First Reading: Jeremiah 15:15-21
Jeremiah is strengthened by the simple words, “I am with you.”
15O Lord, you know;
remember me and visit me,
and bring down retribution for me on my persecutors.
In your forbearance do not take me away;
know that on your account I suffer insult.
16Your words were found, and I ate them,
and your words became to me a joy
and the delight of my heart;
for I am called by your name,
O Lord, God of hosts.
17I did not sit in the company of merrymakers,
nor did I rejoice;
under the weight of your hand I sat alone,
for you had filled me with indignation.
18Why is my pain unceasing,
my wound incurable,
refusing to be healed?
Truly, you are to me like a deceitful brook,
like waters that fail.
19Therefore thus says the Lord:
If you turn back, I will take you back,
and you shall stand before me.
If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless,
you shall serve as my mouth.
It is they who will turn to you,
not you who will turn to them.
20And I will make you to this people
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you,
but they shall not prevail over you,
for I am with you
to save you and deliver you,
says the Lord.
21I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked,
and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.
Psalm: Psalm 26:1-8
Your love is before my eyes; I have walked faithfully with you. (Ps. 26:3)
1Give judgment for me, O Lord, for I have lived with integrity;
I have trusted in the Lord and have not faltered.
2Test me, O Lord, and try me;
examine my heart and my mind.
3For your steadfast love is before my eyes;
I have walked faithfully with you.
4I have not sat with the worthless,
nor do I consort with the deceitful.
5I have hated the company of evildoers;
I will not sit down with the wicked.
6I will wash my hands in innocence, O Lord,
that I may go in procession round your altar,
7singing aloud a song of thanksgiving
and recounting all your wonderful deeds.
8Lord, I love the house in which you dwell
and the place where your glory abides.
Second Reading: Romans 12:9-21
9Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; 10love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. 11Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. 13Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.
14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. 17Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Gospel: Matthew 16:21-28
21From that time on, [after Peter confessed that Jesus was the Messiah,] 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. 22And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” 23But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
24Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. 26For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?
27“For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. 28Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
CHILDREN’S SERMON: Aesop told the tale of “The Fox & the Grapes.”
A Fox one day spied a beautiful bunch of ripe grapes hanging from a vine growing on a tree. The grapes seemed ready to burst with juice, and the Fox’s mouth watered as he gazed longingly at them. The bunch hung from a high branch though. The Fox jumped for it but missed. So he walked off a short distance and took a running leap at it, only to fall short once more. Again and again he tried, but in vain.
Finally the Fox sat down and reasoned, “What a fool I am,” he said. “Here I am wearing myself out to get a bunch of grapes that are probably sour.” Off he walked very, very scornfully.
G.K. Chesterton said, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.”
Let us pray. Lord may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.
SERMON
“From that time on…”
Today we continue from last week when Peter confessed Jesus as the Messiah, the son of the living God. Jesus publicly affirmed Peter and said he would build his church on that “mustard seed faith.” The next verses though flesh out what this means, “From that time on…”
Jesus realized that Peter only partially understood the meaning of “messiah.” We too have our plans and hopes for tomorrow and it is possible to become discouraged when reality challenges us. We only partially understand. Like the Fox, we wonder if we have been working for a bunch of grapes that are really sour and not worth the effort.
“From that time on,” Jesus has to prepare his disciples for the reality that was going to face them. He knows the world will try to convince them and us that faith in him is just sour grapes or perhaps a crutch weak people lean on. For Jesus to finish fulfilling his role as Messiah, certain things were going to happen. He would go to Jerusalem, suffer, die and resurrect. We know that part of the story but Peter does not. Faith is hard work. One jump is not going to do it and he and we must learn to persevere.
Jesus began to show his disciples that they must go to Jerusalem. Can you hear me reminding us? Faith is a journey, not a destination. Jesus is not about freeing the disciples or us from Roman rule but from that moment when our “mustard seed faith” is planted, we begin a journey of learning how to live into that freedom that we will come to profess as our Christian faith.
I do not know where your Jerusalem is but for most of us it will involve suffering. I don’t know where you are headed and the transition you are going through but I can almost guarantee there will be painful moments. Like the Fox, we jump and jump. It is not easy to change alliances – from the world to God, from single to married, from non-Covid to Covid masking, or from interim Deaconess to the next phase of ministry for Bethany. But for sure our future involves struggle as we live into our dreams.
After the struggle, new horizons open up. After that period of sleepless nights, that baby grows and settles and parents start sleeping again and learning language to communicate with the new little creature. Getting to know your new person will have its ups and downs but a new rhythm will develop. But it is also true that sometimes our tomorrows involve walking with rebellious teenagers, rejection by people we professed love to or even walking with that loved person through the valley of the shadow of death. Peter is thinking of the triumphant Messiah overthrowing Rome but Jesus knows his and our path is to Jerusalem and will involve suffering.
Parts of ourselves must die in the transition. We must let go of old allegiances and the glory of those past days to be able to embrace the new ministry God has for us. The Messiah will move us from Synagogue to Church, from sacrifices to communion, from hierarchy to being the body of Christ. Jesus is trying to tell his disciples, trying to tell you and me that change must come and it will be hard and often feel like death but the result will be salvation. Resurrection will come. We know that from the life of Christ and we believe. We call that faith. Peter and the disciples had not lived into that yet and we have not lived into our future yet.
“God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.”
Resistance
Peter resists Jesus’ revelation that going to Jerusalem means conflict, death and resurrection. No, Lord! We don’t want suffering and death. We want victory and defeat of the enemy. It is hard to get our hearts and minds around the truth that the God of the universe might allow us to be immersed in hard times. I would suspect, if there is one big stumbling block in our faith, besides the Trinity thing, it is our belief that God by definition should be able to rescue us from all pain and struggling. God should appear and resolve our issue if we only have enough faith, laid our hand on the television, donate enough money, or act in a certain way. We expect grapes to be sweet. Pain should be avoidable if God is God.
But Jesus calls it like it is. Life is not about making me healthy, wealthy and wise. It is not just about my happiness. God is building a kingdom and we are learning lessons to live in that kingdom. God travels with us and is our God, not a magic answer to get us what we want. We must trust that he sees the big picture and is with us in our momentary discomforts.
We hear the next words that challenge us to take up our cross as we follow him. Perhaps we grimace. There is nothing pretty about a cross, nothing pleasant. There is nothing easy about forgiveness. It is not easy to share our wealth, turn the other cheek, or go the extra mile. But that is the answer. Violence, hate, and anger will never bring about a better world – I know that is not the common feeling now as culture embraces demonstrating, advocacy, and personal rights, but I just do not see it in Christ. There is no way for our Fox to get that bunch of grapes but to learn how to jump. Demanding that the grapes fall in his mouth just does not work as hungry as he is. The Fox can continue figuring out the way to get the grapes or he can quit and reason that the grapes are sour. We face that same challenge when life gets tough.
Jesus then asks a reflective question, “For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?”
What will the Fox gain if he walks away from the grapes, calling them sour? He will still be hungry and still be looking for grapes that are easier to obtain. If he gets the grapes he will still be hungry later. These are serious questions Jesus presents to us today. Jesus is asking us to examine our priorities. Do we want to get the best grapes this world has to offer or do we want to develop a relationship with the God who made the grapes? Are we willing to trust that he has the best grapes for us as we follow his guidance or are we determined to do it our way and in our own strength?
One of the themes that I find myself coming back to all the time in Scripture is that God works outside our boxes. God is the God of the unexpected, of the surprise answer, of the creative solution. Again today we see that. Peter is thinking that Jesus is the Messiah who is going to bring political revolution and overthrow of the Romans. Jesus has to push Peter’s envelope so he can see that the Messiah is about the cross, struggle and death into an eternity of being with God. Eating grapes may satisfy the fox for an hour especially if they are indeed sweet but the Fox will get hungry again. God wants more for the Fox, for Peter and for us. What this world has to offer, all the fame and applaud and wealth and power mean nothing if Peter looses his soul.
I am much better at looking in the rear mirror of my car and being able to see the blessings that have come my way than I am at predicting any blessings in the future. But I do know that God is faithful, trustworthy, and reliable. The Fox thought it would be happy if it could just get the bunch of grapes. What is the bunch of grapes that you are convinced will make you happy? Fill in the blank. Life would be wonderful if only I had…. The truth is that we must go through suffering, death and resurrection on our journey to reach Jerusalem. Our destination is not this world.
“…is to come…”
We started our sermon with “From that time on..” and we end this sermon with Jesus’ promise, “For the Son of Man is to come…” Sounds to me like we are living in the intermission between the opening scenes of faith in Jesus and the conclusion of the coming of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus promises that he will come “with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. “ Some day we will all face God face to face. We do not labor in vain. There are highs and lows but God is constant, walking with us, leading, guiding and rewarding. Jesus is to come. Not a bunch of sour grapes.
Let the people of God say, “AMEN!”
On the Way to Wonder 