Community Church Sermons
August 28, 2005
Matthew 16:21-28
This has not been a good week for Jesus.
On Monday, Pat Robertson, the head of the Christian Broadcasting Network and host of the popular 700 Club, called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
"We
have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we
exercise that ability," Robertson said. "You
know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're
trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it.
It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war ... and I don't think any oil
shipments will stop."
Monday
was a bad day for Jesus. And it only got worse as the week went on.
Fred
Phelps, the pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas announced
that members of the church would picket the weekend funerals of two fallen
Tennessee soldiers. The families and friends of Staff Sergeant Asbury Hawn of
Smryna and Specialist Gary Reese of Ashland City were shocked to learn that
Phelps’ group would show up at their loved ones’ services this weekend to
protest against homosexuality, although neither man was gay. That little fact
doesn’t matter to Phelps who believes that America has been co-opted by gays
and that God’s wrath is rightfully killing our soldiers – like these two young
men – who, in Phelps’ opinion, are fighting to defend a nation that defies the
Bible by harboring homosexuals. The families of these two fallen heroes are
brokenhearted not only because of their great personal loss, but also because
of the disrespect shown their loved ones.
It
was a bad week for Jesus.
And
now today, in our Gospel reading, one of Jesus’ closest friends tries to stop Jesus
from going to Jerusalem to suffer and die for the salvation of the world.
“Heaven
forbid that this should happen to you!” Peter cries.
“Get
behind me, Satan!” Jesus replies.
Even
his closest friend opposes his work.
Not
a good week for Jesus.
Everyone,
it seems – from Pat Robertson, to Fred Phelps, to Simon Peter – is trying to
turn Jesus into something he’s not, and the Gospel into something it cannot be.
The
story of Peter – which is really just an ancient version of what goes on in our
world today – identifies a central spiritual struggle that goes on in all our
lives. As you may know, the passage immediately preceding this story is the
famous one in which Peter – for the first time – confesses Jesus as the
Messiah.
What
a moment it was! Perhaps you can remember a time in your life when the clouds
sort of parted and you saw Jesus in a way you’d never seen him before. Perhaps
you were in a church service and felt compelled to go forward at the altar
call, or maybe you were just home by yourself when you cried out to the Lord,
and SOMETHING HAPPENED! Some invisible veil parted and you experienced the love
and forgiveness and inner healing of God’s presence as never before.
Many
of us can remember the year, the month, the week, the day, and the very moment
Jesus became more than just a word to us.
That’s
what it was like for Peter that day when he confessed, “You are the
Messiah!”
And
Matthew reports that Jesus was so very happy that Peter made this discovery
that he exclaims, “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah! Flesh and blood has
not revealed this to you, but my father in heaven.” And then Jesus goes on
to tell Peter he has a grand plan for his life, and that Peter will be the rock
upon which Jesus will build his church, and that – you know - is how Peter came
to be regarded as the first Pope!
It
was the best day of Peter’s life! He found a Savior! He found a future! He
found a purpose! He has the world by the tail!
AND
ALL IS WELL WITH HIS SOUL!
But
then Jesus pulls the rug out from under Peter’s feet.
“I’m
going to Jerusalem. There I will suffer and be killed.”
And
Peter – stunned by this foreboding news – cries, “NO, LORD! NEVER! GOD FORBID THAT THIS SHOULD HAPPEN TO YOU!”
And
that’s when Jesus becomes disappointed with his friend, and hits Peter with the
“get behind me, Satan” stuff. Can you imagine going from “Blessed are
you!” one moment, to “Get behind me Satan!” the next?
Well,
that’s a symptom of the inner spiritual struggle I’m talking about. One moment,
all is well with us and the Lord, but the next moment, we have become the
enemies of God.
No
one doubts that Pat Robertson and Fred Phelps and Simon Peter…and Marty
Singley, for that matter…believe in the Lord and love him!
But
our love for God so often hits a snag, and all of a sudden, we find ourselves
on the other side.
What
do you suppose it is within us that causes this shift?
I
guess I might describe it as the enemy within. Jesus came right out and
called it “Satan” although he was not trying to suggest that Peter was possessed
by some demonic power. Rather Jesus was pointing out that Peter – who had been
on God’s side just the moment before - was now, all of a sudden, God’s
enemy.
What
is this inner thing that causes faithful people to capitulate to the powers of
darkness?
I
think Sigmund Freud hit the nail on the head when he said that what separates
human beings from all the other creatures is that we humans are self-conscious.[1]
In a sense, it’s a lot easier being a dog than it is being a man, woman, or
child. You see, animals are born with a set of instinctive responses that
enable them to deal with the various moments of life. They live, grow, eat,
reproduce, struggle against the elements, and eventually die with no conscious
awareness of who they are or what their purpose is. They have no sense of a
beginning and an end. Animals do not have to get up in the morning and have a
cup of coffee in order to face the world. Animals do not have to take a drink
of alcohol to fortify themselves against life. Animals do not have to worry
about what others will think of them. They’ll sit down and clean themselves up
right in the middle of your high-class dinner party!
Sandy’s
niece Karen once had a poodle named Philip. Philip was not good at very much as
a dog, but the one thing he was really good at was love. Philip was a lover. He
loved everything that moved. Another dog. A cat. Someone’s leg. A mop sliding
across the floor. Philip didn’t care. Although he should have cared because one
day Philip tried to put the moves on the tire of a car – when the car was still moving. And that was the end of
Philip.
But
humans are different. We are aware that we have a beginning and an end. We are
full of worries and anxieties because we are aware of how big the world is and
how small we are. It is our self-awareness that causes us to be anxious about
life. And it is that very self-conscious nature of ours that has the potential
to turn us into the enemies of God.
Why
do we even think about assassinating people? Because we are afraid. Why do we
organize against people who are different? Because we are afraid. Why do we not
want Jesus to go into Jerusalem and die for the world? Because we are afraid of
what will happen to US if he does!
Fear.
That is the enemy within.
And
when Christians live out of fear what happens is that we erect walls around
ourselves. We try to fortify ourselves against different people, different
religions, different ideas. And sometimes, fear causes us to create an
artificial faith that has solely to do with keeping ME safe, and meeting MY
needs, and getting ME to heaven when I die. A great deal of what passes for
Christianity in our society today is nothing more than self-conscious fear
dressed up in Christian clothing.
“God
forbid, Jesus, that this should ever happen to you!”
“Get
behind me, Satan, for you are not on the side of God, but of men.”
Do
you understand the problem here? Jesus is going to Jerusalem to save the world.
But for Peter, the world consists solely of himself and his own
little circle of friends.
On
the other hand, the Bible teaches that for Jesus, the reach of God’s saving
love must get wider and wider! So he will go to Jerusalem and lay down his life
for that great big wide world! The Gospel is about more than just Peter! It is
about you and about me and about Pat Robertson and about Fred Phelps and about
Venezuelan Presidents and about people gay and straight. The Gospel is about
the families who’ve lost loved ones in Iraq – both American and Iraqi families.
The Gospel is about Jews and Muslims and Christians and agnostics and atheists.
The Gospel is about God’s gracious love for the WHOLE world – not just Peter’s
world.
So
while Peter wants the world to get smaller, Jesus knows that God’s will is for
the world of God’s love to stretch and to grow and reach everyone!
And
so Jesus says, “Get behind me, Satan. You are not on the side of God.”
So
how do you get on God’s side as you live your life as a Christian?
Well,
there is only one way to overcome fear.
Do
you know what it is?
To
love.
“Perfect
loves casts out all fear,” the Bible says in First John.
There
is no clearer way to say it than this: the only way to overcome the enemy
within is by way of committing yourself to living out the radical love that we
see in the life of Jesus. That love had no thought of a faith that is mine
alone, but considered others the precious children of God. That love reached
across borders, and boundaries, and social classes, and political lines, and
even religious laws.
Christian
love is not afraid to love anyone, anywhere.
It
is love acted out in complete trust that God will transform peoples’ lives and
the world as they are accepted and loved and understood and cared for.
For
some of us, though, that seems a hopeless task. How many of us have wasted love
on people and situations that never changed?
Joyce
Peterson shared a story during our staff devotion time this week that
beautifully speaks to this.
A
man was sleeping one night when suddenly his room was filled with light and God
appeared. The Lord told the man he had some work to do. God showed him a large
rock outside, in front of his house. The Lord told the man he was to push
against that rock with all his might. So he did.
Day
after day, week after week, the man put his shoulder to the rock. But day after
day, week after week, that rock refused to budge. Do you know some people like
this? No matter how hard you love them, they just won’t budge!
Finally,
the man became discouraged and gave up. That night, he told the Lord, “I’ve
labored long and hard, with all my strength, to do what you asked me to do. Yet
that rock has not budged an inch!”
Then
the Lord answered, “My friend, all I asked you to do was to push against the
rock with all your strength. I never said you had to MOVE IT. Your task was to
push the rock. My job is to move it!”
Whenever,
in our day, people commit themselves to the same radical love of God for the
world that was embodied in the life of our Savior, we are pushing against the
great stone of hopelessness and despair.
And
God promises that in his time and in his own way, he will move the stone!
And
when people take up that kind of love, it is a good week for Jesus!
For
the Gospel is proclaimed, and God’s love is spread, and the world begins to
inch toward salvation.
Go
home today…and PUSH!
[1] For a provocative discussion about the human self-conscious and its relationship to theism, see Chapter 3 of “A New Christianity For A New Day” by John Shelby Spong.