Monday, January 31, 2011

Mark 14:43-65; Sitting by the Fire

"There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire." That seems like a creepy statement to me. Peter went from being Jesus "right arm" to sitting with the enemy. While Jesus was being abused by guards, Peter was visiting with them. There was probably small talk about the weather or current events as they warmed up to the fire; Peter surely was trying to blend in by participating at a moderate level. Across the way, Jesus was anything but blending in; he was the central focus of every statement. Peter was looking out for Peter and noone else; Jesus was looking out for Peter and everyone else, even those abusing him.

It would be easy to condemn Peter and shake our self-righteous heads at him. Yet we do the same thing over and over again. We warm ourselves by the societal fires of popularity and comfort while Jesus calls us to step out. We engage in all the same activities as those who have never heard of Christ and try to blend in. We dress, talk and spend our money no differently than those sitting at the fire of selfishness and greed while Jesus walks the path of selflessness and generosity alone.

So how do you keep yourself from sitting at society's fires? Perhaps the only way is to not runaway in the garden. If Peter had not allowed distance to come between him and Jesus in the garden, then he would have stood with Jesus in the trial. It would have been painful but it would have also been shameless instead of shameful. So in the still of this morning I get to make the same decision as Peter, how closely will I stand with Jesus now in order to avoid compromising decisions later? Those moments sitting by the wrong fire are indicators of poor garden decisions.

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