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Sermon - The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost (A) - 31st August 2008
St Alban's Epping 7am, 8am and 10am
Reading: Matthew 16:21-28
One of the best gifts I ever got for Fathers Day was the boxed set of the TV series “The World at War.” Though the series was made in 1974 it was shot in the modern style where you don’t have interviewers asking question. Rather there are a series of eye-witnesses telling their story of the Second World War from their point of view. The other great strength of the series is that many of the key decision-makers of that war were still alive in 1974 and were able to explain the events as they saw them. So the series takes you into the heart of the decision-making process of the key players of the War. These eye-witnesses can take you into Churchill’s war cabinet describe the interplay of the personalities. They can take you to the last hours of Hitler’s life in the bunker – what he did, what he said, the contents of his last meal. For an historian, the series gives amazing details – it re-creates the moments when great decisions were made.
And remarkably we have exactly the same experience in today’s gospel reading. We are taken to a very sensitive political discussion between Jesus and his disciples. In effect, they are discussing the question of who rules the world. If you had asked the man in the street of ancient times this question, the answer was easy – it was Rome, or more specifically, Tiberius Julius Caesar. But Jesus was challenging that answer by asking the question “Who do men say the Son of Man is?”
This is a dangerous question. And look at where Jesus is when he asks it. He and the disciples have travelled all the way north to Caesarea Philippi. This is about as far north from Jerusalem as Jesus ever went. He is furthest away from the people who could cause him the most harm. And then Jesus asked his disciples “Who do you say I am?” And Peter blurted out, “You are the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.”
But some might take such a statement as treason. The Jews believed the Messiah would be Israel’s greatest king. The Messiah would bring the Kingdom of God, and all his enemies would be beaten down. No way could the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Rome peacefully co-exist. This is dangerous talk. Yet Matthew – no doubt and eye-witness - re-creates the scene for us when such momentous matters are up for discussion amongst Jesus and his disciples.
Jesus had come announcing the Kingdom of God. He had come presenting himself as Israel’s messiah through his preaching, his healing, his cleansing of the Temple. So this is Kingdoms in conflict. Yet at this crucial moment its obvious that Peter and the disciples have no understanding about the coming of the Kingdom and how it will be achieved. The only power they had seen was the power of Rome. They had seen power exercised through the sword, through armies, through oppression of peoples, through harsh taxes, and through mass executions. This was how Rome wielded power in the world.
So what could the disciples expect of God’s kingdom. How will the Kingdom of God match the Kingdom of Rome. Will it be sword for sword, army for army, violence matching violence? Jesus began to explain to his disciples that a completely different strategy would be employed. Jesus must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders. He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. No leader of any new movement before or since has ever proposed anything like this. Jesus is suggesting that the best way to promote his new movement is to die.
Peter came to the obvious conclusion that if Jesus were to die that would be the end of the movement. If Jesus died then all he had worked for would die with him. This is what always happens when leaders of political movements die. But Jesus completely rejected Peter’s criticism. It was essential that Jesus should suffer and die. But more than that, what Jesus is doing is to be a pattern of discipleship. I
f anyone was to be a follower of Jesus, then he needs to follow Jesus by taking up his own cross. It is a picture of sacrificial service. It is a new expression of how we are to love our neighbour. It is expressed in terms of sacrificial service of one another. For Jesus to succeed in his mission it was necessary that he take up his cross so that he might die, and by dying, he could defeat death and rise again. That act was completed once and for all. It cannot be repeated. But just as Jesus has served us, we are called to serve one another. This is to be the features and the quality of the new Kingdom of God. It is not according to the old principles, not according to the wisdom of this world, but according to the wisdom of the new Kingdom of God. And its not what we would normally expect. It is all back-to-front. ‘Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.’
If you go into any large bookshop, there will always be a major section devoted to how to be successful in life. The series of books I like most are the “Dummies” . ‘Accounting for Dummies’, ‘Building for Dummies’, maybe even ‘Brain Surgery for Dummies’ – I don’t know. The implication is that even Dummies can be a success, may be even a Dummy like me. But this also implies that we have a large amount of control over our lives and our circumstances, that there is no good reason why we can’t achieve the success we crave. But such control is just an illusion.
So Jesus suggests a different approach. Those who lose their lives will find it. Here is real success in the Kingdom of God. Those who take up their cross, those who give their life in service of others, those who according to worldly standards have lost their lives will be the ones who find it.
But then Jesus challenges us with the alternative. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world yet forfeits his own soul? Some people gain great success in life, but it is no guarantee of anything. How many Hollywood stars spend their lives in rehab for substance abuse? The suicide rate among the rich is higher than for the poor. I remember hearing Barry McGuire speak on this topic. If you can remember the 60’s, he was the one who released the song “Eve of Destruction”. Through that song and other successes he had on Broadway, he became very rich. He had been very poor, but he had achieved everything his heart desired. At the peak of his success he realised it meant nothing to him. He said his life didn’t really change until he too became a follower of Jesus.
And Jesus is warning his disciples that the Kingdom of God is coming and so that they can prepared for it they must begin living their lives according to its principles – taking up the cross, following Jesus, losing our lives in order to save them. Not exchanging the attractions of this world while losing your own soul. Because the day of the Kingdom will surely come.
And here Jesus uses a picture well known in the ancient world. When a king would return from a victorious battle, when he entered his capital city, all those who had helped in the victory would be assembled before him. Then the king would go down the line and present rewards to each of his loyal subjects. It was a time of celebration. But a good king would make sure everyone shared in the rewards. The celebration was for everyone. So Jesus is saying the Kingdom of God is coming and it will be just like that – a time of celebration, a time of reward for all those who did take up their cross, who did lose their lives, and by losing their life, they found it.
And not only is the Kingdom coming, it is very close. It would happen in their life time – and of course we know that through Jesus’ death and his resurrection the Kingdom has arrived. But the challenge for us is that we live in the overlap between the Kingdom of this world and the Kingdom of God. The challenge for us is to consider our citizenship. We can live by the standards of the Kingdoms of our world or we can live by the standards of God’s kingdom. The challenge for us is our commitment to the prayer we pray when we say, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Do we really want that, do we really want the standards of heaven being affirmed on earth? Are we prepared to assist in the fulfilment of that prayer? Are we willing to live as loyal citizens of heaven upon earth? These are big questions. It is a big challenge. Taking up the cross requires everything of us. But we are encouraged when we consider the victory of God – that Jesus did defeat death, the Kingdom has come, the King will reward his people. Lost lives will be found. The Son will come in all his father’s glory. We have every reason to hope. So now, will we accept the challenge?