This text sounds so tough and morbid. Jesus asks his disciples who they think he is. Peter says you are the messiah, the holy on of God, And Jesus scolds him and calls him Satan!

I’m sure Peter was reeling from that verbal exchange so badly, he didn’t even hear what Jesus said next.

Jesus said that he must die on the cross. And to top it all off, he said, “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, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.” I wonder if the other disciples were rethinking their allegiance to Jesus.

Jesus made only a veiled reference to what we know as the resurrection when he said the Son of Man will come “in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” But at that time, Jesus’ teaching did not sound like good news to the disciples, especially Peter. Why didn’t Jesus tell them about the joy and happiness of life in his resurrection, and the kingdom he would begin?

Jesus was teaching that the only way to see the glory of the resurrection is to take up our cross and follow him. Our cross is simply life in the world God gave us. Our cross is what we are passionate about, the things we engage in with all our heart, mind and soul. We know that life has no guarantees of happiness. There are times of joy and accomplishments, but also great loses and death. There are times of health and times of sickness, times of peace and times of war, a time to live and a time to die. Mark’s gospel story takes Jesus to the cross, and leads us to the empty tomb and the promise of resurrection. How can we live today happily and joyfully in the world God gave us? 

A wise professor once said there are three things you need to be happy in life, someone to love, something to do, and something to look forward to. I first wondered if this saying was true, and thought about it for a long time. I’ve come to the conclusion that it is true when we live in the context of Jesus cross and resurrection, when we follow him.  

We do need someone to love, something to do, and something to look forward to, and through Christ good has provided all three. The image is like a three-legged stool. You need all three to hold it up. If one of the three legs is missing, the whole thing falls down.

The first is something to love. There is tremendous joy in loving relationships! I get great joy in my marriage, with my children and grandchildren, with friendships I have both here in church and in my community. I’d even list my two dogs as things that give me great joy.

But relationships are complex, and there are endless theories about how to improve them. For marriages, Lutheran Marriage Encounter program that is offered next month in Dallas. I can tell you, it’s hard work of listening to lectures, writing about issues, and discussing them with your spouse. Praying together is a tremendous blessing. Marriage is a joyous gift of God, but it can also turn sour when the devil his way into it. Sometimes, no matter what we do, marriages will end because of the nature of life in the world.  Drug addiction and abuse are two examples.

Likewise, children give someone to love. But when we are raising children, we need good advice and encouragement from family members, the community and schools,  and our church. I remember going to Parent Effectiveness Training about 25 years ago at our church. It was very helpful, but it was not easy. It took work and money to raise them. They are grown now, but still we give our grown children constant attention, especially with our grandchildren. And sometimes, children will break your heart, no matter what we do.

We don’t have children around our house anymore. Today, our two dogs are child replacements. Lately, we’ve been watching a show called “The Dog Whisperer.” Caesar Milan has become something of a hero among dog owners. He goes from house to house on calls where dog owners are having problems with their dogs. Some are over aggressive, vicious and bite members of their own family or other dogs. Others bark all the time when the owner goes away. Whatever the problem, Caesar always finds a way.

The Dog Whisperer begins each episode saying he trains people and rehabilitates dogs.  Usually walking the dog on a short leash is the first thing he does. His message is that owners need use calm assertive leadership with dogs. Calm assertive leadership is good advice for relationships with people, too. But that too, takes work. My dogs demand my attention! But we need someone to love. 

God gave us love when Jesus went to the cross. When he arrived in Jerusalem, Jesus knew that many people hated him and wanted to crucify him. But he gave his life because to show us the power of his love in the resurrection was stronger than the evil of their hatred. That was the way he forgave our sins and overcame death. With faith comes the desire to love Jesus as he has loved us. God has given us marriage and family, loving pets, good friends for us to love.

The second thing a person needs to be happy is something to do. Everyone needs something to do that has meaning and purpose. In everyday life, it could be any number of things, doing physical labor like driving a truck, or entering data, or being a pastor like me. It could be something artistic like singing or painting. Children get great pleasure in finding new things they like to do. We can even just keeping someone company. Today at worship, we all have something to do. We are praising God, hearing the Word, celebrating the Lord’s Supper. We never retire from our need to do something. God makes us feel important by giving us many things that we need to do.