Matthew 16:21-28
21From that time on, 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.”
This week I spent time with the Council at a congregation in a synod far, far away conducting an exit interview with their interim pastor. I always ask the council members what they will carry with them from the time that the pastor has been there. Now, a little background on this church: they had troubles. T-R-OU-B-L-ES – it was a 6 syllable word for them. From a small group of people who ruled the roost, to a building that was as unwelcoming as the congregation, to driving out the previous pastor, to apathy and complacency from most of the congregation. They had troubles. And now, two plus years later, they've emerged on the other side. Not perfect by any means, but through the worst of it. So as we went around the table sharing what each person would hold onto from their 2+ years together, one woman said that through the interim pastor's leadership, through prayer, and getting into scripture they remembered what was important and quit fighting over the carpet and the wall color. In other words, they remembered to set their minds on divine things and not human things. The majority of the congregation experienced a reorientation, a transformation, and were reestablished as helping to build up instead of causing to stumble.
The reading from the RCL last week is the first part of this story with these verses today as the second part of the story. In the first half, Jesus asks the disciples who people say that he is. And then he asks the disciples who they say that he is. Peter jumps at the opportunity to answer saying, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God." And Jesus praises him, giving him a new name and promising to build his church on Peter's testimony.
But then Jesus ruins it for Peter and starts telling them what it means to be the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. That he will suffer and be killed and then be raised from the dead. We have the benefit of knowing the rest of the story so we can be a bit disdainful with Peter. But have a little compassion. Peter isn't ready for a Messiah who comes in order to die and he doesn't understand how that could be God's plan. Imagine the feeling of panic in his stomach as Jesus is saying all this. Peter had a way of understanding what he thought would be the outcome of their movement. And now it turns out that Jesus had a different plan all along.
But Jesus doesn't stop there. He goes on to tell the disciples that the life they planned in following him will also be marked by the cross. And he didn't mean a pretty, gilded cross with gold and jewels. He meant the wooden cross upon which criminals hung and died a most horrible, painful death. Jesus tells them that his followers will give up their lives, deny themselves, and take up their cross. Anything else is not to set one's mind on divine things.
Yes, that should put butterflies of panic in Peter's stomach. In fact, that ought to cause a heavy feeling in the pit of the stomach for any of us who think of ourselves as Christ followers. Because Jesus did not come to make you feel comfortable, or warm and fuzzy, or be your personal life coach. Jesus came to redeem the world. And that takes sacrifice, cross carrying, and losing your life for the sake of the world.
In other words, as commentators on this text have pointed out, what we humans generally want is more of what the world has to offer (David Lose, http://www.davidlose.net/2017/08/pentecost-13-a-can-you-imagine/). More security, more money, a nicer house, cooler clothes, a higher-ranking job, people to listen to and adore us. But Jesus invites us into transformation of life. That means freedom from that stuff that is not actually life-giving and freedom for a life which begets life. A life of hope, compassion and transformation.
This freedom begins with recognizing that what we have always valued is perhaps not of true, everlasting value. In the case of the congregation I mentioned before they had to let go of being "nice." That is, they had to address the un-Christ-like behaviors happening in the congregation instead of just hoping it would stop or ignoring it all together. They had to sacrifice a desire not to lose anyone from the congregation's membership so that they could open up and be welcoming in the congregation. They had to rid themselves of a fear of not having enough in order to live into a reality of abundance. Maybe those things sound easy, but they weren't.
God is not a magician who makes this freedom from and freedom for process so easy - like God waves a magic wand and suddenly everything is perfect. We are partners in this work of freedom from and freedom for.
I think of the sin of racism and how obvious it is now in our country in the wake of the Charlottesville violence. Those who have been freed from being oblivious to systemic racism and bigotry in our country have also been freed for the fight against it. So while it may not be comfortable to stand up against systemic racism, it is to take up ones cross and follow Jesus. Similarly those who have been freed from the sin of homophobia and out right hatred toward LGBTQ persons are freed for standing up against things like the Nashville Statement. (In which conservative Christian authors and co-signers from the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood wrote what they called a "Christian manifesto" on marriage between one man and one woman, and condemned what they call "homosexual immorality and transgenderism" and those who accept those things.) Again those who have been freed from bondage to sin have been freed up for loosing the bonds of hatred and fear and oppression of other people.
Now, I'll get off my moral high horse here to say that none of this is easy. And as I think about being freed for carrying my cross I still get a bit of a pit in my stomach. Jesus doesn't promise a life of ease and comfort. However Jesus does promise something much, much better. And that is life everlasting. And I don't mean in life everlasting in "some heaven light years away" as the hymn sings (Gather Us In, ELW 532). I mean life everlasting here and now. Life experiencing the kingdom of God here. The reign of God come to earth. God's beloved community, as Dr. King named it, in which as we hear from Paul in the letter to the Romans for this Sunday, The people of God "let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; they love one another with mutual affection and outdo one another in showing honor. They don't lag in zeal. They are ardent in spirit and serve the Lord. They rejoice in hope, are patient in suffering and persevere in prayer. God's people contribute to the needs of the saints and extend hospitality to strangers. They bless those who persecute them, rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another and do not repay anyone evil for evil. They strive to live peaceably with all...if their enemies are hungry, they feed them; if they are thirsty, they give them something to drink...They are not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
And they are called God's beloved.
Jesus invites us just like he invited Peter to imagine a world of beloved community. A world that is different than the world we now live in. And he promises to be with us as we accept the invitation to deny ourselves, pick up our cross and follow him. On that walk Jesus is the one who invites, Jesus is the one who accompanies, Jesus is the light at the end of the tunnel as it were. And indeed, even better, Jesus is the one who has made that walk already for our sakes and for the sake of the world. Amen.
