Sermon-Sunday, September 24th
Brothers and sisters,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
In this week’s Gospel lesson, once again we see a situation in which the disciples display a lack of understanding of something that Jesus has just told them. But before you condemn the disciples too much, take into consideration everything that they have seen and what Jesus has said to them before this. Leading up to this Jesus had spoke to them in parables and metaphors, He had performed miraculous deeds and told them not to tell anyone. Immediately before this, Moses and Elijah appeared to a small group of these disciples during the transfiguration of Jesus, and the disciples also struggled to grasp the full meaning of that event.
But now, Jesus is not speaking in parables and metaphors. He is not performing a miraculous feet or appearing to them in a blinding white light. He is speaking to them in a literal, and straightforward manner. So really, who could blame them for being confused?
When He tells them, and us through the Gospel, that He would be betrayed into human hands, and killed, and three days later He would rise again, that is what He means. This is not a metaphor or a parable that He is talking about. He is talking about what is literally going to happen to Him and what did happen to Him.
And, when Jesus finally starts to speak clearly to the disciples, they still don’t understand what He is saying, and they were afraid to ask. Then they start arguing and we learn in the Gospel lesson that they were arguing about who was the greatest, presumably among them. Now this could mean they were arguing about which, of them, would hold the highest place in Heaven. It could also mean that they were arguing about who, among them, would actually replace Jesus after He left, showing that clearly they did not understand yet what the cross was about and what it would lead to. Either way they display a strong lack of understanding not only of what Jesus said, but who Jesus is.
Here they are, in the midst of their Lord Christ Jesus who was trying to say something to them and they couldn’t get it right. They couldn’t grasp what Jesus was saying. Here, our Lord is telling them about the very event that would define His ministry. He is telling them about something horrible and painful that He is preparing to go through, and the disciples make it about themselves.
So, what about you? When God tries to say something to you, how good are you at listening and hearing what He says? When God says something to you in His word, do you always understand it perfectly clear? If we did, then would we have the divisiveness that is so prevalent in the Body of Christ?
Certainly you all have your favorite verses and passages in God’s word that you consider your favorites because they speak to you on a very personal level. Maybe some of you are really fond of John 3:16 or psalm 23. I myself particularly like Romans 8:37-39 where Paul writes of nothing being able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. And these are all important verses and passages. We need the comfort, hope, and security that the Holy Spirit brings us through the eternal words of promise contained in those verses.
But what about when God speaks to you in a way that challenges you? Do you understand it then, or do you simply nod in agreement as if you do understand? Or do you maybe understand it, but tell yourself that the challenge that is being issued doesn’t apply to you because you feel like you’re OK. That way you are able to keep it at a safe distance. Basically what this comes down to is that sometimes you are just not prepared to hear what God has to say to you, or prepared to do what God might be challenging you to do. That is at the heart of the disciple’s confusion.
As the events unfold a little bit further in today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus tells the disciples that whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all. No doubt that you have heard this passage many times. But have you ever really thought about what it means for you? After all this isn’t just something that He says to the disciples, He says it to you also.
Do you think about what it means to be "last of all and servant of all?" Do you stop to think how completely counter that is to the worldview that we often see not just in the world but far too often in the church? Or, like the disciples, do you make it about you? Do you see yourself as one of the "first" to whom Jesus is saying must have their perspectives changed so that they become "last" and "servants of all."
Or do you keep yourself at a safe distance from the calling that Jesus gives you here by limiting the "first" whom Jesus refers to, to those that our western, consumer-driven culture would consider to be "first;" celebrities, politicians, millionaires, billionaires etc.
This of course would enable you to see this calling as a call for other people to serve all, but not for you. You’re not among those whom our culture would consider to be "first." You’re not a celebrity or a millionaire. Right? However, is that really an honest reading of it when you consider that by virtue of the fact that you have a home with a roof over your head and eat three meals a day, you are among the wealthiest 5% of the earth’s population ? This call to be a servant of all is extended to all of us, regardless of our income level.
In today’s lesson, Jesus also tells you that if you welcome a child in His name, you welcome Him and the one who sent Him. Do you think that Jesus used children here because of their innocence and purity? Perhaps a little bit and that is how the text has been understood over the years. But, in Jesus’ time, the idea of welcoming a child the way Jesus spoke of would have been very counter-cultural. Children were not given much status. They were seen as non-persons. They were seen more as property. The idea of welcoming children as people would have been inconceivable.
But that is the call that Jesus has extended to you, the call to extend that inconceivable grace and hospitality. When someone new comes into this community, this church, or even your home, do you welcome them as a child? When someone who seems unusual and perhaps even exhibits strange behavior comes into your familiar territory, do you get uncomfortable, do you silently wish they would leave, or do you reach out to them, love them, and welcome them as the child of God that they are? That is what you are called to do.
You are among the "first" whom Jesus calls to be "last of all" and "servant of all." This is not because of any material wealth that you have or don’t have. It has nothing to do with that. You are among the "first" because of what your Lord Christ Jesus has first done for you. On the cross, Christ Jesus took your sin and gave you His righteousness. He became last so that you would be first. And in baptism, as you were marked with the cross of Christ and sealed by the Holy Spirit, Your Lord welcomed you into His family as the beloved child of God that you are.
And now, in us the church, our Lord continues this counter-cultural work which defies logic, this work of becoming last of all and servant of all. And we do this in light of the eternal promise that in Christ Jesus we are loved, and embraced, and welcomed into His eternal kingdom among the "first."
Amen
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
In this week’s Gospel lesson, once again we see a situation in which the disciples display a lack of understanding of something that Jesus has just told them. But before you condemn the disciples too much, take into consideration everything that they have seen and what Jesus has said to them before this. Leading up to this Jesus had spoke to them in parables and metaphors, He had performed miraculous deeds and told them not to tell anyone. Immediately before this, Moses and Elijah appeared to a small group of these disciples during the transfiguration of Jesus, and the disciples also struggled to grasp the full meaning of that event.
But now, Jesus is not speaking in parables and metaphors. He is not performing a miraculous feet or appearing to them in a blinding white light. He is speaking to them in a literal, and straightforward manner. So really, who could blame them for being confused?
When He tells them, and us through the Gospel, that He would be betrayed into human hands, and killed, and three days later He would rise again, that is what He means. This is not a metaphor or a parable that He is talking about. He is talking about what is literally going to happen to Him and what did happen to Him.
And, when Jesus finally starts to speak clearly to the disciples, they still don’t understand what He is saying, and they were afraid to ask. Then they start arguing and we learn in the Gospel lesson that they were arguing about who was the greatest, presumably among them. Now this could mean they were arguing about which, of them, would hold the highest place in Heaven. It could also mean that they were arguing about who, among them, would actually replace Jesus after He left, showing that clearly they did not understand yet what the cross was about and what it would lead to. Either way they display a strong lack of understanding not only of what Jesus said, but who Jesus is.
Here they are, in the midst of their Lord Christ Jesus who was trying to say something to them and they couldn’t get it right. They couldn’t grasp what Jesus was saying. Here, our Lord is telling them about the very event that would define His ministry. He is telling them about something horrible and painful that He is preparing to go through, and the disciples make it about themselves.
So, what about you? When God tries to say something to you, how good are you at listening and hearing what He says? When God says something to you in His word, do you always understand it perfectly clear? If we did, then would we have the divisiveness that is so prevalent in the Body of Christ?
Certainly you all have your favorite verses and passages in God’s word that you consider your favorites because they speak to you on a very personal level. Maybe some of you are really fond of John 3:16 or psalm 23. I myself particularly like Romans 8:37-39 where Paul writes of nothing being able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. And these are all important verses and passages. We need the comfort, hope, and security that the Holy Spirit brings us through the eternal words of promise contained in those verses.
But what about when God speaks to you in a way that challenges you? Do you understand it then, or do you simply nod in agreement as if you do understand? Or do you maybe understand it, but tell yourself that the challenge that is being issued doesn’t apply to you because you feel like you’re OK. That way you are able to keep it at a safe distance. Basically what this comes down to is that sometimes you are just not prepared to hear what God has to say to you, or prepared to do what God might be challenging you to do. That is at the heart of the disciple’s confusion.
As the events unfold a little bit further in today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus tells the disciples that whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all. No doubt that you have heard this passage many times. But have you ever really thought about what it means for you? After all this isn’t just something that He says to the disciples, He says it to you also.
Do you think about what it means to be "last of all and servant of all?" Do you stop to think how completely counter that is to the worldview that we often see not just in the world but far too often in the church? Or, like the disciples, do you make it about you? Do you see yourself as one of the "first" to whom Jesus is saying must have their perspectives changed so that they become "last" and "servants of all."
Or do you keep yourself at a safe distance from the calling that Jesus gives you here by limiting the "first" whom Jesus refers to, to those that our western, consumer-driven culture would consider to be "first;" celebrities, politicians, millionaires, billionaires etc.
This of course would enable you to see this calling as a call for other people to serve all, but not for you. You’re not among those whom our culture would consider to be "first." You’re not a celebrity or a millionaire. Right? However, is that really an honest reading of it when you consider that by virtue of the fact that you have a home with a roof over your head and eat three meals a day, you are among the wealthiest 5% of the earth’s population ? This call to be a servant of all is extended to all of us, regardless of our income level.
In today’s lesson, Jesus also tells you that if you welcome a child in His name, you welcome Him and the one who sent Him. Do you think that Jesus used children here because of their innocence and purity? Perhaps a little bit and that is how the text has been understood over the years. But, in Jesus’ time, the idea of welcoming a child the way Jesus spoke of would have been very counter-cultural. Children were not given much status. They were seen as non-persons. They were seen more as property. The idea of welcoming children as people would have been inconceivable.
But that is the call that Jesus has extended to you, the call to extend that inconceivable grace and hospitality. When someone new comes into this community, this church, or even your home, do you welcome them as a child? When someone who seems unusual and perhaps even exhibits strange behavior comes into your familiar territory, do you get uncomfortable, do you silently wish they would leave, or do you reach out to them, love them, and welcome them as the child of God that they are? That is what you are called to do.
You are among the "first" whom Jesus calls to be "last of all" and "servant of all." This is not because of any material wealth that you have or don’t have. It has nothing to do with that. You are among the "first" because of what your Lord Christ Jesus has first done for you. On the cross, Christ Jesus took your sin and gave you His righteousness. He became last so that you would be first. And in baptism, as you were marked with the cross of Christ and sealed by the Holy Spirit, Your Lord welcomed you into His family as the beloved child of God that you are.
And now, in us the church, our Lord continues this counter-cultural work which defies logic, this work of becoming last of all and servant of all. And we do this in light of the eternal promise that in Christ Jesus we are loved, and embraced, and welcomed into His eternal kingdom among the "first."
Amen
posted by Steve at 5:56 AM
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