I recently read the Judy Blume book Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret. When I was in fourth or fifth grade–the target audience for this book–I was a voracious reader. I would stay up past my bedtime most nights and read under my blankets with a flashlight so that I wouldn’t get caught. I read so many books I would be surprised if I never read this one, but for some reason I didn’t remember reading it and thought I should remedy that. In the book, main character Margaret Simon is a sixth grade girl who has recently moved to New Jersey after living in the big city of New York. Her father is Jewish and her mother is Christian, a fact that wasn’t accepted well by everyone in their families. 

Despite not going to Sunday School or to church like all the other kids in her neighborhood, Margaret finds herself bringing her concerns to God in prayer. The book opens this way: “Are you there, God? It’s me, Margaret. We’re moving today. I’m so scared, God. I’ve never lived anywhere but here. Suppose I hate my new school? Suppose everybody there hates me? Please help me, God. Don’t let New Jersey be too horrible. Thank you.” Young Margaret, on the cusp of adolescence doesn’t know a whole lot about God, but she believes one thing to be true: God cares about the things she’s going through. Throughout the rest of the book, Margaret takes her fears, concerns, and worries to God. Due to the book’s frank discussion of puberty and adolescence, this book has been spent some time on banned books lists. But, as I read it, I found myself encouraged and delighted by this young protagonist who believes God cares about her very human life. 

In our Scripture passage this morning from the Gospel of Mark, Jesus tells his disciples that he will suffer and die. Mark, who gives no details unless they are very important, says that Jesus “said all this quite openly.” Understandably, the disciples were worried and confused. When they first started following Jesus, they believed he would overthrow the Romans and set the people free. They thought they were part of a movement that would end with Jesus as King, and with them in places of honor in the kingdom. When Jesus began talking about his death, the disciples were scared. This wasn’t part of their plan. I am guessing all of the disciples were whispering to each other, wondering quietly in hushed voices why their teacher would talk like this. Peter just happened to be the one brave enough to say something out loud to Jesus. The text says Peter “rebuked” Jesus. This is a strong word of correction, but it is often used as a warning that someone is going off track. Peter says, “Jesus, this is not the plan.” Jesus responds with a rebuke of his own—a warning that Peter was missing the point. Jesus says, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

As I have spent time reflecting on this passage along with the passage from Genesis 15, I have found myself asking the question, “Does God care about human things?” Was Peter’s mistake that he was worried about human things? Is it always wrong to think about human things? And if it is, is there any hope for all of us who are humans, living in a human world, concerned about human things? In my heart, I have a conviction that God cares about us and what we care about, after all, I grew up singing “Jesus Loves Me” and being taught how to bring my very human concerns to God in prayer. But, why would Jesus rebuke Peter for setting his mind on human things? As a human being, what else was Peter supposed to do?

I believe there are two keys to this verse that help us understand. The first is the verb translated as “setting your mind on.” This verb is about mindset. It’s about an internal conviction that leads to an external action. The verb comes from a word that is sometimes translated as “mind,” but that more directly refers to the diaphragm or the area around your heart. Peter wasn’t just worried about human things, his focus, his mindset, his internal conviction was human rather than divine. The other key that helps us understand this verb is two words that together are translated by the NRSV as “human things.” In the Greek, this phrase is three words: the neuter, plural word for “the” with no noun to go with it, the masculine, plural word for “the,” and the noun that means “man or human.” Because there’s no noun given to go with the first word “the,” Bible translators have to supply one in order for the verse to make sense to us. In this case, they have chosen to translate the plural word “the” with the noun “things.” I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that necessarily, but consider this alternate translation. What if the verse were translated, “You are focused on doing things the human way,” rather than, “You are setting your mind on human things?” Or, it could be translated, “You are setting your mind on human priorities,” rather than “You are setting your mind on human things.” Do you hear the difference?

I experience the difference between these two statements every summer when I begin planting my garden. When it comes time to plant seeds and seedlings in the garden, Jeff and I work the soil. Jeff mentioned last week that he likes to brainstorm where all the plants will fit best in our garden. Following that mental map that he’s made, we work together to dig, to plant, and to measure to make sure we’re allowing enough room between plants. And then…we wait. For the first week or two after planting, I experience low level anxiety. I wonder out loud at least once a day, “Do you think our plants will grow?” “Do you think our garden will produce well this year?” “Do you think we’re going to get a good harvest?” I worry as though my little garden plants depended on my worry in order to grow. This, for me, is similar to Peter rebuking Jesus. Peter thought he knew better. He thought he understood God’s plan for the world better than Jesus did. He thought if he worked hard enough, he could make things go his way. Jesus wasn’t telling Peter that God doesn’t care about our human struggles and pain. Jesus was telling Peter that God’s plan might not be the same as Peter’s plan, and Peter needed to let go of the idea that Peter was in control of that.

It’s interesting to hold this story next to the story of Abram and the covenant God made with Abram and Sarai. Back in Genesis 12, God and Abram had a conversation. God made a covenant–a promise–to Abram for the first time, that God would make Abram the father of many nations. In the three chapters after God first made a promise to Abram, a lot had happened. A famine had forced Abram and Sarai to flee to Egypt. Abram lies and says Sarai is his sister, and Pharaoh tries to take Sarai as his wife. Abram and his nephew Lot go their separate ways. Lot is captured and Abram has to rescue him, and Abram has a strange encounter with King Melchezidek in the King’s Valley.

After all of these things, God comes to Abram in a vision. God says to Abram, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” Abram responds to God with a very human concern: “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?…You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.” Kara Eidson, author of A Time to Grow, the book we are leaning on for Lent writes that “ancient Hebrew tradition did not maintain a belief in an afterlife. As such there was a consistent belief that success in life meant an abundance of offspring; people could live forever through many descendants. Abram and Sarai shared those expectations and beliefs, and as they continued to grow older with no children, they began to believe they would not have an abundance of life.”

Abram was worried. He was concerned that he had no future because he and his wife had no children. Because Abram and Sarai had left their homeland to follow God’s call, they couldn’t leave what they had or their legacy through family members. Instead, the only heir Abram could think of was Eliezer of Damascus, who was Abram’s servant. God did not rebuke Abram for being concerned about human things. Instead, God brought Abram outside under a blanket of stars and said Abram’s descendants would be as numerous as the stars. God had Abram make an offering, and then God caused a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch to pass through the offerings as a visible promise to Abram. 

Does God care about human things? Absolutely, yes. God knows our hearts. God knows our struggles. God knows our sufferings. And God cares deeply about us. In 1 Peter 5:7 it says, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” In Matthew 10, Jesus says, “Even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.” God cares when you look at your bank account and wonder if you’ll have enough to get by. God cares when you are in pain or suffering. God’s cares when you are worried about a friend or family member. God cares when your mind tries to tell you it’s not worth getting out of bed for the day. God cares when your heart is so broken by what’s happening in the world that you can’t sleep at night. Does God care about human things? Most definitely, and this is such good news.

But, then, why does Jesus rebuke Peter? I think if Peter had told Jesus he was worried because he didn’t know how the story would go if it didn’t involve Jesus conquering the Romans, Jesus would have responded very differently. Instead, Peter tried to take control. He tried to tell Jesus he had a better plan than God’s plan. Peter was focusing on the wrong thing. He was focusing on being in control and doing things his own way, rather than on what God was doing in the world right before his eyes.

In 2004, Olympics rifle shooter Matthew Emmons had just won the gold medal in the men’s 50 meter rifle even though his gun had been tampered with. He borrowed a teammate’s gun and was able to come out on top on the world’s biggest stage. He was top contender for the next event–men’s 50 meter three-position rifle–when something unthinkable happened. Emmons took his final shot, and hit the bullseye…of the wrong target. He scored zero points for his shot, and rather than taking home the gold, he came in eighth place. When asked what happened that caused him to shoot at the wrong target, Emmons replied that he had been too focused on staying calm. 

Kara Eidson writes, “Life is miraculous and God has created us to live abundantly…Unfortunately, what makes us fully alive spiritually is not in alignment with what the world tells us leads to abundant life.” Peter tried to get Jesus to conform to the world’s standard for abundant life, and Jesus reoriented Peter to God’s way. We, too, need to experience this kind of realignment. We do this by bringing our cares and concerns to God, by spending time in community with God both on our own and as a church, and by reaching out to show the love of God to others.

In these days as winter transitions into spring, we will begin to see signs of new life all around us. Daffodils emerging. Birds singing their spring songs. Squirrels scampering along tree branches. As we deal with our many human things–the uncertainty and chaos in the world, our own personal sufferings, trouble in relationships, and whatever else we might be going through–these signs of new life serve as a reminder that God is still doing new things in this world and in us. May we bring our human things–our cares and concerns–to God who loves us, and may we open our eyes and our hearts to receive the new things God is ready to do in and through us. Amen.