He’s Got Plans of His Own

Scripture: Matthew 16.21-28; Romans 12.9-21


There is a scene in the movie, Dead Poets Society, in which English teacher John Keating (Robin Williams) gives his class their first lesson in Introduction to Poetry. Mr. Keating’s first instruction to his boys is: Turn to the Introduction, “How to recognize good poetry” – and please rip that page out of your books.

The boys in his class give a collective, “Say again?” They’re sure they’ve heard wrong.

“Go ahead,” Mr. Keating repeats, “Rip it out. Rip it out now.”

The reason Mr. Keating engages in this unorthodox activity is to boldly emphasize that this particular essay on how to rate a poem based on a geometric scale is absurd. Poetry is not written that way, cannot be read that way, and will not be quantified that way.

Reading poetry has a lot in common with reading the Bible. Don Miller talks about how popular it is to come up with formulas and steps to be successful in life. Writers do this. Preachers and self-help gurus do this.

An old youth group member of mine called me the other day to ask me what I thought about Joel Osteen. If you haven’t heard, Joel Osteen is pastor in Houston, Texas of what is estimated as the largest Christian church in the United States. Osteen is author of the best-selling book, Your Best Life Now. When she asked me what I thought about Osteen, my first words were, “He smiles a lot.” After listening to Osteen preach on tv and reading more about him, this is what I think: He offers decent advice to people on how to improve their lives and he often does it in easy-to-follow steps. He is the latest incarnation of Norman Vincent Peale. Remember him anyone? There is nothing wrong with this. But it occurs to me, that you can listen to Osteen, follow his steps, and be fairly successful, and leave God completely out of the equation. In other words, it sounds like Your Best Life Now is really something you can do pretty much on your own, its all a matter of doing the steps and working the formula. It’s another installment in that popular series of books for Dummies ( Computers for Dummies, etc.) – this one is God for Dummies. Maybe that was harsh. Anyway. . .

Don Miller writes, “Apparently Jesus had not heard of the wonderful tool of acronym. He mostly told stories, some of which were outlandish. Step one: Eat My Flesh. Step two: Drink My blood. Do you know what having to read something like that would do to a guy trying to process dairy products?

See, reading the Bible is like reading poetry. We’re not supposed to always look for hidden self-help tips and acronyms and business plans. And that brings me to the gospel story for today. Notice who the central character with Jesus is – Peter. Notice how, in the span of oh, say six verses, Peter goes from being hero, the Rock of the Church, to being a goat, a servant of Satan, or Satan himself! I mean, have some sympathy for Peter here. He’s no devil. So why did Jesus turn on him so quickly. Well, those six verses give us a big clue. It all happens when Jesus tells the disciples that He is going to go to Jerusalem, suffer at the hands of the authorities, and then be killed. Peter, maybe feeling his oats as newly designated head-0f-the disciples, shouts, “God forbid! God.” And then Peter almost says, “I won’t allow it!”

Can you recognize Peter? Do you know who Peter is? Peter is the planner. Peter is the leader. Peter is chief-of-staff. Peter had already begun mapping a campaign strategy to get his guy elected. He had Judas working on some pie charts and talking points, “We’ll kick the Romans out of Jerusalem for good! And we’ll accept no pay raises!”

Peter had plans for Jesus. See, that was the problem – Jesus can be quite annoying when we make plans. Jesus has the annoying habit of reminding us that Life will not always be subjected to our plans. Reality is more complicated than three or four steps to success. “Reality is like a fine wine, it will not appeal to children.”

Can you see yourself in Peter? Do you get frustrated or angry when life does not submit to your control or your plans?

If Jesus ever gave a list of steps or rules to live by, there is no such record of them. So, if the Bible is not about that, what is it about? It’s about relationships. It is an invitation to know God and to know your fellow human beings. Let me let Don Miller speak again:

This is the thing about life. You go walking along, thinking people are talking a language and exchanging ideas, but the whole time there is this deeper language people are really talking, and that language has nothing to do with ethics, fashion, or politics, but what it really has to do with is feeling important and valuable. What if the economy we are really dealing in life, what if the language we are really speaking in life, what if what we really want in life is relational?

A good question. I mean look at the Apostle Paul and his words to the church in Rome (12.9-21) “Let love be genuine. . .love one another with a mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. . .contribute to the needs of the saints, extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony. . .” I could go on. It’s all relational! We show God we love him by loving each other in tangible ways. That’s the church. Now, I’m not saying its unorganized – what I am saying is the organization is not the point. The relationships are the point. That is why no matter where we are or what we are doing, but especially when we are busy and full of plans, we better make sure we are kind; we are encouraging; we show people value and patience and love.

Another movie scene: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the old version), the climactic scene where Wonka tells Charlie that he has won and will receive the whole Wonka empire as his prize. Wonka tells him he has been looking for a child, a good and true one, in which to invest himself and handover his secrets to. “I knew early on, I couldn’t trust a grownup with my factory. They would want do things their way not mine.”

I wonder if that’s what Jesus meant when he said, “Unless you become like little children you cannot see the kingdom.” Maybe while we are making our plans, and working frenetically, and trying to achieve our “best lives now,” God is sadly and patiently waiting, with plans of his own. God is waiting for us to love him and be loved by Him. He is waiting for our attention and our obedience. He cannot proceed with His plans for us without them.

Jesus saw so much good in Peter. Jesus loved Peter. But Jesus knew Peter had some trials ahead of him. Peter’s trust would be tested. Peter would deny Jesus and cower in fear with all the rest following the crucifixion, but Jesus would again call Peter and beckon to him in relationship once again. This happens after the resurrection, on a beach by the Sea of Tiberias (the Apostle John records it in chapter 21). “When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

“Simon, do you love me?” Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.

“Simon, do you love me?” Lord you know everything. You know that I love you.

I think Jesus repeated himself so Peter would get the point; so we’d get the point. And Peter listened, and he did love Jesus. Peter loved Jesus so much that Peter was crucified too for that love. Peter and those other apostles changed the world, not because they were great planners and organizers, but because they were great lovers. Love was their plan.