Matthew
From that time on Jesus began to
explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at
the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and
that he must be killed. and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him
aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen
to you!” Jesus replied, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a
stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely
human concerns.” Then Jesus said to his followers, “Whoever
wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow
me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their
life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to
gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?
Romans
Love must be
sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above
yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor,
serving Jesus. Be joyful
in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with all people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn
with those who mourn. Live
in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with
people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do
not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of
everyone. If it is
possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if
he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing
this, you will show him for what he is.” Do not be overcome by
evil, but overcome evil with good.
*****************************************************************************
This Sunday we celebrate the
beginning of Creation Time in the churches – an addition to that long section
of church liturgical year which is normally green colours. Yet the fall is
anything but green – it embraces all the colours there are. This is a season
where we spend some time looking at creation around us – as well as the role we
play on this earth. So today Im also going to get political, because frankly
Jesus was quite political. To be a follower of Jesus means sometimes we have to
get political. The question is, how do we do that?
I'm going to start with the
incredible obsession we seem to have with celebrities – good or bad. And how
we, and sometimes they, want to put themselves forward as more than they really
are. Even to the point of lying about who and what they are. It’s almost become
expected. And everywhere any of them makes an appearance, the media and
die-hard fans are certain to show up. And sometimes they will even pay
people to show up so they can prove they have fans – and sell themselves as a
kind of ‘messiah’. Don’t our politicians do that? Don't we expect them to?
Right on down to clergy, who are often expected to be a saviour for a
struggling congregation, or who believe that following Jesus means they have t
be all things to all people all the time?
In last weeks Gospel reading, of all the
followers, Peter seemed to be the one who would be Jesus’ main fan. He had
been following Jesus, was captivated by the person and power of Jesus, had even
been rescued from drowning by Jesus. So, when Jesus asked, "Who do you
say that I am?", Peter responded enthusiastically, boldly,
wholeheartedly, with a deep and profound confession of faith. "You are the
Christ" the
long-awaited Messiah "the
Son of the living God!" Peter was already preparing for Jesus to be King
of Israel, and of course Jesus would serve as his chief assistant!
Jesus started talking about
what it meant for him to be Messiah. He would not be the Messiah faithful
Jews expected, the one who would claim the ancient throne of David, throw out
the Romans, and win the freedom of the Jews after centuries of foreign
oppression.
Jesus was going to rule, all right but he was going to rule by
suffering and dying and rising from the dead. And Peter wouldn’t hear it! Nothing like that would
happen to his Messiah! Peter forgot that the Jews actually
expected two Messiahs – the warlike militant one who would overthrow the Roman
oppressors, and the spiritual Messiah. Jesus tried to explain he was the
latter, not the former. And it’s hard for us to wrap our heads around, because
we don’t live right in the middle of the violence and oppression Jesus and the
others did. They really didn’t want a spiritual Messiah; but that was what they
got.
So Peter strides up to Jesus,
wags his finger in his face, scolds Jesus, and says, "God forbid it,
Lord! This must never happen to you!" The last thing
Peter wanted to be was the #1 fan of a Messiah who was going to die a
humiliating death.
And Jesus answers, "Get behind
me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me!" Commentator David
Garland says this: "Instead of following in the way of Jesus, Peter tries
to take the lead and plants himself firmly in the way."
While we are taught not to judge,
there are times when we must – and I don’t mean the kind of judgment which
maligns people because we don’t like them, or we speculate on their motives – I
mean the kind of judgment we MUST make if we are to remain followers of Jesus –
the words which come out of people’s mouths, their actions – or lack of actions
– towards those they have deemed “lesser”. Following the way of Jesus is what
we believe will bring our creation out of destruction, and people into full
living. Opposing anything which puts personal gain above the gain of others is
a judgment we must make. Opposing anything which claims one group of people, or
one colour of people, is somehow superior to another, is a judgment we must
make.
What happens with us when we fail to
allow Jesus to be Jesus, when we let our own agenda and limited understanding
block the teachings of Jesus, aren’t we a stumbling block, a hindrance to
Jesus, rather than an asset in claiming that all people are of worth, and healing creation?
There are great discussions now,
about statues of the confederacy in the southern US, statues of the father of
Canadian confederation; the Black Lives Matter movement, the White Supremacist
movement. Here’s where we find ourselves torn – and trying to maybe split a few
hairs; yes, all lives matter. Except when the incidence of death for people of
colour is far higher than for whites, except when people of colour are treated
differently, or when whites are treated better because they’re white. At that
point we must make a judgment and respond that all should then be treated
equally and fairly with no discrimination at all.
This week, I was called a ‘divider
and conqueror’, and told I should follow the lead of First Nations, about
taking down statues of Sir John A MacDonald. I felt taking them down here in
Canada had the potential for being a further whitewash of our history, and that
what was needed was strong education in our schools – about the residential
schools for First Nations children, about the Sixties Scoop, about Japanese-Canadians
and the concentration camps, about the treatment of Canadians of German and
Ukrainian extraction. Yet Justice Murray Sinclair, from the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission, this week said that arguing over the name or the
statues isn’t what reconciliation is about. He says “Reconciliation is about
finding a balance in the telling of the history of this country.” So for me,
faithful following of Jesus means I have to stand for balance in telling the
story, and working to make things right, recognising and acknowledging the
things in our history which were wrong, teaching about them, and then healing this
part of the creation we live in.
Jesus, in this tale today, moves
forward. He invites Peter to ‘get behind him’ where he belongs, and makes
his way to Jerusalem. He goes to Jerusalem and suffers exactly the fate he
had predicted. He is opposed by the religious leaders, and arrested, and
tried by the Romans, and sentenced to a horrible, hideous, political execution
on a cross. But Peter forgets that Jesus is ‘raised’ into a new
beginning, and he is raised in a garden. Jesus showed that life can be a
healing, forgiving, and renewing venture of faith.
The apostle Paul is in my mind, one
of the most maligned and misunderstood followers of Jesus. Yet, we have to
remember that he was a trained rabbi and that he too struggled with what
following Jesus meant. He never actually met Jesus in the flesh face to face,
yet he had a good grasp of what ‘following’ meant and was even honest enough to
talk about how difficult it was for him.
And today Paul tells us exactly what
Jesus taught as well. Abhor what is evil, hold on to what is good. What is good
for Creation? All people are equal in Creation, even those we consider ‘enemies’.
They are all children of Creation. Love overcomes anger and hate. Live in
harmony with all of creation, do not respond to hate with hate. Offer love and
compassion, for doing so will show who you are. Treat all of this world around
us, and all the living things in it, with care and compassion. Hold on to what
is good. Bring forward what is good. Live what is good, even when it’s difficult.
Even when it takes all of what we are. May it be so.
Sources:
1. "FOLLOWING JESUS" a sermon based on Matthew 16:21-28 by
Rev. Richard Thompson
No comments:
Post a Comment