Can Praising God and Doing Acts of Ministry Both be Forms of Worship? March 3, 2019 sermon on Matthew 16:24-17:13

Rev. George N. Miller
March 3, 2019
Matthew 16:24-17:13

(This is a character sermon, given as Peter)

As I grow older there are things I forget. But there is 1 week I will always remember-

The week when Jesus revealed to us his destiny and shared with us his glory.

Jesus was heading into the final stage of his time here on earth.

He had taught atop the mountain. Guided us on prayer. Shared parables about the kingdom; set the bar high so we could succeed.

Escaped to a deserted place in which he fed the masses. Walked on water.

Saved me for the storm.

Then he told us his traumatic truth- that he must go to Jerusalem in which he would suffer; he would be killed; that he will rise.

It was too much for us to bear. It was too much for me to bear…

He told us again and again. It hurt more each time he said it.

So, 6 days later when he offered to take me, James and John to a high mountain by ourselves, I was relieved.

A reprieve from all this talk of death and dying.

And then an amazing thing happened…

He began to shine! His face….like the sun. His clothes…like washed in pure light.

He was dazzling!

Then, beside him appeared Moses and Elijah, fellow brothers of the deserted places.

He shone and he shone and he shone and he shone.

And I thought “This is it! This is what it’s all about! This is the Kingdom of Heaven!”

All I wanted to do was to stay there and worship and praise God. So I blurted out “Lord- it is good for us to be here.”

I thought of how much I wanted to stay there forever. I didn’t want to leave that holy space, I didn’t want to leave that holy time.

I just wanted to build 3 places where Moses, Elijah and Jesus could dwell forever and we could worship them until the end of time.

I didn’t want to go back down that mountain. I didn’t want to return to the world we left behind.

I didn’t want to see another hungry face; I didn’t want to hear the groans of the sick.

I didn’t want to touch the hands of the sinner; I didn’t want to smell the stench of the diseased.

I didn’t want to taste another meal beside sex workers and tax collectors.

I was done; I was done. I was tired; tired.

No more, Jesus, no more.

Dealing with the needs of the needy. Putting up with the politics of the political. Squeezing lemon juice from the change purse so we could take care of others.

No more, no more.

I just wanted to be on that mountain worshipping with my Lord…but eventually that moment ended.

The dazzling disappeared; the prophets gone.

We made our way back down the mountain…and immediately we were met by a crowd of people and a man whose son was demon possessed.

Back to work; back to reality, back to Jesus telling us how he was going to be killed and how he was going to be raised.

None of us truly understood what he meant…until it happened for real.

We had entered Jerusalem to great fanfare. Jesus went to the Temple and created a disruption unlike anything we have seen.

And just as Jesus said, he was betrayed by one of our own, he was arrested, humiliated, and crucified.

We thought- what was the point? Why did we just do all that we did? Was it for nothing???

Then that Sunday morning, an amazing thing happened:

Mary Magdalene and other women came and shared with us the most unbelievable news- that they had met Jesus along the way.

He was not in the tomb. Death did not have the final say. He had been raised.

Jesus told them that we were to meet him in Galilee.

Galilee- that place has so many memories.

It was in Galilee that Jesus had begun his ministry; it was in Galilee beside the sea that he called me and my brother to follow him.

It was in Galilee that we first experienced what ministry with Jesus was like- he taught in the synagogue, shared the good news, reached out to the sick, the afflicted.

It was in Galilee that Jesus went up the mountain and told the poor, the sad, the hungry, that they are blessed, heirs to the kingdom of heaven, light to the world and salt of the earth.

And now, atop that same mountain in Galilee, we looked out and we saw Jesus, and we saw that he had indeed been raised from the dead.

And we worshipped, and we praised.

And the resurrected Christ made it be known to us that we were now empowered to do the same things we had witnessed Jesus do.

“And remember, I am with you always, until the end of time,” Jesus said.

And something happened…something happened within me, within all us disciples.

In light of the resurrection we began to remember all that Jesus had said, all that Jesus had done, all that Jesus had taught, and realized that he truly was the Son of God.

And we began to realize something else:

All those things we had done, all the tasks we had been doing, they weren’t just work, they weren’t just chores…they were all forms of worship.

That every time we saw a hungry face and responded, we were performing an act of worship.

Every time we heard the groans of the sick, and offered comfort, we were performing an act of worship.

Every time we touched the hands of the sinner, we were performing acts of worship.

Every time we smelt the stench of the diseased and did not turn away, we were performing an act of worship.

Every time we tasted a meal beside sex workers and tax collectors, we were performing an act of worship.

Every time we dealt with the needs of the needy, put up with the politics of the political, and squeezed lemon juice from the change purse, we were performing acts of worship.

We realized that praising God and doing the ministry of Jesus are not two exclusive things, but both viable forms of worship.

This was a revelation for me.

I had thought that praise and mission were different.

But since the resurrection, I’ve come to realize that I can praise Jesus on the mountaintop when he is dazzling before me, AND I can also praise Jesus on the ground by showing compassion to those before me.

I can worship Jesus in a holy space and a holy time, AND I can worship Jesus by visiting a friend who is sick or someone who is not doing well.

I can worship Jesus by offering songs of praise, AND I can worship Jesus by offering some of what I have.

This does not mean the way is always easy; it does not mean we still do not feel overwhelmed from time to time.

Sometimes we look out at all the pain and suffering in the world and want to shout “It is too much!”

But then we look at what we can do, no matter how small it seems, and we say “Yes Lord, let us worship you.”

And we realize that every time we do justice, every time we love being kind to another, and every time we humbly walk with the Lord, we are indeed worshipping God.

And that has made all the difference. Amen.