The Grace and Peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Paul writes to us
and the Church at Rome: ‘Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.’
Let’s join in a word of prayer: Filled with a sense of your love for us, we come before you this morning, Lord God our Father. We thank you for the fellowship we share, filled with both challenge and blessing for us as Christians joined together in love. As we come together in fellowship, visit us with the presence and power of your Holy Spirit. Create in us compassionate hearts, and spirits in tune with your grace and mercy. Turn our attention from every distraction, that we may be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Hear our prayer for the sake of our risen Lord. Amen.
A young husband comes home one evening to a table set for an elaborate dinner. He thinks, “something is up. It’s not my birthday, or our anniversary. But something is going on. I just better keep quiet.” His wife serves his favourite meal, beaming all the time, and he eats with a smile, but not a word.
Over desert, she says “aren’t you going to ask me what’s new in my day?” And the young husband confesses his confusion over their special dinner together, to which his wife replies quietly, “well, you see, your going to be a father.” The combination of excitement and confusion overwhelms both of them as they just hold each other with the intimacy of shared amazement.
Over the next nine months, this husband sees the changes in his wife and in their routines, as they adjust to the pregnancy, and the expectation of new life. On the day, after rushing to get things ready, and make the journey to the hospital, this same husband stands beside the gurney as his wife suffers through the birth. When their son is delivered, this young husband suddenly comes to realise all that being a father is about. With sudden clarity, he receives the epiphany of the joys, responsibilities, sorrows, and satisfactions that will be part of his life from that moment on. Because now he isn’t just a son, a man, and a husband. He is now a father.
When that father left his wife to rest after the birth, and his son to be cared for at the hospital, he returned home to an empty house for one last time. As he sat in his easy chair, he caught sight of their bible on the stand.
He opened it for a bit of solace from the combined sense of love for his family, joy of the day, and anxiety over the future.
The Bible almost opens itself to the readings of Matthew 16. The reading we shared last week, with the wondrous excitement of the epiphany of Jesus as the Christ, Son of the Living God. Followed by today’s reading, with Jesus explaining just what it would mean for them, as Jesus fulfilled his role as Saviour, by suffering, dying and rising again in victory over sin and death.
How appropriate for this young father. He saw in this scripture a picture of Peter, called to be a fisher of men. Following Jesus as a Disciple and Apostle. Witnessing the authority of Jesus as the Christ. Authority over sickness, over nature, over demons and even death. And finally, Peter himself is given a revelation by God of who Jesus is. The Saviour and Son of God. But it becomes clear in Peter’s life, that every watershed moment received from God, brings out the devil trying to stalk in God’s footsteps.
When Jesus explained what it meant to be the Saviour, it was impossible for Peter to accept that a Saviour with such authority could ever submit to the punishment and death of a criminal. The devil used Peter’s hesitation as an opening to try and corrupt God’s plan for humanity’s salvation. With a bit of coaxing, Peter pleads with Christ Jesus, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.”
Much like this young father, I can never forget the response of Jesus, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” I struggled with this response for some time, before I received an epiphany of my own to look at this verse in a different way. I saw in this event the devil working his worst to pervert the plan of God, and instead, Jesus taking authority over the devil. That Jesus was speaking directly to the devil when he said, “Get behind me, Satan!”
Jesus was placing himself between the devil and Peter. Just as he does for us in the midst of our temptations and challenges of life. Later on, the devil would again ask to test Peter, when Peter denied knowing Jesus when he suffered. But Jesus restored Peter after his resurrection. Just as Jesus does for us in repentance and forgiveness.
For now in the reading, Jesus addressed the fears of Peter, “You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” Just like us, Jesus reminds us from time to time to look at things through the faith we have in Jesus, rather than through the lens of the world.
And then this young father started to relate all this to his own experience of the past year, and especially the day. How he was told he would become a father. How he tended to his beloved wife as she nurtured the unborn child in her womb. How he faced the excited realisation that it was really happening. And the fears of what that would mean in his life. At one point he almost wanted to cry out, “No, it shouldn’t work that way.” Much like Peter cried out.
Now, as this young father recalls the response of Jesus, how just as Jesus intervened between Peter and the devil, Jesus the Christ intervened between this young father, and the dread that began to plague him.
With faith in Jesus Christ, every father can look at his life, his family, and especially his children, with an awareness of the responsibility of being a parent. But still hold onto hope that overcomes fear. With the love of God our Father that overshadows the challenge of being a parent. With faith in Jesus Christ that overcomes apprehension.
In typical fashion, Christ Jesus didn’t leave it there. Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to come with me, he must forget self, carry his cross, and follow me.” And so this young father, following the plan of God our Father, and the advice of Jesus Christ our Saviour, resolved to be the best father he could be, setting aside his concern for himself, and living now for his family.
Paul shares with us what that means for every parent, especially fathers. That love must be completely sincere. Showing love depends on having a clear understanding of what being a father is all about.
When Jesus invites us to ‘forget ourselves, carry our cross, and follow him’, he was inviting us to let go of all that hinders us from carrying the cross of sincere love for our families.
It takes personal discipline to avoid selfish motives for the things that we do for Jesus and for our children.
As I consider the words of Jesus today, I am reminded that Jesus carried his cross from the day he was baptized. The cross that he carried right up to the day he pulled a wooden cross through the streets of Jerusalem.
It was the cross of knowing he was the sacrifice for the sin that broke our relationship with God our Father. It was the cross of rejection by people he loved so much. As Jesus showed ‘his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed’.
Jesus set aside so much that was precious, to take up that cross. He left his divine presence in heaven to enter humanity. He set aside his divine power to become one of us, and experience humanity.
This morning, I feel Jesus asking us what we are willing to set aside to carry our cross and follow him. So that we can serve the Lord with a heart full of devotion, and let our hope keep us joyful.
I acknowledge that those of us who are here today are certainly counted among the disciples who have a desire to follow Christ Jesus.
As Paul encourages us, we can ask God to fill us with his Holy Spirit to ‘rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn, and live in harmony with one another.’ To ‘have the same concern for everyone’, especially our children.
Not to ‘be proud, but accept humble duties’. Not to ‘think of ourselves as wise’, but to seek the wisdom of God our Father to be faithful parents, husbands, and wives. Leading our families with compassion of Christ Jesus, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
We take great comfort that Jesus is Lord. And so, we carry our cross and follow Jesus, day by day, taking note of our mistakes and mis-steps. While celebrating the love of Christ Jesus that speaks forgiveness and acceptance even in face of our vulnerability, as children, couples, and parents.
And we rely upon the grace and mercy of our God to keep our hearts and minds set on Christ Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Rev David Thompson
St Peters Lutheran Church Port Macquarie 