Proper 17 (22) Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost Year A August 30, 2020
Today we ponder; what does it meant to take up our cross and follow Jesus? “Love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour”. Where do we see examples of this in the world around us? Perhaps it is easier to think of examples where there is failure to do this.
I have a group of friends from when I was at high school. There are five of us girls, who catch up every now and then. Our group is a precious support for each of us. Two are married and three of us… are not. What is clear, just from looking at our group and those around us, is that the human race has great difficulty generally, in keeping healthy and wholesome relationships.
The general thought might be that selfishness is the problem. Yes, we do often behave selfishly, but I believe fear is the root of the problem – we fear losing something of ourselves and so we behave selfishly to guard ourselves. While it is wise to have a good strong sense of boundaries to protect ourselves from those who would take advantage and disrespect our being, it is a fine line between having good boundaries and putting up a wall. The boundaries are healthy and something we do out of respect for others and ourselves, but a wall is something we build out of unhealthy fear.
Moses is an example of someone who initially built a wall. He ran away from Egypt in fear. Moses was living in the desert for many years because of his fear and I wonder how many of us, have figuratively run away to the desert out of fear. This happens a lot in families and the pain is considerable. We live ok, but the vastness between some significant relationships and us seems possibly insurmountable. God used a burning bush to get Moses’ attention, and then spoke to him about going back to Egypt – the place from which he’d run. In returning, Moses would be facing the pain of past failure and lost relationships. If God required Moses to face his fears, do we not think God might ask the same of us? What do we imagine God might require of us?
Today’s reading from Romans reminds me of the poem Desiderata by Max Ehrmann (1927) – Are you familiar with it? It begins, “Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons”. If you haven’t seen this poem, I recommend you look it up, as it is well worth its place, framed and hung with pride in many homes.
It echoes our reading “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good;” and in particular, “If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”… Each line of this Romans reading could be a whole sermon, but some stand out as being a little jarring, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.” That’s a little tough to say the least.
This year while locked down for COVID I did some research and decided I wanted to do the Seder meal. The Holy Thursday New Testament version of the Passover - The event which God enacted through Moses, where plagues were visited on the Egyptians and finally many were killed in the Red Sea. In one section of the meal we were instructed to dip our finger into the red wine and place drops of wine on our plate. Each drop from the cup of salvation signified something, but most interestingly, was the one signifying the pain and loss, suffered by the Egyptians. It is a solemn acknowledgment of the enemies’ pain and loss.
If you have ever had friends who’ve fallen out with each other you will know the truth of “there are three sides to every argument…. His, hers and the truth.” There are people in our lives who persecute us. They are clearly in the wrong, but why do they do what they do? Only God knows! And most times they think they are in the right. We can put clear boundaries between them and us, but God reminds us to bless them and not curse. The Israelites reverently acknowledged the sorrow of their enemies though it was an event of their greatest victory and their deliverance by God.
On Wednesday’s I meet with a few Street Chaplains for prayer. One man who comes to the group is an incredible example of this in action - of blessing those who persecute us. I’ve often heard him pray with genuine love for those who persecute him. Is he broad shouldered and someone who nothing bothers? Quite the opposite. He is sensitive and feels the weight of the persecution, but he is smart enough to understand that each person, generally thinks that their actions are right – and even if not – we are told to love – so he does.
It does seem to me, that God’s ways are often upside down to what we think. I remember once hearing a person in a Christian organisation say, “If only we could remove those people who are problems.…”and she had certain people in mind. The hilarity of that statement was that I was sitting there, knowing full well how many thought that she was the problem person that we could do without.
Now, Jesus had an understanding of who He was, and He knew that He was to be crucified. He was to be the Lamb of God – who would atone for the sin of the world. His disciples should have had some idea also, as this term, Lamb of God, John the Baptist declared over Jesus at the baptism in the river Jordan.
Our Gospel reading begins with the words, “from that time”…. From what time? That time was the high point where Peter declared Jesus to be the Messiah and then Jesus told him that on that rock he would build his church. I guess Peter felt firmly established in the scheme of things and had a vision in his head about how the next while was going to play out. Jesus explains the truth about how things would play out and Peter knows that this is vastly different from his own vision. Jesus says to him, “Get behind me Satan” – how that must have cut deep!
There is an important message for us in this. We can be God’s right hand person, with vision and ability to build a church, but we can be possibly standing right in the way of what God’s actual plan is.
In the same way that it seems sensible and logical to ensure that only like-minded people, who believe all the same things are in a Christian organisation, so too it seems foolish that the Saviour of the world should die on a cross. This is the logic of mere mortals and fortunately for us, God understands a lot more than us.
Our logic, compared to God’s logic is what I like to call “Duck Logic”. There is a particular Monty Python skit, where a woman is accused of being a witch and the people want to burn her. A calm and logical voice interjects and suggests that there is a way to prove if she is indeed a witch. That voice asks, “What do we do with witches” the crowd replies, “Burn them”. “And what else burns”….. “Wood”…. And what do we know about wood”…. “It floats on water”… “And what else floats” "ducks”…. “So logically, if she weighs the same as a duck, then she is a witch…”
What is true about this skit is that if our logic and understanding is limited, our conclusions will be wrong. Our understanding of the universe is limited and our conclusions can be wrong. Peter, though well-meaning and with some knowledge and considerable standing in the group, got it wrong. There is a message of warning here for us all. How can we get it right?
In our Gospel reading Jesus informs us, "If any want to become my followers, 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?”
Jesus came to bring us life and that life is abundant and to the full. In the Greek language of this verse about losing our life, it defines the particular kind of life, as being our psychological life. This is about our mind and will. Can we surrender our mind and will to God? When we deliberately commit to God and surrender to the Lordship of Christ in our lives, we gain the Spirit life of God, which is the abundant, spiritual and eternal life of God.
We have been given free will. Our mind and our will is our own. Are we going to go our own way? We are free to do so, but what will it profit us if we gain the whole world but forfeit that life that God wants to give us?
The paradox of losing life to gain it, is easy for those who feel that they have nothing to lose, but God calls to us all, to realize that all that glitters in this life is not gold, but sometimes it is fool’s gold. What do we imagine we are losing when we give our life to God? Most will immediately think about their life style, but I suspect God is less concerned with those material things and a whole lot more concerned about our relationships and how we treat each other. It is obvious that we are not getting it right on our own, as we’ve already spoken about how we live in fear and build walls in our relationships instead of bridges.
We have failed relationships left, right and centre and blessing those who curse us is actually beyond us – we can’t do it. I can’t will myself to do it unless…. I have God’s life empowering me.
There is that part in the Lord’s Prayer, which I believe to be crucial; it is where we pray, “Your Kingdom come, your will be done”. This is the element of surrender. I choose not my own Kingdom and my own will, because the important thing is God’s Kingdom and God’s will.
Day to day we will still battle to get it right, and day to day we need to remind ourselves, not my will, but yours be done. And then, we begin to live the adventure. Not necessarily free from pain and sorrow, but never meaningless. It is a life filled with miracles, if we can open our eyes to see them. Living the Spirit filled, abundant life we start to realize that God’s will is to prosper us and not harm – to give us a hope and a future. The first step and every step after is to submit our will to God. I have decided to follow Jesus – no turning back, no turning back.
