Looking at the world through the kingdom
Preacher: The Rev. Heidi Haverkamp
Preached on: August 28th, 2011
Audio:
No recordingScripture Text:
Matthew 16:21-28
Sermon:
Who is Jesus for you? This is the second gospel in two Sundays where Peter and Jesus have a conversation about what it means that Jesus is the Messiah. How often do you think about who Jesus is – really? In a culture where Christianity is part of everyday life, it’s easy for Jesus to just become part of the wallpaper. Nice guy, Messiah, kind, loving, sandals.
Peter didn’t think of Jesus in that way at all. Peter had just told Jesus he believed Jesus was the Messiah, which for Peter, as a Jew living under Roman dictatorship, meant the new King David who would lead his people to strength and independence. When we think Messiah, we think kind smile, shepherd, and cross. When Peter thought Messiah, he thought sword, crown, independence. Imagine the rebels in Syria following a leader who kept telling them: actually, Hafez al-Assad isn’t the focus of this movement. Persecution? Torture? Lack of freedoms? Oh, we’re going to overthrow the government, just not in the way you think: we’re going to do it by creating a new kind of community; we’re going to heal the sick, hang out with the nobodies, eat lots of meals with people, and criticize people with wealth and power. We’re going to overthrow the powers of the state via sacrifice instead of attack; with love instead of violence; and one person will be arrested, tortured, and killed, instead of many.
The Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial on the National Mall was supposed to be dedicated this weekend. But the dedication had to be postponed until later this fall because of the Hurricane. Martin Luther King overthrew a system of government in that same way – not with attack, but with a new kind of community, with sacrifice and with love. By standing up, again and again, for what was right, and pointing to the kingdom of God as the way for us to live.
Peter didn’t understand that kind of kingdom, yet. And so when he hears Jesus talking about suffering and dying, Peter pulls him aside, probably out of love as much as confusion, and says, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.”
Jesus is not kind, loving, or nice at this point. He snaps at Peter; probably disappointed that he’s not seeing the big picture and probably lonely, since his closest friends don’t seem to understand what lies ahead for him or for them. Peter, the Rock on whom Jesus said he’d build the church, has now become “a stumbling block” – a rock to trip on instead of to build on. Jesus even calls him “Satan,” which in Hebrew actually means “the Opposition” or “the Adversary.”
Following Jesus means seeing things from a perspective that is not the usual human perspective. Not even the usual “Jesus” perspective; at least not if that’s the nice, kind, loving man-in-sandals Jesus. Jesus doesn’t only protect us or comfort us, Jesus asks us to come with him. Even when he calls Peter “Satan,” Jesus says “get behind me.” That’s a tricky translation, because in Greek it’s the same word Jesus uses when he calls his disciples to follow him. Get behind me. Follow me. Come along, now.
But following Jesus doesn’t just mean walking along behind him, it means seeing differently. It means putting on Jesus’ perspective over your own. Jesus’ perspective that sees the kingdom of God, first. Love and kindness, but also justice and mercy. Equality. Blessedness. People giving of themselves to one another. And that’s not in some far away place above the clouds, that can be right here
For all the students and kids starting school, that can be how you see students and teachers at your school. That can be how you see you coworkers at work. That can be how you see your family. That can be how you see the people at the grocery store.
And again, it’s not about being kind and nice to everyone all the time. It’s looking through the lens of the kingdom and seeing not only love, but justice, blessedness, equality. For a more comprehensive list, see the passage from Romans today, where Paul pretty much lays it all out for you (Romans 12:9-21). We would all do well to clip that reading out of our bulletins and tape it to our bathroom mirrors so we could read it every morning. I have a hard time thinking of a better morning prayer, although it’s definitely a demanding one. (There are more than thirty instructions there!)
It sounds so pleasant: Be good friends who love deeply; Don’t burn out; Bless your enemies; Make friends with nobodies…
But it’s really actually pretty hard. Jesus seems like such a nice guy, but he’s actually very demanding. Sometimes, he calls his friends, “Satan.” He doesn’t lie about what it’s like to follow him. It’s not just about finding comfort and love, it’s about taking responsibility for our world. It’s choosing to be a part of the kingdom of God and making it happen around you.
Today, the school kids will get a little metal token of the Trinity, with words from St. Patrick on them: “Christ around me, Christ within me, Christ below me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ above me” to carry with them in their backpacks. Jesus is always with us, but Jesus also asks us to follow him and to carry his cross. I guess I should’ve gotten little crosses to give everybody to carry, huh? But that misses the point – because this is harder to carry than a little cross-shaped eraser or keychain.
Whether you carry a sign of the cross or of the Trinity or some other token or nothing at all, the point is to remember that from the perspective of Jesus, from the perspective of the kingdom of God, the world looks different. What seems important to the world, is not really important. What seems like the right thing to do, might not be. The way to overthrow the government is not what we thought. What seems to be the way to save your life, might actually be the way to lose it, and what seems like the way to lose your life, might actually be the way to save it.
See differently. Look at our world in the way Jesus would. Let us look for the kingdom around us.
Amen.
