Proper 17 – A
Matt 16:21-28
Aug 29, 2020
St. Columba’s
In the Name of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
I. Peter argues with God
A. Today, we have two stories about people who argued with God.
1. Last week, we heard Jesus ask his Disciples, “Who do you say that I am?”
2. And Peter confidently answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.”
3. This marks a major turning point in Matthew’s Gospel as now Jesus sets his sights toward Jerusalem and the cross.
4. From this point on, Jesus began to teach his followers what being the Messiah truly meant – and what it meant to be his Disciple.
5. Immediately after Peter’s declaration, Jesus stunned the Disciples telling them that he would suffer at the hands of the Religious Authorities and die, and also that he would be raised.
B. Well, Peter wasn’t having any of this.
1. He’d been told all his life that the MESSIAH was a Conquering Hero, who would drive the Romans out and establish God’s Kingdom here on earth; and as his Disciples, they would share in his fame.
2. What was Jesus talking about – the MESSIAH doesn’t die, he rules.
3. So Peter started to set Jesus straight – Peter argued with the guy he just said was the Son of God.
4. Then Jesus responded with the harshest words ever directed toward one of his Disciples: “Get behind me, Satan!”
5. In a matter of minutes, Peter has gone from the “rock” on which Jesus would build his church to a “stumbling block” obstructing Jesus’ way.
6. Jesus chastises Peter for setting his mind on human things rather than Divine things.
7. To be on the side of human values and to serve the world on the world’s terms is to oppose the Divine will, and therefore to be an agent of Satan.
C, Jesus knew he had to do things God’s way.
1. For Jesus there was no way but the way of the Cross.
2. Jesus DID come to bring God’s Kingdom on earth – but he came to do it another way.
3. He came to bring LOVE, not hate, he came to bring PEACE, not violence, he came to bring HOPE, not division.
4. And when humanity messed it all up and hung him on a cross – he took that too – and turned it into the greatest victory ever – the victory over sin and death, and opened the way for us to have a deeper relationship with God.
5. Jesus didn’t just TALK about God’s sacrificial love – he DEMONSTRATED it!
And then he invited his followers to do the same, saying: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow 6. me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”
II. Moses argues with God
A. Moses was out minding his own business – tending the sheep of his father-in-law – when he saw something that caught his eye; there on the side of the mountain was a bush – it was on fire – but it didn’t seem to burn up.
1. Moses decided he had to check this out, and as he did God calls to him from the midst of the bush – and calls him to deliver the Children of Israel from the oppression of the Egyptians.
2. And immediately Moses sprang to his feet and headed for Egypt to free his people – ah, no.
3. Moses argued with God.
4. Moses said, “I can’t do that. How can I free the people? I’m just one person, how could I make any difference? No, you’re going to have to find yourself another guy, God.”
5. But God promised, “I will be with you.” And that was enough.
6. Moses did go to Pharaoh – he did free the Israelites – and as we will hear the next few Sundays, led them to the Promised Land.
7. And all the way, God was faithful and kept God’s promise to be with Moses.
III. Arguing with God
A. We are living in difficult times.
1. A pandemic rages on – changing the very way we have to live our lives.
2. Some of our political leaders seem not to care and can only focus on how they can get or retain power for themselves.
3. In Wisconsin, Jacob Blake, an African American man is shot by a police officer seven times in the back while holding on to Blake’s T-shirt.
4. Meanwhile, the next day a 17-year-old white man walks past the same police force untouched carrying an automatic rifle after shooting 3 people – killing 2.
5. IT HAS TO STOP.
6. Three years ago we talked about hate mongers in Charlottesville, Virginia – and nothing has changed.
7. Earlier this year, George Floyd is flung to the ground and an Officer kneels on his neck until he couldn’t breathe and died.
8. Breonna Taylor, an Emergency Medical Technician, was asleep in her bedroom when the Police broke down her door – entering the wrong apartment – and opened fire.
9. Rayshard Brooks fell asleep in a Wendy’s drive thru – initially his interactions with the police were cordial, but things escalated and he was shot as he ran from the police.
10. Amaud Arberry was out for a jog, when two white men pursued him and shot him for being in the wrong neighborhood.
11. IT HAS TO STOP – but when will it end?
– These are just some of the people killed this way – the list goes on and on.
12. Night after night, protests rage in the streets – with people seeking justice for these and past wrongs that have been perpetrated against people of color.
13. And still a small few turn these demonstrations violent and create mayhem in an attempt to prove that demonstrators are wrong.
14. The NBA Players boycotted their games and Major League Baseball Players also refused to play to protest these shootings and the violence that followed.
15. IT HAS TO STOP – and the only way to make it stop is if WE demand it.
B. On May 31st of this year, our Presiding Bishop wrote an editorial in the Washington Post – I quote portions of it here.
1. “I recommend a different path – the path of love….
2. “Violence against any person is violence against a child of God, created in God’s image.
– And ultimately is violence against God, which is blasphemy – the denial of the God whose love is the root of genuine justice and true human dignity and equality.
3. “Love does not look like the silence and complicity of too many of us, who wish more for tranquility than justice. …
4. “When I think about what love looks like, I see us channeling our holy rage into concrete, productive and powerful action.
5. “In this moment, love looks like voting for leadership at the local, state, and federal level that will help us to make lasting reform.
6. “Love looks like calling on officials and demanding they fulfill their duty to protect the dignity of every child of God….
7. “Love looks like all of us – people of every race and religion and national origin and political affiliation – standing up and saying ‘Enough!
– We can do better than this. We can be better than this.’
8. “Now is the time for a national renewal of the ideals of human equality, liberty, and justice for all.
– “Now is the time to commit to cherishing and respecting all lives, and to honoring the dignity and infinite worth of every child of God.
– “Now is the time for all of us to show – in our words, our actions, and our lives – what love really looks like.” [Washington Post May 31, 2020]
B. So how do we respond to our Presiding Bishop’s words?
1. As followers of Jesus we are called to bring God’s kingdom on earth; to bring God’s peace to our world – to bring God’s love.
2. Do we respond to God’s call – or ARGUE with God?
3. Do we respond like Peter and say, “I know the answer God; we’ll do it my way”?
– Do we respond like Moses and say, “Oh no, God, you’ve got the wrong person – you better find someone else”?
4. Or will we step up and work for the changes the Presiding Bishop is talking about?
5. Yes, it’s a huge job.
6. We look around and say, “What can I do – it’s such a giant mess, and I’m just one person.”
7. But the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.
Conclusion
If we want to see a difference in the world – than we have to make a difference.
The only way we can begin to change the world is to change ourselves.
That’s why this fall we will read the book, “Waking Up White” and examine our own prejudices that we may not even know we have.
In our Baptismal Covenant we are called to “respect the dignity of every human being – including those who differ from us:
– those of a different color
– a different culture
– a different language
– a different sexual orientation
– a different religion
– a different political persuasion
– different, different, different.
In a few minutes we will pray the General Thanksgiving, and say together these words:
And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies,
that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise,
not only with our lips, but in our lives,
by giving up our selves to your service…
That’s what we are called to do – to give up ourselves to the service of God and the service of others that we may work to make God’s love a reality in the lives of those who need it so desperately.
As the Presiding Bishop said, “That’s what love looks like…”
Let Us Pray
Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. AMEN. (BCP p. 101)