Matthew 16:21-28
Pent 14A
Rev. Dr. Bruce Roth
Beloved People of God…
I. Making change: $10 bill. 8 quarters. 30 dimes. 60 nickels. 200 pennies. Anyone?
A. Change for Lutherans
B. A longtime member of one church actually scolded a pastor for his seemingly radical new ideas and changes: “Reverend, if God were alive today, He would be shocked at the changes in this church!”
II. Today’s Text: Significant change from last week
A. Peter
1. Last week we saw Peter make the bold declaration that Jesus was the Messiah, the son of the living God. And he was blessed. He was called the Rock and given the keys of the kingdom of God.
2. This week: He’s called Satan. What a change! What a difference a week makes.
3. I feel for Peter. I’m not alone. I’ve used a devotional entitled Sources of Strength by Jimmy Carter. On my way to vacation, I had the opportunity to stop and see an old friend from college whose wife was invited to preach and teach at Jimmy Carter’s church, by Jimmy Carter – she had encouraged me to use the devotion once upon a time. In it he describes an experience he had teaching Sunday school while he was President of the United States. He asked different classes who their favorite disciple was. He writes that almost unanimously Peter the response. Why? Some say, “I feel at ease with him.” Or “He’s human.” “Peter was impetuous, he overdid things.” When he failed, he really failed. Strangely enough, the Bible tells us much more about Peter than about any of the apostles, including the names of his father and brother, that he was married, and of course, his profession. Peter had an intricate relationship with Jesus and a roller-coaster career with soaring successes and abysmal failures.
4. This was one of those failures. Peter didn’t understand what it meant that Jesus was the messiah-the son of the living God. He didn’t catch Jesus’ vision. Peter had a vision of glory and might. You can just imagine how he felt last week—he’d been given the keys to the kingdom; he was the rock. He was puffed up.
B. Jesus’ Words
1. The idea that Jesus would suffer completely changed Peter’s perception of what was to happen. Jesus’ vision was nothing short of the kingdom of God. And Jesus knew that to make that a reality—it would require suffering—going to places that weren’t always comfortable.
2. Jesus’ words totally deflated Peter. So, Peter does something for which we really can’t criticize, he tries to protect Jesus saying, “Not you Lord.” Peter the rock would never let that happen.
III. The Cost of the Cross
A. Jesus proclaims, “Get behind me Satan.”
1. Why?
2. Peter didn’t understand the cost of the cross. He didn’t understand how much change grace required. Nor did he understand that from it—new life would come.
B. Well, Pastor, “Isn’t grace free?” Grace is indeed the free gift of God.
1. I heard a great definition of grace though using the word grace as a guide: God’s riches at Christ’s expense. It’s a phrase that is not only beautiful but also very apt. While grace is indeed a free gift of God – it wasn’t free. And it calls forth something from us - a response.
2. One person who understood this is the great German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He was a protestant pastor during Hitler’s Nazi regime, leading churches not only in Germany but in Spain and England as well. A good friend, Reinhold Niebuhr who was another eminent German theologian who had moved to the United States, encouraged Bonhoeffer to come and stay in America, for his own safety. Bonhoeffer refused. He felt he had to be among the other Christians who he knew were being persecuted in Germany. So, he returned home after a lecture tour in America, preached publicly against Nazism and anti-Semitism. And he kept secret the plot to assassinate Hitler, which one of his relatives helped to organize in 1944. Bonhoeffer was eventually arrested and imprisoned in 1945. Three days before the allied armies liberated Germany, he was executed on the orders of Heinrich Himmler. He died a disciple and a martyr. He died so that others might live. He took seriously the call of Christ to pick up his cross and follow. You may have heard of a book he wrote years before his death, “The Cost of Discipleship.” The basic message—Grace is not cheap. It is God’s riches at Christ’s expense. He did it because he held close the promise of new life and wanted others to experience the gift of that life in his time.
IV. Last week I asked you, who do you say Jesus is? Our response was not unlike Peter. We know that Jesus is the Messiah—the Son of the living God. Today I ask you another question. What does it mean for you to pick up the cross and follow? What is the cost of your cross? Are you ready for life, as you know it to be changed? Or does your vision of what God wants fall short of the glory of the kingdom of God?
A. It may mean you’re called to do something that isn’t very comfortable for you.
1. Maybe it means that you’re willing to respond to the call to use your gifts to share your faith with our children and teach Sunday school—even though you’d rather go out for breakfast.
2. Maybe it means that you’re going to try to invite your neighbor to church—the one who doesn’t quite keep up with their yard the way you do.
3. As a church we’re trying some things that we believe our ways that we are called to carry the cross in order to fulfill our mission to Worship God. Grow in Faith. And Offer Hope. I remember, years ago, when we started a brand new worship service at St. Stephen. It was a contemporary service that was offered in-between the two more traditional services. It would be offered during Sunday School and there was great concern about it. One particular member was very concerned about doing this new thing and how it would affect her. We’ll call her Bea, because that was here name. Share conversation about Bea. (What would you do to encourage your adult children and grandchildren to go to church? Anything!) That’s what we’re trying to do. Bea turned around and bought the keyboard for the band – a very expensive one at the time. She responded and was willing to pick up the cross. How about you?
Our call is to pick up our cross and follow. That will mean different things for each of us. But the promise for all of us—is new life—because Christ himself carried the cross. And today, the grave is empty. Jesus lives. There is new life. Amen.