messiah” born to a human mother, and yet divine. A Messiah who would ascend a very different kind of throne in His early 30s, wearing a crown of thorns, bearing the sins of all humanity.
Hearing of this plan was just too much for Peter, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to You!” But God had not forbidden it. God had ordained it! And in Peter’s fierce objection, Jesus recognized behind it an old adversary: The sole proprietor of a moveable shop of “Needful Things.” One that first opened its doors for humanity in the Garden of Eden, offering to Eve that forbidden fruit which had captured her eye—urging her that taking a bite would put her on a level with God: Same character, different names: Satan; the Devil; Beelzebub; the Father of lies; or, in the fictional town of Castle Rock, simply, “Mr. Gaunt.” Following Peter’s confession of faith last week, recognizing Jesus as the “Messiah, the son of the living God,” it would have been easy for Jesus to just lie back and bask in the glory of His title, and in the sense of accomplishment for teaching Peter and the others so well. But instead He seizes the moment to reveal the rest of the plan that begins today’s Gospel, about His arrest, torture, trial, and execution in Jerusalem, and His eventual resurrection. But notice here—and this is what yesterday’s “Sermon Teaser” was hinting at: In verse 21, the opening verse we read that “Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and undergo great sufferings . . .” However, in the New Testament Greek version, we read something a bit different: “Began Jesus Christ to show to thedisciples that it is necessary for him to go to Jerusalem.” In Greek, the words “necessary” and “needful” are interchangeable. And so, the “needful” thing for God, and the “needful” thing for Peter and the others were worlds apart. So, when Peter voiced his dismay at God’s plans, Jesus knew exactly who was speaking through His chosen leader of the disciples and immediately responded: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me!”
When it comes to our ultimate destination, there can be only one “Needful thing” if we want that destination to be the place prepared for us by Jesus;--and that thing is to accept the call and the invitation from Jesus to follow Him and to carry the crosses placed in our path during our earthly journey: Jesus walks ahead of us and occasionally looks back, saying, as He did in today’s Gospel,”If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 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 does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but forfeit their life”
And while losing one’s “life” is bad enough, one of these 16 words raises the ante quite a bit. As we’ve seen before, the Greeks had multiple words for things that will often translate as a single word. The English translation of verse 26 comes to us as “life.” However, in New Testament Greek, we find the word used is “psychen,” which, in English becomes “soul.” This is a game changer: Dying is one thing, but as we know, it’s a fate that awaits us all. But losing, or forfeiting one’s “soul”?
This makes these words of Jesus among the most important in the Gospels. It affects everything we do in our lives here on this earth, if we profess to be followers of Jesus Christ. Making day-to-day decisions on how we spend and allocate our precious time and our resources, ordering our priorities. In other words, deciding what things in our lives are truly “Needful,” versus those which are, at best, “transitory,” and, at worst, turn out to be mere “attachments,” or “things,” for which we ended up paying much too high a price—given what is at stake: objects, desires, choices, and priorities which the various “incarnations” of the “Mr. Gaunts” in our lives convinced us were so very “needful” at the time; but, in truth, turned out to be nothing more than our “wants” disguised as “needs.”—serving only to distract us from taking up a cross, placed in our path by Jesus. So, as it turns out, we will not “die,” if we don’t have that vacation in Hawaii that would be over in two weeks, that promotion and corner office that would have just meant working more weekends; nor will our lives be unbearable without all the latest “must have” toys and gadgets, or some version of that 1956 Sandy Koufax baseball card that a “Mr. Gaunt” in your life tells you is a “Needful Thing.” However, not only will we meet the physical death that awaits every human being, but we will also risk forfeiting our very souls if we allow those “transitory” things in life to define not only who we are, but “whose” we are.
But we will surely live, now and forever, if we take up our crosses each day, following Jesus from manger to Calvary, to the empty tomb, living and practicing the truth that he is the only “Needful” thing in our lives today.