While it seems we just celebrated the new year. Here we find ourselves at the end of February already and the second week of lent. There have been several thing I have been thinking about preparing for this message.
First I thought about what David said two week ago when he thanked everyone for the opportunity. Unlike David I don't feel like I have done this too much. I do enjoy the opportunity and find it remarkable how many times we have gone through the years and back again.
Starting back when we were all on zoom in some ways doesn't seem very long, but in other ways it seems like 200 years since our 200th anniversary. My goal in giving these messages was to be as radical as I could be until I was asked not to do a message again.
A funny thing happened, I found I could not be as radical as our savior. Oh I have tried, but again and again I have been shown more radical love in the teachings of our Lord. The process has allowed me to grow in faith and find themes repeated Our scripture today is no different and fits right into what we have been talking about. There really isn't a choice in life as much as there is a requirement to recognize life.
Well with many words there I don't know if I said this simple thing: thank you for the opportunity, this is something I have enjoyed. There is something else David talked about two weeks ago that we also are talking about. Our good friend Peter.
We often think we know somebody's story. In many ways it is these expectations being upset that make certain things important to us. In a sense whatever we have somehow becomes normalized. My grand father described it as walking crooked paths. We walk them so long that they seem natural.
The interesting thing is it doesn't take long for us to have expectations. Another thing that came to mind this week was the new artificial intelligence industry. I would be surprised if you haven't heard some of the excitement generally in our society.
Personally as someone who has worked with computers for more than forty years it is very easy to see that we are dealing with something new. The current record stock market run is based on the assumption that artificial intelligence will impact every industry
In this context last week there were reports that ChatGPT was having a stroke. People were getting results they did not expect. This technology, first released in November 2022, already has people set in their expectations. There had been talk that these large language models, as they are called, often hallucinate. That was a term given to some bad data included in mostly good information.
One example is when a lawyer used artificial intelligence to create a brief and some random wrong case references were added. These simple mistakes people already knew to watch out for, but this was something different all together and people certainly noticed. The settings on these systems can change the results generated.
People posted many examples. One person asked if it was ok to give a dog cheerios and got a lengthy response. At one point the system even said, "well seems I was off track there."
In another example, when a Reddit user asked ChatGPT, "What is a computer?" the AI model provided this response: "It does this as the good work of a web of art for the country, a mouse of science, an easy draw of a sad few, and finally, the global house of art, just in one job in the total rest. The development of such an entire real than land of time is the depth of the computer as a complex character."
This passage stopped me a bit here in Lent. Contemplating creation these systems will tell you themselves that they are not creative, but part of creation just is. We create by creating. This is what we find hard to translate into code. Why in the immense creation is it required for the son of man to suffer. As we see in our scripture today we don't get every answer. Somethings are created. The global house of art is the best description of a computer I have ever heard. Who created that? That it is created is not in doubt.
People worry about the future of artificial intelligence. As if there is something new in the world. When we say that everything comes from our creator we are also talking about things that we do not know exist. The road ahead is hard for sure. Jesus tells us here directly, but before we start on our scripture, just to say yeah our creator created this too.
I read Mark 8:31-38 again from the Amplified Bible. We are in the middle of Mark. And we are in the heart of the story. A story for then and for now. For people dealing with Roman or AI overlords.
31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must [of necessity] suffer many things and be rejected [as the Messiah] by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and must be put to death, and after three days rise [from death to life]. 32 He was stating the matter plainly [not holding anything back].
Imagine you left your nets behind. You followed. You saw miracle after miracle. You were sure everything was going the right way. You knew who you were following confident at times to tell others. Then this lesson. Of necessity. Well you would hope there was no other way. It is not the most satisfying answer in the bible. We know it is our own sin and separation from creation that needs to be reconciled. We must in our saving cause these sufferings. Or so it feels to me at times. Times I recognize this Peter, that David does a much better impression of. This blue collar revolutionary
Then Peter took Him aside and began to reprimand Him.
Ok not the best idea. This savior confounds us it is true. At the same time we have never known him to be wrong or let someone down. Well if someone was let down it was because they turned away and left. Jesus is there for everyone. That is the responsibility.
I have two children and it has been the honor of my life to take responsibility for them. It wasn't easy and I'm not sure how many more people I could take responsibility. For us all simply put I could not. Perhaps if I was Peter I would not want my friend and savior to be required to suffer either.
33 But turning around [with His back to Peter] and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan; for your mind is not set on God’s will or His values and purposes, but on what pleases man.”
This is the temptation of our world. We are reminded that our savior was tempted with the idea of avoiding suffering. Peter didn't want him to suffer. He did not want him to suffer many things either. He did not want his master to be rejected. He did not want him to be put to death. He did however want him to rise. The transfiguration story is yet to come in chapter 9 of Mark. Jesus would rise and Peter would be confounded again.
If someone so important in creation can be wrong I think it should make us feel good. Peter is a rock. He could in the end take it.
34 Jesus called the crowd together with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross...
He was stating plainly to these people. They did not have our image of the cross. We often come across the symbol of the cross and find ourselves hopeful. We have taken the greatest insult and made it our greatest comfort. This is often done in our world. Most of the names of artistic movements were first insults. We can imagine what the people listening to Jesus thought. Cross?
...[expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me].
So for this necessity we are promised everything. The deal of the creation.
35 For whoever wishes to save his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], but whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake and the gospel’s will save it [from the consequences of sin and separation from God].
From the consequences of sin and separation from God, there is our answer again for what needs reconciled.
36 For what does it benefit a man to gain the whole world [with all its pleasures], and forfeit his soul? 37 For what will a man give in exchange for his soul and eternal life [in God’s kingdom]?
38 For whoever is ashamed [here and now] of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
It is important how we understand the suffering of Jesus. If I was in Peters shoes I might have also thought we were already saved. Following the Savior would certainly make you think you found you niche in life. I think what was hard for Peter and what is hard for us is that Jesus must suffer to heal us. Jesus' faithfulness to God's healing mission will inevitably result in his death. Jesus "must" die because his commitment to human healing will not falter.
Been thinking this week about suffering. We had a memorial for my cousin Kathy yesterday. She was and RH negative baby back when that was a serious problem. My own kids mom is RH negative and today that is of little concern, but my cousin had a ninety percent hearing loss among other health challenges. What is amazing is people around her did not know. She was able to learn to lip read and managed to fight her way into this world. I now kind of look at her as a super hero. Now what all her suffering made possible was the most wonderful gratitude she had. This allowed her to make family wherever she went.
Seems we often need to suffer to appreciate what we have. For Jesus he had to suffer for what he appreciated: Us. This is why we are family.
Let us Pray
Creator of everything
We thank you for saving us
We wonder at the suffering for our sake
We grieve that we made it necessary
Help us to see your will in this world here and now
Help us stand unashamed with the truth of the kingdom of heaven
Help us build it here and now
We ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ.
Amen
Benediction
The development of such an entire real
an easy draw of a sad few
In the global house of art
Understand the road ahead
Jesus stating the matter plainly [not holding anything back]
We take up our cross
The beautiful and the dreadful
and follow
Amen
Nottingham UMC 2-25-20022
