Sermon Rev. John Sovereign Read Exodus 3:1-15, where the Lord speaks to Moses out of a burning bush, and Matthew 16:21-28 where Jesus tells the disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, suffer, die and rise from the dead. Of course, Peter says to Jesus, “This cannot be! Don’t do it!” Sermon: Matthew tells us, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. We have heard the story so many times, we find it boring and well worn. The story of Moses and the Burning Bush, as well as Jesus and his death, remind us that God has a powerful call on our lives. We are not called to eat, drink, and be merry. We are called to know and worship and obey the Living God. For those first witnesses to the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus the story was far from well worn and boring. It was tragic, remarkable, exhilarating, and all consuming. God poured into them a new understanding of what it means to put God first. Jesus showed them the way of perfect generosity, perfect humility, perfect obedience, perfect love, perfect sacrifice, perfect faith, perfect forgiveness, perfect trust. On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus told them what was coming. Peter intervened, and tried to tell Jesus the cross could not be. Jesus said to him, Go behind me, Satan! I have always understood Jesus to be putting the words - the tempting words - of Peter, out of his mind. Jesus called Peter a stone on the path to trip him up. This is a play on Peters new name, and a reminder to us that we should not allow the world, not even our friends and families, to dissuade us from the path God has laid out for us. Jesus set his face like flint (Luke 9:51) as he went up to Jerusalem. It was hard to go up to Jerusalem. It would be easy to listen to Peter. Jesus told his disciples, to deny themselves and take up their cross and follow. These words are not about being good but about being obedient. If it were about being good, Jesus would not have had to face the cross. Badness by itself can be remedied, and can be ransomed out. Disobedience to a written code has a corresponding and appropriate penalty. Denial of the Holy One of Israel shuts us out from Gods presence. It is not like badness or rule breaking. It not even about not having a loving or compassionate heart, or being a nice person. Denial of the Holy One is about refusing to know and listen to our Creator. It is about refusing to become a person of God, refusing to know Gods secret ways. Refusing to follow in the footsteps of the One who stilled the water. Peters mind was ruled by human thoughts and attitudes, not by Gods thoughts. He was pushing Jesus to rebel and follow a different plan. Denying oneself, or hating ones own life as Mark puts it, has led to much abuse through the years. When we fast in Lent, some people have the idea that self-denial in and of itself can make us more holy than we already are. Some medieval monastics and desert fathers treated self-denial as if it were a god in itself. Asceticism can be terribly introspective and destructive. Anorexia is a form of self-denial. So is the need for excessive control, or rule making, or obsession with physical appearance. These are little use in godliness. The truth is, Jesus is asking us to love him more. It is a saying of subordination, not a saying of self-flagellation. This kind of self-denial does not elevate our self, and does not negate our love for others. It rather draws us into an attitude of humility. You may not have thought of it this way before. Freedom and self-determination are so worshipped in North America, we seldom think in terms of living a God-directed life. Modern democratic thinking makes governance all about the me in me, not necessarily about the needs of others. I can do what I please, is heard, as in I didnt feel like coming today. God watched over Moses from birth - the Hebrews would always see the end of something as the completion of its beginning - and so God raised him in Pharaohs household, educated him, and then banished him to Midian to learn a few things. No accidents. All purpose. In Midian, I believe the favoured child Moses learned humility, learned to listen, learned to do as he was told. He became a humble shepherd with a few sheep. He was destined by God to become a shepherd of Israel. It is clear everything that went before in Moses life led up to that moment of confrontation near a burning bush in the desert hills of Midian. Do not think your faith in God now entitles you to do as you want with your life. It may be true that your freedom to do is real, but Jesus reacted strongly to Peters objections. In British Columbia we have it wrong when we pray, as if God were here to do our will. It is the reverse of that. We are here to do Gods will even when it does not make sense to us, even though it crucify us. Taking up our cross daily is not about the burdens we have to bear, such as a job we dont like or a friend we have to put up with. It is not about dealing with the hand life has dealt us. Taking up our cross is not about bearing with trivial annoyances. The cross signifies not just death, but an unjust death. It was an instrument of excruciating pain and suffering, and an instrument of nakedness, loss and ridicule. Those who follow Jesus and take up the cross accept the hostility and ridicule of this world. This worlds thinking is truth denying and God denying. This world thinks it is all there is. This world knows little of God. So when we offer our thanksgivings and praises to God, this world happily goes along with us. They think it looks good to be thankful as long as God leaves them alone. They do not understand the idea of Lordship. They find a possessive God uncomfortable and demanding. Thanking a useless god costs you nothing. Bowing in obedience and sacrifice to the Living God costs you everything. I pray that as we focus on what comes next for us this fall, you will pray that we fulfill Gods perfect call on us, that we follow Gods perfect plan here at St. Thomas, and here in our own homes. Amen.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 07:16:49 +0000
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