Lectionary 19A

Matthew 14:22-33

Let us pray…

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen. 

 

I passed a church last week where the sign read, “True faith has no doubts.” I imagine that this morning their preacher is reading this same passage from Matthew that tells the story of Peter stepping out of the boat and their focus is on the question Jesus asks Peter, “Why did you doubt?”

 

But I don’t think that’s where our focus belongs this morning. 

 

The Bible is not merely an instruction manual, where if you follow the directions and get the steps right, you’ll perfect your faith, like a basketball player practicing three-pointers. We don’t need to analyze what Peter did or didn’t do, or what he could have done better or differently.

 

Nor is this the same story that we heard in chapter 8 when Jesus was already on the boat as the disciples crossed from Capernaum to the eastern side of the lake and he calmed the storm. In that story, the disciples were afraid of the storm, and they marveled at seeing Jesus calm the winds and seas because he demonstrated power they had not yet witnessed from him.

 

This is a different story and while it is important that Jesus saves Peter when Peter calls out to him, this story isn’t about what one scholar called “Baywatch Jesus” either.

 

I believe this story shows us Jesus’ compassion for us and the strength of being a community of people who follow Jesus, even, and maybe especially, when we have doubts and fears.

I expect most of us are more like Peter than we’d like to admit.

 

Peter was an imperfect disciple. He acted boldly, and sometimes recklessly. There are times when he makes big declarations and he also makes big denials. His confidence and courage fizzle and are replaced with fear and doubt. 

 

Sometimes Peter probably disappointed himself; he certainly disappointed people around him and that included Jesus. And yet, time and again, Jesus shows up for him. He has compassion for him. Here Jesus helps Peter climb back into the boat and later, after the resurrection, he will cook him breakfast and tell him to feed his sheep. (John 21:17)

 

Jesus loves each one of us, even as he knows our fears and questions and witnesses our imperfections.

 

Like Peter and the other disciples in the boat, 

when I catch a glimpse of God working in my life or those around me, I wonder if I can trust what I have seen or heard. I question whether something that seems providential is real, or if I’m imagining it. 

 

Discernment, which wasn’t Peter’s strength, encourages us to pause, listen and examine whether something is of God, or of the world. 

 

Sometimes my excitement wants to bypass that careful, necessary work. Being part of a community who is following Jesus and listening for what God is saying helps me, and all of us, 

focus on Jesus. 

 

We work together to follow faithfully.

 

Jesus knows us, like he knows those disciples on the boat, and like them, he sends us into the world as his followers.

 

For a few weeks, I have been listening to our congregation as people have told me about their hopes for our future together, what things leave them unsettled or anxious, and where they think God is leading us. In two weeks, on August 23^rd, after each worship service, we will be gathering to explore “our place at Grace” and the ways that each of us has a place in the ministries of our congregation. 

 

God is already at work here and in our community, and calls each of us to participate. 

 

Anytime we are in periods of change and transition, there will be questions, doubts and even fears.

 

To us, like the disciples in the boat, I believe Jesus says, “Take heart.”

 

Take courage or take heart. 

Know we are in this life of faith together. 

When we are wobbly or uncertain, we can help each other.

 

As I reflected on the words, “Take heart” I remembered Luther’s Rose. The image may be familiar but maybe not. 

 

Designed in 1530, the emblem features a black cross inside a red heart, placed on a white rose, set against a sky-blue field, and surrounded by a golden ring. 

 

The red heart symbolizes the human heart and the center of faith in each of us.  The black cross imposed on it signifies that faith in the crucified Christ brings salvation while the blue field evokes an image of the heavens and the gold ring represents unbroken eternity. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luther_rose)

 

What stands out to me today is the red heart at its center. 

 

A living human heart beats, pumping blood, carrying oxygen to the rest of the body and removing carbon dioxide. We cannot live without it. It is both life-giving and lifesaving. 

 

Sometimes we don’t think much about how essential the heart is. And I expect that can be true of our faith as well.

 

But when Jesus tells us to take heart, 

he calls us back to the center:

to focus on him, 

to focus on God’s Word, 

and to focus on faith that saves. 

 

Let us pray.

Holy God, 

Thank you for the gift of your Son Jesus.

Thank you for the life-giving gift of faith. 

May we take heart and have courage to live as your people, 

confident that through our faith in Christ, 

we have been saved.

We pray in Jesus’ name. 

Amen.

Third Sunday of Easter

Luke 24:13-35
Acts 2:14, 36 - 41
1 Peter 1:17-23

For all of us who appreciate measured, linear timelines, 
consider this fair warning:
today’s texts suspend time. 
They also have us listening in on intimate conversations, 
hearing speeches 
and reading someone else’s mail. 
 
The gospel takes place on Easter evening, 
on the way to a village outside Jerusalem, 
before the resurrection appearances that we heard about last Sunday in John’s Gospel. 
For us today on the third Sunday of Easter, 
we need to re-locate ourselves in time, 
back to that first night, on the Day of Resurrection.
 

On that Easter evening, 
Jesus appears to two of his followers
who are walking along and talking 
about what they had heard and seen earlier in the day. 
When Jesus joins them, they don’t recognize him, 
but they’re friendly, and they talk with him.
 
What catches my attention first is that they speak with someone, 
whom they think is a stranger, about the day’s events. 
 
I wonder, why were they free to move about, 
to travel 
and to talk openly? 
when John tells us 
other disciples were hiding behind locked doors, 
afraid to be overheard or seen?
 
Luke tells us that as the two continue along their way, 
still oblivious to who Jesus is, 
he interprets the scriptures to them. 
 
I don’t know about you, but when I meet someone I don’t know, 
I ask questions, like
what’s your name? 
where are you from? 
who might we know in common? 
 
But if the two asked any questions, Luke doesn’t tell us. 
All Luke says is that they listen to Jesus teach, and 
they still don’t recognize him.
 
The two urge Jesus, who appears to plan to continue his journey, 
to stop and stay with them and they invite him to share their meal.
 
And it’s there, in the meal, 
as Jesus takes the bread, blesses it, breaks it and gives it to them, that at last, they recognize him.
 
As quickly as we learn that they know who Jesus is, 
Luke tells us he vanishes from them.
 
While we know that isn’t the end of the story, all Luke tells us today is that the two return to Jerusalem and testify to the other disciples, telling them what had happened.

 
The lectionary reading from Acts is part of Peter’s speech following the events of Pentecost, 
events we haven’t reached yet in our Easter season but, in short, Peter is addressing his fellow Jews and contrasting the human actions that crucified Christ and the divine actions by God that raised him from death. 
 
We hear members of the crowd interrupt Peter, 
asking him and the other apostles, 
“What should we do?”
 
While the two in Emmaus recognized Jesus as Lord in the meal that they shared, 
here in Jerusalem, 
it is as if the crowd’s ears are finally able to hear the truth, 
or perhaps, as in Paul’s story of conversion later in Acts, 
scales fall from their eyes, and they see clearly now that 
Jesus is Lord and Messiah. (see Acts 9:18)

 
The epistle we have for today is also attributed to Peter. In it, the author is writing to churches in Asia Minor – what is modern day Turkey - churches that were planted during Peter’s missionary journeys there. 

 
Like Paul’s letters, this letter would have been circulated among the faith communities there. Its message is that “Believers have reasons for hope… because Christ is raised and living, and God is at work in the world.” (“Summary of First Peter”, enterthebible.org, Luther Seminary) A little earlier in the letter, the author tells the churches to prepare for action, because of the grace Christ brings. (v. 13)
  
Throughout these Scriptures we hear Jesus is Lord and Messiah, 
and we hear how he is on the move.
 

The disciples in Emmaus, the crowds in Jerusalem and the churches in Asia Minor didn’t keep the Good News of the Risen Christ to themselves, or we wouldn’t be here today 
to celebrate that Jesus is risen and alive. 
 
In the same way, 
we are being called to testify to the ways God is still at work 
in the world through Christ, and through the Church,
and we are being called to follow Jesus into new places, 
and new ways of being community. 
 
Resurrection faith remembers what God has already done in Christ and sets our hope in God’s ongoing work in, through and among us, today and into the future.
 
Let us pray.
Holy God, 
Thank you for Jesus, our Lord and Messiah,
for his saving grace for each of us,
and for the ways he meets us where we are 
and urges us to new places, 
and new ways of being Your people.
Open our ears to hear Your Word and follow Jesus where he leads.
We pray in Jesus’ name.
Amen. 

Lectionary 21A (Decimotercero domingo después de Pentecostés)

Mateo 16:13-20

I preached this sermon in the Spanish service; the English translation is below. 

Oremos…

Que las palabras de mi boca y las meditaciones de nuestro corazón sean gratas a tus ojos, Señor, nuestra fortaleza y nuestro redentor. Amén.

Me gusta la pregunta que hace Jesús. Pregunta a sus discípulos: "¿Quién dicen los hombres que es el Hijo del Hombre?" Y luego pregunta: “Y vosotros ¿Quién decís que soy yo?”

Has oído esta historia. Mateo, Marcos y Lucas lo incluyen en sus evangelios.

Simón Pedro –el mismo hombre que vimos hundirse en el agua, el mismo que sabemos que negará a Jesús tres veces en su arresto– confiesa que Jesús es el Mesías, el ungido.

Escuchando a Pedro, me pregunto cómo responderíamos a Jesús. Creo que es una pregunta devocional interesante, que podemos plantearnos durante momentos de meditación y reflexión.

Pero también creo que la pregunta es una distracción.

Porque, como señaló irónicamente un colega, no importaba si Pedro respondía bien o no. Nuestra opinión no cambia quién es Jesús. La identidad de Jesús se encuentra en quién Dios dice que es.

En el evangelio de Mateo, Jesús responde a la confesión de Simón Pedro, alabándolo y diciéndole que él será la roca sobre la cual se edificará la iglesia.

Pero Lucas y Marcos sólo registran la severa advertencia y el mandato de Jesús a los discípulos de no contarle a nadie acerca de él.

Nunca aprendemos por qué Jesús alentó en ocasiones la discreción o incluso el secreto por parte de sus seguidores. Cuando cura al leproso (Mateo 8, Marcos 1, Lucas 5) les dice que no se lo diga a nadie excepto al sacerdote. Y nuevamente, después del evento de la transfiguración (Mateo 17, Marcos 9, Lucas 9), advierte a sus discípulos que no le hablen a nadie sobre el Mesías.

Los acontecimientos del evangelio de hoy tuvieron lugar en Cesárea de Filipo, una ciudad grecorromana donde había un santuario dedicado a Pan, que era el dios griego de los pastores y los rebaños. Me imagino las escenas de algunas de las películas ambientadas en el mundo antiguo y puedo imaginar el ruido y el caos de la escena.

Entonces, tal vez Jesús no quería provocar a los líderes religiosos o políticos todavía, o tal vez sabía la violencia que enfrentarían más tarde y estaba tratando de proteger a sus seguidores hasta que estuvieran mejor equipados para liderar a otros y enfrentar la oposición.

En cualquier caso, la confesión de Pedro es un punto muy importante. De ahora en adelante Jesús será más directo en sus explicaciones del sufrimiento y la muerte que le espera como Mesías.

Por hoy, creo que lo que importa es nuestra comprensión de lo que significa decir en voz alta que Jesús es el Mesías, el Hijo de Dios.

Jesús no sólo fue un buen rabino o maestro.

No fue uno de los profetas antiguos, como Elías o Jeremías, que confrontaron al pueblo con su infidelidad.

Y no fue Juan el Bautista quien llamó al pueblo al arrepentimiento.

Cuando proclamamos a Jesús como el Mesías, el ungido, proclamamos que él es el enviado de Dios para nuestro bien.

Cuando llamamos a Jesús Mesías, lo nombramos como quien revela el amor de Dios por todos nosotros.

Y, cuando llamamos a Jesús Mesías, también estamos nombrando nuestra dependencia de él, para la salvación y para la vida.

Y si eso es lo que significa llamar a Jesús Mesías, también significa que no estamos buscando esas cosas en alguien o en algo más. Significa que no escuchamos cuando voces en competencia intentan captar nuestra atención y lealtad, y los poderes de nuestro mundo intentan decirnos que no necesitamos a Jesús ni la fe.

Hace unos años participé en un grupo de personas que pasaban tiempo juntas en oración y silencio. y una de mis prácticas favorita era que nos pedian que dejáramos nuestros títulos en la puerta. En ese espacio no importaba saber quién era pastor, maestro, músico o quién tenía un doctorado. Fue un recordatorio regular de que nuestra identidad no se encuentra en nuestros logros, nuestro trabajo o incluso nuestras familias. Nuestra identidad proviene de lo que Dios dice que somos: hijos amados, amados y perdonados.

Gracias a Dios.

Matthew 16:13-20

I like the question Jesus asks. He asks his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And then he asks, “Who do you say that I am?”

You have heard this story. Matthew, Mark and Luke, all include it in their gospels.

Simon Peter – the same man who we watched sink into the water, the same one who we know will deny Jesus three times at his arrest – confesses Jesus is the Messiah, the anointed one. 

Listening to Peter, I wonder how we would answer Jesus. I think it’s an interesting devotional question, one we can ask ourselves during times of meditation and reflection.

But I also think that the question is a distraction.

Because as one colleague wryly noted, it didn’t matter whether Peter answered well or not. Our opinion doesn’t change who Jesus is. Jesus’ identity is found in who God says he is.

In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus responds to Simon Peter’s confession, praising him and telling him that he will be the rock on which the church will be built. 

But Luke and Mark only record Jesus’ stern warning and command to the disciples not to tell anyone about him.

We never learn why Jesus encouraged discretion or even secrecy from his followers at times. When he heals the leper (Matt. 8, Mark 1, Luke 5) he tells him not to tell anyone except the priest. And again, after the event of the transfiguration (Matt. 17, Mark 9, Luke 9), he warns his disciples not to tell anyone about the Messiah.

The events of today’s gospel took place in Caesarea Philippi, a Greco-Roman city where there was a shrine dedicated to Pan who was the Greek god of the shepherds and flocks.  I imagine the scenes from some of the movies that have been set in the ancient world and can picture the noise and chaos of the scene.

So perhaps Jesus didn’t want to provoke the religious or political leaders just yet, or perhaps he knew the violence they would face later and he was trying to protect his followers until they were better equipped to lead others and face opposition.

In any case, Peter’s confession is a turning point. From now on Jesus will become more direct in his explanations of the suffering and death that awaits him as the Messiah.

For today, I think what matters is our understanding of what it means to say aloud that Jesus is Messiah, Son of God.

Jesus was not only a good rabbi or teacher.

He was not one of the ancient prophets, like Elijah or Jeremiah, who confronted the people with their faithlessness.

And he was not John the Baptist, who called people to repentance.

When we proclaim Jesus as Messiah, the anointed one, we proclaim he is the One sent by God for our sake.

When we call Jesus Messiah, we are naming Him as the one who reveals God’s love for us all.

And, when we call Jesus Messiah, we are also naming our dependence upon him, for salvation and for life.

And if that is what it means to call Jesus Messiah, it also means we are not looking for those things in someone or something else. It means we don’t listen when competing voices try to capture our attention and loyalty, and powers in our world try to tell us we don’t need Jesus or faith.

A few years ago I participated in a group of folks who spent time together in centering prayer and silence. And one of my favorite practices was that we were asked to leave our titles at the door. In that space, it wasn’t important to know who was a pastor, a teacher, a musician, or who had a doctoral degree. It was a regular reminder that our identity is not found in our achievements, our work, or even our families. Our identity comes from who God says we are – beloved children, loved and forgiven.

Thanks be to God.

Second Sunday of Easter (Segundo Domingo de Pascua)

1 Pedro 1:3-9

I preached this sermon in the Spanish service; the English translation is below. 

Oremos…

Sean gratos los dichos de mi boca y las meditaciones de nuestros corazones delante de ti, oh Jehovah, Roca mía y Redentor mío. Amén. (Salmos19:14 RVA)

La carta o epístola que tenemos en las lecturas de hoy se atribuye a Pedro, el discipulo. Los estudiosos no creen que Pedro lo haya escrito; sin embargo, fue nombrado en su honor o memoria. Eso me da mucha esperanza. En realidad, Pedro me da mucha esperanza.

Cuando enseñamos a los estudiantes de Confirmación acerca de Pedro, el plan de estudios lo llama “Blockhead” o "un tonto". No es un elogio.   También se puede traducir como "bobo". Pedro se tambalea y tropezaba mientras seguía a Jesús. Es impulsivo. Deja sus redes de pescar y se hace un discípulo. Confiesa que Jesús es el Señor. Quiere quedarse en la cima de la montaña en la Transfiguración. En dos evangelios, le corta la oreja a un hombre con una espada cuando los soldados vienen a arrestar a Jesús.

Pero luego, niega haber conocido a Jesús tres veces.

Y sin embargo, a pesar de sus errores, Pedro es recordado como un discípulo entusiasta y fiel. Por eso me da esperanza. No podemos ser discípulos perfectos, pero podemos ser fervientes.

De la misma manera que las lecturas del Evangelio de Juan durante la Cuaresma ayudaron a preparar a las personas para ser bautizadas en la Pascua, esta carta enseña a los primeros cristianos cómo vivir en una comunidad fiel. Los primeros cristianos fueron perseguidos y tenían miedo. Y Pedro sabía lo que era seguir a Jesús y tener miedo. Había visto a Jesús hacer milagros y enseñar. Se había enfrentado a la elección de protegerse a sí mismo o identificarse como uno de sus discípulos. Y había encontrado al Cristo resucitado y había sido perdonado. Es importante destacar que Pedro sabía que Dios lo amaba, a pesar de sus fallas y errores.

Entonces, esta carta comienza con una declaración vibrante de la misericordia de Dios y el “nuevo nacimiento para una esperanza viva” que recibimos a través de la resurrección de Jesús.

Inmediatamente, sabemos que las cosas no van a ser como antes. Dios está preparando algo nuevo, y nuestra esperanza no solo se encuentra en las promesas anteriores que tenemos de los profetas, sino que se ha convertido en una esperanza viva porque tenemos un Señor y Salvador vivo.

Esta esperanza viva se convierte en nuestra lente para ver el mundo que nos rodea, y nada puede arrebatárnosla.

Pero el autor de la carta es honesto acerca de los desafíos actuales. Vivir como discípulos no significa que nuestras vidas estén libres de pruebas. Como escuchamos en la historia del evangelio de Tomás, incluso cuando hay fe, puede haber duda.

La realidad de nuestras vidas es que hay luchas y dificultades.

Cometeremos errores y sufriremos desilusión y dolor.

Lo que es diferente es que no somos destruidos por estas pruebas.

Porque hemos sido testigos de lo que Dios ha hecho antes. Hemos visto la muerte vencida y el mal vencido. Hemos visto a Jesús resucitado.

A menudo, el versículo siete se usa para decir que nuestro sufrimiento y pruebas son pruebas de fe iniciadas por Dios. Ese no es el Dios que conozco, el que nos ama incondicionalmente y nos muestra una misericordia ilimitada. Y no es el Dios que abrazó a Pedro incluso después de que él negó a Jesús.

En cambio, creo que es útil considerar la duda, el sufrimiento y las pruebas como partes de la vida que revelan algo nuevo sobre nuestra fe.

De la misma manera, cuando el metal precioso se refina con fuego, la escoria o las impurezas se separan del metal precioso y se revela una nueva belleza. [i]

Como dice el salmista en el Salmo dieciséis, conocemos a un Señor que nos aconseja, nos instruye y nos muestra el camino de la vida.

Conocemos a un Señor que nos acompaña en la vida, y en la presencia del Señor hay plenitud de gozo. Nuestros corazones se alegran, y nos regocijamos y adoramos a Dios.

La temporada de Pascua durará cincuenta días, pero todos los domingos, ya sea un domingo de Pascua o uno en medio de la larga y verde temporada después de Pentecostés, es una celebración de la Resurrección y la nueva vida y esperanza viva que tenemos en Jesús. Y “la adoración no termina con la bendición”. No es el final sino el envio. [ii]

Nuestro servicio -nuestro gozo y esperanza y alabanza por la fidelidad de Dios- se convierte en una forma de estar en el mundo porque forma parte de nuestra identidad como hijos de Dios y de cómo vivimos cada día como comunidad cristiana.

Oremos…

Dios bueno y misericordioso,

Gracias por tu Hijo Jesús, que resucitó de entre los muertos y nos muestra tu poder para destruir la muerte y el mal.

Gracias por el nuevo nacimiento y la esperanza viva que nos da poder para vivir como discípulos hoy.

Cuando batallamos, ayúdanos a escuchar tu consejo e instrucción y a confiar en tu presencia entre nosotros.

Por tu Espíritu, ayúdanos a vivir con plenitud de alegría cada día.

Oramos en el nombre de Tu Hijo, nuestro Señor, Jesús.

Amén.

---

[i] Jennifer T. Kaalund, “Commentary on 1 Peter 1:3-9”, Working Preacher. Luther Seminary. https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/second-sunday-of-easter/commentary-on-1-peter-13-9-5, accessed 4/14/2023

[ii] The Rev. Dr. Derek Weber. “Fullness of Joy”, UMC Discipleship Ministries. www.umcdiscipleship.org

1 Peter 1:3-9

The letter, or epistle, we have in today’s readings is attributed to the disciple Peter. Scholars don’t think Peter wrote it; however, it was named in his honor or memory. That gives me a lot of hope. Actually, Peter gives me a lot of hope.

When we teach confirmation students about Peter, the curriculum calls him “an earnest blockhead.” “Blockhead” is not a compliment. It can be translated as “fool”. Peter bumbles and stumbles as he follows Jesus. He is impulsive. He leaves his fishing nets and becomes a disciple. He confesses Jesus is Lord. He wants to stay on the mountaintop at the Transfiguration. In two gospels, he cuts off a man’s ear with a sword when the soldiers come to arrest Jesus. But then, he denies that he knows Jesus three times.

And yet, despite his mistakes, Peter is remembered as an enthusiastic and faithful disciple. That’s why he gives me hope. We cannot be perfect disciples, but we can be earnest.

In the same way that the readings from John’s Gospel during Lent helped prepare people to be baptized at Easter, this letter teaches early Christians how to live in faithful community. The early Christians were persecuted, and they were afraid. And Peter knew what it was like follow Jesus and to be afraid. He had witnessed Jesus perform miracles and teach. He had faced the choice to protect himself or to identify as one of his disciples. And he had met the resurrected Christ and been forgiven. Importantly, Peter knew God loved him, despite his failures and mistakes.

So, this letter begins with a vibrant declaration of God’s mercy and the “new birth into a living hope” that we receive through the resurrection of Jesus.

Immediately, we know that things are not going to be the same as they were before. God is up to something new, and our hope is not only found in the former promises we have from the prophets, but it has become a living hope because we have a living Lord and Savior.

This living hope becomes our lens for seeing the world around us, and nothing can take it from us.

But the letter’s author is honest about present day challenges. Living as disciples does not mean that our lives are free from trials. As we heard in the gospel story of Thomas, even when there is faith, there can be doubt. The reality of our lives is that there are struggles and difficulties. We will make mistakes and we will suffer disappointment and grief.

What is different is that we are not destroyed by these trials.

Because we have witnessed what God has done before. We have seen death defeated and evil overcome. We have seen the resurrected Jesus.

Often verse 7 is used to say that our suffering and trials are tests of faith initiated by God. That isn’t the God I know – the one who loves us unconditionally and shows us boundless mercy. And it isn’t the God who embraced Peter even after he denied Jesus.

I think it is helpful instead to look at doubt and suffering and trials as parts of life that reveal something new about our faith. In the same way when precious metal is being refined by fire, the dross, or the impurities, separate from the precious metal and new beauty is revealed.[i]

As the psalmist says in Psalm 16, we know a Lord who gives us counsel, instructs us, and shows us the path of life. We know a Lord who accompanies us in life, and in the presence of the Lord, there is fullness of joy. Our hearts are glad, and we rejoice and worship God.

The Easter season will last fifty days but every Sunday, whether it is a Sunday of Easter or one in the middle of the long, green season after Pentecost, is a celebration of the Resurrection and the new life and living hope we have in Jesus. And “worship doesn’t end with the benediction” . It is not the ending but the sending.[ii]

Our worship - our joy and hope and praise for God’s faithfulness - becomes a way of being in the world because it is part of our identity as children of God and how we live as Christian community every day.

Let us pray…

Good and gracious God,

Thank you for your Son Jesus, who was raised from the dead and shows us Your power to destroy death and evil.

Thank you for the new birth and living hope that empowers us to live as disciples now.

When we struggle, help us hear your counsel and instruction and trust in your presence with us.

By your Spirit, help us live with the fullness of joy every day.

We pray in the name of Your Son, our Lord, Jesus.

Amen.

---

[i] Jennifer T. Kaalund, “Commentary on 1 Peter 1:3-9”, Working Preacher. Luther Seminary. https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/second-sunday-of-easter/commentary-on-1-peter-13-9-5, accessed 4/14/2023

[ii] The Rev. Dr. Derek Weber. “Fullness of Joy”, UMC Discipleship Ministries. www.umcdiscipleship.org

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost / Lectionary 21A

Matthew 16: 13-20

Today’s gospel reminds us to listen to the whole biblical narrative with an ear for who gets named, or re-named, and who is left nameless in the background.

Matthew’s gospel gives us lots of opportunities for this kind of listening, beginning with the genealogy of Jesus, which includes, by name, three Canaanite women — women who we learned last week would have been outside the Jewish community. (Matt.1-17) But it’s not only in Matthew; throughout Scripture we hear people renamed by God: Abram is re-named Abraham (Genesis 17:5); Jacob is re-named Israel (Gen. 35:10); and Saul is renamed Paul (Acts 13:9)

And in today’s gospel, after the disciple Simon makes his confession of faith, Jesus renames him Peter, which comes from the Greek petra or rock.

This is the same disciple who a few weeks back nearly sank in the stormy sea and was called out by Jesus for having little faith.

The same Peter who, we know, will not want to hear Jesus tell of his death and resurrection. (Matt. 16:22)

The same Peter who, we know, will want to stay on the mountaintop at the Transfiguration when Jesus is illuminated, and God speaks from the heavens. (Matt. 17)

The same Peter who, we know, will deny Jesus three times at his arrest. (Matt. 26)

This often-reckless, selfish, and imperfect disciple is the one whom Jesus calls “the rock” and says, “I will build my church upon you.” (v. 18)

I found myself wondering what Jesus meant. Scholars debate whether Jesus spoke of Peter himself, the foundational confession that Peter makes here, or something else entirely.[i]

During our lectionary study earlier this week, one of my colleagues called Peter “Peter the blockhead.” Maybe you remember that “blockhead” was a favorite insult by the Peanuts gang in the comic by Charles M. Shulz. Lucy calls Charlie Brown a blockhead and his teammates pile on him, blaming him for losing the baseball game. His little sister Sally calls Linus a blockhead for ruining her Halloween. Calling someone a blockhead was another way of saying, “You got it all wrong.”[ii]

The image of “Peter the blockhead” being the rock upon which the Church is built has stuck with me, precisely because sometimes Peter got it all wrong, and Jesus loved him anyway.

Reflecting the meaning of the metaphor, another pastor described her family’s experience of trying to build rock cairns, the stacked towers of stones that you can find in all different places, built for all different reasons. I’ve seen them near mountain trails and in rivers, signposts that a place has meaning. In their attempts to build cairns, two things stood out to her; first, despite their appearances, the rocks didn’t have any perfectly flat surfaces, which made it really difficult to stack them evenly and keep them from slipping and tumbling over. And second, she confessed that trying to find ways to balance them tested her family’s patience and they gave up. [iii]

Like those precarious rock cairns, the Church that we have today is filled with its own imperfections and rough edges and sometimes it feels like it wouldn’t take much to make it come tumbling down.  There are gaps where the gospel that we proclaim doesn’t match up with the witness of our lives. And sometimes it is enough to cause us to lose patience, throw up our hands in frustration and even want to give up and walk away.

But God doesn’t give up. Not on Peter and not on us.

God is still here among all of us imperfect, rough-around-the-edges people. In fact, God calls us “precious living stones” (1 Peter 2:5) and works through us to build the Church that we may continue to tell the world how much God loves us all.

A third image comes from earlier in Matthew 7, in a part of the Sermon on the Mount that we didn’t get to hear this year; it’s where Jesus says,

24 "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.  25 The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock.  (Matt. 7:24-25)

Too often, in our sin, in our self-centered failure to trust God, and our temptation to listen to lies and evil that would destroy what is given by God, we question why God would try to build anything with us or entrust this life-giving Gospel to us. But God is a God of wisdom, not foolishness, and God has built on rock, a solid foundation grounded in faith.

In The Message translation of this passage, Eugene Peterson writes that Jesus told Simon, “I’m going to tell you who you really are.” Who you really are in God’s eyes. Not who others say you are, not who you appear to be on your clumsiest or least grace-filled day, but who God says you are. There are times when we are blockheads. There are times when we stumble and fall down or get knocked down. But the God who loves us sees all of our imperfections, knows our sins before we even commit them, and forgives us abundantly.

The ekklesia or Church is the community united by faith in this Good News, in God’s saving action for each one of us. And Jesus has placed the Church into our hearts and hands, that our neighbors and community would know it too.

Let us pray…

Good and gracious God,
Thank you for your Son Jesus who sees us and calls us by name. Thank you for your abundant grace that sees our imperfections and the works through us anyway.
Teach us to trust your wisdom and share your Good News that our neighbors will know Your love.
We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.

[i] Audrey West. “Commentary on Matthew 16:13-20.” Workingpreacher.org.

[ii] There is even a book published in the 1960s called The Gospel According to the Peanuts; the author Robert Short was a Presbyterian minister and Lutheran pastor Martin Marty wrote the foreword.

[iii] “A stack of rough stones.” Liddy Barlow, “Sunday’s Coming,” The Christian Century.

Day of Pentecost

Acts 2:1-21

In the Broadway production “The Music Man” Professor Harold Hill promises the town of River City the answer to all their problems. He convinces the folks there to let him start a marching band and they give him money to purchase uniforms and instruments and are filled with excitement about the future. But then, neither the instruments nor the uniforms don’t arrive, and someone accuses Professor Harold Hill, saying he’s no professor at all; he is a con man, a thief, who travels from town to town scheming and cheating folks before leaving town with their money. And just when it looks like the professor may get tarred and feathered and run out of town, the band of children appear dressed in second-hand uniforms and playing tarnished instruments badly out of tune. At least that’s what most of us see. But then we hear mothers and fathers shouting, “That tuba is my Barney!” and “That’s Eddie’s clarinet!” and “That ‘s my Davey!” The cacophony that surrounded them fades, and each one hears clearly the music their child is playing.

In the closing scene “76 trombones”, we witness a transformation as the ragtag band of children multiplies and the street is filled by the townspeople and a marching band dressed in sharp red uniforms with shiny brass buttons and playing gleaming instruments, led by none other than Harold Hill.

In the scene we hear Luke describe in Acts Chapter 2, when the Holy Spirit comes upon the apostles, suddenly the crowd gathered around them hears them speak about God’s deeds of power in their own languages. All of the other noises of the crowd –the other languages being spoken and the murmurs of surprise and wonder – that surrounded them faded and they could hear clearly.

The Holy Spirit is the One who brings transformation. We cannot by our own thinking or choosing believe in Jesus Christ. Like the crowds in Jerusalem that day we carry too much judgment, skepticism and doubt –we are turned inward and too full of ourselves – to believe on our own. But the Holy Spirit brings us to faith in Christ. In his explanation of the third article of the apostles’ creed, Martin Luther writes, “the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way he calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.”[i]

It’s possible we will never witness the physical presence of the Spirit described here – the “divided tongues, as of fire” that appeared among the apostles, or even “the rush of a violent wind” that ushered it in. But the Holy Spirit is known by many different names throughout Scripture.  In our texts and prayers today alone we hear the Holy Spirit called Holy Wisdom, Holy Ghost, Spirit of God, and Advocate. And the Good News of Pentecost is that we encounter the Holy Spirit in our lives in surprising ways and in unexpected places, and Her presence reveals God’s own self to us in ways we can understand.

On this day of Pentecost, when we celebrate confirmation with Ruth Anne and with Caleb, that is especially good news. After three years of exploring the story of God and what Martin Luther teaches and questioning how faith and God are connected to our every day lives, they are affirming for themselves the faith given them in baptism and nurtured in the Church.

Often we stop there in the story, satisfied by the goodness of seeing the Holy Spirit active in the lives of God’s people. But in Acts Peter prompts us to try to answer the question, “What does this mean?” Similarly, Martin Luther asked the question “Was ist das?”, or “What is this?” in his Small Catechism, where he examined the Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed and the Sacraments. 

As people of faith we are invited to wrestle with what it means to believe and to bear witness to God’s activity in our lives and the world.

The Acts account is not the first occurrence of Pentecost. The people following Jesus at the time of this account were called followers of the Way, but they were Jewish, having been raised on reading the Torah and celebrating Jewish holy days.  The Day of Pentecost was a Jewish festival, celebrated fifty days after Passover where God’s people, Israel, celebrated the harvest and remembered how God had given them the law at Mount Sinai.

The Day of Pentecost celebrates that the Spirit creates and continues to create, making all things new.

And on this Pentecost the apostles and the people of Jerusalem experienced God in wholly new ways.

In addition to those who thought the apostles were drunk, I expect there were some who were afraid. But in the midst of their misgivings, their wondering and their awe, Peter addressed them all, finding in the words of the prophet Joel a way to describe something bigger than what their imaginations or experiences could grasp: to name the ways God promises were being fulfilled in them on that day. They were glimpsing God’s own Spirit among them.

As we celebrate confirmation with Ruth Anne and Caleb,
may we be alert for the ways that the Holy Spirit shows up in our lives, surprising us, leading us and renewing us.
May we always return to the Word and faith we are given to make sense of what we are seeing and hearing.
May we have confidence in God’s goodness in our lives and be relieved of fear.

Thanks be to God.

[i] Martin Luther. Small Catechism.

Fifth Sunday of Easter

John 13:31-35

Today’s gospel passage takes place before the crucifixion; in fact it is the same text we heard on Maundy Thursday when Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment.

Reading the text again, I noticed how Jesus calls his disciples, “Little children.” In our text a couple of weeks ago, after the resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples on the seashore and there he called them, “Children” too. Hearing him, I wondered why Jesus addresses them that way. His followers aren’t “children” by any traditional definition. They are fully grown adults with families and responsibilities, homes and jobs when they are called as his disciples. And yet, he calls them, “Children.”

Some people think it is diminutive, that Jesus calls them children because their faith is not yet “mature.” But isn’t our faith always forming and re-forming as we learn more about who God is and who we are as God’s children? Faith grows and expands as we experience God in our lives.

Besides, I don’t think the Jesus we meet in Scripture belittles or talks down to the people around him, even when they make mistakes and he corrects them.

Others suggest Jesus called the disciples “Children” to express his affection for them, the same way my granddaddy called me “Honeychild.”

For me, Jesus’ use of the word “children” brings to mind the time that Jesus told the disciples, “Let the little children come to me.”[i] At that time, the disciples had rebuked the crowds for bringing the children to Jesus but Jesus welcomed them saying the Kingdom of God belonged to them. Perhaps the disciples finally had understood his teaching and were following Jesus with childlike faith, open to what God was doing in their midst.

But, perhaps the simplest explanation is that Jesus calls the disciples “children” because Jesus is God and they are “God’s children.”

In baptism, we are named God’s own sons and daughters. We experience a “sweet swap” when we receive faith in Jesus Christ —we are made co-heirs to the Kingdom and we receive all that belongs to the Son of God, and Christ takes on all that is ours. With this address, Jesus reminding the disciples of their identity.

In Jesus’ words I also hear an echo of the prayer and instruction in Deuteronomy 6 that the Jewish disciples would have known; it says:

4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.  5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.  6 Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart.  7 Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. [ii]

From the time of our ancestors in faith to this present time, our identity as God’s children calls us to obedience to God’s Word and commandments.

When Jesus continues speaking to the disciples, he gives them the new commandment to love one another, just as they have been loved by God. [iii] And then he says, “By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

We don’t follow God’s commands to earn our salvation, and we aren’t obedient so that we can be better people. We can’t. We can only live as God’s children through the grace that God first gives us.  Jesus’ words remind us that our lives and actions bear witness to who Jesus is. When we speak with bitterness and anger and refuse forgiveness or reconciliation, we reflect a God of judgment and wrath. When we love one another, we reflect a God whose grace and love changes lives.

Peter was there in that room and heard Jesus speaking that night. And later after the resurrection and the ascension, when the disciples were traveling and witnessing to the Good News, Peter stayed at the house of Simon the Tanner, whose work would have made him unclean by ritual law. Peter ate at the same table as people who were outsiders and not Jewish. And the religious authorities called him on it. They questioned him, asking why he was disregarding the ritual laws and traditions of Judaism. And he recounted for them the vision he had seen where he had been told, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.”[iv]

Peter made a lot of mistakes as a disciple, as we all do, but clearly Peter had learned what it meant to love one another. As he told the people questioning him:

 17 If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?[v]

Like Peter, each of us has been raised with biases against others – whether it’s a person’s appearance, education level, accent or nationality, religion or sexual orientation. We have been taught that some people are “other” or “less than.” We have been taught that some people “belong” and others “don’t.” And we have been taught wrongly.

Believing we are all God’s children, we must love one another. God created each one of us precious in God’s sight and loves each one of us.

Loving one another we are called to live in ways that people can see how our lives are changed by God’s presence and activity. And, by this, everyone will know that we are following Jesus.

Let us pray…
Loving God,
We give you thanks for Your Son Jesus who teaches us to love each other as we are first loved by You.
Help us live as disciples, with confidence in our identity as Your children and with obedience to Your Word.
Send us out as witnesses to Your transforming grace and mercy.
We pray in the name of Jesus.
Amen.

[i] Mt. 19:14, Mk. 10:14, Lk. 18:16
[ii] Deuteronomy 6:4-7
[iii] John 13:34
[iv] Acts 11:9
[v] Acts 11:16-17

Fourth Sunday of Easter

Acts 9:36-43

When a woman named Ann Reeves Jarvis died in 1905, her daughter Anna, who wanted to honor her work caring for soldiers on both sides of the Civil War and addressing public health concerns, began a campaign to establish a national “Mother’s Day.”  Six years later, then-president Wilson officially recognized the holiday that has been celebrated here in the States on the second Sunday in May for more than a century now. [i]

One of my preaching professors encouraged us to name the secular, or non-religious, events in our lives in our preaching because, regardless of your piety, if there is something significant happening in culture and society, it is going to shape how you hear the Good News. For some, you will celebrate today with gifts or flowers or special time shared together. But I think it’s important also to name that for some of you, today is painful because of infertility, miscarriage or the estrangement or death of a child. Others still will find joy elusive because your own relationship with your mother is difficult, or because your mother has died. Through our prayers and recognition, we hope to name the different ways that mothering happens in our lives.

On this Mother’s Day, especially, I am thinking about two very young children and their father whose mother and wife died last Saturday, May 4th after a four-week illness. Rachel Held Evans was a 37-year-old woman from Tennessee who was a popular Christian blogger and writer. She had grown up in a conservative evangelical Christian church. Her father was a religion professor who always encouraged her questions about theology, religion and faith. As an adult, her questions led her into other Christian communities and her faith expanded to make room for her doubts and her questions. Throughout this week on social media, people have quoted her writing and shared memories of encountering her and how her encouragement and affirmation made a difference in their lives. It has been said that her children, who are 3 and not yet 1, will get to know her through these stories and memories.

In the Acts of the Apostles Luke tells us about another woman, who is remembered for “her good works and acts of charity.” (v.36) According to Luke, Tabitha, whose Greek name was Dorcas, was a garment-maker, who created clothing for the widows, the ones who lived on the margins of society. [ii] Those same widow women are the ones preparing her body for burial when Peter is called to the house. From that, we can guess that she was unmarried. However, her importance to the community is signaled by Peter’s quick response and arrival in Joppa. When he arrives, the women show him all the tunics and other clothing that Tabitha had made “while she was with them.” (v. 39)

What happens next leaves us with questions of our own. It’s very likely that Luke wants us to remember the story of the little girl, the ones whose name we don’t know, who is raised by Jesus in chapter 8. She was the daughter of an important man and her house was surrounded by professional mourners when Jesus arrived, told them to leave and called out to her. Tabitha, who is named, twice, is surrounded by friends when Peter arrived, told them to leave and then told Tabitha to “get up.” (v 40) Luke-Acts doesn’t include the story of Lazarus being raised, but like Lazarus, Tabitha is never made immortal; she will die again.

So what meaning are we supposed to take from her revival?

Sometimes, stories from Scripture that tell about miracles of healing leave us confused and even angry when the people we know and love, ones who have lived with compassion and good works, still die.  There are not ready-made answers to questions about why bad things happen to good people. But watching her community grieve together, telling stories of the person they love and sharing their memories of her with others so that she could be remembered shows us one way of being church together: holding each other in love when we are vulnerable and hurting.

We could focus on what it means that Peter is now performing public acts of healing, and how others were believed when “he showed [Tabitha] to be alive.” (v. 41) But I think jumping to focus on Peter would make us miss the significance of Tabitha herself. She is not a mere prop in someone else’s story.

Tabitha is the only woman in Scripture who is called a disciple, a mathetai. As scholar Mitzi Smith writes, perhaps she was one of the disciples gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem when God’s Spirit rested on them. What we know from reading Luke’s text is that she cared for others selflessly.[iii] One of the ways I talk about discipleship or following Jesus is to say that, as disciples, our lives following Jesus bear witness to the grace we have first received; that we love because we are first loved by God.  Discipleship is loving God, loving God’s people and loving the world.

Each of these women - Ann Jarvis, Rachel Held Evans and Tabitha or Dorcas - lived lives that were testimonies to God’s love active in their lives and God’s Spirit empowering them to share that love with others. As we remember women in our lives today, may we be inspired to live with the Spirit of God that inhabited each of them – an immortal spirit of generosity, love and compassion.

In closing, I invite you to pray the prayer on your bulletin insert. It is adapted from Alcuin of York and was included in Rachel Held Evans’ book Searching for Sunday:[iv]

God, go with us.
Help us to be an honor to the church.
Give us the grace to follow Christ’s word, to be clear in our task and careful in our speech.
Give us open hands and joyful hearts.
Let Christ be on our lips.

May our lives reflect a love of truth and compassion.
Let no one come to us and go away sad.
May we offer hope to the poor, and solace to the disheartened.
Let us so walk before God’s people, that those who follow us might come into God’s kingdom.
Let Christ be on our lips.

Let us sow living seeds, words that are quick with life, that faith may be the harvest in people’s hearts.
In word and in example let Your light shine in the dark like the morning star.
Do not allow the wealth of the world or its enchantment flatter us into silence as to Your truth.
Do not permit the powerful, or judges, or our dearest friends to keep us from professing what is right.
Let Christ be on our lips.
Amen.

[i] Wikipedia contributors, "Mother's Day," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mother%27s_Day&oldid=896143656 (accessed May 10, 2019).[ii] Bartlett, David L.. Feasting on the Word: Year C, Volume 2: Lent through Eastertide. Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.
[iii] Mitzi J. Smith. “Commentary of Acts 9:36-43.” Workingpreacher.org Luther Seminary..
[iv] Evans, Rachel Held. Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church (p. 109). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.