Scripture reference: Matthew 16: 21-28
As a senior in high school I needed an elective to fill my class schedule. Academics wasn't exactly my strong suit, so in choosing my class I was looking for an "easy A." A friend of mine suggested that I take accounting. She assured me that it would be a piece of cake. She herself almost never took her book home and the final was a breeze. Sounded like just what I was looking for. But for me the accounting class was another story altogether. I took book home every day trying to keep up. After working my tail off all semester I finally managed only a B in the class. Has anyone here ever had this experience: you go into a situation expecting one set of circumstances but get something else once you get there?! I can tell you now that I benefited from my class in accounting, and still use it to this day - but it wasn't what I thought it would be.
So far in Matthew's gospel we can probably guess that expectations among the disciples are pretty high. Jesus is a fantastic teacher, and a worker of miracles. The disciples have seen lepers healed, paralyzed people walk, demon-possessed people delivered, and the dead brought back to life. They had even seen Jesus walk on water and themselves participated when Jesus fed multitudes with just a little bread and fish. A prophet like this hadn't appeared in Israel for over 400 years. Surely good times were a-coming!
The main problem facing the Jewish people in this time period surely was their occupation by the Romans. Essentially the Jews were an enslaved people. Romans could tax them unfairly, treat them brutally, and even prevent them from worshiping in the temple. If we hold this political situation in mind we can see the context for Jesus' coming on the scene. It wouldn't be difficult for the people to connect this powerful prophet with the great leaders of their history - most notably King David! For a long time the Jews were looking for a new King David, to rescue them from their oppressors, and to restore Israel's glory. This was the expectation they held for Jesus - to rescue, to deliver, to destroy the enemy.
But the expectations of the people do not match Jesus' own sense of mission. When Peter acknowledges Jesus as the Christ, Jesus follows the confession with the revelation that he will soon die on the cross. Peter is shocked and troubled. Not only does he love his friend, and wants his friend to be safe, but Jesus' words throw over the expectations they've all developed around Jesus' career. They don't yet understand the way of the cross, the way of resurrection.
Last week I talked about my own confession of faith, which I made as a 16-year-old. As a young man I experienced great insecurity, and thought I would protect myself by picking a career which was financially lucrative. I decided to go to law school and land a high-paying job. And now that I was a Christian, with God on my side, surely life would be an "easy A" for me. Little did I know that when I made my confession of faith, God had other plans for me - plans which contradicted my own life expectations. Instead of going to law school, I ended up in seminary, preparing for a life which would be a "hard B" rather than an "easy A." I also had expectations for getting married early in my life and setting up a secure and predictable household. But I found myself waiting throughout my twenties without a prospect. When I turned thirty I met Anna - but she was moving to New York. Cold and far from everything I knew, this too defied my expectations for a comfortable and "easy A" life.
Today the struggle between my own expectations and the way I feel called continues. I really want to get along with people and be liked. At the same time I feel a strong conviction to speak up for people that our society marginalizes. I feel led to defend African Americans, Mexicans and Islamic people from prejudice. I feel led to defend gay and lesbian people and advocate for their rights. I feel that I must challenge us to respect those who are poor, uneducated, and mentally ill. These challenges create friction and discomfort, since the implication is clear: if we are to be a truly Christ-like church we must take seriously our call to be hospitable to all. This means changing our patterns of behavior and even our thoughts. And change is often unwelcome. My calling for it can make me unlikable.
Turns out that - neither in his time nor in ours - did Jesus come to this earth to solve our problems. As Jesus was not interested in overthrowing the Romans, today Jesus is not overly concerned in fixing our political system. Jesus did not come to this earth to help us pay our bills, find a spouse, get a better job or even heal our bodies. Jesus came for one purpose. Jesus came to obey God and teach others to do the same. Jesus came to this earth to say yes to whatever God would ask of him, even death on a cross. The Bible is clear, Jesus did not want to die on the cross, but Jesus was absolutely committed to obeying God.
In this situation we are likely to sympathize with Peter. He longs for a Messiah who will restore Israel to prominence. He hates to see his people suffer, and certainly wishes for his friend to avoid such a horrible death. And, likely, Peter wishes the same for himself. He wants to live a successful life, to have an "easy A" life. But to me that raises an important question. What does it mean to live a successful life? Is a successful life one that is easy and comfortable? Or is it something else?
Let’s examine Jesus. Born in a small town of little consequence, spent his life preaching to the locals in a tiny part of the Roman empire. He angered the religious establishment, and often confounded his closest friends - and finally made such a nuisance of himself that he ended up being executed as a troublemaker. And yet Christians today are likely to argue that Jesus' life was a tremendous success. Why? Why was Jesus so successful? Because he obeyed God. God asked Jesus to become a itinerant preacher, go around his country teaching and healing. God asked Jesus to challenge the church of his day. Finally God asked Jesus to die upon a cross and with every request Jesus said "yes." That is what made Jesus successful.
In our passage today Jesus says, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” The message is clear: a good and successful life, as defined by Jesus, is one in which we take up our mission, our cross, and live as God would have us live. God has a purpose and plan for each one of our lives. It is our responsibility as individuals and as a church to figure out what that plan is. Once we know what God wants us to do, we do it - regardless of what it costs us or what sacrifices we have to make. How can we discover this plan God has for us? In our Sunday school lesson last week, we read some from Max Lucado, who suggested four steps to learning God's will. We pray, we study, we give, and we fellowship. Practicing these disciplines, with earnest and willing hearts, opens our souls in a powerful way, making space for God to be heard.
But the plan God has for us will not be an "easy A." I am reminded of a sign at the entrance of a wildlife reserve in Africa, which reads, "Advance and be bitten.” There's your warning - this territory we enter is perilous and should be entered reverently. The apostle Paul wrote in Philippians, “I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings.” To Paul all that mattered was that he obeyed Jesus. Suffering was a condition of his faithfulness, and should be understood as a piece of any true faith journey.
Wil Willomon was a famous religious professor at Duke university. He tells the story of when a representative from “Teach America” came to his campus. "Teach America" is an organization which recruits the nation’s most gifted college graduates to serve and teach in some of the nation’s most underserved public schools. When the representative held an informational meeting for the students, she was surprised by the large turnout. Her address to them was equally surprising. She said: “I can tell by looking at you that I have probably come to the wrong place. Somebody told me that this was a BMW campus and I can believe it by looking at you. From your appearance one can tell that you are bound for success. You wouldn’t be a student at Duke university unless you possessed the potential to make it to Wal Street or Madison Avenue. And yet, here I stand, hoping to talk somebody into giving their life away in the toughest job you will ever have. I am looking for people to go into the hollows of West Virginia, into the ghettos of South Los Angeles and teach in some of the most difficult schools in the world. Last year, two of our teachers were killed while on the job. One can tell just by looking at you that none of you are interested. Go on to med school, or whatever successful thing you are planning on doing. But if by chance, a few of you happen to be interested, I’ve got these brochures here for you which tell you about Teach America. Meeting’s over."
This is a strange appeal - no promise of comfort or prestige, or an "easy A." It's more of a challenge, really, than an appeal. But when she was done speaking the entire group stood up, pushed into the aisles, and ran down to the front to fight over the brochures. Willimon later commented, “I learned an important insight that evening. People want something more out of life than even happiness. People want to be part of an adventure. People want to be part of a project greater than themselves.
We need to be clear, friends. Following Jesus isn't a path that leads to an "easy A" life. This isn't a garden party we're invited to, but an adventure. God will call us to deny ourselves, abandon our own expectations for our lives, and certainly carry some difficult burdens. But if we will commit ourselves to God’s will we will discover something remarkable. As we submit ourselves to God, we find ourselves more at home - in our lives and in our world. We make the world a home, a place of healing and challenge, a place of life.
Sermon for August 28, 2011
