Year A Proper 16 21 August 2011
Exodus 1:8 - 2:10 Psalm 124 Romans 12: 1-8 Matthew 16: 13-20
When God gets involved in our lives amazing things happen.
Matthew 16:16-20 “Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of death will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.”
Most often people read this verse and concentrate on the role that Peter played in the establishment of the church, but if we look beyond this we will see that Jesus is telling his followers some very important things, which will encourage and reassure his followers throughout the hard times to come.
Firstly, we read the statement of faith where Peter proclaims that Jesus is the promised Messiah and the Son of the living God. It is this “rock” that is the foundation stone of the Church. Then we discover some aspects about this Church; Jesus says that the gate of death will not overcome this church. In some translations it says “the gates of Hades” or “the gates of Hell”.
It is important to realize that Jesus knew these followers were going to feel that Hell was fighting against them and winning. It would seem at times as though everything was so hard. There would be persecutions, imprisonment and throwing to the lions. It would certainly not always look like the gates of death would not overcome.
In our first reading we find out what it means when God says that the Gates of death will not overcome His church. We find that the descendants of those sons of Israel who sold their brother as a slave have now become enslaved. The Egyptians despised and enslaved the Israelites with hard labour, but still the Israelite population grew, and so the Egyptians killed all the males who were born to the Israelites.
An Israelite lady gave birth, during this time, to a beautiful health baby boy and she hid him from the authorities. When she could no longer hide him she made a basket, made it waterproof and set it in the Nile river with the baby inside. The baby’s sister stayed nearby to see what would happen. It would seem that this act was that of a visionary, who did not despair, but trusted in the providence of God. She may have given birth previously and lost the child.... we don’t know the dark and troubled circumstances which had previously been her life, but we know that she gave this baby every possible chance of life that she could. What happens next is amazing.
Pharaoh’s daughter went to the river to bathe, saw the basket and felt sorry for the baby. The baby’s sister, who had been watching the proceedings, seized the opportunity and offered to find a lady to nurse (i.e. to breast feed and care for) the child for Pharaoh’s daughter, indicating that Pharaoh’s daughter had taken on the responsibility for the baby. Pharaoh’s daughter was obliging and so the baby was taken back to its mother. Pharaoh’s daughter even paid the mother to look after the child, and then when he was old enough he went to live in the palace. This was the beginning of the life of Moses, the great prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery – but not until after many of his own struggles.
Romans 12:1-2 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is true worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
What is the thought pattern of this world? With the many on antidepressants and most of us stressed, I expect that we have succumbed to the conformity of this world.
People who can hope though there is great darkness, trouble and persecution around them are those who have given their lives to God and through all – trust God. These are not simply clergy and the odd special person, but we are all urged to be like this. We are all urged to entrust our lives into the hands of God.... and this is true worship. We are urged to be transformed by the renewing of our minds and we do this by getting our minds in line with God.... How? We are transformed by the gift of the Holy Spirit through studying the word of God, the Bible and by prayer and by being connected to the body of Christ – His Church. Remember, it is His Church that the gates of death will not overcome.
Within the Church, and through the gift of the Holy Spirit, are people are called and gifted in many different ways.
Romans 12:6-8 “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
Here we find seven gifts listed. There are others listed in other places and the point is to know that your gift is a responsibility. It is given to you for the good of the body of Christ. This particular list is one that someone, somewhere, at some point in time developed a bit of an idea about and called them the motivational gifts. This was an exercise that I went through a number of years ago and I found it really helpful in understanding where I fitted in and most particularly why I was so frustrated.
Sometimes we mistakenly “pigeon-hole” people into areas within the church where they are not really called to be. I remember going on a camp with some Papa New Guineans’ and there was a man who frustrated everyone. He tried very hard to be the “leader”, as that was what the culture seemed to dictate should be his role in the church as a male. He was a round peg in a square hole. Then at the end of the camp he sang some songs he’d written and the whole group was totally amazed at how wonderful it was. In his eyes, however, the singing and artistic things were the role of the women.
You can actually answer a few questions online and get a fair idea of what your gift is. (To do this go to www.gifttest.org and click the link that says “Take the Survey”).
What is important is to understand the part of the Romans reading that we haven’t yet looked at....
Romans 12:3-6 “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.”
No gift is above another in the eyes of God. Each is meant for the good of the whole Church and is vital to the health and effectiveness of the Church.
Too often I see people in society think more highly of themselves than they ought. I had a brief conversation with someone recently about an experiment I heard about. I can’t remember much about it except that many good, moral people given the extreme circumstances gave way to some depraved behaviour. The person I was conversing with expressed that they’d like to think they were not they kind of person who would do those things. We all like to think that we’d hold true to our moral convictions under all circumstances, but I honestly believe that any good that we have, and can hold on to, is by the grace of God.
It is by the grace of God that we are born to families who impart values. It is by the grace of God that we can comprehend the good of those values. It is by the grace of God alone that if we were to be tested we might stand firm. I’m guessing this is the reason for the words of the “Our Father”, “save us from the time of trial”, or as it has been traditionally translated, “deliver us from temptation”. The reason we must pray it is because without the intervention of God we will fail.
It is an attitude of thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought that leads to the judgment and un-forgiveness that I wrote about last week. Being particularly clever, or gifted athletically or artistically, is no reason for thinking more highly of ourselves – though many do this. Our abilities are gifts from God. We practise and improve, but ultimately our abilities are gifts.
It is also important to note that these gifts we read about in the letter to the Romans, have no gender attached and in God’s redeemed there is no longer a status difference between male and female, as all are one in Christ Jesus. Some of these gifts involve leading. It doesn’t specify that this is only for males. Some of the gifts involve teaching – it doesn’t specify that if you are female you can only teach women and children. If we take these gifts and put limits on them we are limiting, quenching and grieving the Holy Spirit.
One final point: It was the mother of Moses who went about making a basket for him. It was the sister of Moses who kept watch and then suggested the mother as the nurse for the baby, and it was the daughter of Pharaoh who rescued the child, protected it and took responsibility for its life. These were brave women who stood up for something good and life-giving in a time of great darkness, but it was God’s plan, and the gates of death did not overcome it.
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