August 30, 2020

13th Sunday after Pentecost
Jeremiah 15:15-21
Psalm 26:1-8
Romans 12:9-21
Matthew 16:21-28

Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
 grace and peace to you
 from the one who does things the divine way. Amen
 
Perspective matters. 
 
How we look at things influences what we see.
 The view from the top of a mountain
 and the view from the bottom are very different,
 even though we’re looking at the same mountain.
 
 How I see the world without my glasses
is certainly a lot fuzzier
than when I put in my contacts
 and the world springs back into focus.
 
On a sunny day I change how I see the world
by putting on sunglasses
and the dark lenses allow me to focus
on more than just how bright it is outside.
 
 These are all physical examples of perspective
but perspective also comes into play
in how we understand the world
and like putting on sunglasses
 or climbing a mountain
we can influence to a certain degree
 how we understand and interpret the world around us.
 
Now some things,
our past experiences, our beliefs,
 our place in society
 all impact our perspective
whether we are aware of it or not
 
 and the things that are most deeply ingrained
are the ones we turn to in times of stress,
the ones we go to without thinking about
 and that can get us into trouble.
 
 That’s what happens to Peter
 in our gospel for today
Jesus tells the disciples that “he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.’ But [Jesus] turned and said to Peter, Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’”
 
Peter,
when faced with a threat to his teacher and Lord
responds from the human perspective.
 The perspective that holds tightly onto life at all costs,
the perspective that says pain is to be avoided,
the perspective that is more concerned with ourselves and our loved ones
 than the whole world.
 
And Jesus scolds him. 
 
He puts him in his place,
 ‘get behind me’, Jesus says,
 ‘I am the teacher, you are the disciple,
 you’re getting ahead of yourself,
you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’
 
And while it is true that Peter is human,
we know that he is capable of seeing from the divine perspective.
 
 Just last week in our gospel
at a retreat in Caesarea Philippi
Peter proclaimed the truth about Jesus,
 that he is the Messiah, the Son of the living God
and Jesus praised him
 for trusting the revelations of God.
 
There Peter had his mind set on divine things.
 
But it only lasts a moment,
 and in seemingly the next breath
Peter is back to human things.
 
Jesus puts Peter in his place
and turns to the disciples
 and spells it out for them
 “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. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?”
 
To be a disciple of Jesus
 means looking at the world from the divine perspective,
 a way of looking at things
 that at times seems to be exactly the opposite
 of what our instincts tell us we should do
 what the world had taught us makes the most sense.
 
The worldly perspective teaches us to put our lives
 and those of our family
ahead of anyone else,
 
the divine perspective teaches
that a life well lived
is one that is lived in service to others,
even if that means sacrificing our own lives.
 
It’s what Jesus did,
 he lived everything he taught
 he lived the divine way,
 the way that fed people because they were hungry
 and healed people because they were sick
and forgave people because they were sinners.
 
His living the divine way in the world
so upset those in power
 (those who were supposed to be living and teaching the divine things)
that they got together
 to serve out the ultimate punishment of the world,
 death,
the thing there’s no coming back from,
 
 but Jesus did
rising on the third day,
and he promises that joined to him
 death is not the end
his followers are free to live in service of others
following the divine way.
 
But Jesus realizes
that living the divine way
 does not come naturally,
 
that like Peter when we hear something that frightens us
our instinct will be to go back to the way of the world,
 that we will need to be put in our places
 and reminded again and again
that God will take care of judgment
and that we are to view the world from the divine perspective.
 
And while this is difficult,
 Peter shows us that it is possible,
again and again Peter jumps at the chance to follow Jesus,
 and again and again he falls back on the human way of doing things,
 
and yet each time
Jesus puts him in his place,
 reminds him of the divine way,
 forgives him,
and gives him another chance.
 
This is what Jesus does for us,
as we seek to follow him
he calls us to set our mind on divine things
rather than human things
 
and sometimes,
 most times
 it flies in the face of worldly wisdom.
 
As Paul reminds the Romans “Let love be genuine...bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep...Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
 
It takes practice to live in the world
with our minds set on divine things,
 we will mess up,
 and when we do,
Jesus will put us in our place,
remind us of the divine way
 and give us another chance,
and the more we practice
 the easier it becomes
 to look at the world from God’s point of view
 but always Jesus calls us
to set our mind on divine things
 because he knows that when we are frightened or disrupted
we will see the world from the human perspective once again
 and once again we will need to be reminded to set our minds on divine things.
 
Dear people,
 right now as individuals and as a society
we are frightened and disrupted
and we are falling back on the human mindset,
the mindset that draws those with whom we agree closer
and villainizes those who are different from us,
whether the difference comes in the form of politics,
nationality, the color of our skin,
or even how we think we should live together.
 
To get through this we must set our mind on divine things,
before we react,
pause and look at the world through the eyes of Jesus,
 to see how we might live in service to others
 even though it may mean making sacrifices in our lives
 so that others may live.
 
We must overcome evil with good.
 
And yes,
we will make mistakes along the way,
and Jesus will put us in our places,
 
and then he will forgive us,
offering us his broken body and blood poured out,
with bread and wine join us once again to him,
 setting our mind on divine things
then sending us out to try again.
This is the divine way. Amen