Rev. George Miller
Feb 19, 2023
Matthew 16:24-17:8
Today we reach a pivotal moment in the life and ministry of Jesus.
After being baptized, tempted, assembling his disciples, walking along
the shore of Galilee, feeding, healing, teaching in parables,
Jesus announces that he will go to Jerusalem where he will be crucified
by the authorities.
It is a deeply sad moment- a man facing his own mortality, who knows that
he will die.
That baby boy born in Bethlehem, filled with so many hopes and promises, will
soon become another victim of the world’s unjust, unkind ways.
The style in which Jesus faces his mortality is so strong, so jarring
that Peter refuses to believe it.
How many here have had to face their own mortality and can relate?
How many here have lost a parent, a child, a best friend and can relate?
No one wants to hear about death, or talk about suffering, no one wants
to admit that their time on God’s green earth will eventually be over.
Yet, that’s what Jesus does; that’s what the disciples have to now contend
with.
Just as it seems like the party has started, Jesus has declared that it
is about to end, and that it will end in the most humiliating and painful of
ways.
It is almost too much to take.
Back when Jesus was in the wilderness, the devil tried to trick him into
taking the easy way out- worship me and the world is yours.
But Jesus said “no”, and now every step Jesus takes from this point on
will bring him one footprint closer to his death.
God came to us in human form, and part of being human is that all humans die.
Jesus is no exception.
But with the knowledge of one’s death and the acceptance of one’s
mortality, there can be great freedom and a melancholy beauty.
In knowing and accepting that one is eventually going to die, comes the wisdom
that in the meantime, one can still live.
In living, one can intentionally enjoy and admire the things that God has
given us and the beauty of humanity at its best.
Though each step will bring Jesus closer to death, each step will also take
him to a mountaintop with his closest companions.
Though each step Jesus takes will bring him closer to death, each step gives
him another chance-
-A chance to cure a father’s son
-to teach about forgiveness
-a chance to bless the children
-a chance to say that riches don’t matter as much as what we do with our
lives
-a chance to give blind men sight
-to share more parables about lost sheep and wedding banquets
-a chance to challenge corruption
-a chance to share more meals
-The chance to be anointed by a woman with an alabaster jar and assure
her that what she did mattered and she will never be forgotten.
Yes, Jesus, born in a manger, is going to die, but before that, Jesus is
going to live!
That’s part of today’s beauty- we are coming together with our Canadian
siblings to share their Heritage Day.
The theme of this year’s Heritage Day is “Recovery and Community Healing-
Stronger Together.”
A day that says “Get out of your bubble, get out of your head, and step into
God’s Creation.”
Canada’s Heritage Day is a time in which people are encouraged to go to the
parks, visit the museums, tour and appreciate the local architecture, share a
meal with family and friends outside.
Is that not what Jesus and his heaven-based ministry embodied: Visiting, touring, eating, by the sea, and up
on mountaintops?
When Jesus shared that he was going to die, he could have pushed everyone
away. He could have gone into total, complete
isolation.
He could have looked back over his life and thought “What a waste.”
But instead, Jesus looks forward. He
steps forward; he lives forward.
In nature, public spaces, people’s homes, at the dining room table.
Though he will soon die, Jesus lived, lived, lived!
It doesn’t mean that Jesus was not scared. It didn’t mean the public humiliation didn’t hurt
or the nails didn’t tear his flesh apart.
It meant that while Jesus could have went into denial, run away, when Jesus
could’ve said “Nope!”
He said “Let us take this walk together.
Do not be afraid but get on your feet and let us get back to living.”
Jesus speaks to us from 2,000 years ago- “Don’t allow the fear of your
own mortality to freeze you.”
“Don’t let the thought of what could happen stop you from all that can
happen in God’s Kingdom.”
Jesus is saying to all of us here:
“We are all going to die, but in the meantime let us live, let us love,
let us journey together, and let us carry the responsibility of doing what is right
for the sake of the Lord.”
When we do that, we will find that there are still many mountains to
climb and rivers to cross.
Amen.
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