<\/p>\n
The Passage<\/p>\n
From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the day be \u00a0raised.\u00a0 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, \u201cFar be it from you, Lord!\u00a0 This shall never happen to you.\u201d\u00a0 But he turned and said to Peter, \u201cGet behind me, Satan!\u00a0 You are a hindrance to me.\u00a0 For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Then Jesus told his disciples, \u201cIf anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.\u00a0 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.\u00a0 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life?\u00a0 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.\u00a0 Truly, there are some standing here who will not tase death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0[English Standard Version]<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cLet love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.\u00a0 Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord.\u201c\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0[Romans 12.9ff.]<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the Name of Christ + Jesus our Lord<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Back in January, when the year of 2020 was getting underway, we had no idea of how jumbled and roughed and tensed the year was going to be when a new virus surfaced from southwest China.\u00a0 Recalling that month now, it appeared that life in the world was nearly perfect, the year 2020 sounded and looked so marketable.\u00a0 Now, however, the appearances have flipped!\u00a0 For past five and a half months we have been dealing with this new virus in a variety of ways and our efforts have not brought us to a let-up.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Additionally, the world\u2019s life has been jamming us with severe disarray in some of the country\u2019s cities, with assaults on the symbols of national identity and with dizzying confusions over sexual identities.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Well-intentioned scientific persons are promising that all of us will be led back to a normal existence (reflecting January, 2020, perhaps?), that we will have the protection of a vaccine later this year or in 2021.\u00a0 This sounds promising, but the Lord\u2019s faithful people have lived in the world long enough to recognize that the world\u2019s promises are not always delivered.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
To be honest, what may be actually going on in and around our lives are the realities that the gods we are accustomed to working with on a daily basis are losing their grip on us while the real Lord God (the Holy Trinity) is emerging with the steadiness and strength of its mysterious Life seeking to grip our lives more fully in his own!<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why, even under the duress of these past five and a half months, we continue to make our way into the Lord\u2019s Scriptures and the Sacraments of Baptism, Forgiveness and Eucharist.\u00a0 From those holy places our lives are renewed and made stronger in the Son\u2019s<\/p>\n
dying and rising for all the world\u2019s people.\u00a0 Remembering that we have been baptized into the Holy Trinity, we are reminded of how vital and necessary that relationship is.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This relationship also undergirds and shapes the relationships in our families, at work and among our friends.\u00a0 This importance comes out not only when those relationships are going well or being restored, it also comes out when they are going badly or are being torn apart!\u00a0 For the people of the Lord God, the relationship they have with him (begun in Baptism) is even more important than the ones we experience in this world.\u00a0 In today\u2019s Gospel, our Lord reminds us of that saving and sustaining reality.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the passage\u2019s two sections, Jesus not only describes his approaching death and resurrection, he also describes what it means to follow him.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the first section, Jesus tells his disciples what is going to happen to him in Jerusalem \u2013 he will be immersed in great suffering.\u00a0 What is shocking is that the suffering will be poured out by the elders (they handled the judicial and administrative business of each local synagogue), the chief priests (they led the sacrificial worship in the Jerusalem temple) and the scribes (they were the professional interpreters of the Law).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This suffering will conclude in the killing of Jesus, but he will be raised.\u00a0 In a strong reaction, Peter pulls Jesus to the side and criticizes him for making such comments.\u00a0 Peter concludes that the Lord God should prevent these events from occurring and that such things should never happen to Jesus!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Jesus, however, wheels and turns on Peter.\u00a0 He tells Peter to get behind him, actually calling him Satan! \u00a0Why does Jesus react so strongly?\u00a0 Because that attitude is a stumbling block to Jesus, because Peter is concentrating on human things, because Peter is not focusing on the things of the Lord God.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the second section, Jesus moves on to describe what it takes to be one of his followers.\u00a0 It begins with the denial of self (this has us turning against the life given us at birth).\u00a0 It then has us taking up his cross (this involves receiving the Life given us at Baptism \u2013 confronting our weaknesses, recognizing our flaws and realizing we are dogged by mistakes).\u00a0 It concludes with us following him (this has us slipping into the ways of our Lord rather than the ways of the world).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Jesus then offers these brilliant insights.\u00a0 Those who want to save their lives will lose them (contrast that with the world; rather than losing its life, it is always grasping for it).<\/p>\n
Those who lose their lives for Jesus\u2019 sake will find them (contrast that with the world; it allows us to lose our lives, but only for our sakes, never for anyone else\u2019s sake!).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Our Lord also asks:\u00a0 What will it gain people if they become huge in the world\u2019s eyes, but throw their lives away?\u00a0 Every once in a while papers and magazines will relate, in detail, individuals who get caught up in greed, who ride high for a time, who are destroyed.\u00a0 He poses another question:\u00a0 What can people give in return for their lives? When courts are forced to come up with the worth of a person, the best they can usually do is accumulate the income a person may have earned in a lifetime.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Jesus now encourages the people around him to follow him.\u00a0 In a shadowy way he is pointing to the emerging resurrection and ascension as well as to his return at the End-of-Time.\u00a0 Remember that the phrase, \u201cSon of Man,\u201d is an Old Testament reference to the \u00a0promised Messiah who will rescue the world\u2019s people by plunging into their affliction and suffering.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Jesus\u2019 coming will also spell out the responsibility of people or their lack of it.\u00a0 Those who remained committed to themselves will live with that reality, eternally, and it will be hell!\u00a0 Those who remain committed to him will live with that reality, eternally, and it will be heaven!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Then, in a less shadowy way, Jesus points to his approaching crucifixion, resurrection and ascension as events that will occur before any of his disciples die.\u00a0 It is a reality of the world\u2019s life that the relationships we have with other people are vital and important, but this passage shows that the basic and enduring relationship is the one we have with the Lord God.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Let us now look at Jesus\u2019 words from a different angle to better understand what he is saying this morning.\u00a0 Consider that Jesus\u2019 going to Jerusalem is like an individual getting baptized.\u00a0 What would that person say if we pointed out what is going to happen to him or her because of that Baptism?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
That it\u2019s not going to make life in this world easier.\u00a0 That there will be a growing discovery of the great difference between the world\u2019s ways and the Lord\u2019s ways.\u00a0 That they will be exposed to the breaking and hurting life of this world.\u00a0 That there will be a growing realization of the destructive urges and actions which are deeply imbedded in our minds, bodies and spirits. \u00a0That the Baptism they are plunging into is not going to make life in this world lighter.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Such realities may cause us to think again about stepping into that Baptism!\u00a0 Such realities also help us to understand why people pull away from their Baptisms or avoid it all together.\u00a0 However, in today\u2019s Gospel, our Lord is encouraging us to not only stay with his Baptism of us but to also let him plunge us further into it!\u00a0 The Lord knows that we are free to seize our own life (people will always have that option), but he also presses us to notice what that seizure accomplishes.\u00a0 Not a thing!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Instead, Jesus reminds us of where real Life is to be found \u2013 in him, in his suffering, his dying, his rising and his ascending!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It is no matter, then, if our lives are made more difficult or if we discover the great difference between the world\u2019s ways and the Lord\u2019s ways or if we are pushed into the breaking and hurting of this world\u2019s life or if we become more aware of the destructive urges and actions that are deeply imbedded in us or if our lives are made heavier!\u00a0 Our Lord has plunged into all of that, rescuing and sustaining his people!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Let us be encouraged, then, to look back to our Baptisms and to be steadily imbedded in them.\u00a0 Yes, the relationships we have with other people are important, whether in our families, at work or with our friends.\u00a0 And, yes, the world\u2019s life with all its happenings will continue to swirl around our lives.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
But there is no more relationship more important than the one established with us by the Lord God at our Baptisms, one that keeps coming at us from his holy Writings, his Forgiveness and his Eucharist!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Now may the peace of the Lord God, which is beyond all understanding, keep our<\/p>\n
hearts and minds through Christ + Jesus our Lord<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Pr. Carl A. Voges, Columbia, SC; carl.voges4@icloud.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pentecost Thirteen (Revised Common Lectionary) –\u00a008\/30\/20 |\u00a0Matthew 16.21-28 |\u00a0Carl A. Voges | The Passage From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the day be \u00a0raised.\u00a0 And Peter took him […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1384,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,157,173,108,110,433,3,109],"tags":[],"beitragende":[],"predigtform":[],"predigtreihe":[],"bibelstelle":[],"class_list":["post-3246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-matthaeus","category-beitragende","category-carl-a-voges","category-current","category-engl","category-kapitel-16-chapter-16","category-nt","category-predigten"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3246"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3247,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3246\/revisions\/3247"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3246"},{"taxonomy":"beitragende","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/beitragende?post=3246"},{"taxonomy":"predigtform","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtform?post=3246"},{"taxonomy":"predigtreihe","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtreihe?post=3246"},{"taxonomy":"bibelstelle","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bibelstelle?post=3246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}