Here is the revised written version of the sermon I preached last Sunday at church. It is from the lectionary readings for that day from Matthew 16:21-28 and Romans 12:9-21
On my way to class the other morning I was on the on-ramp to merge with traffic on I-40 when another commuter came up on me at what I viewed as a dangerous rate of speed. I realize that this is normal during regular rush-hour traffic however I have not had to commute in traffic as regularly as most working folks do, and this action made me quite nervous. As I had left the house in a very good mood I began to resent this man for ruining it for me when suddenly he waved at me. Ah, I thought, he just wanted to be friendly! How nice! This left me in a dilemma for it was clear to me that some tragic accident had left that man with only one finger on his right hand. I wanted to return the friendly gesture but I felt guilty about flaunting the fact that I still had all five fingers and did not want to make him feel inferior. What to do?
So, in a brilliant show of solidarity, I decided the thing to do was simply wave back in the same way, with only one finger. I could tell it was the right decision and I had made a real connection with that person. He got so excited he began to flash his lights, honk his horn and started weaving back and forth. Yes, I could tell he was feeling the love!
In retrospect, I admit that I may have miss-read that entire situation. But, it’s OK; my motives were pure. My intentions were good. My love was genuine. Isn’t that what Paul is asking of us in the scripture reading for today? So, with this in mind, how is it possible that my good intentions, with God’s love in my heart, could be perceived as a detriment? It is almost a trap that we cannot avoid isn’t it?
We read here in Matthew a similar situation. In chapter 16, verse 15, Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do you say that I am.” And Peter replies, “You are the Messiah, the son of the living God.” In verse 18 Jesus says to Peter, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” Now, it only takes five verses for Peter to go from being the cornerstone of Christ’s church to being a stumbling block. One minute Peter is the most important stone in the building of God’s kingdom and almost instantly Jesus tells him that he is a stumbling block, a hindrance, he’s in the way. Not only is Peter not helping to build the kingdom, but he is actually preventing others from helping because now they are tripping over him.
Was Peter’s love not genuine? Of course it was. Peter loved his lord so much that the thought of any harm coming to Jesus was simply unbearable. Peter’s only motive was for the safety of his Christ, his lord, his teacher and friend. I don’t believe that Peter’s motives could have been more selfless. It wasn’t as though Peter did not know what the divine plan was. Jesus had just spelled it out for him and the other disciples. The problem was that he was just not comfortable with what God’s plan entailed so he made an honest attempt to change it. This is something we can all wrap our minds around as we are just as mortal as Peter was. Sometimes the plan God has for our lives does not seem like what we expect it should be.
So, if Peter really did have Jesus’ best interests at heart, why such a severe reprimand? To be called Satan must have felt extremely harsh coming from the leader of a peaceful man like Jesus, especially after having just been told that he was going to be the cornerstone of the coming church. Could it be that what Peter was actually offering Jesus was a way out; a more comfortable alternative option than the one he was going to have to face? Peter had just suggested a worldly alternative to a heavenly mandate. Just as the devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness with worldly riches and power, now Jesus’ number one disciple is tempting Jesus with a very attractive “human” temptation to avoid pain, suffering and ultimate death. And, it is the temptations of worldly things that cause each of us to stumble, or become stumbling blocks that others could trip over. Is it any wonder Jesus reacted the way he did?
So, how do we avoid the temptations that cause our stumbling? How can we recognize when we are falling into that trap of being mindful more of worldly things than of heavenly things? It is often hard to see, especially when it is within ourselves that we must look for the answers because as we know, it is much easier to find fault in others than in our selves, isn’t it?
There is a story a friend of mine tells about a man that never missed a Sunday service. Every Sunday, after the service he would approach the pastor and say, “Well preacher, you sure told them today, didn’t you?” This man’s response to the sermon was as regular as clockwork and never varied. The irony was that this particular man was probably the biggest sinner in the congregation. One winter day there was a blinding snow storm and this man was the only one who made it to service that morning. The pastor decided to take full advantage of the situation and preached a hard-hitting, personal, sermon just for that man. When he was finished, the man approached him and said, “Well preacher, if they had been here this morning, you sure would have told them.”
I am reminded of the story of Cedar Grove UMC as told by their pastor, Grace Hackney. Grace had received her appointment to Cedar Grove soon after a fire had tragically burned that church’s building and her task was not only to help guide that congregation through a re-building process but to do so without dividing the congregation into opposing factions. She recounted to us how every little minute detail of that building project, from the color of the carpet to the location of the piano, was a subject of contention between two or more groups within the congregation. Every detail no matter how small or large had to be argued, debated, committeed, and voted on. The members of Cedar Grove were so focused on the material details, each believing that they knew best what God wanted for that church that they often forgot to ask God what He wanted. Ultimately that project was completed due in no small way to the fact that they finally realized that what they were building was not their building, but God’s building. And, I could venture a guess that God cared very little about the carpet color or the location of the piano to begin with.
Let me offer a suggestion on how we might be able to know if we are becoming like the man in the story I just told. It really comes down to grammar. It is a pronoun problem. Let me give you an example: I am right with God, my intentions are pure, my love is genuine, etc. Then there is that most dangerous possessive pronoun, mine or ours, etc. The pronoun we should be using is Him, He, His, etc. Or, if you are a hard core feminist you could say Her, Hers, She. We need to look at what Jesus said in this reading from Matthew. Verse 24 says, “If any want to be my followers let them deny themselves; for those who want to save their lives will loose it.” The denial of self means to deny the “I, me, mine, ours, us” and set our eyes on the “He.”
It was Peter’s profession of faith that transformed him into the solid rock that Jesus could use to build his church on. Like Peter, we also become building blocks for God’s kingdom when we acknowledge Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, the son of the living God, the savior. But, also like Peter we are fragile and fallible and human, and we easily can become stumbling blocks instead.
The building of God’s church, or kingdom, is not unlike building a physical building. The blocks must fit together and the mortar must be strong enough to hold them together. How we witness to others the good news of Jesus Christ is what makes up the mortar that holds us together. If we mix our mortar with selfishness, resentment, envy, or greed, then the mortar will be weak and unstable which will cause the wall of bricks to fall. In our scripture lesson today from Romans, Paul gives us the recipe for mortar that is strong and will not crumble.
Let love be genuine. Love one another with mutual affection. Extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Live peaceably with all. If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
God bless.
