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ISSN 2195-3171

12. Sunday after Pentecost, 08/31/2014

The Supreme Catechist
Sermon on Matthew 16:21-27, by David M. Wendel

²¹From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. ²²And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you." ²³But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."

 ²⁴Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ²⁵For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. ²⁶For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? ²⁷"For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. ²⁸Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Jesus, the Supreme Catechist

We hear many names used for Jesus: He is the Good Shepherd, the Great Physician, the Living Water, the Bread of Life. But have you heard Jesus called, "The Supreme Catechist"? For Matthew, writing his gospel, this might be a fitting title for Jesus-among the many other titles we see in Matthew's gospel, such as, "Messiah", "Christ", "Son of the Living God". Those titles make sense to us, and we understand them, generally speaking, because we hear them frequently. But what does the unfamiliar and strange sounding title, "Supreme Catechist" mean?

Catechesis in the Early Church 

Well, we are in the first year of our three year cycle of the lectionary-the schedule of Scripture readings for worship. We call this year, creatively, Year "A", which is always the year of Matthew, with a few profound and important John texts sprinkled in here and there. And while preaching most weeks on the Gospel of Matthew, I always refer to the commentary by Lutheran Professor, David Scaer, Discourses in Matthew, where Pastor Scaer, along with other scholars, suggest that Matthew wrote his gospel, his "Evangel", as instruction for those preparing for Baptism. In the early Church, they were named, "catechumens", which the dictionary defines as "a person receiving instruction in the fundamentals of Christianity before baptism or confirmation." Similarly, a "catechist" is a person who catechizes--one who instructs catechumens. And the original Greek words, which found their way into Latin church language, and finally into our English ecclesiastical vocabulary, were important because they designated a unique place in life for those preparing for Holy Baptism, as they were involved in a unique religious process, taught by qualified persons who, themselves, had been catechized, baptized, and authorized to teach other catechumens.

And while today, this process leading up to baptism is more informal, most often occurring in the pastor's office, with Christian parents bringing their children for baptism, in the early Church, this was an intensive, intentional, formal process that structured the catechumen's lives, and prepared them for Christian initiation in Baptism, and for their First Communion, which followed baptism immediately.

In the early Church, this was a life-changing process, as the catechumens, the new Christians, understood themselves to be leaving their former lives, and taking on, being clothed in a new life, a new way of living that was as radical and different from their former way of life, as life is from death, as night is from day--as darkness is from light.

And this change, this transformation was laid out for them in their catechetical instruction, which took place when the church gathered for Word and Sacrament each week. So that the catechumens gathered with the whole church for the first half of the liturgy, referred to as the "Mass of the Catechumens", so that the candidates for baptism could hear the scriptures read, listen to the sermon, share in the prayers, but then, the catechumens were dismissed, and in fact led out of the church, barred from even seeing the second half of the liturgy, which was called the "Mass of the Faithful", which was open only to those who had been catechized and baptized.

The Sacrament of the Altar, the Eucharist, known in the early Church as "the mystery", was so sacred, so profound, so deep a spiritual experience, that no one was allowed to witness it, unless they had been instructed, and had come to know who Jesus is, and how it was that He gave Himself on the cross for us and for our salvation, to be raised on the third day--to now incarnate Himself in the bread and wine that become His Body and Blood, broken and poured out for His disciples--and only for His baptized disciples.

Yes, the sacramentum--the mystery was exclusive, in the sense that it was only for the baptized; it was inclusive in the sense that it was for all the baptized, regardless race, nationality, gender, socio-economic status--even whether one was slave or free! But first, before being baptized and welcomed to the Mass of the Faithful, the inquirer was catechized. In order for baptismal candidates to be catechized, they had to have a catechist. 

Jesus, Supreme Teacher

And though each Christian congregation had its own catechists, Matthew, in his gospel, presents Jesus as the Supreme Catechist, the Teacher above all teachers, who, in his life and ministry, laid out for potential Christians, the necessary instruction--beginning, if you know the book of Matthew, with the Sermon on the Mount, chapters 5-7, wherein Jesus teaches catechumens what they need to know about the Christ-like life, just as catechumens heard, each week in church, a sermon instructing them in discipleship.

And then, in the second section of Matthew, we hear unfolded by Jesus, the meaning of the second half of the Sunday liturgy, the Lord's Supper, which Jesus explains by way of the two miraculous feedings of the Israelites, and the encounter with the Canaanite woman, all of which emphasized that the Eucharist is open to both Jews and Gentiles. Those texts we've heard recently as gospel lessons. So you see, Matthew wrote his gospel, compiling teachings and instructions from Jesus in such a way that catechists could use the book of Matthew as the very instruction of the Supreme Catechist, Jesus, who was Himself, teaching new Christians what it is they need to know about this new life they would assume, once Baptized.

Jesus' Teaching

And if you read the Sermon on the Mount, what you will see is that Jesus presents two ways of life--the way that leads to death, and the way that leads to life. He lays that out through the Beatitudes, telling how certain aspects of the disciple's life leads to blessing; He explains it through his interpretation of the commandments; He teaches his would-be followers about prayer, love of God and neighbor, and yes, He even deals with the disciple's use of money and possessions, reminding His students that you cannot serve both God, and mammon--or unrighteous wealth. Jesus concludes the Sermon on the Mount instructing His hearers about how it is that one enters the Kingdom of heaven, and what it means to have that kingdom, over against the kingdom of this world, in which they'd been living. All of which points to Jesus, Himself, who was Son of God, come down from heaven to lead people to repent, receive forgiveness of sins, and be saved.

The first part of the Gospel of Matthew brings people to the point where they desire to follow the way that leads to life. And once they understand what that life is like, and wish to set out on that path for themselves, Jesus, in the gospel of Matthew turns the page, so to speak, and proclaims how it is that one takes up that way.

The Turning Point

And that brings us to our gospel lesson for today, which really is the turning point of the whole Gospel of Matthew--and it's the turning point, because here, for the first time, Matthew tells us that Jesus is now speaking plainly about how it is that He's going to accomplish our salvation--as our reading begins, "From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, be killed, and on the third day be raised." This is the first time that Jesus speaks of this--and from this point on, Jesus teaches His disciples about His suffering, death and resurrection. And though His disciple, Peter, doesn't think too much of this plan for the salvation of the world, Jesus goes on to tell His disciples, if any want to become my followers, this is how you do it--you deny yourself, take up your own cross and follow me! This, says Jesus, is the way to real life, and true life--by denying yourself, and turning away from the ways of the world. The other way, the way that is easy, and comfortable, and aims at satisfying your base, carnal human wants and desires, leads, really, to loss of life--and finally, to eternal death. This is what Jesus means, when He says, "for those who want to save their life (in this world) will lose it for eternity, and those who lose their life in this world for my sake, will find real life that leads to life lived in the kingdom of God, forever. For what will it help you if you gain the whole world, and all its pleasures and rewards, but forfeit true life, in me?"

The Way of Life and the Way of Death

Here, Jesus Himself lays out the two ways-so that catechumens may clearly see the choice that is before them: the way of following Jesus, to His cross, and receiving then eternal life; or the way of following the godless, self-serving world, which leads only, to complete and everlasting death. For the catechumens considering Baptism-the Supreme Catechist, Jesus, lays it out pretty clearly-and they would continue on in their baptismal preparations, knowing what it would mean, to choose Jesus, and the cross. We who live today-we who were baptized as babies, we who never experienced so profoundly, the laying aside of the worldly life, and the putting on of Christ in Baptism-we who have not experienced baptism vividly as a life and death experience, being held under the water in the baptismal pool for a time before being raised to new life, as a reminder that one could drown in that water; for those of us who, instead, were just sprinkled on the forehead-we have trouble seeing the two ways of living, as being so clear-cut and black and white. We tend to live our lives in what we perceive as the comfortable gray area-as lukewarm Lutherans, not completely given over to the world and it's ways, but not 100% committed to God and His kingdom, either. Our Christianity is not really a way of life, for us-it's more, a hobby, one of our many interests, something we dabble in, when we're not too busy with other things. Lutherans are rarely said to be "radical Christians"-rather, we're "mainline"-not rabid about our faith, not out on the extreme fringe-we're comfortably on the fence. Well, Jesus is trying to reach us, today-to teach us something about the two ways of life that are laid out before us-and Jesus calls us, in response to His cross-bearing, in response to His death and resurrection, for us and for our salvation-to reject the one way, and come follow Him on the other. He is calling you and me, today, to get off the fence, take up our cross, and set out on the way that is not so easy, not so comfortable, not so conducive to a lukewarm faith. Jesus says, if any want to become my followers, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me! Don't just sit there, Jesus says-but come, follow...me!

The Way of Life in Christ Jesus

And just so that we know what that way is like--St. Paul lays it out for us in our lesson from Romans. The way of life, in Christ Jesus, looks like this: our love is genuine, we hate what is evil, we hold fast to what is good; we love one another with mutual affection; we outdo one another in showing respect and honor to each other; we do not lag in zeal, but are ardent in spirit, serving the Lord. We rejoice in hope, are patient in suffering, we persevere in prayer. We contribute to the needs of the saints, we extend hospitality to strangers. We bless those who persecute us, we rejoice with those who rejoice, we weep with those who weep. We strive to live in harmony with each other, not being haughty--but humble--living peaceably with all, insofar as it depends on us. We are not overcome by evil, but overcome evil, with good.

This is the way of the cross, the way of life, and the way of Jesus. This is the way we are called to live, after we have been baptized into Christ. This is, new life in Jesus, and we are called, as were those first disciples, to deny ourselves, to deny the easy life, and take up the life that is sometimes hard and requires sacrifice. And all that can be said for this life is that Jesus leads the way. Pr. Dietrich Bonhoeffer says of this call to self-denial, "to deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ, and no more of self, it is to see only him who goes before you, and no more the road which seems too hard...all that self-denial can say is: '(Jesus) leads the way, I will keep close to Him." That can be our motto: Jesus leads the way, I will keep close to Him!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.