1 Pentecost 11th After A Sunday, August 28, 2011 Pastor Dena Williams Divine Things (IntroductionShare before the

people stand for the Gospel.) Do you remember last Sundays Gospel and sermon?! Well, we told several Peter stories last week, so just in case youve forgotten a bit, heres the Gospel: Jesus comes into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asks his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" And they say, "Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." Jesus says to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answers, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus says to him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. Remember? Remember how we rejoiced with Peter? Way to go Peter! You got it right! You got is so right that these are Jesus next words to you: Jesus says, And I tell you, you are Peter,

2 and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Seems that when Peter declares Jesus to be the Son of God, the Messiah, that is enough for Jesus. He not only tells Peter hes blessed but announces that Peter will be the foundation of the church and the keeper of the keys of heaven! Just one question! Just one answer! Must have been an important question and an important answer. Maybe the only important question and the only important answer. Who do you say that I am? You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. Peter got it right. But thats last weeks story, remember? It was Matthew 16:1320. This weeks Gospel begins in the very next verse, verse 21, right where last weeks Gospel left off. Please stand to welcome the Gospel. The Gospel according to the Community of St. Matthew, again in the 16th Chapter Glory to you, O Lord Jesus begins to show his disciples

3 that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. Then Peter takes Jesus aside and begins to rebuke him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you." But Jesus turns and says to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things." The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, O Christ You may be seated. From rock of the church to stumbling block in one fell swoop! What happened? Why the fall from rock of the church to stumbling block, from Blessed are you Simon Peter, son of Jonah, to Get behind me, Satan! From rock in one verse to devil in the next. What on earth happened? What on earth, indeed. What did Peter say to bring on Jesus anger? All he said was, God forbid it, Lord! Jesus just described how he will suffer and die! Peters response seems reasonable, it would be our response if a friend told us he was about to suffer and die. We would cry out the same prayer.

4 In Peters words we would cry: God forbid! What on earth is wrong with that? Why shouldnt we cry, God forbid! in the face of suffering and death? Why not? Isnt it a good thing to pray that our friend will not suffer and die? Of course it is. Jesus problem with Peters response, with our response to suffering and death, is not our prayer, it is that our words belie our deepest fears. With Peter we are so afraid. We fear the suffering of life. We fear death. And it is our fear that gets us in trouble. For it is our fear of death that makes us afraid to live. Our fear of death and suffering, our focus on these earthly things, makes us afraid to live and to love. Awhile ago the congregation I served had an all day retreat of the congregational council. We talked about many things. We discussed evangelism, finances, worship, outreach, ministry for older adults, a new confirmation program. At midday, we gathered outside, on the deck of our hosts mountain home. The weather was beautiful, the sun was shining, it was cool, the food was good, we were comfortable. Now having spent a rather intense morning going over the details of ministry,

5 one might think that the conversation over the lunch table would be light and pleasant. We might discuss the weather, the good food, the great view. We might tell jokes and share fun stories. Well, I remember vividly the conversation at our table. In this beautiful setting with good food and friends, the uplifting, fun, light hearted topic? Are you ready? We talked at length about . . . dead dogs! We went into detail about what it was like when a dog dies or when we have to have one put to sleep. Can you believe it? Now I dont know what this says about those council members, and Im not going to name names, but it seems that was the best we could do! Even as we were having the conversation, I was thinking, my goodness, cant we do better than this! But we couldnt seem to stop! I was as driven as the rest of the folks. I told about the death of our first dog, a black lab/golden mix named Regal. How she had died of old age. How I had read all about what youre supposed to do when that happens. Wait several months. Dont go out and get another dog right away. Give yourself time to grieve. Yeah, right! My husband John lost 15 pounds in about 10 days, so before he wasted away completely,

6 we got a pair of six week old golden puppies from the animal shelter. Penny was with us for 11 years, Copper for 13. Others told stories as well, stories of much loved dogs who are gone now, some who died years ago. We talked at our house about the pros and cons of getting another puppy or two when Copper died. We were not sure we wanted to do that. Its so hard at the end. There is suffering and death. Were afraid. Our fear interferes with our life. Why cant we just get another pair of puppies and enjoy their time with us? We certainly had wonderful memories of our time with Regal and Penny and Copper. Why wouldnt we get more puppies? Because we are afraid of suffering and death, and that fear of death might keep us from fully living our lives. Thats what we were really talking about that day at lunch. We werent really talking about dead dogs, we were talking about fear, our fear of suffering and death. In our culture it often seems to be poor taste to talk about the death of our loved ones. It might have seemed odd to us for some reason to talk about our mother, our son, our spouse who died. All of us all were a bit too uncomfortable to talk about our sadness and loss over the death of a loved one. So instead, I think, we talked about our dogs. But what we were really talking about was our fear of suffering and death

7 and how that fear can keep us from loving again. How that fear can keep us from entering into loving relationships. How that fear keeps us apart, makes us cautious, causes us to resist connecting with our family members, our neighbors, our fellow members of the Body of Christ. What if we suffer rejection? What if we suffer loss? Our fear makes us hesitant, keeps us apart, our fear leads to loneliness. So when Peter expresses his fear in the words, God forbid. Jesus scolds him, calls him Satan, and says to him: you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things." That human thing for Peter and for us is fear, a fear of loss that causes us to fear love as well. It is dangerous, this fear of loss. It leads us to focus on human things, earthly things. It inhibits our ability to think on divine things. What sort of things? Divine things. Theres something that Peter missed in Jesus words. Something he overlooked because he was so focused on his fear, his fear of suffering and death. Hear the Gospel again: Jesus begins to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering

8 at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. There it is Peter! and on the third day be raised. You missed it friend, but dont feel bad, so did we, so do we. We miss the good news, me miss the hope, we miss the joy, we miss loving relationship when we focus on the fear. Peter missed the good news of the resurrection. Now Im not sure that the dog story metaphor really works here. We dont profess to believe that dogs have souls, that they experience eternal life. Although, Martin Luther proclaimed that all dogs go to heaven. Maybe thats why I like the guy so much. The metaphor seems to break down here. It seems after all, to be an earthly thing. Well, fortunately Jesus lesson to Peter doesnt end here. His teaching is not an earthly thing and does not break down. So what is the divine thing? What is it that Jesus calls Peter, calls us to set our minds too? What is the divine thing? Jesus answers this question. Listen: Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any want to become my followers,

9 let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? "For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom." What are the divine things on which we are called to set our minds? Take up your cross, take up your fear of suffering and death, deny yourself, forget your fear, dont try to save up your life and your love for another day, let go of it, give your life and your love away, and follow me now. Even if you have experienced suffering and death, do not be afraid to live and love again. Jesus doesnt promise us there will be no cross to carry, there is no promise that our lives will be free from suffering and death, but he calls us to take up our cross, to carry it without fear. Why? Why shouldnt we be afraid? Because when we give up our fear, take up our cross and follow him, we will find our lives,

10 we will find love. Where? Where will we find our lives? We will find the lives we seek in loving relationship with God, in loving relationship with others, and with ourselves. For Jesus will come with his angels in the glory of God. He will come and we will not taste death, for he is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Do not be afraid to live and to love! Amen