31 August 2008 St. Athanasius Lutheran Church
Pentecost 16 Vienna, VA
“Cross Vocations”
Text: Matthew 16:21-28;
Romans 12:9-21
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father,
and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.
On this Labor Day weekend, our country takes time
out to honor the work and vocations that we have been given in our lives. Work
and vocations that are good and useful. Work and vocations that we do not just
to make money, but to serve our fellowman. For it is through the work and
service of both believers and unbelievers alike that God provides our daily
bread - all that we need to support this body and life. And so what you do -
whatever you do - is good and valuable, whether you are a pastor or a painter,
a garbage collector or a governor, a teacher or yes, even a telemarketer!
But
in addition to our work and vocations in this world, you and I have also been
given the vocation of Christian. To live and work in this world as a child of
God. That is a special vocation, a gift, that does not really add to our other
vocations, but informs and shapes how we do them. And it was St. Paul today who
gave us a rather long and extensive list of what we are to do, and how we are
to live, in this world as Christians. Now, the list that he gives is certainly
meant for every person, for the Law
is for all people. But Paul is talking here especially to Christians - to us! -
to those redeemed by Christ, the crucified, and so now live as new creations in
this world.
Do you remember that list? Perhaps a reminder . . . “Let
love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one
another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. . .
. [B]e patient in tribulation, be
constant in prayer. . . . Bless those who persecute you; bless and do
not curse them. . . . Live in
harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.
Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil . . . never avenge
yourselves . . . if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him
something to drink . . .”
How
ya’ doing so far? Yeah, me either.
Why? Why is it so hard for us to do those things?
Why, when we read through a list like that, do we think those things so
extraordinary and beyond our ability?
Well, perhaps Peter can give us a little help today.
He had some trouble with some of the things Jesus was saying to him, too. And
Jesus gave him the reason for it: “you are not setting your mind on the things
of God, but on the things of man.” Perhaps that is what we do too.
Doubting the work of God for us and in us, and doubting the work of God in the
world, and so doubting that it is possible for me to do those things God asks
of me. Because if I do, I won’t be able to survive. I’ll get taken advantage
of, used and abused and stepped on, and won’t be able to get ahead. I won’t get
what I want or need. It’s just not the
way the world works.
Well, that’s
true - it’s not the way the world works. But it is the way our Lord works. Our Lord who said it is the meek
who inherit the earth. (Matt 5:5) Who says those who are weak are strong. (2
Cor 12:10) Who says
you are blessed when you are hated and persecuted (Matt 5:11) - or to put that in a more
modern way: when you are taken advantage of, used and abused and stepped on,
for living as a Christian. This is the
way our Lord works because it is the way of the cross. The way that
believes that what is true is not always what is seen, what is good is not
always what is popular, and that the blessings of God are often hidden under
suffering.
But this way of thinking - and living! - does not
come naturally to us - not to Peter, and not to us. And so first we must be
exorcised. Exorcised of our old way of thinking, of our demons, of our sins.
And this Jesus does for us in Baptism. For there, in those waters, is His
divine “Get behind me, Satan!” for each of us. Get thee out of my
child, and make room for my Spirit, the Holy Spirit. There we are marked with
the sign of the cross and given the name of the Triune God. There Jesus worked
in us and gave us all His gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation. In Baptism
we are adopted into His family and made sons of God.
But the devil does not like this divine exorcism,
and so though expelled, will not leave you alone. He cannot make you sin, so he
tries to make you doubt - to doubt the ways of God, to fear and love instead
the things and people of the world, to make you believe that what you see is the way things really are, and
in all these ways turning and setting
your heart and mind not on the things of God, but on the things of man. And
sins of mind and heart quickly become sins of word and deed.
Look what happened to Peter. One moment (in the
verses just before the Holy Gospel we heard today), Peter was confessing Jesus
as the
Christ, the Son of the living God. (Matt 16:16) But then when confronted
with the cross by Jesus, he changes, and objects, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This
shall never happen to you.” That is the English translation, anyway.
What Peter actually said was something like, “There will be grace to you, Lord!” meaning, God will be gracious;
God will not make you go through something like that; there will be another
way. With such a statement, Peter was expressing faith in God and His grace, but he didn’t understand that grace, and how
God would show His grace through Jesus and His cross. That Jesus must be crucified to atone for the sin
of the world. That there was no other way. This is why Jesus had come. Peter
was thinking like the world, and so he needed to be exorcised.
And so do we. So that our minds that have been
turned onto the ways and things of this world be turned back to God in
repentance. And that repenting we again receive the forgiveness and life won
for us by Jesus on the cross and first given to us in Baptism, and so be raised
with Jesus from the death of sin to live a new life. That our hearts and minds
be set again on the ways and things of God, not the ways and things of man, and
that our words and deeds then follow. That we live by faith not in ourselves,
but in all the words of promises of God, given to us in Christ Jesus (2
Cor 1:20).
And that is what Jesus meant when He said to us
today, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his
cross and follow me.” That doesn’t mean that as Christians we have to
suffer - although we may. It means, rather, that our hearts and minds be ruled
by the cross, for that is to have the mind of God. It is to see in the cross in
our lives as something good, not bad. To take up the cross means to believe
that what is true is not always what is seen, that what is good is not always
what is popular, and that the blessings of God are often hidden under
suffering. It is to repent of myself and my ways, and receive the forgiveness
and life of Jesus in His Spirit, and so live the vocation given to me as a
child of God.
So too, in that way, do we deny ourselves - another
phrase that is also often misunderstood. For to deny yourself doesn’t mean that you can’t have
anything good or can’t have any fun. No,
to deny yourself means to confess Christ. To enjoy the things
of this world not as our gods, but as gifts from God. To use the things of this
world not selfishly, but in love and service and to share them with others. And
to know that whether the things of this world come or go, that neither affects
or reflects our relationship with Jesus. For to confess Christ and his cross is
to confess a far greater reality than the things of this world, and to cling to
promises far greater. Promises that will not end with this world and life, but
which will carry us through to the next.
And so Jesus ended His teaching to us today by
pointing us to that greater reality, with these words: “Truly, I say to you, there are
some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man
coming in his kingdom.” Do you know who those folks are? You. For now you will again see
the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. You will see with the eyes of faith His
coming to you here and now in His body and blood in the Lord’s Supper. His
coming for you with forgiveness for all your sins. His coming for you with
life. His coming to give you all that you need. He has nothing more to give
than He gives to you here. It is a kingdom that may be hidden for now, but that
makes it no less real. You are His, and He is yours.
That is why the Christian life looks so upside-down
to the world! We live in a different kingdom, with different minds, with
different faith. But in reality, it is not we who are upside-down, it is the
world, turned on its head in sin. And so in living the Christian life, the
vocation our Father has so graciously given us, we have an opportunity to show
the world not what is wrong with us, but what is right with us. To confess to
them - in word and deed - the mind of Christ and the gift of His forgiveness.
His forgiveness which changes our minds. His forgiveness which changes our
hearts. His forgiveness which makes all the difference in the world.
In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and
of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Now the peace of God which passes all understanding,
keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.