1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,166 Our text is our gospel reading from Matthew 16. 2 00:00:04,166 --> 00:00:06,433 If anyone wishes to come after me, 3 00:00:06,433 --> 00:00:10,866 he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 4 00:00:10,866 --> 00:00:14,033 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, 5 00:00:14,033 --> 00:00:18,266 but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 6 00:00:18,266 --> 00:00:19,366 This is our text. 7 00:00:21,566 --> 00:00:23,566 Things can change quickly. 8 00:00:24,433 --> 00:00:28,266 The afternoon is perfect and you're almost getting hot 9 00:00:28,266 --> 00:00:31,566 as you hike along the ridge, well above tree line, 10 00:00:31,566 --> 00:00:33,400 making your way toward the summit. 11 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:36,866 15 minutes later, you're being pelted 12 00:00:36,866 --> 00:00:40,666 with pea-sized hailstones and trying to squeeze yourself 13 00:00:40,666 --> 00:00:44,200 and your pack into the slightest indent between boulders. 14 00:00:46,166 --> 00:00:48,233 Things can change quickly. 15 00:00:48,233 --> 00:00:52,000 The tank is full, the tombs are perfect, 16 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:55,933 and the interstate ahead is virtually empty. 17 00:00:55,933 --> 00:01:00,033 And then there's a thump and a crash as a rogue tire 18 00:01:00,033 --> 00:01:03,033 bounds across the median and through your windshield. 19 00:01:05,233 --> 00:01:07,633 Things can change quickly. 20 00:01:07,633 --> 00:01:12,033 It's a perfect evening with your significant other. 21 00:01:12,033 --> 00:01:15,466 The schedule is open, the mood is relaxed, 22 00:01:15,466 --> 00:01:17,566 the vibe is spot on. 23 00:01:18,533 --> 00:01:23,533 And then an awkward text from an old ex invades the evening, 24 00:01:23,533 --> 00:01:27,733 kills the mood and freezes the vibe. 25 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:31,933 Things can change quickly. 26 00:01:31,933 --> 00:01:36,733 One moment you're the rock on which the entire church 27 00:01:36,733 --> 00:01:41,433 is going to be built, the next you're Satan 28 00:01:41,433 --> 00:01:43,966 trying to trap and destroy the church's Lord. 29 00:01:45,266 --> 00:01:47,033 Things can change quickly. 30 00:01:49,066 --> 00:01:51,900 Poor Peter's head must have been swimming, 31 00:01:51,900 --> 00:01:56,666 soaring on the heights after his inspired declaration, 32 00:01:56,666 --> 00:02:00,433 you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. 33 00:02:00,433 --> 00:02:05,333 He could not believe his ears when the Christ, 34 00:02:05,333 --> 00:02:08,566 he had just confessed, immediately announced 35 00:02:08,566 --> 00:02:11,533 the messianic game plan. 36 00:02:11,533 --> 00:02:14,333 Journey to Jerusalem, good. 37 00:02:14,333 --> 00:02:22,200 Suffer much, be killed, three days later again rise. 38 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:29,033 Peter, the newly hewn rock knew this was not right. 39 00:02:29,033 --> 00:02:34,033 Messiahs don't suffer, messiahs don't die. 40 00:02:35,666 --> 00:02:39,000 Already confident in his fresh lofty status, 41 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:44,266 he discreetly pulled Jesus aside for a one on one. 42 00:02:44,266 --> 00:02:49,266 Someone needed to remind Jesus, yes even a little sternly, 43 00:02:49,866 --> 00:02:54,066 that messiahs don't die and they don't suffer 44 00:02:54,066 --> 00:02:56,333 and so therefore there was no way 45 00:02:56,333 --> 00:02:59,666 that Jesus was going to suffer and die. 46 00:02:59,666 --> 00:03:02,000 It could not happen. 47 00:03:03,066 --> 00:03:04,733 Peter knew it. 48 00:03:04,733 --> 00:03:09,733 It was all so logical, so reasonable, so obvious. 49 00:03:09,733 --> 00:03:13,133 But if Peter was confused by Jesus' announcement 50 00:03:13,133 --> 00:03:17,333 about suffering and death, he was utterly confounded 51 00:03:17,333 --> 00:03:21,533 when Jesus wheeled around, looked him square in the face 52 00:03:21,533 --> 00:03:24,333 and called him Satan. 53 00:03:24,333 --> 00:03:28,333 Not only did it hurt, but it made no sense. 54 00:03:29,933 --> 00:03:32,333 Peter never saw that coming. 55 00:03:33,933 --> 00:03:35,933 Things can change quickly. 56 00:03:35,933 --> 00:03:39,933 In almost every scenario when things change quickly, 57 00:03:39,933 --> 00:03:44,533 it is not the shifting circumstances that are the problem. 58 00:03:44,533 --> 00:03:49,733 No, it is the expectations we have that are not met 59 00:03:49,733 --> 00:03:51,933 or shattered altogether. 60 00:03:51,933 --> 00:03:54,933 That's what causes the trouble. 61 00:03:55,933 --> 00:03:59,533 What changes quickly is that things aren't going 62 00:03:59,533 --> 00:04:01,933 as we had expected. 63 00:04:01,933 --> 00:04:05,933 Things aren't going according to plan. 64 00:04:05,933 --> 00:04:09,933 That is, things aren't going according to our plan. 65 00:04:10,933 --> 00:04:14,933 Things don't work the way that we think they should work. 66 00:04:14,933 --> 00:04:18,533 That was absolutely Peter's problem. 67 00:04:18,533 --> 00:04:23,333 Jesus spelled it out plainly and painfully to the rock, 68 00:04:23,333 --> 00:04:25,933 to Peter, to Satan. 69 00:04:29,933 --> 00:04:34,933 You are not thinking God's things. 70 00:04:35,533 --> 00:04:37,533 You're thinking man's things. 71 00:04:38,733 --> 00:04:41,933 And that is always the problem. 72 00:04:43,133 --> 00:04:45,533 Of course, Peter was hardly alone 73 00:04:45,533 --> 00:04:47,733 in suffering from this problem. 74 00:04:47,733 --> 00:04:50,533 Jesus recognized the same disappointing failure 75 00:04:50,533 --> 00:04:53,533 in every one of the 12 disciples. 76 00:04:53,533 --> 00:04:57,133 None of them had their minds where they were supposed to be. 77 00:04:57,133 --> 00:05:01,333 None of them were tuned in to God's things. 78 00:05:01,333 --> 00:05:05,933 All of them had their minds filled with man's things. 79 00:05:05,933 --> 00:05:09,133 The proof is the fact that even though Jesus finished 80 00:05:09,133 --> 00:05:11,933 the description of his game plan with the promise 81 00:05:11,933 --> 00:05:15,333 of the third day resurrection, none of the 12 seem 82 00:05:15,333 --> 00:05:17,333 to have heard it or understood it. 83 00:05:18,533 --> 00:05:20,133 How could they? 84 00:05:20,133 --> 00:05:24,033 They were still hung up on the suffering and dying part. 85 00:05:24,033 --> 00:05:27,333 Rising from the dead, what could that mean? 86 00:05:27,333 --> 00:05:28,633 How could they make sense of it? 87 00:05:28,633 --> 00:05:33,233 Unless maybe they heard it as some deep spiritual metaphor 88 00:05:33,233 --> 00:05:35,233 that they didn't really comprehend. 89 00:05:36,533 --> 00:05:40,433 So maybe that's why when Jesus finished with Peter 90 00:05:40,433 --> 00:05:43,533 and then turned to all the disciples, 91 00:05:43,533 --> 00:05:47,333 he didn't bother with second person pronouns 92 00:05:47,333 --> 00:05:50,733 and he made his declaration about true discipleship 93 00:05:50,733 --> 00:05:55,733 using a generic faceless unspecified third person pronoun. 94 00:05:57,933 --> 00:06:02,933 If anyone wishes to come after me, 95 00:06:03,133 --> 00:06:07,733 it wasn't if you want to come after me. 96 00:06:08,933 --> 00:06:13,533 Now Jesus made no assumptions about his 12 disciples. 97 00:06:14,833 --> 00:06:19,233 Peter and the rest were clearly not getting it. 98 00:06:19,233 --> 00:06:22,233 And so Jesus threw it wide open. 99 00:06:22,233 --> 00:06:27,233 Is there anyone anywhere who wants to follow me in this way? 100 00:06:31,233 --> 00:06:35,933 Is there anyone who is ready to deny himself? 101 00:06:35,933 --> 00:06:40,233 Is there anyone who will take up his cross and follow? 102 00:06:40,233 --> 00:06:43,933 Is there anyone ready to lose his life? 103 00:06:43,933 --> 00:06:48,333 Is there anyone who will stop thinking man's things 104 00:06:48,333 --> 00:06:50,733 and start thinking God's things? 105 00:06:50,733 --> 00:06:52,833 Is there anyone? 106 00:06:57,233 --> 00:06:59,133 Don't be too quick to answer. 107 00:07:00,333 --> 00:07:03,233 I know you think you're ready 108 00:07:03,233 --> 00:07:05,233 and you certainly don't want to miss 109 00:07:05,233 --> 00:07:07,433 the pregnant rhetorical moment. 110 00:07:08,633 --> 00:07:10,633 It wouldn't take much prompting 111 00:07:10,633 --> 00:07:12,533 and you would be on your feet shouting, 112 00:07:12,533 --> 00:07:14,833 here am I, send me. 113 00:07:17,733 --> 00:07:20,433 But let's spare one another that embarrassment. 114 00:07:23,833 --> 00:07:26,733 Are you really ready to look down your nose 115 00:07:26,733 --> 00:07:28,733 at Peter, the failure? 116 00:07:29,833 --> 00:07:34,833 Just how different are you from Satan, 117 00:07:34,833 --> 00:07:38,533 from Satan, Peter, and all the rest? 118 00:07:38,533 --> 00:07:44,033 Have you broken free from thinking man's things? 119 00:07:44,033 --> 00:07:46,733 I'm not there. 120 00:07:46,733 --> 00:07:51,133 I just got done being personality analyzed 121 00:07:51,133 --> 00:07:53,933 for maybe the 20th time in my life. 122 00:07:53,933 --> 00:07:57,933 It was dreadfully consistent. 123 00:07:57,933 --> 00:08:06,933 Once again, high S, no D, all dove, no eagle, that's me. 124 00:08:10,933 --> 00:08:16,533 Predictable, boring, and most certainly and emphatically, 125 00:08:16,533 --> 00:08:22,933 utterly impermeable to any substantive change. 126 00:08:22,933 --> 00:08:28,333 You are no different. 127 00:08:28,333 --> 00:08:31,333 No matter what letter or bird you may be, 128 00:08:31,333 --> 00:08:34,933 you are what you are. 129 00:08:34,933 --> 00:08:38,333 And as every good personality assessment instrument 130 00:08:38,333 --> 00:08:40,333 will tell you when in stress, 131 00:08:40,333 --> 00:08:45,333 the natural you will always come shining through. 132 00:08:45,333 --> 00:08:47,933 You are what you are. 133 00:08:47,933 --> 00:08:54,333 And what you and I all are 134 00:08:54,333 --> 00:08:58,533 is exceedingly human. 135 00:08:58,533 --> 00:09:03,533 We think like men, always. 136 00:09:03,533 --> 00:09:06,833 We love logic. 137 00:09:06,833 --> 00:09:09,533 We trust our guts. 138 00:09:09,533 --> 00:09:13,833 We feel our way and we reason our way 139 00:09:13,833 --> 00:09:16,433 and through it all in every way, 140 00:09:16,433 --> 00:09:19,533 we think like humans. 141 00:09:19,533 --> 00:09:22,133 We resonate with what adds up. 142 00:09:22,133 --> 00:09:27,533 We absolutely love common sense. 143 00:09:27,533 --> 00:09:30,433 We understand the impulse to survive. 144 00:09:30,433 --> 00:09:34,633 We choose the way that maximizes pleasure and minimizes pain. 145 00:09:34,633 --> 00:09:39,633 We shun suffering at every turn and we avoid death like, 146 00:09:39,633 --> 00:09:42,333 well, like death. 147 00:09:42,333 --> 00:09:45,533 We are human through and through 148 00:09:45,533 --> 00:09:49,933 and we think like humans through and through. 149 00:09:49,933 --> 00:09:52,933 Jesus may have been disappointed in Peter 150 00:09:52,933 --> 00:09:54,133 and his fellow disciples, 151 00:09:54,133 --> 00:09:57,333 but he could hardly have been surprised. 152 00:09:57,333 --> 00:10:02,033 We humans are a ridiculously consistent lot. 153 00:10:02,033 --> 00:10:07,733 Even saints do not forget how to think like humans think 154 00:10:07,733 --> 00:10:12,033 or how to act like humans act. 155 00:10:12,033 --> 00:10:19,233 All this means that it is so very hard to follow Jesus. 156 00:10:19,233 --> 00:10:22,733 It is so hard to deny self. 157 00:10:22,733 --> 00:10:25,433 It is so hard to shoulder the cross. 158 00:10:25,433 --> 00:10:30,333 It is so hard utterly to lose and destroy your life 159 00:10:30,333 --> 00:10:34,033 for the sake of God's things. 160 00:10:34,033 --> 00:10:38,133 Just consider Paul's exacting list, 161 00:10:38,133 --> 00:10:41,133 concretely describing the Christian life 162 00:10:41,133 --> 00:10:43,633 that we heard in Romans 12. 163 00:10:43,633 --> 00:10:46,933 Give preference to one another for your part. 164 00:10:46,933 --> 00:10:48,733 Be at peace with all men. 165 00:10:48,733 --> 00:10:50,733 Bless those who persecute you. 166 00:10:50,733 --> 00:10:53,833 Never pay back evil for evil. 167 00:10:53,833 --> 00:10:56,633 Who can do such a thing? 168 00:10:56,633 --> 00:11:00,533 Is there anyone? 169 00:11:00,533 --> 00:11:04,133 In truth, of course, there is only one. 170 00:11:04,133 --> 00:11:08,333 There is only one who is ready to deny himself. 171 00:11:08,333 --> 00:11:11,433 Only one ready to lose his life. 172 00:11:11,433 --> 00:11:13,533 It wasn't just anyone. 173 00:11:13,533 --> 00:11:17,033 It was only one. 174 00:11:17,033 --> 00:11:20,933 There was only one who could forget man's things 175 00:11:20,933 --> 00:11:22,933 and think God's things. 176 00:11:22,933 --> 00:11:27,933 Only one who could reject man's way and choose God's way. 177 00:11:27,933 --> 00:11:33,033 And he, the only one, made that choice deliberately 178 00:11:33,033 --> 00:11:37,733 and resolutely again and again and again, 179 00:11:37,733 --> 00:11:40,833 right up until the very last time 180 00:11:40,833 --> 00:11:47,033 when Satan came yet again and laid the old trap once again. 181 00:11:47,033 --> 00:11:49,633 Messiahs don't suffer. 182 00:11:49,633 --> 00:11:51,633 They don't die. 183 00:11:51,633 --> 00:11:54,033 Find another way. 184 00:11:54,033 --> 00:11:59,233 But the obedient one, the one who thought God's things 185 00:11:59,233 --> 00:12:01,133 and who did God's will, 186 00:12:01,133 --> 00:12:05,933 the only faithful one who willingly lost himself, 187 00:12:05,933 --> 00:12:07,833 rejected that temptation, 188 00:12:07,833 --> 00:12:09,533 stepped over that trap, 189 00:12:09,533 --> 00:12:12,833 and followed God's plan out of Gethsemane 190 00:12:12,833 --> 00:12:16,633 through the Praetorium and all the way to Golgotha. 191 00:12:16,633 --> 00:12:20,933 Jesus went God's way, the entire way. 192 00:12:20,933 --> 00:12:24,233 And the third day, just as he promised, 193 00:12:24,233 --> 00:12:27,033 just as it was always planned, 194 00:12:27,033 --> 00:12:28,633 he was raised. 195 00:12:28,633 --> 00:12:33,833 And the lost were lost no more. 196 00:12:33,833 --> 00:12:37,433 The kingdom had come. 197 00:12:37,433 --> 00:12:41,433 The disciples saw it. 198 00:12:41,433 --> 00:12:44,033 Things can change quickly. 199 00:12:44,033 --> 00:12:47,433 That's how God's things work. 200 00:12:47,433 --> 00:12:50,633 Ordinary water becomes a fountain 201 00:12:50,633 --> 00:12:54,533 that gives new and eternal life. 202 00:12:54,533 --> 00:12:57,033 Simple bread and wine become the means 203 00:12:57,033 --> 00:13:02,033 that deliver the present reality of Christ himself. 204 00:13:02,033 --> 00:13:05,633 Things can change quickly. 205 00:13:05,633 --> 00:13:09,633 Indeed, when God is at work doing the things of God, 206 00:13:09,633 --> 00:13:13,033 even hopelessly human men and women 207 00:13:13,033 --> 00:13:17,233 are made into entirely new creations, 208 00:13:17,233 --> 00:13:21,033 creatures who deny themselves, 209 00:13:21,033 --> 00:13:23,633 who take up their crosses, 210 00:13:23,633 --> 00:13:26,533 who follow Jesus, 211 00:13:26,533 --> 00:13:30,533 and who lose themselves in him. 212 00:13:30,533 --> 00:13:36,433 Things can change quickly, even you. 213 00:13:36,433 --> 00:13:41,033 Jesus is not calling anyone today. 214 00:13:41,033 --> 00:13:46,833 Jesus today is calling you. 215 00:13:46,833 --> 00:13:51,533 His spirit has already given you your answer. 216 00:13:51,533 --> 00:13:53,433 You are his. 217 00:13:53,433 --> 00:13:55,633 Like Peter and like all the Twelve, 218 00:13:55,633 --> 00:13:59,033 you are also his disciple, 219 00:13:59,033 --> 00:14:02,033 learning to die to self, 220 00:14:02,033 --> 00:14:05,533 learning to lose yourself utterly 221 00:14:05,533 --> 00:14:07,833 in following Jesus. 222 00:14:07,833 --> 00:14:10,533 No, it is not a one and done. 223 00:14:10,533 --> 00:14:12,833 You know that as well as I do. 224 00:14:12,833 --> 00:14:18,033 It is a lifetime of learning to lose yourself. 225 00:14:18,033 --> 00:14:21,533 Like Peter, you too are likely to flounder 226 00:14:21,533 --> 00:14:23,733 through far too many failures 227 00:14:23,733 --> 00:14:27,233 and stumble into far too many traps. 228 00:14:27,233 --> 00:14:28,933 But in God's grace, 229 00:14:28,933 --> 00:14:34,533 there will be a fresh start to follow everyone. 230 00:14:34,533 --> 00:14:38,533 That's how God's things work. 231 00:14:38,533 --> 00:14:43,333 God's things are the things that you are thinking 232 00:14:43,333 --> 00:14:48,733 and God's things are the things that you are doing. 233 00:14:48,733 --> 00:14:52,833 Keep thinking them, keep doing them, 234 00:14:52,833 --> 00:14:58,433 and God will surely keep doing his things. 235 00:14:58,433 --> 00:15:04,233 Yes, things can change quickly, even you. 236 00:15:04,233 --> 00:15:11,033 And when they do, don't fight God or his Messiah. 237 00:15:11,033 --> 00:15:13,133 Amen. 238 00:15:13,133 --> 00:15:28,633 We stand for the creed.