Happy Labor Day Weekend. For what do we labor? For whom do we labor? Taking out the obvious financial aspects of those questions, these two questions have stuck with me since Monday when I first read this week's Gospel. This is a complicated Gospel selection with: Jesus making his first prediction of his torture, death and resurrection; Peter objecting and being put in his place by Jesus; Jesus describing what it means to be a disciple and the cost of discipleship; and Jesus throws in some eschatology (end times) theology to boot! This is a dense and complicated Gospel.

Just like life can be complicated. A friend of mine from seminary has just been called as a rector of a small church in New Hampshire, where her boss, her Bishop, is Gene Robinson. She now labors for that new church and this Bishop, and ultimately for Christ. Just like Gene Robinson labors for Christ. Bishop Robinson has been on quite a journey since his consecration five years ago. It has been a tremendously complicated and see-saw journey, with ups and downs, some of them public and I'm sure many of them private.

The Gospel of Matthew sends us on a bit of see-saw ride today. Last week, and just before today's passage, Simon Peter identifies Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. And immediately after that identification Jesus extols Simon and gives him his more commonly known name: "Peter", meaning stone. Jesus identifies Simon as the key player in the kingdom that Jesus will build. And then Jesus has to go and ruin all their fantasies about this new kingdom by talking about how he must go to Jerusalem and be tortured and killed and be raised. Peter is rightly confused at this point and says to Jesus God forbid it, this must not happen!

What happens next is a bit unclear: is Jesus mad at Peter, or disappointed, or saddened by his not understanding? Our translation does not help us much today, as the word translated as "Satan" (as in Get behind me Satan) can also be accurately translated as "Adversary". So perhaps Jesus simply realizes there is more education that has to happen in order for the disciples to understand, and he instructs Peter to get behind him: in other words to follow him, to follow Jesus, not to try and lead Jesus. Jesus is the leader here. Jesus then begins a description of what that it means to follow him: of what discipleship means and will cost, for cost there is. If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life?

What does Jesus mean "deny themselves"? This is not self-denial of things we like, although that can certainly be a by-product of taking up our cross and following Jesus. This denial has to do with a turning to God and making that turning, that focus, the center of our life. Jesus is talking about having a different perspective of the world and of what is important in this life.