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Sermon - Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost (B) - 13th September 2009
St Alban's Anglican Church Epping 7, 8 & 10am
Readings: Proverbs 1:20-33; Psalm 19; James 2:18-26; Mark 8:27-38
“FOLLOWING JESUS: GETTING IT RIGHT”
It’s a common human failing to get a certain amount of knowledge and then jump to the wrong conclusions. It happens in all aspects of life, not least in the way people think about God.
Our Psalmist this morning speaks of the wonders of the universe, and how great God is to be its Creator. But creation itself doesn’t tell us all we need to know about God. For there is also the Law of the Lord: perhaps it is better translated as the instruction of the Lord. For us it is found in the scriptures. There we find life and wisdom and joy and enlightenment and truth and riches. There we are guided and warned against falsehood and evil. No wonder the Psalmist responds with that familiar prayer I used a moment ago, asking that the knowledge we gain may have a real effect on our words and our attitudes.
But scripture itself is so varied in its form and its setting and in the different aspects of its message, that it is easily distorted. I suspect that this is part of the background to James’ words this morning.
From Paul’s letters we know that we are forgiven and saved by God’s grace, his generous gift to us who fall short. We can’t earn salvation, and our good works will not qualify us for a place in God’s kingdom. Our response to Christ is faith : that humble dependence on Jesus whose death on the cross deals with the problem of sin and evil. As we trust in Jesus, we open up to the mercy of God and are welcomed into God’s family and God’s kingdom. As Paul put it, we are justified by faith in Jesus Christ.
But there is a potential problem with the message of grace and faith. It can be misunderstood and distorted. If we are saved by grace, and receive this by trusting in Jesus, then surely God will forgive us whatever we do. Where is the incentive to live godly and compassionate lives? If we’re saved anyway, why should we bother? In fact, the more we sin, the more gracious God will be to us, and surely that will bring him greater honour!
There’s a real but distorted logic to that, and from Paul’s letters we know that he got really frustrated with people who interpreted his message that way. He certainly never said that because we were saved by faith, we could do whatever we feel like, or do nothing at all. He called on those who were saved by Christ to live new lives as Christ’s followers.
But there were those who continued to say “We’re saved and forgiven. We can do what we like!” They accepted a vital part of Paul’s message, but then took it to a false conclusion.
James is aware of this distortion, and responds in his letter. At the end of last week’s reading we heard the words: “faith without works is dead”. And he continues on in today’s reading. Real faith must be expressed in our lives. If we link ourselves with Jesus through faith, we must live the life that goes with true faith. If you think that faith is just believing that the message is true, you’ve missed the point. Faith is not theoretical: it must impact our lives. James is not correcting Paul’s message, but a distortion of Paul’s message. I don’t think Paul would put it the same way as James, but he would thoroughly agree with what James is getting at. Our faith is not just a matter of believing certain ideas, certain truths: our faith must be lived out .
Scripture can be distorted: people jump to the wrong conclusion. And I think this is also useful in thinking about our Gospel reading. People had all sorts of ideas about Jesus and his significance. Many people certainly believed that he was a prophet, a messenger of God. But here, virtually halfway through his Gospel, Mark tells us that Jesus asked his apostles who they thought he was. Inevitably it was Peter who rushed in with the answer: “You are the Christ, the Messiah, God’s chosen and anointed Saviour and King.” Of course he was right. The people who saw him as a prophet were on the right track, but they hadn’t got there yet. Surely it was time to tell them who Jesus really was.
But Jesus did something strange. He ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. Why? Why make this wonderful news a big secret?
Let’s consider what people had in mind when they thought of the Messiah. To many of them, perhaps to most of them, the Messiah, the promised King, was a great Saviour, perhaps like the judges. Surely he would raise an army and liberate God’s people from foreign domination, and set up a glorious kingdom centred in Jerusalem.
People were looking for a political and military figure, who would become a king of wealth and power and prestige. But Jesus had a completely different agenda. He was the Messiah, but his call was not to raise armies or live in palaces, but to undergo great suffering, to be rejected by the Jewish leaders, to be killed, and to rise again on the third day.
This is all too much for Peter. Perhaps, he thinks, Jesus is just having a bad day. He needs to get more positive, to get back on the right track. So Peter quietly tells Jesus that this sort of thing can’t happen to him. Of course he won’t be rejected. Of course he won’t be killed. Peter just wants to reassure Jesus that it will all be OK.
But Jesus’ response to Peter is totally unexpected. No appreciation of Peter’s confidence in him. Not even a patient explanation of the issues Peter doesn’t understand. No, “Get behind me Satan!” are his words to his leading apostle.
Unknowingly, Peter was acting as Satan’s messenger. During the temptations in the desert after his baptism, Satan had sought to distract Jesus from his real priorities, his God-given ministry. Now, Jesus saw Satan using Peter to do the same thing. At that moment, the evil one was desperately real to Jesus, as he spoke through Peter. “Your mind,” Jesus told Peter, “is on human concerns, not God’s concerns. Your agenda is not God’s agenda.”
Jesus knew that his death lay at the heart of his ministry. His victory was to be spiritual, not political or military or material. It would be through the cross that he would storm the depths of hell and overpower the prince of darkness. The prospect of what lay ahead was overwhelming for Jesus, but he would not allow himself to be diverted from his Father’s purposes. Satan had returned, and again he must be dismissed. Hence “Get away Satan”, is his response to Peter’s apparently well-meaning words.
Jesus had come to do God’s will, regardless of the cost, and he would fulfil that plan. This king would not wear a crown of gold, but a crown of thorns. His throne would not be an impressive piece of furniture, but a cross. This king has come to suffer, not to be comfortable.
A very different king from what Peter and the apostles and the people expected: a Lord whose kingdom was not of this world. A leader seeking not fans but followers: a king who calls people not so much to privilege as to discipleship.
“If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” We do hear people talking about the cross they have to bear: usually it is some burden or difficulty, some sickness or pain that must be borne. But when Jesus uses this expression, he refers to something far deeper than even these things. For a cross is not a mere decoration: it is an instrument of death. The person who bears the cross is generally the one who will be executed on that cross.
The follower of Jesus knows that his Master went to death on a cross: ultimately, following Jesus, taking up the cross, means being prepared even to die for him. Of course, for us in Australia, we may believe that there is little risk that we will be called to die for our faith, but in many countries in different parts of the world, Jesus’ words speak of powerful realities.
It has been claimed that there were more Christian martyrs in the twentieth century than in the whole previous nineteen centuries. The cost can be high indeed: but as Jesus says, “what does it profit a person to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?”
We are saved by trusting in Jesus who died to bring us salvation. But we mustn’t get the wrong idea as to what that involves. Faith is not theory: real faith must have its impact on our lives, as James says, as Paul says, as Jesus says. It is there clearly in the scriptures, and it is a mistake to take it for granted. Let’s keep listening to the message of the scriptures, and beware of foolish assumptions. Let’s maintain our faith in Jesus the Messiah and Saviour. And let’s be sure to allow our faith to keep having its effect in our lives. We are not saved by our works. But faith without works is indeed a dead thing.
Paul Weaver