Lectionary for Sunday 22.
Jesus said: If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. Matthew 16:24
Collect. Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve. Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Reading. Exodus 3:1-15.Over recent weeks the Lectionary has been recounting the progress and development of the nation of Israel. The story recalls the care and the provision that God had for this chosen race of people. It was God’s providence that allowed them to survive and ultimately thrive in the land of Egypt, but now the time has come to release them from the oppression of the Egyptians and settle them into the land that God had provided for them. Here they would become the nation of Israel.
Moses was aged 40 when his impulsive nature saw him murder an Egyptian, an act that forced him into escaping to the land of Midian. Another 40 years has passed as we pick up again the story of Moses now a married man with a family and still working in the wilderness tending the sheep. As Moses with his flocks approaches the region of Horeb, the bush which does not burn catches his attention. Biblical scholars recognise this as a “theophany,” an appearance of God to a human being. The bush that does not burn attracts Moses but as he approaches God calls out to warn him not to draw too close to the bush. This is “holy ground”. The power of God surrounds the bush yet it is not in any way burnt. The bush is a manifestation of God’s power and although Moses knows that this is God yet the picture is still unclear; God will always be in one sense a mystery. Before the mystery Moses hides his face. Instinctively he understands that it is dangerous to act presumptuously when dealing with God. This area was all “Holy ground” for it was here that Moses would once again meet God, “face to face’ and here would receive the Law that shaped Israel forever.
Though he is an old man, Moses is ideally placed to approach Pharaoh for he grew up in the Egyptian court and so could understand how all the protocols worked without being overawed. God had prepared Moses for this great task and now the time had come for Moses to act on his people’s behalf.
Moses’ desire to understand most clearly who it is that is calling him to this task is realistic. Once again God leaves a sense of mystery in the reply to Moses’ question. “The God of your ancestors” draws our attention to the oppression the Israelites were facing and so God’s reply to Moses is to say that he is to tell the people that it is the God they have been crying out to who has sent him! Thus “I Am” has been present with you and is always present with you and this presence denotes God’s love and care. At the same time this presence is always going to be more than the human mind can comprehend. God stands over the people as the great I Am, it is a presence that reaches back to their ancestors and also goes before them carrying them on into the future.
We are fortunate to know the way the story unfolds but Moses has to struggle with the mystery of God while at the same time relying absolutely on God’s power. It was to be a task that only he could do!
Prayer. Holy Lord, we thank you for the obedience of Moses who lead the people under your direction. We thank you that it reminds us that you are always present with your people and always have their welfare in mind. We thank you for raising up leaders who lead using your strength to achieve your perfect purposes. Help us to be discerning as we live out our lives, whether we are to lead or to follow, always being obedient to you and your call upon us. This we ask through Jesus Christ the one perfect Servant. Amen
Reading. Matthew 16:21-28. The revelation that Jesus is the Messiah is the turning point on which this next section of Matthew’s gospel pivots. As Messiah certain events must unfold and certain things must be accomplished. All of the disciples would have understood the teaching about the coming Messiah and how exciting that knowledge would have been for each of them. However, now they have to leave behind much of what they have been taught for Jesus is a Messiah with a very different agenda. The agenda of this Messiah is to go to Jerusalem and be crushed by the evil forces of the world. These evil forces will use the very people who for centuries had longed for God’s Messiah. It is a very radical change of understanding and so we should not be too surprised at Peter’s reaction, nor at Jesus’ response. Peter is trying to protect Jesus from harm, a very natural instinct. Jesus however knows that the course he must take is what God wants. Peter’s remark cuts across what must transpire and so Jesus names Peter as Satan. The word Satan means, “the Accuser” or the adversary. That is the sense in which Jesus uses the term when addressing Peter. We remember that Jesus made it quite clear that those who are not fully with Jesus are fully against him. Anyone who was against what Jesus had to accomplish was working against him. (Matthew 12:30) Peter did not want to be Jesus’ enemy but by using human wisdom had unintentionally become an enemy.
It was this absoluteness that Jesus speaks about when he once more challenges those who wanted to follow him. There are three things that he emphasises. Firstly a follower must deny him or herself. This denial was to forever place God and God’s way as the guiding force in your life. Being a Christian is never a part time occupation, it is a once for all way of life. As Peter found, just trying to be kind by using human wisdom was not enough. And as G K Chesterton said,” “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.” Following Jesus demands action but it only God guided action that will suffice. Secondly a follower must take up their own cross. The cross was a place of suffering and punishment. So terrible was this in Roman times that crucifixion was never ever talked about in polite conversation, it happened but no one spoke of it. The cross foreshadowed a place of sacrifice for following Jesus puts every follower at odds with the world and its systems.
Finally a follower has to follow Jesus; not that they will do what Jesus did but that they will do as God desires in all of life’s situations.
Even today this is a hard calling but we need to remember that in the time of Matthew being a Christian risked deadly persecution from those around you. To be a Christian was to be at risk. Many in our world still face that risk and still choose to follow Jesus. Just as Jesus’ words challenge his closest disciples to re think their attitudes and beliefs so we too are challenged to re examine our lives so that we are fully with Jesus.
Prayer. O Lord we pray take our hand that we may walk with you today. Grant us the courage to face the way that you are facing and to walk in step with you, that if possible we may may be obedient children of God, your true disciples. We long to serve you with all our hearts and yet we fully know how weak we are and how easily we turn away from the ways you choose. Lord we often feel powerless as we live out our lives. The great events and the major decisions are not ours to influence or so it would seem. And yet Lord you have not asked us to be powerful nor to be world changers, but to love and trust you relying on your strength alone. As we begin this day Lord, teach us to begin not in power or might which comes from ourselves but trusting in your power to guide, looking for your strength to provide the victory. Grant that we would rely on you Lord and follow your way until we have accomplished what you desire of us today. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen
Collect. Descending God, your Son faces the cross, and bids his followers to come. Help us to turn from false desires which keep us from following the Saviour in whose name we pray. Amen.
“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” Deitrich Bonhoeffer, in The Cost of Discipleship
ericjkirkham.com 