|
First
Reading
|
Psalm |
Epistle |
Gospel |
| Isaiah 51:1–6 |
Psalm 18
|
Romans
12:1–8 |
Matthew
16:13–20
|
Sunday morning, after coming down a short way on State Steeet, I take the wide curve on to Eddy Street, past the row of apartments filled with sleeping Cornelians. When I get to Buffalo Street and turn downhill, I can see St. John’s steeple in the early morning sun. It’s easy to let the car gather speed, taking the bump as you cross Stewart Avenue, and head down the hill. Buffalo Street would make an excellent toboggan slope, and I would not object a bit if on a snowy day the city closed it for all vehicles and let tobogganers and sledders have their moment of glory.
At the end, I’m careful to stop at the red light at Aurora Street. Yes, it always seems to be red when I get down, and on weekdays there is often a police car waiting to reprimand anyone who tries to beat the light. As I wait for the light to change, the front of St. John’s is in clear view. The easy trip down Buffalo Hill seemed so exhilarating and fast. Now, I begin to think about what the morning will hold. I suspect we all have periods when life seems to fly by so easily. It’s a neat ride and over before we know it. Then we come to a stop, to collect our thoughts and to contemplate the journey ahead.
Jesus and the disciples had been on a tear, with many speaking engagements and healings, teaching crowds and arguing with opponents. The time in some sense must have past quickly, even if it was also very taxing. Jesus took the disciples apart to the region of Caesarea Philippi. It seems Jesus did not intend to address the larger public there, but to have some time alone with just the disciples. Caesarea Philippi was used by the Romans as a resort area for recreation and relaxation, and would have been quite a change from the fishing villages or agricultural centers around the Sea of Galilee.
Matthew’s Gospel sees this stopping point as a major divide. The crowds will still see Jesus as a great teacher, prophet and healer. The disciples, however, now know that Jesus is something more. Moreover, Jesus begins to talk to the disciples about the serious consequences of discipleship. It will not be just an exhilarating, easy ride. Instead, things will become painful, dangerous, and a lot more difficult. Naturally, the disciples object. In next week’s Gospel Peter, the hero today, will be sternly rebuked when he protests what Jesus is saying.
People of faith of every age often are tempted to want to hear only the pleasant and easy things like Peter. They would adore and love to engage in an easy faith that advertises itself like those classic Burma shave signs: Come to St. John’s, all warm and friendly, and Jesus will fix up your life just dandy. Or a block later, Come to St. John’s, the most comfortable church of the city, and you and your children will be sitting pretty. And lastly, come to St. John’s only one block away, and all your troubles will be taken away. Yes I can picture them now as I wiz by, all along the side of Buffalo Street Hill. They would fit right in. Yes, we so want to welcome newcomers, but let’s not give them a phony story. Jesus prepares people of faith for hard answers to hard questions, for facing reality with honesty and refusing to hide behind ignorance, for growth, not stagnation. The Gospel will never be the most pleasing, the most popular, the most personable message in our society.
The incident of Jesus stopping and being with his disciples is so important to the Gospel writers Matthew, Mark and Luke, because they all realize that there will be times when we will all be tempted to behave like Peter. On occasion we all need help in facing the consequences of of actions or inactions.
This fall, the American people will face decisions of far reaching consequences, not only for us, but likely for generations to come. It will be temping to only listen to the easy slogans, and the Burma shave length retorts. But people of faith are truly fed by deeper words than Burma shave type ads. That is why I wonder if this passage about Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Christ, and next week’s Gospel passage when Jesus will rebuke Peter for not taking seriously the consequences of Jesus teaching, are not precisely the passages that people of faith would do well to stop and heed apart from the noise of the crowd at our own Caesarea Philippi.
And I offer this to you in the name of the Living God, Amen.
