Proper 17A
Valerie Ann Hart
St. Alban’s 9/1/96
Matthew 16:21-27
Last week
in the Gospel reading, Jesus asked the question “Who do you say that I am.”
Peter had answered with a confession inspired by the spirit, “You are the Christ.
The son of the Living God.” Peter had been graced to know the truth that Jesus
is the Messiah sent by God.
In today’s
gospel, which follows right after last week’s reading of Peter’s confession and
Jesus naming him Peter, the rock, on which he would build his church, we find
Jesus saying to Peter, “Get behind me Satan.” Rather than being a rock to build
on, Peter is called a stumbling block. What happened?
Well, Peter
had been graced to know that Jesus was the Messiah, but Peter had his own ideas
of what that meant. The Messiah was usually seen as a king for Israel, a
conqueror, who would bring in a triumphant celebration. Peter did not like the
suggestion that this Messiah business involved death. That wasn’t part of his
preconceived idea. He liked the attention of the crowds, the thoughts of being
a great hero, the love he felt being with Jesus, the peace he had found walking
with him. It all felt really good to his ego. He didn’t want to hear anything
about death. He didn’t want to be told that Jesus would soon be killed. He didn’t
want to lose all these good feelings he was having. He was comfortable, things
were going well. Why change things now?
I think
Peter also realized that if Jesus, their leader, was to die, that they, his
followers, also needed to be ready to die. We all have a very strong sense of
self preservation. Perhaps Peter hoped that if he could convince Jesus not to
take this dangerous road, he could protect himself as well.
But that is
not the kind of Messiah Jesus was called to be. He was called to sacrifice
himself for all people. And he calls his followers also to be willing to
sacrifice themselves.
Paul uses
the image of presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice. Offering ourselves,
rather than some animal, rather than our goods, but our very selves to God.
That is the true spiritual worship. Jesus said that those who lose their life
for my sake will find it. Sometimes when I read these words I feel a little
like Peter. Hey, this is not the kind of savior I had in mind. I like the good
feelings I get in church, I like feeling loved by God, I enjoy the beauty of
the the parables and the sense that Jesus is my shepherd. I like the story of
the infant baby, the joy of the resurrection, but I’m not to sure about this
dying stuff, this giving our bodies as a living sacrifice. My sense of self
preservation sometimes jumps in and wants to re-think things.
What does
it mean to lose one’s life so that we can find it? Well think about what
happens when we graft a tree. We may find an apple tree that has very sweet
fruit, but the roots are not very healthy, so we cut the tree off from its
roots, literally killing it, and then take it and graft it onto healthy roots,
where the sapling can grow strong. The original tree is dead, but a stronger,
healthier, tree has been created that can bear wonderful fruit. Like that tree,
we must be cut off from the roots that hold us back, that do not nourish us,
that keep us from bearing the fruit we can, and we are grafted into the strong
and healthy root of God’s Son.
I once saw
an add in one of those catalogs we get each spring for a tree that had apples,
pears, and peaches. One root had had grafted onto it three different trees. Each
bearing different fruit because they came with different gifts. The various
trees had quite literally become one tree, no longer three separate trees.
Paul
describes the fellowship of all Christians as one body with many members. All
Christians who have offered their lives as a living sacrifice become grafted to
the one source, Christ, and thereby become one body. One entity. Each of us has
different gifts, like apples, pears and peaches. An apple still gives apples
and shouldn’t feel bad about not giving peaches. Christ needs all of our gifts
to be the kingdom of God on earth.
Through
giving up of our sense of separateness, by offering ourselves to be of service,
by letting our bodies be a living sacrifice, we become so much more. But we do
have to die to our old sense of who we were. We do need to cut ourselves off
from that which keeps us from love and service, we do have to die. And that is
not easy, and doesn’t happen all at once. Sometimes we feel that we have let go
of an old habit or way in which we didn’t serve God, only to find that that
root is still there, we fall back into old ways of being.
Each day we
need to offer ourselves anew. Remind ourselves of who we really are - loved
servants of the Christ. I as a clergy person I need to remind myself each day
more than anyone. And in my morning meditations I usually begin with a prayer
something like this:
Lord, I offer myself to you, Body, Mind, Heart and Spirit,
Make me an instrument of your love.
Take my head to be in your service,
Take my brain and power of reason to know what is right,
Take my eyes to see your glory surrounding me,
Take my ears to hear the cries of the poor and the whisper
of your love,
Take my mouth to speak your Word,
Take my tongue to taste the gift of life,
Take my throat to sing your praise,
Take my neck and make it strong,
Take my shoulders to bear whatever burdens you choose to
give me, and help me know I never bear them alone,
Take my arms and make them strong to work for your kingdom
and gentle to hug,
Take my hands to take and bless and break and give, guide
them in all actions reaching out to others,
Take my chest for your service, with each breath let me be
filled with your sweet air and your divine spirit.
Take my heart and let it be full and open, loving all in
your name,
Take my backbone and make it strong, giving confidence to do
your will,
Take my internal organs, those wonderful gifts that keep the
body running, and make them healthy in your service,
Take my pelvic area, may all my sexuality be an expression
of your love,
Take my legs and make them strong to carry me wherever you
may call,
Take my feet and let them follow paths of love and service.
Amen
