St Matthew 16: 21 – 28
From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
Reflection
“Oh dear Lord, that isn’t how to motivate volunteers! You just called Peter “Satan!” Did You not sleep very well? Were You hangry? Surely Your Mother taught You better manners than that! My volunteers don’t respond well to being called “Satan”; I’ve had some difficult elders in my time but confusing them with the Prince of Darkness was not a sure fire way to ensure good order! Congregationalists can get stroppy about that type of behaviour and vote difficult ministers out of office.
“All that talk about crosses – that’s not going to grow the Church is it? Who wants to follow You whilst risking execution? Can’t You promise the health and wealth that some of Your followers claim is theirs in exchange for discipleship? That wouldn’t cost a lot but would go a long way. Why not promise rewards for following You? Much better than promising a grizzly death.
“It’s different now, Lord, from Your day. The churches are almost empty, we need people to fill the rotas, pay the bills, maintain the buildings, and ensure the institution is here for the next generation. People need to be motivated and offered much in return for their time and energy; pie in the sky isn’t as rewarding as a good life now. Easy motivation is a sure fire winner!
“All that talk of rewarding us for what we’ve done; that doesn’t sound very Reformed. Next you’ll be saying faith isn’t enough and we have to reflect our discipleship in our lives. You won’t win any awards in marketing, Lord. You won’t grow the Church if You carry on like this, will You?
“Your preaching about death and conflict is very difficult to read, Lord. We’ve had our fill of death and disaster, conflict and confusion, anger and anguish, persecution and pain. Couldn’t You have made an accommodation with the religious authorities? Bent a little? Found a middle way?”
Prayer
Help us, Lord Jesus,
to follow Your narrow way,
to remember grace comes at a great cost,
and the road to Hell is wide and easy.
Amen