Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost
Isaiah 50:4-9a Psalm 116:1-9 James 3:1-12 Mark 8:27-38 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ grace and peace to you from the one who is the messiah. Amen There are a lot of tongues in our lessons for today. Both Isaiah and James mention that small but important body part. According to James the tongue is a slippery creature (pun intended) “with it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.” for such a small part of our body the tongue wields disproportionate power, like a rudder that steers a great ship or a spark that sets a forest on fire a word on our tongue has the power to build up or tear down. James seems to find the tongue a mostly negative influence, calling it a “restless untamable beast full of deadly poison” James is concerned with the alignment of word and deed, especially as it relates to Christians. In the last couple of weeks in James we’ve heard him call on believers to be doers of the word, not just hearers saying that faith without works is dead now he’s turning it around, just as what we do should reflect what we say we believe, so should what we say James is highly sensitive to hypocrisy and to him it seems hypocritical for someone to praise God in one breath and in the next be horrible to another human, one made in the image of God. What we do and say matters, because these actions reveal who we really are. James says “Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs?” Trees are known by the fruit they produce, and we will be known by what we produce, it doesn’t matter if we call ourselves fig trees if all we produce are olives. It doesn’t matter if we call ourselves Christian if we don’t say and do Christian things. What we say matters because it reflects who we truly are. And yes I’m am bold enough or foolish enough to still believe and proclaim this in an era where what people say and how they say it seems to matter less and less. I maintain my belief that words are powerful even more so when we don’t give them their due. What we say matters. Isaiah on the other hand has a decidedly more positive take on the tongue. In our first reading we hear the prophet proclaim “The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word.” The prophet Isaiah has been sent to the people of Israel living in exile in Babylon, conquered militarily and removed from their home in the promised land, all they have left are words, the promise of God that they will one-day return home. God has appointed Isaiah to speak those words to the people but the job of prophet is not simply speaking but first listening to the word of God. Isaiah praises God for the gift the teaching tongue followed immediately by praise to God for opening his ears each morning to first listen to God. and because Isaiah listens to God he is able to stick to the job God has given him even though he is mistreated because of his message, the job of prophet is not only to sustain but to point out the often uncomfortable truth, the truth that people have more responsibility for their current misfortunes than they’d like to admit people who often get upset with the messenger and go to extreme lengths to shut them up. The life of a prophet is not easy but because Isaiah is listening to God rather than the people he is able to be steadfast in his call even proclaiming “the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced;” The shame that the people try to put on Isaiah doesn’t stick because Isaiah is listening to God not the people. Who we listen to matters. Who we listen to, even in the background, forms our concept of the world and ourselves, if we are not careful about who we listen to, it will be the loudest often most negative voices that shape our view of ourselves and the world. Who we listen to matters. The importance of all this speaking and listening come to a head in our gospel for today with Jesus questioning the disciples “who do you say that I am?” knowing that their answer will reveal who they’ve been listening to, who they’ve become. The disciples have been with Jesus for a while now, we’re about halfway through the gospel of Mark, they’ve heard Jesus’ teachings, seen him heal and do miraculous deeds. Now Jesus takes his disciples of Caesarea Philippi, and while this may seem like a minor detail it tells us that Jesus is setting the scene. You see Caesarea Philippi is an ancient place of idol worship, a spring is located there in a cave that, long before Jesus and his disciples wandered there, was dedicated as a shrine to the Greek god Pan. Later King Herod added Caesarea to the name of the place to honor the Roman ruler Caesar. Jesus takes his disciples to a place where the prevailing culture is shouting loudly, the availability of other gods, the bowing down to the Roman empire and it is here he asks them two questions: Who do people say that I am? And Who do you say that I am? What Jesus is asking the disciples with these questions is: who have you been listening to? And who are you because of what you’ve heard? the disciples report what they’ve heard people say about Jesus, John the Baptist, a prophet, Elijah, figures out of the history of Israel and when Jesus presses them for their answer Peter opens his mouth- he’s always the one speaking- and he says “You are the messiah” He gets the right answer. And Jesus tells them not to tell anyone about him. Why Jesus keeps telling the disciples to keep his deeds and identity a secret is a mystery, but it might have to do with what happens next. When Jesus tells the disciples what is going to happen to him, the suffering, rejection, death and after three days resurrection Peter, who has just proclaimed Jesus the messiah opens his big mouth again and with the tongue that just uttered a blessing rebukes him, tells Jesus he’s wrong. What Jesus describes is not the messiah that Peter is thinking of, the one for whom the Israelites are waiting is a King of the line of David, who will come and throw out the oppressors who have taken over the land of the Israelites and bring them freedom to purify and restore Israel. A dead messiah, no that’s not right Peter says and Jesus turns and corrects him. “Follow me, you’re upset because you’re listening to humans not God. you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” Yes Jesus is the messiah, but he’s not the messiah Peter or we want him to be. We often talk about Jesus like he’s a magic genie, someone who if we say the right thing will grant our wishes solve our problems and bring prosperity and freedom, of course prosperity and freedom as defined by humans. But if we listen to Jesus carefully and watch what he does, we find that what Jesus is most concerned with is his quest to identify with the lowliest, again and again he seeks out those outcast by society and offers them what other humans have denied them, healing, food, dignity and for his troubles he will be rejected and killed. This is the divine way. And Jesus expects his disciples to follow the divine way. what Jesus is saying when he talks of cross bearing and losing and saving lives is that if you are listening to God, and you say that you follow God, and you live your life according to the divine way, you will get push back, people will treat you like the prophet Isaiah, but like the prophet Isaiah you’ll be able to endure, stick with it, because you’re listening to God and not the people and there is no shame in following the divine way, it is the way of everlasting life with God. Jesus knows that living in this way is extremely difficult, that our sense of self-preservation will often overrule our desire to follow God, on the way to the cross Peter denies Jesus three times and all the disciples abandon him, Jesus knows that this will happen too, and when he is raised up on the third day who does he go to? His disciples. Because while the divine way is difficult, it is also one of forgiveness, and second chances. No matter how many times we abandon him for ourselves Use our tongues for both blessings and curses Jesus will welcome us back because Jesus is the messiah according to the divine way. Amen
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15th Sunday After Pentecost
Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9 Psalm 15 James 1:17-27 Mark 7:1-8, 14-23 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you from the one who sees us for who we really are and who still loves us. Amen Today our lessons are about extremes. On the one hand we have Jesus in our gospel calling the Pharisees who criticize his disciples for not washing their hands hypocrites They are so focused on human tradition and what they do that they’ve forgotten the meaning behind their actions. Doing too much of the right thing can become the wrong thing Jesus says, intention matters and that comes from within our hearts, not what we put into our bodies. On the other hand, we have James who proclaims “But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.” and goes on to compare people who hear but don’t act to someone who briefly looks in a mirror and immediately forgets what they saw. Looking in the mirror doesn’t do much good if you don’t remove the lump of spinach you see between your teeth. James wants doers that act, not hearers who forget and warns “If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless.” You’re doing too much, you’re doing too little seemingly opposing messages but when we look at them closer we see they have a common denominator: both are about what’s in your heart and the importance of taking time to examine what is in your heart, your intentions because if you don’t no matter what you do or do not do, you’ll get into trouble. What we have here is a message of law. As Lutherans we tend to focus more on the gospel, the good news but remember we are a people of both/and, we are saint and sinner at the same time and we need both the law and the gospel it’s just a matter of timing, we need the gospel when we despair and we need that law when we get cocky, we are saved by God’s grace, and we are flawed human beings, which is why we need help to work on our flaws, and that is where the law comes in the law acts like a mirror and if we don’t like what we see when we look at our reflections then it’s time to make some changes But the thing about the law is that it doesn’t just reflect back who we are on the surface, the carefully cultivated public image that minimizes flaws, no the law reflects back who we are in our hearts, from where, as Jesus remarks to the disciples “evil intentions come” and he lists all sorts of evil intentions, murder, slander, adultery, the usuals but also pride and folly, intentions that, if we are unaware of them shade our actions and turn them on their heads. The Pharisees to whom Jesus is speaking, are faithful people, they understand the law as a gift from God - they’re not trying to earn salvation by following the law, the law is a gift from God that when lived out acts as a witness to the other nations. The intent behind living out the law is to bring people together. But the pharisees have become so focused on the act of living out the law that their efforts to live faithfully have actually separated them from the people for whom they are to be an example it has separated them from their neighbors. The pharisees are shocked by Jesus because he has gone back to the original intent and in Jesus’ way of doing things reaching out to the neighbor is more important than keeping clean, in fact, if you follow Jesus, you should expect to get your hands dirty in the service of others And how we serve matters It might seem like an obvious statement but it’s important to listen to those we serve. A couple of years ago one of the officials of our partner synod in Tanzania came and talked to the leaders at the fall theological conference, and part of his message was that “some of you are doing too much without listening to what we need.” I believe he was referring to a couple of larger churches who had partner relationships with Tanzanian congregations and would help them financially but would dictate what their financial help would go to and this, the official said, was hurting the Tanzanian churches. At some point the help became less about the true needs of the Tanzanian church and more about what the church in the states was doing it was easier to sell people on say building a church in Africa, which had tangible results with glossy pictures easily hung on a church bulletin board or posted to a website as an example international mission, that was more appealing than a general gift of money that could be put towards the things the Tanzanian church needed most, which might not have translated well into pictures or measurable outcomes but which would empower the recipients to do ministry in their own place, in their own way. We must examine the true intentions in our hearts when we act, and yes even when we serve. We have to ask ourselves, is this really out of love of neighbor? Or is this about us feeling good about doing something? Who are we actually serving? On the other hand, if we say we believe something our lives should reflect that belief. I’ve seen a meme go around on the internet that says “Sometimes the best evangelism is simply telling people you’re a Christian and then not being a complete jerk.” We’re called to share this awesome life changing message with others, it loses a little something when our own lives don’t reflect the awe of the gospel, even a little bit. Saying that we are Christian does not give us the right to do whatever we want, in fact it’s quite the opposite. When we say we are Christian, or followers of Jesus or however else you like to put it there has to be the intent backing up the words, intent that acknowledges that it’s a difficult thing to follow Jesus, it makes us uncomfortable at times, it requires us to search our hearts before we act, and it requires us to act on what we believe to get our hands dirty, to change the way we think and live. And yes, learning to live in this way takes a lifetime. A lifetime of hearing and doing and searching the heart, a lifetime where sometimes we do too much and sometimes we do too little but wherever we are on our journey of faith we are not alone Claimed by God at our baptisms we are made members of a community, a community who lives this life together, who is there to point out when we’re going too far in one direction or the other, a community that gathers to confess our sins to God and receive forgiveness, a community where Christ brings us to his table to renew us with his body and blood, then sends us back out into the world to live intentionally. So, gathered in this community take some time, yes right now, search your heart, ask yourself some tough questions. Then come to the table that Christ has prepared for you, bread for the journey. Amen Elisabeth Johnson's commentary on workingpreacher.org was of great help in composing this sermon |
AboutPastor Emily Johnson preaches weekly at Christ Lutheran. These are manuscripts of her sermons given at Christ Lutheran. Feel free to engage with them in the comments section of the blog. Archives
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