Sermon Ordinary 22, 3rd September 2023

MAY the words of my mouth and the meditations in our hearts be acceptable in your sight O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. <Amen>

Saint or sinner, whatever I am at any time …. I AM YOURS ! <Pause>

This morning, Jesus is beginning to prepare the disciples for the end of His earthly ministry.  This is the beginning of His teaching to them regarding what the future holds, both for himself and for them.

Let us remember that it was only a scant few verses ago in the Gospel (last week if you’ve been following along with my messages) that Peter had confessed to all who were listening that he knew who Jesus was.

“(Jesus) said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
“Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’.”

Then Jesus went on to say, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah … I also tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church”

Now here we are, barely five verses later, and Jesus refers to Peter as Satan, the greatest of sinners, “Get Thee behind me Satan” Jesus says as Peter struggles to separate Jesus from the will of His Father.

I can’t blame Peter.  After all, when he confessed Jesus as the Messiah, he was definitely speaking in the power of the Holy Spirit and offering to Christ, “I am yours”, but that doesn’t mean that he REALLY understood what he was saying.

At that point in time, Peter was still a beginner in this faith business.  Although his faith was strong, his understanding was shallow, just beginning. He knew what the “Messiah” was supposed to look like.  The prophets had said that the Messiah would be a warrior-king who would ride in to save the nation of Israel from her enemies and who would restore justice and peace on earth.

In Peter’s mind, how did that square with Jesus saying that he had to go to Jerusalem, undergo great suffering and be killed so that He could rise again in three days? What did that mean for Peter, and anyone else, who propheses Jesus as Lord, and offers, “I am yours” ?

This is one of those times when I feel that I can really get inside Peter’s head and heart.  He must have been thinking, “What?”  “You’ve got to be kidding me!  I know you are the Messiah, but what kind of justice and vindication do you think you can bring to Israel by dying ?”

As the 2023 US Presidential debates get under way, it’s like one of the candidates running for that office saying — “Elect me and I promise to be assassinated!” So you see, I understand why Peter reacted as he did, but boy oh boy, what a reaction the Peter who gave himself to Jesus, the Peter who claimed “I am yours”, drew from Jesus.

“Get behind me, Satan!”  This is the strongest rebuke Jesus uses in the Gospels, and He uses it on the one on to whom He had recently bestowed the ultimate compliment. <PAUSE>

This very paradox that makes you and I just oh so like Peter. Let me say that again - in our humanity, we are so like Peter - we can be saints one moment and sinners the next!

We who hear this gospel story today must always be wary of this. WE also know that Jesus Christ is Messiah, many of us have said to Jesus, “I am yours” … BUT like Peter, we tend to look for the road that we would like Jesus to lead us down. After all, temptation tells us things through the mass media and social media every day: the one with the most “influence” wins; there is no such thing as being too rich or too skinny; if you get enough plastic surgery, you can be beautiful and therefore happy; you cannot live without the newest and latest of everything etc etc.

All of which are just different ways of saying that our destinies are in our own hands and we can ensure our own happiness and well-being by working harder, earning more, getting additional power and prestige and caring most deeply about our appearance. 

Get Behind ME Satan! <PAUSE>

In today’s gospel the temptation for Peter must have been incredible!  “No Lord.  This must not happen … indeed, it CANNOT happen to you! Don’t take us down that road. Just use the power we’ve seen you use to heal and feed people, to strike the authorities, both Temple and Roman, and bring in the Kingdom of God as it should be - with great fanfare and triumph!”

But Jesus responds not with agreement, but with his own call to discipleship, and not just discipleship, but RADICAL DISCIPLESHIP.  Rather than, “OK, Peter, you’re right,” Jesus says,

“If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever will lose his life for my sake will find it.”

This incredible call to discipleship, the call to lay down even our very lives and pick up our own crosses is the absolute, polar opposite of what Peter was feeling in that moment.

If we say, “I am yours”, Jesus responds … then come with me and perhaps even suffer for the sake of the Kingdom, there you will find your life. <PAUSE>

We often do not want to hear that call, but there it is and it’s plain enough. <PAUSE>

I think what Jesus wants is for us to begin to deny the temptations of the world, just as He did — hard though it may be — and to put the Gospel message first in our lives.

If we say “I am yours” then look first to loving the Lord your God and your neighbour as yourself and do not prioritise money, fame, title, possessions, authority etc. <PAUSE>If we focus FIRST & FOREMOST on living out that Great Commandment and fulfilling the Great Commission, to go into the all the world and make disciples, baptising those who come to believe because of our examples, then … we will also be well-armed for whatever else the world may throw our way. <PAUSE>

“I am yours !” … okay, so let’s look and see where Jesus is calling us to go and the sacrifices we need to make in order to “carry our crosses”.

If you worry about money and balancing budgets, that’s what you need to sacrifice. Let that go. Take up that cross, follow Christ … He WILL see it right.

If you’re a workaholic, it’s your time, that’s what you need to sacrifice. Rest. Take up that cross, follow Christ … He WILL see it right.

If you’re a control freak (for yourself and on others), it’s your domineering, that’s what you need to sacrifice. Relax. Take up that cross, follow Christ … He WILL see it right.

In your life, whatever you put before God, Jesus calls you to put down, to sacrifice it, so that you’re ready and able to take up your cross and follow Him to new life. <PAUSE>

We can’t hope to be perfect as Christ was perfect … but we can hope to be faithful to God’s call, like Peter, sometimes getting it right, sometimes getting it wrong, but always trying our best to get our priorities right, putting God first.`

When we do this we can then truly TRULY state, as the musical introduction to my message this week said, “I AM YOURS !” … and to God will be the glory.

I runga e te Ingoa o te Atua, te Matua, te Tama me te Wairua Tapu.
In the name of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit <AMINE>