SCRIPTURES:
Psalm 138; Isaiah 51:1; Matthew 16: 13-20; Romans 12: 1-2, 4-8
Following Woody Garvin and Renée Roederer may not be the best way to write a chapter on “How to Succeed in Preaching Without Really Trying,” but I shall do my best to emulate their excellence this morning.
As many of you know, preachers at PPC tend to follow the Revised Common Lectionary, which is a three-year cycle of scripture readings used by many denominations around the world. You could, for example, be worshipping today in a Presbyterian church in New York City or a Lutheran church in Minnesota and find the preacher du jour using the same scripture texts for his or her sermon.
Nearly every Sunday the lectionary offers a Psalm and readings from the Old Testament, Gospel and Epistles. Year A (in which we are now) uses Gospel readings from Matthew, Year B uses Mark, and Year C uses Luke (the three Synoptic Gospels). Readings from the Gospel of John are interspersed throughout the three-year cycle. The other readings, to a greater or lesser extent, pivot around the Gospel lesson for the day. A preacher using the lectionary might, theoretically, never need to preach on the same text for 12 years.
Of course, nothing is quite that simple. For example, the Epistle reading for the Day of Pentecost is always Acts 2: 1-21 because there is no other telling of the accounts of that momentous day. Christmas Eve uses the same Gospel lesson — can you imagine Christmas Eve without the Luke story of shepherds and angels? When I last preached here, on the 4th Sunday of Eastertide, the 23rd Psalm was the lectionary psalm for all three years. What can I say? It happens.
One other thing I learned as I prepared for today’s sermon is that there are actually two versions of the Lectionary for the Sundays between Pentecost and Advent, what we call Ordinary Time and others call Proper: a semicontinuous track, which moves through stories and characters in the Old Testament and acomplementary track, which ties the Old Testament texts to the theme of the Gospel texts for that day. 1 While Presbyterians tend to follow the semicontinuous track, I used the complementary readings today because of how well they tied to the Gospel text that my mother just read. In fact, while it often happens that a preacher focuses on just one of the four readings for the day, we’re actually using all four selections today, including Psalm 138, which we sang for our opening hymn.
Today’s Gospel reading is one of those very familiar texts that we often gloss over simply because is it so well known. It’s also a text that appears in all three synoptic Gospels, but with crucial differences. Luke (9:18-20) uses just three verses and the setting has Jesus praying. In both Mark and Matthew, Jesus is on the road to Cesarae Phillipi. In all three accounts, Jesus asks the disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” and in all three versions, the disciples respond that the crowds compare Jesus to John the Baptist, Elijah or one of the ancient prophets. So far, everything is pretty much in synch between the Gospels.
Then Jesus asks, “But who do you say that I am.” It is Peter, the most impetuous of the disciples, who answers but the three Gospel writers phrase that answer differently. In Mark, Peter says, “You are the Messiah.” In Luke, Peter responds, “You are the Messiah (or the Christ) of God.” Matthew reports that Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.”
Then Matthew, alone of the three writers, goes on to record Jesus saying (using Eugene Peterson’s words in The Message):
"God bless you, Simon, son of Jonah! You didn't get that answer out of books or from teachers. My Father in heaven, God himself, let you in on this secret of who I really am. And now I'm going to tell you who you are, really are. You are Peter, a rock. This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out. And that's not all. You will have complete and free access to God's kingdom, keys to open any and every door: no more barriers between heaven and earth, earth and heaven. A yes on earth is yes in heaven. A no on earth is no in heaven.” 2
This addition to the story by Matthew has been the subject of endless debate for centuries. First, of course, is the inclusion of the final section by Matthew and not by the other Gospel writers. Dr. Lyle HYPERLINK "http://udtslearning.net/user/view.php?id=37&course=1"Vander Broek, Professor of New Testament at Dubuque Theological Seminary, is not alone in believing that Matthew’s use of the addendum was because he had a much higher opinion of Peter than did Mark.
For Roman Catholics, of course, the metaphor of Peter as the rock on which Jesus would build the church is the cornerstone of its entire hierarchical system — Pope Benedict XVI is the 264th successor to the Peter as the head of the Roman Catholic church. However, Pastor Charles E. Hambrick Stowe responds:
“Protestants, on the other hand, have argued that it is Peter’s FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST that is the foundation of the church. In Isaiah 51 — Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug, the prophet identifies Abraham and Sarah as the first ‘rocks’ dug from the quarry of faithfulness.” In the NT,” Stowe continues, “I Peter picks up the image that Christ is called ‘a living stone, though rejected by mortals, yet chosen and precious in God’s sight.’ Now we are called to be like Jesus himself and like Peter and others down through the generations who have confessed Jesus as Lord and Savior: ‘Like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house’ (I Peter 2:5).” 3
Of course, this is an important distinction — it’s one of the bedrocks on which Reformed Theology and our Presbyterian faith is based (although, to be perfectly candid, there are times — for example in the midst of interminable committee meetings — when the idea of having a Pope in charge seems attractive).
But it terms of where I’m headed today, it’s not the most important part of this Gospel passage. The key portion of this passage, it seems to me, is that this is the moment when Jesus established the church. Why he chose this seemingly unlikely vehicle to further God’s Kingdom is not for us to say. What is important is that he did it. This morning the question for our Adult Education class that my Mom will be leading is “Why do we need a church?” Well, at least one answer is because Jesus said so! “The church,” says Pastor Stowe, “is essential to Christian faith and theology. It is not merely a means to achieve a greater goal, nor is it just a voluntary association of like-minded individuals. It is an article of faith … When Jesus gives ‘the keys of the kingdom’ and grants authority to ‘bind’ and ‘loose,’ he is creating the church that is the epicenter of the Father’s answer to Jesus’ prayer that God’s kingdom will come, that his will may be done ‘on earth as it is in heaven.’ (Matt. 6:10)” 4 It is, in one word, our vision.
If Matthew’s Gospel lesson is our vision, then the 12th chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans acts as a blueprint as to how we fulfill it. This is not a unique scripture; Paul uses similar — and perhaps even more familiar — words in his first letter to the Corinthians and in the letter to the Ephesians.
So let’s listen again to the word of God from Romans, chapter 12, verses 1-8, reading from Eugene Peterson’s The Message:
So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life — your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life — and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we're talking about is Christ's body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn't amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ's body, let's just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren't.
If you preach, just preach God's Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don't take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don't get bossy; if you're put in charge, don't manipulate; if you're called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don't let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.” 5
There’s enough for a dozen sermons in this passage but one thing in it really stands out to me for us here at PPC in the year 2011: We need to stop acting as if we were — in Peterson’s words — chopped-off fingers or cut-off toes. We need to recommit ourselves to the concept of Many Gifts, One Spirit, to being fully engaged members of Christ’s body — this church in this time and in this place. Individually, we can do little; as a body, we can help God work miracles.
This is a critical juncture in the life of Pasadena Presbyterian Church and we all need to answer God’s call, just as people have done for more than 135 years. We stand on the shoulders of saints who have come before us; Dr. Jon M. Walton, in a recent sermon at the First Presbyterian Church in the City of New York, called this legacy “drinking water from wells that we have not dug.” 6
However, we need not just to honor these saints with lip service but to learn from what their lives and service can teach us. And not just them but from saints around us, as well. “We grow as Christians,” says Ellen F. Davis, “by listening acutely to others, living and dead, within the community of faith, and letting their authority be a shaping force in our lives. That is what it means to stand within a tradition.” 7
How do we respond to God’s call? I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but here are three things for you to consider in the coming days as we move toward a new programmatic year at Pasadena Presbyterian Church.
1. Pray. Every day. Start with the prayer list each week’s bulletin, but don’t stop there. Pray for people you know who are not on the list. Head Christ’s call and pray for one enemy — just one — this week. Pray intentionally for this church, for the city in which you live, for Pasadena, for this state, this nation and our world. Consider joining the Friday morning 9 a.m. prayer group when it resumes in September if your schedule permits. Do you realize that we have Korean members who gather each morning at 5:30 a.m. for prayer? Come and join; prayer is a universal language.
2. Learn. “Many of you have encouraged me in my online studies and have asked what I hope to do when I’m finished with the curriculum. The answer is, “I don’t know but I’m having a great time learning.” After a lifetime of “accomplishing things” — in my case, putting out a magazine every other month, a 300-page directory every year and dozens of other tasks every day (along with chairing numerous church committees, and wrestling with budgets, health and other financial and personnel matters here at PPC) — I had forgotten the sheer exuberant joy of learning. Looking back 45 years, what I remember about my college education are not so much the formal classes but reading books like Paul Tillich’s The Shaking of the Foundations, Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together or Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s A Coney Island of the Mind … simply reveling in learning for its own sake. That’s what’s happening in my online courses — that and interacting with others who are walking paths similar — and yet quite different — to mind
So I encourage you — indeed, implore you — to learn … about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit — the whole panoply of our faith. Participate in an adult education class sometime this year; in fact, join the group this morning even if you haven’t attended before — every class is a new adventure. Consider a Bible study — we have at least five that meet regularly (men’s group, women’s group, Bible and Bagels, Presbyterian Women and L.I.F.T., our young adult Bible study). Do you know that every other week Doug Dailey and a group of committed Christians gather for theological study? Consider being part of that group. Commit this year to joining an Advent or Lenten study group. Heck, you could even sign up for online classes at Dubuque Theological Seminary.
3. Find a way to make use of those special gifts that God has given. There are ministries of caring, teaching, singing, and serving in many other ways here at PPC. Your call may be something you already do in your work life but have you never considered offering to the service of the Lord?
It may be a way you’ve never considered. Three years ago we had never considered an E-Waste Collection program. Thanks to the vision of people like Karen Lee, we’re holding another event on Saturday. The money we raise will be important to our Young Adult Ministry — the earth we help save will be even more so.
Many of you commiserated with me when you learned that Christine Cox and I were taking a group of 10 high school youth on a mission trip to Northern California two weeks ago. As you can see, we survived — and it was a mind-stretching experience not only for the youth but also for the adults. I’m sorry you missed it … and, oh by the way, we need Church School teachers and youth advisors this year. Perhaps God is calling you for that important task.
There are, of course, many other areas. I gave you a break by not mentioning Stewardship in this sermon (oops, did I just say the dreaded “S” word?) We need everyone on board this year and next and the year after … If you want other suggestions, see me after worship or talk to Carol Kaufman or speak to Mark Smutny or to many other people about how you can get involved.
Let me close with the way author Maria Harris presents the challenge: “No longer is it enough to be passive members receiving a word told us by someone else, filing that word away to be taken out for a reading now and then. No longer is it enough to leave the work of the church to pastors and ordained leaders, as if the total responsibility was theirs. Instead … the word of God is addressing us, saying something to us, making demands on us, and asking us to live that word in our lives. We are a people called by the gospel, called to make a difference in our world.” 8
Let it be so, beginning today, for all of us. Come, labor on! May we be the church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out. Amen.
-Elder Robert Thomas and the Community at Pasadena Presbyterian Church
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1 Feasting on the Word. David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, editors. © 2011, Westminster John Knox Press. Introduction.
2 Scripture taken from The Message by Eugene Peterson; page 1777. Copyright ©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
3 Charles E. Hambrick Stowe, Pastor, First Congregational Church of Ridgefield, Conn. Quoted in Feasting on the Word; op cit. Proper 16.
4 Ibid
5 The Message by Eugene Peterson; op cit. Pages 2054-55.
6 From a sermon by The Reverend Dr. Jon M. Walton on July 3, 2011 at The First Presbyterian Church in the City of New York. © Copyright 2011 by Jon M. Walton.
7 Getting Involved With God: Rediscovering the Old Testament by Ellen F. Davis. © Copyright 2001 by Ellen F. Davis. Published by Cowley Publications, Rowman & Littlefield, Publishers, Pg 101
8 Maria Harris: Fashion Me a People: Curriculum in the Church. Louisville/Westminster John Knox Press, 1989, Pgs. 23 and 24. Quoted in Basics of Christian Education by Karen B. Tye. © Copyright 2000 by Karen B. Tye. (Chalice Press) Pgs 27-28
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