Max the Dog Meets Satan

A sermon preached at Faith Episcopal Church, August 28, 2005

A month or so ago I maligned my poor little dog Max’s reputation in a sermon on wisdom. Max had tried to engage a bull in a game of “chase me around the pasture” which seemed like a very unwise thing to do. Poor Max, being used to teach through negative example. Well, today Max is vindicated and I must give his fleeting good behavior its proper due. One day after a large grocery shopping trip, I was industriously putting things away in the kitchen, unaware that one of the bags had been overlooked and still sat on the floor just inside the front door. Unfortunately, it was a bag with a steak in it. Of course, Max, being a dog, took this as “This is my lucky day!” and in no time had it out of the wrapper and was all set to enjoy his treat when from somewhere wisdom struck that dog. I became aware of this drama when Max entered the kitchen, with the steak in his mouth, whimpering and put it on the floor at my feet. Animal behaviorists could have a field day with this act of self-denial and an ability to anticipate unpleasant consequences. I would prefer to see Max as a canine biblical scholar who has done in depth research on today’s passage – “Get behind me, Satan!” Of course, then he ate my shoe. Oh well, he’s a work in progress.

Today’s Gospel from Matthew is a very rich text. Matthew communicates a lot, some of which are confusing. Peter’s triumph of last week when he identified Jesus as the Christ was very heady. Like little Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movies, he’s always got his hand up in the air ready with the right answer to the question. Peter’s only problem is that he doesn’t really know what his right answer means. And then to top is off, he gets full of himself and when Jesus begins to reveal that his being “The Christ” means his eventual death in Jerusalem, Peter pulls him aside and rebukes him. These two actions are very patronizing and Jesus will have none of it. He recognized the voice of the Tempter in what Peter was offering. Peter is saying, “Be the Christ, enjoy it, it doesn’t have to be scary.” Well, Jesus knows that it does and he knows that his date with Good Friday is what we need in order to learn. Peter and the others Disciples (that means us) are not to guide or possess Jesus, we are to follow him. Peter thinks in a very human way, identifying what he thinks will make him happy. This is a good reminder to us – God’s definition of ‘happy’ and our definition of ‘happy’ are not the same thing.

It is not surprising that it has taken human awareness 2000 years to catch up with some interesting affirmation of today’s scripture. Daniel Gilbert, professor of Psychology from Harvard and three colleagues from the fields of psychology and economics have been studying emotional and behavioral prediction. Gilbert simplifies this by saying that he studies happiness. He does so by analyzing “the decision-making process that shapes our sense of well-being. How do we predict what will make us happy or unhappy – and then how do we feel after the actual experience?” His research shows that we have a clear propensity for being wrong, no matter how many times we act out the same scenario. We over-anticipate happiness and satisfaction as we want or pursue something while at the same time over-anticipating our despair if we do not get what we want. It’s not as complicated as that sounds. We continuously think that some success or material possession will make us finally happy. The reality that follows is that whatever happiness comes, it is fleeting. We adjust to having the beautiful new apartment, car or new job and soon no longer derive the eagerly anticipated fulfillment from it. Then we start to look for something new to fulfill us. The bloom is off the rose and the grass is greener somewhere else. Get behind me Satan!

A very interesting portion of this research comes from the two economists involved. While it is understandable and true that grinding poverty will make you desperately unhappy, the inverse is not true. Fabulous wealth does not make one proportionally happy. The research shows that being lifted out of poverty to a moderate level of comfort and resources will provide enduring satisfaction but beyond that point there is no difference. Affluence beyond a middle class level of comfort does not afford people greater happiness. The amount of effort that goes into the pursuit of greater wealth in actuality detracts from the things that do provide lasting pleasure like social interaction and friendships.

None of this is earth shaking and boils down to this – what we think we want is often not worth what we lose if we get it. What these brainy people have been asking is why don’t we learn this? And what would life look like if we did? Some of the answers to that last question look like “We’d be satisfied with less.” “We would put resources into lifting people out of poverty instead of insisting that more wealth at the top of the heap will somehow spread happiness.”

Jesus teachings provide the counter cultural voice to what makes us happy. He speaks of true fulfillment coming from a denial of self. The Greek word psyche is translated here as life but it doesn’t just mean life as opposed to death. It is a rich word that means life and soul and self. Focus on the self will not make us happy, it will not enhance our psyche. Only by giving of ourselves can we approach God’s definition of happiness. Jesus enjoys using paradoxical statements – “Those who want to save their life will lose it and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.” This is counter intuitive, like learning to ski. Your instinct is to keep yourself from falling by leaning back, against gravity. Then your instructor shouts at you “Push your shins into your boots and lean downhill” And you think – “Right, that will make me feel safe and keep me from becoming a human snowball!” Your first impulse takes over and you lean back, away from the sensation of falling and promptly wipe out. Eventually you try to do what you are being told et voilà! As you give into the slope and gravity and momentum, you find your balance, you stop falling – your life is saved. It works but on the surface, it doesn’t make sense.

Biblical scholar Lamar Williamson writes of these “paradoxes as attacking a fundamental assumption of human existence. A person can never possess his own life.” Our lives are not ours to possess because we all belong to God our lives are more for others than for ourselves.

But I want to be happy for myself. If I give up what I want for the sake of another how can I assure my own security and happiness. For Christians, called to know ourselves by our relatedness to Christ and therefore all others, this seeking of fulfillment by and for ourselves is the voice of the Tempter to which we are to say “I put you behind me, even if on the surface, it doesn’t make sense.” The resurrection is all the proof that we need that our reward, true happiness, peace and fulfillment comes after giving of ourselves, letting go of seeking for ourselves only.

There are so many necessary lessons for the world today in this teaching. The more we seek safety and security by use of force, the more elusive it is. If the idea of striving for self-autonomy is contrary to Jesus teachings for individuals, then it is contrary also on a collective level. What then might this paradox look like for institutions and governments? I don’t pretend to have complete answers to that but if this teaching is applied then our actions cannot be based solely on what we think we want for ourselves. If we do that, we will surely lose a great deal. The temptation of power and dominance is hard to resist, especially if you have the means to try it. But will we survive if we don’t dare to try Jesus way? We can live for others, we can lean downhill and be ok, we can even give back that juicy steak, so temptingly left by the front door.