"FOLLOWING JESUS"
a sermon based on Matthew 16:21-28
by Rev. Richard Thompson
Can you believe the infatuation with celebrities in America?
Brad and Angelina. Alex Rodriguez and Madonna. Tiger Woods. Martha
Stewart. The antics of Britney Spears. The King, Elvis Presley,
still wildly popular more than 30 years after his death. Princess
Diana—while she was alive, and even after her death. And on and
on our infatuation goes.
And everywhere any of them makes an appearance, the media and
die-hard fans are certain to show up. They all have their fans, and
they all have their fan clubs, each having thousands who claim to be
their #1 fan.
In last week’s Gospel reading, it appeared Peter was going to be
the #1 fan of Jesus. He’d been following Jesus for some time, had
been captivated by the person and power of Jesus, had even been
rescued from drowning by Jesus. So, when Jesus asked his disciples,
"Who do you say that I am?", Peter, prompted by the Spirit, was
ready to respond. Enthusiastically, boldly, wholeheartedly, with a
deep and profound confession of faith, Peter declared, "You are the
Christ"—the long-awaited Messiah—"the Son of the living God!" Peter
was ready to make Jesus King of Israel and serve as his chief
assistant!
But then Jesus started talking about what it meant for him to be
Messiah. He would not be a Messiah like Peter and most other
faithful Jews expected—one who would claim the ancient throne of
David, throw out the Romans, and win the freedom of the Jews after
centuries of foreign oppression.
Jesus was going to rule, all right—but he was going to rule by
suffering and dying and rising from the dead.
And Peter wouldn’t hear it! Peter wouldn’t have anything
like that happen to his Messiah!
In the words of preacher and author Tom Long,
"Peter is like a man who has just been named campaign manager for a
promising presidential candidate, who astonishingly hears the
candidate proclaim that he can accomplish his goals only by being
assassinated."[1]
So Peter strides up to Jesus, wags his finger in his face, scolds
Jesus, and says, "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen
to you!" The last thing Peter wanted to be was the #1 fan of a
Messiah who was going to die a humiliating death.
And Jesus responds harshly, "Get behind me,
Satan! You are a stumbling block to me!"
Commentator David Garland puts it like this:
"Instead of following in the way of Jesus, Peter tries to take the
lead and plants himself firmly in the way."[2]
Isn’t this typical of Peter?
Or, to bring it closer to home, isn’t this typical of me?
And what about you, as you strive to follow Jesus? Do you and
I ever boldly profess our faith one moment, and then totally miss the
point in the next? And when that happens—when I fail to allow Jesus
to be Jesus, when I let my own agenda and my own limited understanding
trump the claims of Jesus, aren’t I just like Peter? Don’t I become a
stumbling block, a hindrance to Jesus
rather than an asset in his campaign to claim all people for God and
redeem the broken creation?
Yes, I can understand Peter’s reaction. I can understand,
because it’s all too often mine as well: "You can’t do it that way,
Jesus! That doesn’t make sense, Jesus! Just listen to me,
Jesus, and do what I say—and then everything will turn out just fine!"
Fortunately, Jesus wasn’t swayed by Peter’s temptation. And he
isn’t persuaded when I try to tell him how to be Jesus, either.
Instead, Jesus moves forward. He invites Peter and I,
"Get
behind me", where we belong—and makes his way to Jerusalem. He
goes to Jerusalem and suffers exactly the fate he had predicted. He
is opposed by the religious leaders, and arrested, and tried by the
Romans, and sentenced to a horrible, hideous death on a cross.
And then—just as Jesus had predicted—he was raised from the
dead! Peter had apparently not heard that part of the prediction,
and neither, all too often, do I. Peter and I get hung up on the
suffering of Jesus—and our own—and completely forget that the outcome
is life—resurrected life for Jesus, abundant life for Peter, life full
of meaning for me, and then, when this life is over, life with God for
all eternity.
Whatever the cost, Jesus was determined to get to Jerusalem. He
put his best foot forward, moving confidently into servanthood. All
along the way the disciples had been saying very sensible things; they
were interested in the safest route, bent on survival.
But Jesus was driven by the gospel. That good
news of God’s reign in love would move his followers beyond survival.
Jesus showed that life can be more than just making it; life can be a
healing, forgiving, and renewing venture of faith.
This is the One who offers himself as Peter’s leader—and yours
and mine. Jesus, who doesn’t dance around death, but goes
through it to release God’s abundant love and forgiveness and
mercy and healing into the world!
This is the One we’re called to follow—Jesus, who brings
life to the world, yes, but in a most unusual way. He brings life
through suffering and death.
And so he offers us a challenging teaching about following him
today. He wants us to have no illusions. He wants us to realize
that, just as being Messiah was hard for him, beings disciples will be
challenging and difficult for us. Thus the teaching about taking up
the cross, and denying ourselves, and forsaking what the world
considers valuable in order to follow the truly priceless path of
Jesus.
And it is hard. It’s hard to be a disciple. It’s
difficult and challenging to follow Jesus.
As disciples, we often find ourselves at odds with the world.
The values of the world are not always the values of the kingdom of
God. The places where the world teaches us to find meaning, Jesus is
likely to declare "empty". The world values celebrity and being in the
spotlight—and Jesus teaches us to value humility. In the world,
wealth is meant to be hoarded and spent selfishly; in the kingdom of
God, it’s meant to be used generously to further God’s mission of
giving life to the world. The world values a life of ease and
physical beauty, while Jesus values service and inner beauty. The
world celebrates power over others and military might over enemies,
but in the kingdom of God, sacrificial living and peace and
reconciliation with enemies are lifted up. What the world encourages
us to find, Jesus teaches us to lose—and demonstrates it with his own
life.
That’s why it’s hard to follow Jesus: what the world values, the
message that bombards us everyday, is that we need to get every
advantage, climb and crawl and scrape our way to the top, and get
ahead. Jesus, on the other hand, insists, "Get behind me!" as he
makes his way to a cross.
So why follow Jesus? Why follow One who promises life will be
hard?
Let me offer this: when all is said and done, of what value to us
will be all those thinks we think are so important but will not
last? On the other hand, when we follow Jesus, we know this: we live in
the company of the One who forgives sin, who destroys death, who gives
hope and purpose even in life’s most difficult moments. When we follow
Jesus, we follow the One who promiss eternal life. Doesn’t all that
make it worth following Jesus?
Now, for some Christians, the way of the cross might indeed lead to
suffering and death. But, for many of us, the way of the cross is lived
daily, quietly, faithfully. Tom Long says it like this: "although the
cross may look insignificant and foolish to the world, bearing a cross
counts in the kingdom of heaven, counts to God. A life that is spent
soothing the pain of the sick, caring for children in need, hammering
nails in houses for the homeless, sharing bread with the hungry,
visiting those in prison, and denying oneself may seem like a squandered
life in the economy of a self-centered age, but in the storehouse of
heaven, it is a lavish treasure.
A group of tourists was gathered at the base of some of the cliff
dwellings at Mesa Verde in southwest Colorado. A ranger was orienting
them for a walking tour to some less accessible sites. "Folks,"
bellowed the ranger, "in the next two hours you will hike into a canyon,
climb rope ladders with 300 rungs, and crawl through narrow passages on
your hands and knees. If you have a heart condition, I don’t
recommend your coming. Are there any questions?"
The group was silent, intimidated, many of them doubting they were
up to the challenge. Finally, an excited 12-year-old girl’s hand shot
up. Almost breathless, she exclaimed, "Do we really get to hike
into a canyon and climb 300 steps on a rope ladder and crawl through
rocks on our hands and knees? Is it true? Do we really
get to?"
Jesus is looking for some followers who are willing to endure any
obstacle, any challenge, for the joy of following him.
Yes, by the grace of God, we really do get to follow! And we
already have God’s Spirit.
