SERMON-SEPTEMBER 13, 2015
PASTOR KRISTA STRUM
* Who do you say that I am…
Can you imagine... Jesus/Friends “Who do you think that I am?”
*You may have had these moments with your friends…
not going to deep… some say… John the Baptist/Elijah/Prophet…. Jesus pushes them further…. Who do YOU say that I am?
Peter—- “You are the Messiah
* Jesus begins to teach Peter and the disciples - Messiah…
* radically different than what they have envisioned… desire —— think they need
* Jesus tells his disciples of what is to come for him… (and them)
* —- suffering —— rejection by elders —- and finally being killed… and then…. he tells them that after 3 days he will rise again.
* enter Peter…
* who probably speaks the words that others so desperately want to say…… “really Jesus? - it doesn't have to be this way
* “We have seen what power you have and thought you would free us from the Romans and restore the kingdom of Israel to its previous glory.”
* Jesus responded that such an opinion is a “human” way of thinking. It’s what we all would have thought had we been among those first disciples.
and Jesus responds - get behind me satan…and Jesus looks at him and says your focused on the wrong thing…you are focusing on human things…not the divine…
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You’re focusing on the wrong thing… and look at what is going on in another way….
A man walking through the forest saw a fox that had lost its legs, and he wondered how he lived… then he saw a tiger come up with game in its moth. The tiger ate its fill and left the rest of the meat for the fox…
The next day God fed the fox by the same means of the same tiger. The man began to wonder at God’s greatness and said to himself - I too shall just rest in the corner with full trust in the Lord and he will provide me with all that I need
He did this for many days but nothing happened and he was almost at death’s door when he heard a voice say…. O you who are in the path of error… open your eyes to the truth… stop imitating the disabled fox… and follow the example of the tiger…
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Jesus calls to the crowd to join his disciples, and he continues to teach…Take up your cross and follow me…in other words…
“Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you?
Taking up the cross for the Peter, the disciples and for you and I involves throwing away the old way of life…the life that is about me…about human things and focusing on the divine…in other words being brave enough, faithful enough, and trusting Jesus enough throw aside their old map of reality…they had assumed…Jesus was going to triumph and rule in a humanly conquering way…but Jesus shatters that reality and invites/challenges them and us to a new way of life- the way of the cross
I think that the best contemporary example of this can be seen within recovery communities like AA…
* tells how his life into the depths of alcoholism - use of alcohol meeting a need…
* or as he said served him well for a time…until …. it switched…the alcohol began to control him… it became the source of his existence
* an intervention…
* he talks how he clung to his life…he couldn't see the possibility
* physically lose his life…was he able to let go…
* to admit that he wasn’t in control…helpless…need of Savior
* be open to the possibility of God acting in his life…
* letting go…being open to change…
* he would tell you that it was hard…it is hard…but every day…he is amazed and sustained by God’s grace….
It is easy when things are going well…to forget this cross…to forget our need for a Savior…to forget what Jesus’life death and resurrection did for us…to admit our need for a Savior and to live in the promise of the cross… It is easy to get sucked into the cultures self-help mentality…our I can do it myself…or to point our finger at those who sin different from us…so we can feel better…but that is not the way that Jesus is calling the disciples for you see …
Taking up our cross - involves the willingness to accept that we are not in control - opens us up to the possibility to be changed…to not have things go our way…let go and be open to the possibilities beyond what we can see, what we can dream…
For you see…the way of the cross is the to live lives of service to others…to serve - rather take control or dominate…. it is counter cultural…because it is not bring proud of our station or status at the expense of others…. it is not a false kind of humility…
We do not follow Jesus by demeaning ourselves…we are called to be the very best we can be with the talents and abilities that God has given us…be you…w/o putting down those around you …or puffing up…we are called to stand your sacred ground…don't shrink and don't puff up…just be you…child of God…be who God has created you to be…pick up your cross…. keep your priorities in aligned with what Jesus told us in the great commandments - Love God - love your neighbor….
Jesus gives us this hope for the future, but in this text we are called upon to follow him not just for our eternal future, but in this life. If we dare to take up the cross and follow him…we are called to follow the one who promises that he has come so we may have life…and have it abundantly. Can you imagine a life…lived where everything we do…is out of loving God and loving others… and promises that when life is hard…or when we fail…Christ meets us at the foot of the cross …not in punishment but with mercy,,, forgiveness and grace…. to send us out once again to be who we have been created
Children of God…be who you are…take up the cross…love your God…love your neighbor…dare to follow God’s lead…
