Things Human, Things Divine

The Rev. James Gilman

Based on Mark 8: 31-38

Introduction

            Question: What does Jesus mean when he says to Peter that he is “setting his mind on human things and not on divine things”? What are “human things” and what are “divine things”? How do we tell them apart?

            Peter is one of those guys who thinks he knows more about things than he really does. He is self-confident, insightful, and bold. He at least has sense enough to take Jesus aside before he rebukes the Son of Man; kinda like taking your boss aside and telling him where he went wrong. And look what Peter rebukes Jesus for: for saying that the Son of Man must suffer, that he must be rejected by the religious leaders and theologians, be killed, and “after three days rise again.”  I can’t help but chuckle at Peter, a little bit. But perhaps we sometimes live in a way that rebukes Jesus; sometimes we live in a way that prefers “things human” to all “things divine”; Perhaps sometimes we live in a way in which we “gain the whole world” but “forfeit our life,” as Jesus says it.

Difference: Things Human, Things Divine

            So what is the difference between setting our minds on human things instead of setting them on divine things? Jesus does give a clue. He says, “setting the mind on divine things” requires three things: first, it requires that I “deny my self”, secondly, that I “take up my cross”, and thirdly, that I ”follow” Jesus. From this we can infer what “setting the mind on human things” means; it means failing to do these things; it means failing to “deny my self”, failing to “take up my cross,” failing to “follow” Jesus. You can see that this is the perfect Lenten passage. It helps us see, along with Peter, how along with Peter, we often preoccupy ourselves with all things human: catering mostly to our own egos, our own needs; living chiefly for our own comfort and convenience; investing most of our time and energy and talents in entertaining and gratifying our selves. When I set my mind on human things, I work to avoid any kind of self-sacrifice, any suffering and cross-bearing, any personal inconvenience and discomfort.

The good news of Lent calls us to repent of our preoccupation with ourselves, and by God’s grace be transformed/figured in the image of God and God’s son. God freely offers us the power to turn from “human things” to divine things”.  We can choose repeatedly to set our hearts and minds on God and others until practicing divine things become an irresistible and joyful habit of heart. Yes, it requires self-denial; yes, it requires self-sacrifice and the cost and inconvenience of bearing a cross; yes, it means losing life as a preoccupation with ourselves. But at the same time self-denial frees us from the prison of ourselves, so that we find life and self again in the practice of divine things. 

So what are divine things? What am I to do? What are we to do?  I would like to answer these questions by drawing attention to what in the tradition of the church is called “Works of Mercy.” Check out your bulletin; it includes a list of these works. You’ll note that they are divided into two groups: corporeal or material works of mercy and incorporeal or spiritual works of mercy. 

Corporeal Works of Mercy                                         Incorporeal Works of Mercy

1. Visit the prisoner                                             1. Instruct the ignorant
2. Shelter the homeless                                       2. Counsel the doubtful
3. Feed the hungry                                              3. Comfort the afflicted
4. Give drink to the thirsty                                 4. Admonish the sinner
5. Visit the sick                                                   5. Forgive offenses
6. Clothe the naked                                             6. Bear wrongs patiently
7. Bury the dead                                                 7. Pray for the living and the dead

I would add to this list “Care for creation” as a work of mercy. For several decades now this list has been attached to my office door. The refrigerator would be a good place as well. Doing these things, doing some of these things, is what church tradition over the centuries has identified as setting our minds on things divine. Each of these things is rooted in Scripture; each behavior requires me to deny my self in some significant sense; it requires that I deny my ego the constant gratification and entertainment it otherwise desires. God’s grace empowers me to choose to take up a burden of mercy for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of the welfare of others. In doing so, by constantly setting and re-setting my mind on divine things, these works or mercy begin to shape and re-shape my choices, my habits, my life.

            Consider the works of “visiting the sick” and “comforting the afflicted”. It may be someone you know here at church, it may be a neighbor or someone you don’t know.  Both of these works of mercy require denying the self and bearing a cross; they take time, energy, wisdom, and compassion. Works of mercy require that we forego ourselves in service to others; they require an investment of resources, time, and energy in caring for others. Or take the example of “forgiving offenses” or “bearing wrongs patiently”. Many Christians live month after month, even year after year, with egos that refuse out of stubbornness to forgive another, often someone in their own family. We set our minds on human things when we blame and seek retaliation; we set our minds on divine things when we forgive offenses or bear wrongs patiently. Both forgiveness and patience require that we sacrifice the demands of our ego and bear a cross of mercy, granting to the offender what God through the cross of Christ has granted to us. I can hear someone object; “But we have to take care of ourselves too. Indeed we do, we must care for ourselves just as Jesus cared for himself. And Jesus teaches us that one of the best ways to care for ourselves is to help others. Works of mercy more than any single other thing, I would say, strengthens our selves and heals our egos. 

So, check out the list. Every day there is opportunity to accomplish some work of mercy. Which works of mercy are you engaged in? Which do you feel called to practice? Which you can set your mind and heart on? Think for a moment of a couple of these works of mercy that you can practice; that you know God is calling you to do. God’s grace gives us the power to deny our egos the comfort food they demand and the courage to take up the cross of mercy for the sake of another. Christ in his mercy bore that cross for us; as followers we are to bear that same cross of mercy for others.

Conclusion

            Recently I read the autobiography of Albert Schweitzer. By the age of 30 he concluded that he had ”gained the whole world” but “forfeited his life”; that he had spent his adult life helping himself and not much time helping others. He was by then a professor of philosophy and theology; he was a preacher, a biblical scholar, an author, an expert in Bach, and an accomplished organist, who performed in some of the great cathedrals of Europe. Yet as a Christian he grew uneasy with his life; a life, he concluded was devoted almost entirely to himself and to his own success. He came to realize he could not justify calling himself a Christian unless he devoted himself to divine things, to what he referred to as “the direct service of humans.”  Schweitzer quotes today’s gospel passage: “Whoever would save his life shall lose it, and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel shall save it.” The rest is history. He completed medical school and spent the bulk of the rest of life setting his mind on divine things, working in Africa, serving people who otherwise had little access to medical and health care.

            Setting our minds on divine things doesn’t require us to go back to school or to Africa; it only requires that we occupy ourselves with practicing towards others the same works of mercy with which God in Christ redeems us. It’s never too early in life or too late to practice divine things, to practice works of mercy. When we receive Holy Communion we are not only thanking God for his work of mercy in our lives, but at the same time are promising to practice towards others those same works of mercy. May God grant us the power and grace to keep that promise.