Spectator to Player - Matthew 16:21-28

Matthew 16:21-28

Follow the leader

The reading from the Gospel according to Matthew this evening follows on from the confession of Peter – He has been told that he is the ’Rock upon which the Church will be founded’, and he replies that Jesus is ‘The Christ, the Son of the living God’.

All is well, and Peter was a hero, he understood who Jesus really was, he understood that Jesus was no mere man, but as one with the God of creation, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jesus - the Son of God who came to this earth to show people about God, and to tell the people of God, in a very real and personal way. Peter had put it all together. For that moment at least, he knew who Jesus was.

He could see who Christ was – and the mission – but unwilling to let him pay the price.

But in today’s lesson, Peter quickly changes from the hero to the zero, from one who is expounding some great truths, to one who is babbling and carrying on about things that he doesn’t understand, or even want to understand.

Peter changes so quickly in fact, that Jesus is extremely harsh when he says, "Get behind me Satan". He is saying… You are tempting me, you are hindering me you are trying to make me change my mind about the course that I am suppose to take. What did Peter do so wrong to change so quickly in just a short time?

After Peter’s confession, Jesus began to tell the disciples about what was ahead for him. Jesus told the disciples that he would suffer at the hands of the religious rulers, he would be put to death by them, but God would raise him on the third day.

Jesus was explaining the suffering servant, the suffering Messiah to the disciples, and Peter out of love and respect, out of his own ideas about the Messiah, out of his own sense of glory and righteousness said, "God forbid, Lord. This shall never happen to you."

Peter could not let Jesus suffer because he loved him so much, he believed in a Messiah that was nothing less than a conquering Messiah. Suffering wasn’t part of his dreams and the expectations for Jesus.

Jesus then goes to tell Peter (especially) but the disciples also that everyone must take up his cross to follow him. Jesus is saying that being a follower of Jesus is no easy matter there is sacrifice, there will be giving up things, there will be suffering, there will be setting priorities in life, so that those things which really do count have the priority.

Jesus is telling the disciple and us this evening that whoever looses their life for him, will find it. Whoever forgets about the demands, the values, the standards of this world, whoever is willing to live totally for Jesus, that person will find life.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote the book"Cost of Discipleship" in which he says that Christians are living by cheap grace. He says, "Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace with out Jesus Christ, living and incarnate."

Why have a Tesco Value faith, when you can have one from Waitrose?

"Bonhoeffer describes costly grace as seeking God daily – looking to God for all we need to live a full life. He says “Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ…. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his son… It grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us, Costly grace is the Incarnation of God. Costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus, it comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and a contrite heart. Grace is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him."

Bonhoeffer is describing a life which is fulfilling the charge of Jesus when he says "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" Bonhoeffer is saying that we have lost sight of the grace which is so costly. We have turned the grace of God into some thing so simple, so watered down, something without meaning that we don’t comprehend, or fathom what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

I was thinking about how we make that decision to accept God’s grace for what it is, and get on with the work. I was thinking about how I can ‘nail down’ this ‘grace’ thing and not worry. I was wondering how I could engage with the great cost of my freedom, paid once for all by Christ – and I realised that it is really a daily task.

· Living through those times when we feel our faith is running on empty

· When people are rude and intolerant – keeping the peace that we might eventually help them change

· Searching for that bit of God in all people – grace – even though some keep it well hidden

· Praying when God seems distant, and celebrating as a church family even though we don’t feel welcome all the time

· Always feeling that our efforts come to nothing, even though we are assured they do

· Finally, living within a suffering world – where the rules of right and wrong seem so topsy-turvy

None of this is new – indeed it has been part of the journey with God for millions upon millions down the ages. For the Prophet Jeremiah – he says to God: “ Truly, you are to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail.” Strong language indeed for those days - His indignation with God cannot be contained, and he speaks his mind.

God then tells him that he will speak his words to the people, and be protected from his persecutors – but not until after JEREMIAH has hit rock bottom – desolate and desperate.

So, in the end, Peter only really expressed concerns that were normal and natural – we want all things to be resolved – and a brighter day to dawn for all people – however sometimes it seems like a lonely road.

On those days – remember that God is always with you, encouraging and empowering you to speak his words and follow without note of the cost – inviting you to upgrade your faith from third class to first –from fatty mince to fillet steak – from bicycle to racing car - from fish paste to caviar – can you think of any more?

But really – the best one I could think of….

God is inviting us to upgrade our faith from spectator to player.

May God be with us on all our journeys.

I believe!

The Gospel reading this morning (Matt 15:21-28) is perhaps one of the strangest we can find anywhere within the four gospels, strange because it seems to be totally out of character for Jesus to behave as he did.

As he is approached by the woman whose daughter is sick, Jesus just ignores her – he is only persuaded to listen to her because she perseveres, and even then he doesn’t give a very favourable response – saying he was sent only to help the lost sheep of Israel.

Not to be put off, she eventually comes before him, kneeling and says, ‘Lord, help me’. Even then, things don’t get any better. Jesus says, ‘It’s not fair to take children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ He is speaking in a language that was common to the Jews at the time, describing non-Jews as dogs. But the woman carries on saying that she doesn’t the food from the table, but that just some of the crumbs that fall off it will do.

So what is happening here ? The first thing to realise is that Jesus is remaining true to his calling and the promise of God to treat the people of Israel as a chosen race. Though they had rejected their calling so many times, God had not made the promise of a Messiah to Israel conditional – they remained the chosen people of God.

What Jesus had done however was to widen the message – his mission was first to put the Jewish people back on track, but they would then be expected to share the message with all.

But why did Jesus have to speak quite so bluntly? Well it might have been to get the message across, alternatively, it might have been exaggerated by Matthew as he wrote the gospel – Matthew was a Jew himself and realised the importance of trying to win over Jewish support for Jesus.

It seems that even Our Lord needed to have good Public Relations at some stages in his earthly ministry. It doesn’t make it any easier to read though.

Nothing’s new though, in recent days, I’ve been disappointed at the lack of a response from the church in relation to the riots in England. It seems that every English Bishop and Archbishop has nothing to say, apart from a speech in the House of Lords that Archbishop Rowan made.

I wanted them to condemn the widespread criminality, I wanted them to offer prayers and sympathy for those who have lost so much in the nights of violence, I wanted them to encourage churches to organize practical ways of helping rebuild their communities.

I have wanted our leaders to call for calm and peace, and then make a commitment to finding the causes of the riots, and understanding the many and varied difficulties that people live with in Britain today, and I wanted them to say that how precious a thing ‘community’ is, and we should be using all the resources we have to live in community.

I also wanted to challenge some of the statements I have heard that haven’t been helpful, stigmatizing whole groups of people and calling for the families of those who have rioted to be evicted and pilloried, encouraging communities to turn against them.

I’ve worked with people in inner cities and I’ve worked with people who feel they have nothing to live for and I can tell you that there is only one thing that creates calm and peace in our communities. It is an honest attempt to get them to feel some sort of pride for their area.

I’ve been gardening in a green patch in the middle of a housing estate, making a quiet area for the use of the community. I’ve been painting murals with people who are having their ideas put in ten-foot high artwork, I’ve sat alongside those who are proud of their community shop which acts as the centre of almost everything that happens. I have seen the pride people have in the things we take for granted, I have seen the love with which people try to glue their broken community together.

The English Bishops are silent, most politicians are silent, but I’m not.

People will have their pound of flesh, but we all know, deep down, that the only way we can stop the violence, the criminality, the loss and the upset is to listen to what’s really happening. “It’s an issue for society as a whole and not a question of who is the strongest. More police won’t solve this, but more understanding will”

As Christians we are called not just to attend Church on a Sunday, not even just to love God, and to pray to him and worship him – we are not even just called to love and care for those we meet – but we are called to make a difference for good.

The real hero of the Gospel is the one who had the least! The woman had no doubt about who Jesus was, and she had no doubt that he had the power to save her daughter, and that he would save her daughter. First, she was ignored and then she was argued with, but none of that made her go away or give up, and Jesus tells her that it is her faith that has healed the girl.

My simple prayer is that we can all work together to understand the importance of ‘community’, not just as something that brings us together, but something that gives us purpose, pride and belonging too.

I’d like to finish with one quote as we think about faith and it’s a quote that was found on the walls of a bomb blasted air raid shelter in Germany after the Second World War : ‘I believe in the light, even when the sun doesn’t shine. I believe in love, even when it isn’t given. I believe in God even when his voice is silent.’ I’d like to add, ‘I believe in community, even when our cities are burning’.

Ok, here's the plan!

Gospel

Saint Matthew. (14.22-33)

Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side of the sea, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by him- self to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking towards them on the lake. But when the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified, saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’ Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came towards Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’ When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’

The account of the ‘miraculous feeding of the multitude’ with a few loaves and fishes is found in three Gospels, Matthew, Mark and John. However, Peter walking on the water is only found in the account we heard this morning from Matthew.

The event has been expanded here by Matthew to tell us something about Peter’s faith.

The disciples were ‘made’ to go to the other side of the lake immediately after he finishes talking to the crowds. The word in the Greek EUTHEOS means ‘forces’. No doubt they would have wanted to stay around, but Jesus needed to pray and he went up the mountain on his own to pray in silence.

The disciples are sent away - I’d understand why they didn’t want to get into the boat, in the Gospels almost every waterborne voyage is accompanied by disaster of some kind, and this voyage was no exception. Besides the storms, this account seems to have been an opportunity for the Disciples to be questioned on their ‘little faith’ because of their terrified cries for help ‘Lord save us’ they cry.

The other reason they might not have been happy to get into the boat and cross the lake was because they were leaving their own land and travelling to the land of the ‘Gentiles’. He is sending them to the

unclean/unknown side of life to maybe find ‘faith’?

In Chapter 8, the Disciples had crossed the lake through a storm, they landed on the Gentile side. In Mark’s account they were sent to Bethsaida, which is the Gentile side of the Jordan, but they don’t make it and land in Gennesaret, on the Jewish side of lake Galilee.

It seems that storms at sea and storms of little faith keep the disciples from reaching the destinations where Jesus has sent them.

I’m not quite sure how much attention we are supposed to pay to these stories of the sea, I could be making much too much of them. There are things that make me think, and they seem to speak to me in a particular way.

To be told by Jesus that you have ‘little faith’ is quite a charge, especially when he doesn’t say where they can get more faith. What’s the cure for ‘little faith’? Can you get ‘miracle grow’ for faith? The disciples must have felt thoroughly dejected.

Throughout these enforced voyages, the disciples have missed the lessons. Jesus is sending them to the Gentile, the unclean, the unknown, to learn about faith. To grow their faith and to be challenged, but they can’t see it. Consciously or by accident they keep coming back to what they know. He is giving them opportunities to grow their faith, but they are too uncomfortable.

Finally, in this miraculous act, Christ is walking on the water and he invites Peter to follow. For a time he does, then just like the journeys he fails. If only he could have kept his eyes on Jesus. If only he could, he would have possessed extraordinary gifts and a strong faith.

I don’t know whether it’s just me preaching about this in this way this morning, But it’s clear as day to me that this lesson is a challenge for us today. For you and for me.

Jesus is putting us on the boat and forcing us out to the uncomfortable places, to meet people we might not understand, to learn about our faith and grow. If we can keep our eyes on Christ, we won’t sink, but even if we do, he’ll save us, and send us out again.

Finally, Matthew, understood this I think. He gives a positive picture of the disciples, and has them "bowing to the ground and worshiping" (the meanings of PROSKUNEO) and confessing, "Truly you are the Son of God." Bowing at the feet of Christ, praying to God in silence, and being sent out to the dark places of the world to take his light.

This is a short sermon today, because there is little else to say.

May God be with you, may Christ send you, and may the Holy Spirit guide you.