Sept. 1, 2002
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Mindekirken Sept.1st 2002 In the school of Jesus Matt 16.21-28 It’s getting to be fall. This week, school will start again. Students will be moved up one class. They’ll bring along the knowledge they’ve already got. Now they’re gonna be taught new things – things that might broaden their minds. I remember from my own school days how our English teacher at high school opened a new world to us. Through the literature we learned to see ourselves and the world around us in a totally new way. Lucky are the ones who have a good teacher. Knowledge is power, they say. When the church council had their mini retreat at Fosse’s home in June, we asked: Is there something special you would like to emphasize at Mindekirken? Education was ranked the highest. To be a Christian means to be a disciple. In new-Norwegian the word says even more clearly that this means to be taught by Jesus. Through all our lives we are taught by Jesus. I hope this service is a kind of education. But we may need other places for education as well. As a first step we will start with Bible study in the Kirkestua, next Tuesday at 10:00 AM. There we will go further into the texts from this Sunday. There will be comments and questions regarding the sermon. And we will set aside some time for prayer. At 11:00 AM we’ll have Open House with waffles and coffee in the Fellowship Hall, and at noon we’ll have a short program. So Tuesdays may be a half a day at church. Today’s text is from Jesus’ teaching of Peter and the other disciples. Last Sunday we heard that they were up for examination. Jesus asked: "Who do you say that I am?" Peter answered orally: "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Do you remember what grade he got? He got the grade "Blessed" and he was immediately recruited to an enormous task: to be the rock of the church on earth and responsible for the keys to heaven. But the teaching of Jesus doesn’t end here. In today’s text there is a new curriculum on the schedule. It’s a lesson so difficult that Peter doesn’t understand a single word. Three times Jesus comes with the same lesson, but not until after Pentecost will the disciples get full understanding of it. The disciples had understood that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God. But today’s lesson seems to speak against it. Because Jesus said that he would undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. Eager students sometimes stop after the class to speak to the teacher. Teachers seem to like that. Peter stopped after class. He spoke clearly: "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you." Was Peter frightened by what Jesus said? Suffering and death were the opposite of what they expected of the Messiah. To lose Jesus in this way would be disastrous. How did Jesus react to what Peter said? "Get behind me, Satan." Jesus said strictly. He gave no positive response to the cares of Peter - just the opposite. He called his own disciple Satan. It looks like they’re talking past each other like a "good-day-axe-handle-man". What in Peter’s words makes Jesus upset? I think the answer is that through the well meant words of Peter, Jesus met a temptation from Satan himself to avoid what was the real reason for him to come to the world. What Jesus speaks about is the divine "must". The real purpose with his coming to this world was that he should give his own life. Until now the disciples have seen Jesus as the great teacher and healer. Further, they expected that he, as the Messiah, would gain an earthly kingdom. But the plan of God was different. The Messiah should suffer and die. Paul says: "The message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." 1 Cor. 1:18. What would look like a big defeat to everybody, would in God’s plan, be the big victory. The cross represents the hope and salvation of humanity. The kingdom of God comes by the suffering Messiah. And the big suspense in the life of Jesus seen from the perspective of God is if he is willing to empty the cup of suffering to the last drop. This was what he fought for in Gethsemane when he prayed: "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, yet not what I want but what you want." Matt 26:39. The first Christians sang about him "who humbles himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross." Phil 2:8. When Paul came to Corinth, he said afterwards: "I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified." 1 Cor. 2:2. The center of Christianity is and will be that he by his death has given us life. When we are baptized, we are marked by the cross. The basic is what he has done for us. To be a Christian is to receive eternal life as a gift. It is to live the new life together with Jesus, it’s to follow him. When Jesus says that we should take up our cross and follow him, he doesn’t mean that we should die for our sins. That he has done once forever. But it’s our egoistic and self-centered life that will die. We shall no longer live for ourselves. In the StarTribune newspaper last Tuesday, there was an article about Stephen Watt who hopes to be the next governor of Wyoming. 20 years ago he was a highway patrolman. At a road checkpoint, he was attacked by a fleeing bank robber. The robber fired a gun. Stephen lost his left eye, and he got mental problems. Anger and hatred almost ruined him, and in the end his wife said that if he couldn’t forgive the evil-doer, he couldn’t be a true Christian. In 1986, Stephen met the bank robber Mark Farnham in jail where he’s going to spend the rest of his life. Stephen made a decision, went over and hugged the man who had tried to kill him , and forgave him. "It was just like God picked up a semi-truck right off me and I actually started living." Stephen said. Also, Mark’s life has changed. He has asked for a pardon, something only a governor can issue. But he has been rejected twice. Now Stephen Watt hopes to be the next governor in Wyoming. Then he will have the opportunity to issue a pardon to his best friend. "I’d die for Mark," Stephen says, "And I for him," said Mark, according to the StarTribune last Tuesday. This story shows what it may be to follow Jesus: to give up hatred and bitterness and forgive ones’ enemies. To take up ones’ cross and follow Jesus is to live for others. Too often we live for ourselves. We are concerned about our own pleasure, to gain as much as possible. But Jesus teaches us that it is not the one who has the most money when one dies that has won. That might be to lose one’s soul. Jesus shows that the biggest thing in life is to be able to give oneself in love to others. It’s about spending time and strength, skills and abilities to the benefit of God and ones’ neighbors. When the offering is collected in the pews today, we have a concrete possibility to practice discipleship. God loves a cheerful giver, the Bible says. 2 Cor. 9:7 To be in the school of Jesus is a daily struggle against one’s own selfishness. We experience both victories and defeats. But Jesus is a patient teacher. His forgiveness is limitless, and we may start over and over again. And to the extent we succeed in taking up our cross and following Jesus, we may also say: "We love because he first loved us." 1 John 4:19 Glory be to God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one true God, now and forever. Amen. |
The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church · 924 E. 21st St, Minneapolis, MN 55404-2952 · (612)874-0716 |