For My Sake

A Sermon for the 11^th Sunday after Pentecost (RCL A) 8-28-2011

Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts:              Exodus 3:1-15; Psalm 105:1-6,23-26,45c; Matthew 16:21-28

Themes:         Moses and the burning bush, God’s deliverance, self-denial
Title:               For My Sake

My dear sisters and brothers in the Lord: What does it mean to set the mind on divine things rather than on human things?

It’s been rather difficult this past week to set the mind on anything but Hurricane Irene!

The way the news media played this thing up, you might think it was Armageddon and the end of the world!

But the Lord rebuked Peter for setting his mind on human things rather than on divine things, as we just heard, and that is a powerful message which all human beings need to ponder carefully. 

Once Peter made his great confession of faith in Jesus as the Messiah who has come to set the people free, he seemed overtaken by the sudden realization of the immense value of their leader.

And so Peter, quite naturally, wished to protect Jesus and to keep him from harm. This is what we do with all of the things that are valuable to us – we protect them and keep them from harm.

But Jesus responded with one of his “hard sayings”, as they are called. “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”

Do you notice how Jesus begins this saying, what he identifies as the motivating factor for this path of self-denial?

“If any want to become my followers…”

There can never be any denial of the voluntary principle if we are to be a spiritually healthy community. Human beings have to choose. Our dignity demands that we make the choices that affect our lives and our futures.

Look at the example of Moses. Even in the midst of this amazing, life-changing encounter where God reveals God’s own name personality, the voluntary principle is respected. Moses has the right to argue over this task with the Lord. Moses even has the right to say no to this task, if he so wished. He could have said, “No thanks, I’ve got a good and stress-free life right now here in Midian and I think I’ll just keep it like that.” In a sense, God presents the sight of the burning bush in order to persuade Moses to agree to this task. When dealing with human beings, even God – our Creator – works by persuasion and not by compulsion. 

Consider the so-called “Mandatory Evacuations” that have been in place over the last few days along the east coast. They are called “mandatory” but I’ll bet that you’ve seen folks interviewed who have decided to stay put in some coastal town. Thankfully, it seems that our government authorities are not able to force people to live. And that is as it should be.

St. Clement of Alexandria is reputed to have written this axiom of deep truth: “Compulsion is repugnant to God.” It is repugnant to God and it is also repugnant to human beings!

We must be able to choose. We instinctively recoil against anyone who attempts to force us. The basic tool of those governments and groups who torture their prisoners is to take away their dignity, to take away their ability to choose, to control everything so that the prisoners feel that they no longer have any control themselves at all.

What God seeks is people who will serve and love God and the world simply because they choose to do so! I have heard a modern parable about Jesus and his disciples during their days together in Galilee. This is not in the Gospels, but I think that it does communicate truth to us.

Jesus and his disciples are together walking along the road one morning when Jesus turns and tells the disciples, “I would like you to carry a stone for me. Now, come and follow me.” Then he turned and began to walk on. Simon Peter, being a very simple and practical man, picked up a small stone in his hand and began to follow along. After all, the Lord said nothing about the size or mass of the stone to be carried.

Around mid-day, Jesus asked the disciples to stop and be seated. He gave thanks to Abba for all of the gifts of the day, and when he had finished, all of the stones being carried by the disciples had turned into bread. And so they ate lunch together. But Simon Peter’s lunch was over with just one mouthful!

Once they finished, Jesus stood up and once again said, “I would like you to carry a stone for me. Now, come and follow me.” And he turned and began to walk on. Peter said to himself, “OK, now I get it. This stone will be for supper!” So he found a small boulder and, though it was difficult, he brought it up onto his shoulder and began to walk on. And as he did, he thought to himself, “Man, I can’t wait for supper!”

But in just a few hours, the Lord stopped as they crossed a small stream and he asked his disciples to throw their stones into the stream. Then he turned and began to walk on.

But now the disciples were grumbling and confused, and Peter especially began to complain and grumble. And the Lord turned and said to him, “Peter, what is the matter? Have you forgotten? For whom were you carrying that stone?”

You see, Jesus had asked them to carry a stone for him! But quickly they began to think only in terms of what they themselves were going to get out of this labor, rather than offering their service simply because their beloved Teacher and Master had asked for it.

But that is not love, my friends. God cannot force it, but what God longs to find in us is the desire, the longing, simply to serve without any regard of what we might get out it.

As soon as begin to bargain, we know that we’ve lost sight of the path. As soon as we say, “Well, Lord, I’ve been a faithful church-goer all my life. Surely then I deserve some protection or special blessing…”

But as soon as we go down that path of trying to negotiate something special for ourselves, then we’ve lost sight of love and service.

For whom are we carrying our stones? For whom do we gather for worship? For whose sake do we serve in the church, or take care of our loved ones, or work so hard to put food on the table?

If all of this is not done for the sake of Jesus Christ alone, then we’ve missed the path to true joy and peace and life. “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”

May we always be among those who are willing to serve simply because God asks us to do so, and without any desire or motivation to secure any benefit by so doing for ourselves. Amen.