Seeking God’s Will

Reverend Philip Stringer

Matthew 16:21-28

LET US PRAY: Lord of Life, give us ears to hear and hearts willing to receive, that your word may be food for our lives and a blessing to the world. AMEN

Arguing with Heath about the tree in his front yard. I commented that it is a Live Oak. He said it was Willow Oak. Live Oak trees are only on the coast. No, I said, they are spread throughout the south and here is proof: you have one in your front yard. He insisted it was not a Live Oak.

I got out iNaturalist — took a picture. It came up as Willow Oak, just as Heath said. I showed him my phone and said, “Look at this. Can you believe that iNaturalist got it wrong?!”

I looked up Live Oak, and sure enough, in North Carolina they only appear along the coast.

We’ve all had the experience of being convinced that we are right, only to learn that we are wrong. We’ve had the experience ourselves and we have seen it happen to other people, too.

It happens with faith and religion, too. How quick we are to call down God’s blessings or curses on people and causes that we have judged are right or wrong. Every army that goes to war believes that God is on their side. Every argument happens because of a difference in viewing who stands on the side of justice and who is in the wrong.

God forbid it!

You have heard it said. And perhaps, like me, you’ve even said it.

God forbid it! Consider what confidence — and arrogance it takes to presume to dictate right and wrong to the Almighty!

It is tough business, sorting out what is and what is not God’s will.

When is the time to simply accept what is happening?

And when is the time to challenge, resist and oppose what happens?

When is it time to work for another outcome.

Our gospel reading today begins with a shock as Jesus rebukes Peter. He only meant well, but Jesus’ response was extreme.

It is understandable for us to have sympathy for Peter. His reaction to Jesus’ words of foreboding is the natural one when someone you care about speaks of their impending suffering.

And besides — you and I know the end of the story. We can see the big picture. For Peter, the gospels haven’t been written yet — the stories haven’t been told. He’s IN the story. It is actually unfolding in that moment —

This story is a good example of one of the ways we can miss the point of the scriptures.

Easy to turn the gospel story into a morality tale.

Be more like this faithful person.

Don’t be like this unfaithful person — don’t let this happen to you.

Be like Peter — from last week. Bold to speak out to proclaim Jesus.

Don’t be like Peter — from today. Presuming to dictate right and wrong.

There are certainly lessons to be learned of that sort, but if that is all we take away, we are still left struggling in fear — “Am I good enough? Am I faithful enough? It is an exhausting and frustrating and discouraging way to live. In the end, the scriptures have more to offer us than that. The gospels are not about faithful and unfaithful people. They are not about you and me. They are about Jesus, and what Jesus means for you and me — as faithful nor not faithful people.

Our gospel reading is an invitation to a life lived in the light of Jesus. A life lived in response to all that Jesus is and all that he has done and all of what he promises.

All of these things are things that Peter could not have seen. Because Peter did not have the full story. The gift of the Holy Spirit had not yet been given.

It is said that most conflicts are the result of unmet expectations; that disagreements are the result of unmet expectations, and all that Peter had was what history and his own imagination could conceive about what it would mean for the messiah to come. He thought — his expectation was — that it meant freedom and release and an end to everything bad, and what Jesus was saying didn’t follow the script.

But here is what we must remember: When Peter pulled Jesus aside, Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem to die on a cross for Peter, whether Peter realized it or not. It is an irony — the very frailty of Peter that led him to oppose Jesus was the very reason Jesus was on his way to the cross in the first place! Peter’s opposition to the will of God was exactly why Jesus was going to the cross!

That is the gospel — that is the good news. The work that Jesus has done enfolds all of our parts — the good and faithful parts, and the foolish and unfaithful parts, too.

There is direction for us in the gospels — but it does not come from drawing lessons from the other characters in the Bible; it comes from Jesus, himself.

Jesus’ admonition to take up one’s cross is not an invitation to suffering.

It is an invitation to believe that no matter what happens in this life, God’s promise to hold you safely through it can be trusted.

It is an invitation to live all of the moments in life with love and with faith in the power of love.

Jesus’ love for the Father compelled him to act in love for us; to do everything in his power that he could for us — that path for him led to Jerusalem and to a cross. Your path is quite different. Your calling is not to conquer the power of sin and death forever. What he calls us to is to trust that he has conquered the power of sin and death; to trust in the power of God’s love; to live with a sure and certain hope in the power and authority of God.

To take up our cross is to take up a life devoted to God’s will — and God’s will is that all things be reconciled to God through the power of God’s love.

People sometimes tell me that they are struggling to figure out God’s plan for their life; that they can’t figure out what God is trying to tell them.

I think that it is wonderful that people are looking for God’s presence at work in their lives, and that they want to follow God’s will and do what God wants. But I think it is often not nearly as hard to figure out as we make it out to be.

Here is God’s will — here is God’s plan for you: God wants you to be at peace in your heart. It is a peace that comes only through faith in the good news that you have been claimed by God as God’s own and you are safe.

God’s will is for you to live with love in your heart for all. In a world torn by sin and violence, that is bound to bring suffering. How can one not grieve when they see people affected by injustice, war and hunger? Jesus does not promise us a life without suffering. What he has promised is to enter into it with us; to hold us safely through it.

What he invites us to do is to live our lives with faith in this promise as best we can.

And having eyes of faith that see God in one’s neighbor, God’s plan for you is that you act with love — that you intervene with love when you see the opportunity. Through your baptism into Christ, you have not only been given the freedom to live without fear; you have been given authority to live as God’s representatives wherever you go, to alleviate suffering where you can; to stand with the oppressed and to work for peace and justice throughout the earth.

This is what Saint Paul sought to portray in our second reading today — this passage from his letter to the Christians in Rome. It is one of the most beautiful passages in scripture. What he describes for us is a life set free from fear through faith in the power of God’s love. Consider the motives at work when we read,:

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil; hold fast to what is good; 10 love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not lag in zeal; be ardent in spirit; serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; persevere in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; pursue hospitality to strangers.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be arrogant, but associate with the lowly;[a] do not claim to be wiser than you are. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18 If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

When your faith in the power and authority of God’s love is greater than your fear, then you are following the way of Jesus.

And when your faith fails you — when you do not act in love — when you do not look for God in your neighbor — when you do not see the world through the eyes of God who loves it — be at peace and do not be afraid. You stand with Peter and Paul and all who have gone before us. We stand in the waters of our baptism — awash in God’s love that is greater than our weakness.

For people such as these, Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem and to the cross.

AMEN