At the Crossroads-Peter

Sermon Luke 22:54-62 March 26, 2017 4^th Sunday Lent

At the Crossroads-Peter

As we travel these weeks of Lent we’ve met some interesting people along the way. 

Bourgogne Crossroad

Today we meet Peter. He has been made famous for his many choices documented in Scripture. We feel like we really know him. He made a lot of declarations about Jesus during his ministry. He was rather pushy at times and excited and even a bit childlike in his mannerisms.

What are some things you can remember from your Bible teachings about Peter?

Is there any one story that sticks in your mind?

Peter and Andrew were called to follow Jesus at the same time. Peter was first known as Simon and the Jesus named him Cephus/Peter which means rock. He was from Bethsaida but lived in Capernaum, he was a fisherman.

Peter is the disciple that walked on water just to see Jesus. He has been the one quick to action and quick to fall. Peter was part of the inner circle of Jesus. He was with James and John on several occasions when Jesus took only three disciples with him. Occasions such as the raising of the daughter of Jairus and at the transfiguration. Peter was impulsive and he even sought to rebuke Jesus when Jesus starting talking about his own death. Peter pledged to Jesus that he would never forsake him and that is when Jesus warned him that he would deny Jesus three times.

Perhaps this is why we can all identify with Peter. He seems real to us. We feel that we might be just like him in some situations. Or we are pretty quick to judge him and say that we would not behave like him.

It is so easy for us on this side of Easter to look at Peter and his denial of Jesus in the courtyard and chastise him for his reaction to those gathered around him.

But, Peter had no clue what was to happen. Even though Jesus talked about suffering and death none of the disciples had any idea of how this was going to transpire.

We don’t live our lives with crystal balls in front of us.

We don’t live knowing how things are going to unfold.

Therefore, when we make strong declarations and bold statements of how we will act and how we will be bold, it might not transpire as we hope.

Life gets in the way all too often.

Peter was following closely as Jesus was taken to the High Priest’s house. He wanted to be close but he had no idea what to do next. He had already tried to fight and Jesus didn’t want any of that to happen.

He was probably following close trying to figure out his next move.

When the servant girl and the two servant men identify him as one of Jesus’ disciples. It catches him off guard.

It catches him in the middle of his thoughts about what to do to help Jesus.

These people have messed up his planning.

He needed more time.

They took him by surprise and he wasn’t ready to respond.

He reacted as usual with quick words.

He just wanted them to leave him alone as he followed Jesus and tried again to make plans to rescue him or maybe even prepare a discourse.

And before he realized he had denied knowing Jesus three times and the rooster crowed.

In the gospel of Luke, the poignant moment wasn’t the realization of the denial. But, that Jesus looked at Peter. And with the look of Jesus, Peter was filled with remorse. He was devastated and he ran away and wept bitterly.

Peter’s faith didn’t fail him at this moment. It was his faith in Jesus that responded with regret when he saw the face of Jesus. In the face of Jesus, we experience love, mercy, grace beyond measure. In the face of Jesus our relationship with him is sealed forever. We call that salvation. Salvation, our relationship with God, sealed through the love of Christ.

Fred Rogers had many things to say about relationships. As an ordained Presbyterian minister Fred Rogers chose to spread the message of the gospel through the show, Mr Roger’s Neighborhood. It was a program all about the power of relationships and love for one another.

“Love isn’t a perfect state of caring. It is an active noun like ‘struggle’. To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now-and to go on caring even through times that might bring us pain.”  

At that is what the look of Jesus upon Peter did. It loved him and showed forgiveness even in the moment of the pain of being denied.

Forgiveness is necessary in all relationships.

We cannot survive without the love and forgiveness of others.

And when we receive forgiveness we have the opportunity to repent, to change, to turn another way. It is our choice point. It is our crossroads.

The power of faith is that repentance flows from faith rather than precedes it. Repentance is actually born of faith. It is the sum of our faith. (Calvin Institutes) When we recognize that we have succumbed to temptation and denied the very One in whom we believe; it is our faith that brings us to our knees in sorrow. For, how could it be that if we were without faith that we could even experience remorse for our sin of denial? 

Dr Orr once said, ‘There is only one thing evil cannot stand, and that is forgiveness.” And forgiveness is born out of love. And love is born from God. For God is love. And we belong to God who loves us. 😃

All of us find a time or place where we should have said a bold word, a good word. We struggle with what we should say. We struggle with how our faith will help us. We struggle if our words will help or hurt our relationships. We may never face a time where our words will put us in danger for our lives, but there are times when we will find ourselves at a crossroads that calls on us to speak boldly.

How do we handle those times?

Have we yet to experience those times?

We are so quick to condemn Peter for not standing up and being bold at the very moment when we think he should have been. We are so quick to rebuke those who do not take a stand for justice and righteousness in the way we expect it to be done. We especially get angry when those silent have caused harm to us.

The toughest thing for us is to love someone who has hurt us. Someone who has been cruel, mean, and unjust to others. And yet, somehow there is this power that flows from the look of Jesus, the power of love and mercy, that causes us to see Jesus in that person as well.

To find mercy in our heart to offer to them what Jesus has offered to us.

Now the other toughest thing is to love the someone who has been mean to us when that person is our self. Take good care of this person. Offer this person mercy and forgiveness too.

Let us be gentle as we hold expectations before us and recognize our need for courage comes from above.

God is the one who calls us into lives of purpose.

God is the one who calls us to serve with the unique gifts given us. And when we falter, we can look up and see the face of Jesus loving us, forgiving us, and pouring his grace upon us.

Fear not.

Grace will lead you home. Amen.

Five Seconds of Fame

Sermon Luke 9:28-36 February 7, 2016 Transfiguration

Five Seconds of Fame

Today the church calendar indicates that this is Transfiguration Sunday. Next Sunday is the first Sunday in Lent where we begin our journey with Jesus to the cross and the empty tomb.

Every year before we begin the journey with Jesus through the stories about his life, death, and resurrection, we return to this story of Jesus going to the mountain to pray.

This story about Jesus, James, John and Peter appears in three gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke. Jesus is on the mountain and the three disciples with him are tired and they doze off. We learn that Jesus is praying and during his prayer the appearance of his face changes and his clothes become dazzling white. Moses and Elijah show up and are talking to Jesus. Then the two men begin to disappear. Peter calls out to Jesus and recommends they build some tents so everyone can hang out together. As Peter is saying this, a cloud comes over them and the voice from the cloud says, “This is my son, my chosen, listen to him.”

Then poof, Jesus is by himself with the disciples. The cloud, the wonder, and all the glory is gone.

Jesus is back to being the Jesus the disciples have known from the beginning. But, something in the disciples has changed.

They have been transformed.

They have been changed forever.

They have experienced the unexplainable.

They have seen the glimpse, the vision of God.

This is the experience that everyone refers to when they talk about having a mountaintop experience of their own.

People are seeking experiences that change their lives;

opportunities to be transformed into new ways of being.

Some seek to find meaning to life by traveling the world

and then writing books about it.

Others are out there seeking fame

or glory

or a million likes

or a chance to appear on pop culture news,

or have a video or selfie go viral.

All are seeking & searching.

Perhaps it’s for that one moment of ‘five seconds of fame’.

Or perhaps it’s for thrill, or for need of purpose.

Back in the 60’s Andy Warhol said that all people would end up being famous for 15 minutes.

No one knew he would be a prophet; because with today’s social media there is constant hype about the tiniest and silliest of things.

-You could be on national news tomorrow based on one selfie or one twitter quote.

Imagine if Peter had had an Instagram account while he was on the mountain?

In today’s world it is no longer fifteen minutes of fame people get,

it is much shorter,

that’s why I say five seconds.

The glimpses of stardom or attention are just that.

Short lived and quickly forgotten.

Peter’s desire to make tents to hang out for a while was just a natural response to wanting the wonder and the glory of the moment to last.

It was an appropriate reaction to being in the presence of a holy moment.

It makes sense to want to honor and preserve our glimpses into the sacred.

But,

even the sacred

and the holy moments

can’t be held on to in ways of statues, or houses, or tents.

It’s as though those moments slip through our fingers

and we wonder why.

We want to relive and recapture the time when we saw the glow and the dazzle of God before us.

We seek to have this all the time and wonder what’s wrong with us when we don’t.

Those times in our lives when we enter into an experience of the sacred and glory of God, they change us.

There seems to be an awakening within,

a clarity of vision,

a sense of direction.

At these times our very being has the courage and the power to change the course of our lives.

These times we note as transformation.

We, like Moses, have stepped on holy ground.

We, like Peter, have seen the glory of God surround us.

We, like Jesus, have heard God call us chosen and child of God.

We have been dazzled by the presence of grace.

These moments are important to our story of our journey with God. That is why we come to the mountain again this year.

We have the opportunity together to remember our glimpse into the holiness of God. We have the moment in which we can remember that we have been transformed as Jesus was transfigured before our eyes.

We are witnesses to the mystery of God before us and God within us.

And so, with this dazzle still in our memory we have what it takes to go down the mountain and deal with the needs of daily life.

We will not be overcome or over whelmed by the pressures of the world.

We will be able to reach out and touch and do

because the One who can shine from glory to glory

is the same one who will shine through us

as we respond to voice that calls out our name.

We can and we will receive and be blessed. Jan Richardson is an amazing woman, artist author, and poet. She shares this Dazzled poem for us this year. Hear this blessing from Jan Richardson.

DAZZLING

A Blessing for Transfiguration Sunday

Believe me, I know
how tempting it is
to remain inside this blessing,
to linger where everything
is dazzling
and clear.

We could build walls
around this blessing,
put a roof over it.
We could bring in
a table, chairs,
have the most amazing meals.
We could make a home.
We could stay.

But this blessing
is built for leaving.
This blessing
is made for coming down
the mountain.
This blessing
wants to be in motion,
to travel with you
as you return
to level ground.

It will seem strange
how quiet this blessing becomes
when it returns to earth.
It is not shy.
It is not afraid.

It simply knows
how to bide its time,
to watch and wait,
to discern and pray

until the moment comes
when it will reveal
everything it knows,
when it will shine forth
with all that it has seen,
when it will dazzle

with the unforgettable light
you have carried
all this way.

- See more at: http://paintedprayerbook.com/#sthash.KCsKoSYI.dpuf

AMEN.

Resources: Feasting on the Word, Painted Prayer book.

Getting Wet

Sermon Matthew 14:22-33 January 24, 2016 2^nd in series

Getting Wet

“You have to be in to win it.” This is the famous line used for the lottery and any other game of chance. We are encouraged to take part of something that we might have the opportunity of winning and gaining a little extra cash.  It’s risky, it’s a gamble to dump a few dollars for a slim chance to get the dollars back and a little more, but it’s also viewed as a fun experience. The power ball is the best example of needing, wanting, seeking after’ being in it to win it.’ And since all of us are still here a few Sundays since the big day and the big win-I assume we were not among those who won.

Last week we talked about the words Jesus shared about who he is in the gospel of John. We learned that Jesus was serious about letting people know his purpose in the world. We shared that ‘Getting into life and a life of faith is essential.’

We learned that Christ offers life and we in turn have life to offer.

This week we have a witness to all of this through the story of Peter, Jesus, the disciples, and the storm.

What makes this story important for us today is to remind us

beyond the chances of

lottery wins and gambling risks,

is that life and faith

belong together

and

we need to dare to take life and faith

                                                   where we are guaranteed to get wet!

This story of Jesus walking on water appears in three gospels, Mark, John and Matthew. However, Matthew is the only account that tells us of Peter walking on water.

This account is most helpful to you and I

as we struggle to learn more about who Jesus is

and who we are in relationship to him.

So as we recount this story we discover that Jesus has just finished feeding the multitude with bread and fish.

He is exhausted

and sends the disciples across the sea to the other side

while he tries to grab a minute of prayer with the Father.

Clearly Jesus finally had some alone time with God

as we discover it is in the wee hours of the morning

before he heads out across the sea

on foot to go and meet up with the disciples.

The wind and the waves have picked up and it is four in the morning and quite scary. There is nothing creepier than not being able to see the sounds you hear or the bumps you feel. When waves slap against a boat it can have all kinds of strange sounds depending on how it hits the sides. And the disciples look up from their work as they are doing their best to secure the boat and to keep it headed into the wind to get to their destination and they see a figure out on the water and totally freak.

It’s a ghost.

“And they cried out in fear.” Jesus responds, “Take heart, It is I, do not be afraid.” The classic Biblical experience.

Fear happens,

God appears,

and in God’s presence,

fear is dispelled.

Jesus uses the Biblical name of God “I AM, that I AM” The Greek ego eimi-was understood as the name of God-It is I, was a declaration of God present with them!

-Now, Jesus assuring the disciples that he is present with them should be enough for this story to make us all feel at ease and comfortable with the presence of God during stormy and troublesome times.-

But, Matthew challenges the followers of Jesus a little more by sharing what Peter does next.

Peter challenges Jesus. “If you really are who you say you are, then tell me to get out of this boat and come to you!” And so Jesus, says. “Come.” Peter wasn’t too certain about what he saw and heard and needed verification for himself.  Now I’m not so sure what Peter was thinking when he wanted this kind of guarantee from Jesus. But, I assume he thought if Jesus was out there walking on water, he should be able to walk on water too. Perhaps, Peter was one of the disciples that remembered the miracles that Jesus had done.

I taught a Sunday school class about discipleship by John Ortberg entitled “If you want to walk on water, you gotta get out of the boat.” And that’s exactly what Peter did.

Peter challenged Jesus and

Jesus met his challenge and

invited him to come.

Jesus saw that he was ready to take the risk

and invited him to step out and follow through.

Peter dared to take his faith into unchartered waters.

Perhaps conditions are different today.

We dare not risk anything.

We have so many guarantees to insure safety that if we do something different we are considered reckless, or neglectful, or irresponsible.  

Think about parents today.

Everything they do is under the scrutiny of others.

They can’t even let their ten year old cross the street by himself without getting a social media accusatory blast of bad parenting.

Think about the power of advertising and how it has people filled with fear

over security and safety

for their present lives and their future.

There are all kinds of financial and insurance commercials

making people worry about their elderly years.

No wonder we’re not doing anything that requires risk anymore

                                -because society has convinced us

                                                                                  not to dare to take any.

We dare not risk going into troubled waters of injustice, or prejudice, or discord, or disparity. We dare not speak out when a voice could be heard.

We dare not respond to anger with love.

We dare not…

You see fear blurs reality and all things become distorted in the midst of fear.

We see ghosts when there is really the one who loves us reaching out to bolster us up above the waves.

It doesn’t matter if we are Peter

daring to get out of the boat and walk on water to meet the Savior

who challenges us every day to live

and dare to get wet;

or if we are the disciples siting in the boat,

Jesus comes to us and saves us in the condition he finds us.

I remember my nurses training…

I remember we were taught to use the fear of the circumstance to propel us to action. We spent hours in the skills training lab practicing scenarios that required quick thinking and rapid response. We role played a variety of difficult situations. Those years of intense training allowed me to overcome any fear I might have had and allowed me to act to save a life of a patient in distress.

There comes a point

                                     when preparing is done

                                                                                   and

                                                                                              doing

                                                                                                           happens.

Gathering data

must stop

and

action

must happen.

                                       Because even if we are pummeled by the waves,

                                                Jesus reaches out his hand and saves us.

The hymn that we’ll sing in just a moment, Precious Lord Take my Hand, comes from such circumstances.

My friend and colleague in France suffered loss. He and his wife suffered the loss of three babies born too soon. One loss happened on a Saturday night and on Sunday he did not cancel services but held them as usual. He was there in the midst of worship in the midst of his pain and anguish. When asked how he could be there during such a loss his response was that it was in worship and with the congregation that he received his strength and consolation. It was there where he needed to be in the time of his greatest need.

The writer of the hymn Precious Lord take my hand had lost his wife and his son in childbirth. In 1932 he headed to St Louis to play at a revival. While at the revival he received a telegram telling him his wife had just died in childbirth. When he returned home he learned she had given birth to a son, who later died that night.

After the funeral it is said he fell apart and could not find release or relief. Finally a friend took him up to a neighborhood music school.

“It was quiet;” he said. “The late evening sun crept through the curtained windows. I sat down at the piano, and my hands began to browse over the keys.

Something happened to me then I felt at peace. I feel as though I could reach out and touch God. I found myself playing a melody, one I'd never heard or played before, and the words into my head-they just seemed to fall into place:

Precious Lord, take my hand,
lead me on, let me stand!
I am tired, I am weak,
I am worn, Through the storm,
through the night lead me on to the light,
Take my hand, precious Lord, Lead me home.”

Cliff Kirkpatrick former GA stated clerk, reminds us that stepping out in faith doesn’t guarantee calm waters but it is always accompanied

with the promise that Jesus will never leave us,

he will extend his hand to us and

lift us up and

lift us out and

get us back in the boat safely to the other side.

The challenge for us is whether we are ready to dare to challenge our call from Jesus and step out in faith knowing the guarantee we will get wet.

Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him.
– Matthew 14.31

Jan Richardson said after the loss of her husband, “What I know about faith is this: I cannot force faith but can ask for it, can pray that it will make its way to me and bear me up over the next wave, and the next.

That it comes.

That I can lean into it.

That it will propel me not only toward the Christ who calls me,

but also back toward the boat that holds my life,

incomprehensible in both its pain and its grace.

What are you knowing about faith right now? Where is it bearing you?

Another poem: Blessing that Bears the Wind, the Wave

That we will risk
the drenching
by which we
are drawn
toward the voice
that calls us,
the love
that catches us,
the faith
that carries us
beyond the wind,
the wave.

Let us be ready to take the risk. Let us dare to go forth, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Resources: Feasting on the Word; Painted Prayerbook, Matthew-Donald Senior.