September 13, 2020 - Grace-Tucson Sermon

Pastor Tim Patoka

15th Sunday After Pentecost September 13, 2020 Jesus Guides His Church through Cross and Trial Matthew 16:21-26 1) Keep in Mind the Things of God 2) Continually Deny Your Sinful Self

If you were with us last week, whether it was in-person, online, or audio only, you got to hear the Apostle Peter give a wonderful confession about Jesus where he correctly declared him to be “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Mt 16:16) It is upon this confession of Jesus our Savior that the entire Christian Church is built upon. Yet, for some reason, I am still surprised at just how human the Apostle Peter was. Like any of us, he had his good moments and his bad moments, including times that he probably wishes people would forget. It wasn’t long after his wonderful confession of who Jesus is that we see Peter have one such you-wish-people-wouldforget moments.

As we read in Matthew chapter 16 and will dig into during our sermon, this was Jesus’ first time telling the disciples about his coming death and resurrection. After hearing it, Peter gave Jesus a well-intentioned yet God-opposing rebuke. But thankfully, this gave Jesus an opportunity to guide his Church today about what is required to travel through cross and trial.

As we travel from here to heaven, we will need to endure such hardships. Yet as we do, we keep in mind the things of God and continually deny our sinful selves.

1) Keep in Mind the Things of God Jesus and his disciples are a good ways north in the land of Israel and not long before Jesus begins his final journey to Jerusalem. So he lets the disciples know what must happen to him if he is going to accomplish God’s plan for salvation – he would go to Jerusalem, come before the Jewish ruling council called the Sanhedrin, and receive suffering and death at their hands. After that, he would rise from the dead on the third day. What’s interesting is that Jesus isn’t simply telling the disciples what is going to happen. Rather, he’s telling them what must happen if God’s will is to be accomplished.

Yet the Apostle Peter, always quick to act, tells Jesus what he thinks about such a dreadful plan. As the inspired writer Matthew recorded for us, “Peter took [Jesus] aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘May you receive mercy, Lord! This will never happen to you.’”

(Mt 16:22) In his disapproving rebuke, Peter wishes God’s mercy be upon Jesus so that such things would never ever happen to him. It’s very likely that Peter meant only the best for Jesus.

After all, if you learned that a dear friend of yours was going to suffer horrible things and taste death itself, would you want such things to happen? I’m guessing not.

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15th Sunday After Pentecost September 13, 2020 Even though it wasn’t Peter’s intention, his words were in fact a snare to Jesus, an enticement that Satan himself could have given, for they appealed to Jesus’ human nature to draw him away from carrying out the things of God. So, in language very similar to what Jesus said to Satan himself after his 40 hungry days in the wilderness, Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a snare to me because you are not thinking the things of God, but the things of men.” (Mt 16:23) Talk about a moment that Peter probably wished would not have been recorded for all time in Holy Scripture!

Pastor Tim Patoka

But Peter’s well-intentioned wish for Jesus was indeed a deadly snare. I don’t know about you, but when I think of a snare, I picture what I saw in cartoons as a kid. There’s a box that is held up by a single stick and inside the box is an enticing carrot. When a hungry rabbit goes on by and sees that carrot, they approach it and enter the snare. It’s at that moment that the stick is pulled aside so that the box wumph! closes on top of the rabbit, trapping it within. For those you with more experience with hunting or outdoor living than me, I’m sure you can think of a more realistic example of a snare.

No matter what form it takes, snares are dangerous because they are so enticing! But, if you fall for them, they will hurt you so much in the end. And that’s exactly what Peter’s words to Jesus were. It certainly was enticing to Jesus to avoid such horrible pain and suffering before any of it actually happened! But if Jesus had done what Peter said, he would not have carried out the things of God and possibly deprived us of a Savior.

This all happened because Peter had in mind the things of men. For oftentimes, the things of men do not go in line with the things of God, even if it’s done on accident or with the best of intentions. The same can be said of us. Even though we don’t mean to, we often do not have the things of God in mind that desires the salvation of all souls and the continual spiritual growth of those who are his children through faith. Rather, we have the things of men driving us and directing us in life! And sometimes we unintentionally set snares for others that Satan would love to have people fall for.

We want people to be happy, or at least as happy as they can be in these past 6 months as we’ve gone from one sad headline to another. So we give our vocal or silent support for the sinful choices and lifestyles our loved ones have taken up. We want people to be true to themselves and exercise their rights as Americans. And sometimes we go too far when we encourage hateful speech, unloving thoughts, or illegal violence. We recognize the rollercoaster that so many of us have been on whether it be emotional, financial, spiritual, or physical. So we readily give excuses that take people away from God’s Word, safe practices, or good habits.

Although we mean the best for them, it’s with these well-intentioned actions that we are in truth setting snares for people to entice them away from their Savior and his salvation. And if they were to fall for the snares that we have accidentally set, it would be as dangerous as a box 2

15th Sunday After Pentecost September 13, 2020 closing down on a hungry rabbit. And it’s all because we have in mind the things of men and not of God. Pastor Tim Patoka

We cannot say the same of Jesus. While he walked on this world, he had in mind and was driven by the things of God – to bring salvation to all people and continued spiritual growth for those already his. And we see him do this with his own words and actions. As Jesus began telling his disciples, the things of God required his personal suffering, death, and resurrection.

He called people out when they enticed him to do the things of men, even if it was his dear friend Peter. He avoided the snares that were set before him, no matter how much he might have wanted to fall for them or could have hidden the indiscretion from everyone else. He endured literal cross and literal trial so that he could he accomplish the things of God and have us benefit from it.

That’s right! Even though we will pass through cross and trial as we journey to our home in heaven, it’s not because we are being punished for our sins and making it up to God for the enticing snares we have set. Jesus has already paid the price with his own breath and blood. He has given us the benefit through faith in him. He has made known to us the things of God so that we may keep them in mind at all times.

However, it’s not always easy to distinguish between the things of God and the things of men. But as much as possible, let us keep in mind the things of God – the salvation of all souls and the continued spiritual growth of those who are his. For the more we do just this, the more we hopefully avoid setting snares for others and falling in ourselves as Satan would love. And as we keep in mind the things of God, the more likely we are to persevere through the crosses and trials we endure as we travel to our eternal homes in heaven.

2) Continually Deny Your Sinful Self After having this side conversation with Peter, Jesus then turns his attention to the rest of the disciples to guide his church today about what else is required if we are to pass through cross and trial. And that includes taking up our cross and denying our sinful selves. Jesus says this himself as Matthew records, “If anyone wants to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” (Mt 16:24) This cross-taking, self-denying idea is not about saying no to trivial things like a daily coffee run or the need to get up early if you’re no longer living, working, and playing entirely at home. Rather, it’s about having a selfless attitude that says no to those things which stem from or lead to sin itself.

This is probably easy enough to do when it comes to those things that we don’t find enjoyable or aren’t already a part of our daily lives. But when they are, it’s anything but easy.

Maybe you have some vices that you delight in – content that you consume with your eyes and ears, substances or drinks you enjoy too much, the company you keep, or the places you 3

15th Sunday After Pentecost September 13, 2020 frequent. Maybe it’s the behaviors you practice – following the crowd or giving into peer pressure whether it be on the schoolyard, in the office, or in cyberspace. Giving up your integrity to get ahead or to make a name for yourself.

Pastor Tim Patoka

It’s not easy to deny our sinful self in these matters because we honestly enjoy them and would miss them if they were no longer around. Nor it is easy when they are such a part of our lives that you can’t just remove them or stop them. So much has been built on top of them or come because of them that it’s all tied up and just plain complicated.

But for those who have their minds on the things of God, such a life of self-denial is necessary for our sinful nature will always pit us against our God. And let us remember, indulging our sinful self won’t help us in the end. Jesus asks two rhetorical questions to show us just this. His first one is, “what will it benefit a person if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul?” (Mt 16:26a) As we saw in our First Lesson with the disgraced Samson or repeated with countless historical figures, sports heroes, and pop culture icons, if we get everything the world can offer but lose our soul in the process, what do we really have? Nothing, nothing of lasting value. If we indeed indulge our sinful wants and refuse to deny our sinful self, we will very likely forfeit our soul’s faith and suffer eternally for it.

But could we make up for it if we had enough of the world’s goods? We might think so.

If we amass enough of the world’s riches or do enough to better this world, then maybe that will count for something! We hear Jesus address this with his second rhetorical question, “Or what can a person give in exchange for his soul?” (Mt 16:26b) The only price that God will accept in exchange for a person’s sinful soul is the death of one who considered guilty for those same sins. There is no pile of coins or list of good deeds or collection of testimonies a person can give to replace that costly price. Yet thankfully, for we who have faith in Jesus as our Savior, that’s a price we don’t have to pay since Jesus has already paid it for us on the cross.

To follow Christ through cross and trial means to continually deny our sinful selves. But this doesn’t mean that we are gluttons for punishment. It’s only what we need to do for the present time until we enter our homes in heaven. Jesus promises us this very thing when he says, “In fact whoever wants to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Mt 16:25) If we try to save our lives in the ways the sinful world defines, we will certainly lose it for it will take us away from our Savior. But if we lose our life for our Savior’s sake, then we will certainly find it with him for eternity. Besides martyrdom, listen to how one commentator explains what it means to lose one’s life for Jesus – “To dedicate all to Jesus, to follow his guidance, and to obey his instructions implicitly.” (Pastors G. Jerome and Michael Albrecht from People’s Bible Commentary: Matthew) This is simply another way to describe the selfless attitude that is behind all our cross-taking and self-denying we will necessarily do as we follow our Savior.

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15th Sunday After Pentecost September 13, 2020 As hard as it may be to continually deny our sinful self of its illicit vices and behaviors, what is to come from it is worth all the trouble. For we will find a life that is with our God, accompanied by our brothers and sisters in the faith, and assured of the peace we have with God himself because of his forgiveness, And when that life transitions to its eternity in heaven, we will finally have rest from the crosses and trials we endure in this life. For sin and its disastrous effects will be no longer be a concern. Neither will we have to struggle to continually deny our sinful self.

Pastor Tim Patoka

To this day, I find it interesting to see how human the Apostle Peter is. Like any of us, he has his moments of greatness and his moments you wish people would forget. It was one of those not-so-good moments that Peter had when he rebuked Jesus for what he had to do in Jerusalem to be our Savior. Yet Jesus, in his wisdom, used that moment to guide his Church today what is required as we pass through cross and trial. It is, first of all, to keep in mind the things of God so that we avoid the well-intentioned snares we often set that Satan loves to entice us with. With minds that are set on the things of God, we then persevere through cross and trial by, secondly, denying our sinful self on a continual basis. As hard as it is, don’t indulge in those things that stem from or lead to sin. Rather, say no to them with the knowledge that such a struggle will only last until we enter our homes in heaven. So whether you’re quick to speak your mind like the Apostle Peter or not, listen to Jesus’ guidance for his Church – keep in mind the things of God so that you may continually deny your sinful self and so find your life with Christ forever in heaven. Amen.

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