Sermon for Sunday, October 31, 2021

Matthew 26:47-56

Matthew 26:47-56 

English Standard Version 

  What weapons do you bring to arrest the son of God?

  I can imagine the soldiers quaking at the thought of arresting Jesus with their clubs and swords, tools which must have seemed so impotent in the face of Jesus Christ.  They'd heard the stories, they likely understood that his power was far greater than anything they had in their armory.  

  God had made a promise in Scripture, and Jesus was here to keep it, no matter what.  And so he went with the soldiers and their weapons, despite his superior power.  When Peter pulled out his sword to fight, Jesus was pointing him to a bigger picture, to a greater fight, to a larger story that was being told.  

  It's important to keep our eyes on that narrative.  The news will often pull your head down into the smaller stories, and we'll get lost in fear and hopelessness there.  We find anxiety when we lose track of the greater story, for we lose track of our true identity.

  But when we focus on the larger story, then we're not pulling out our swords at every opportunity.  When we're certain that we're rooted in eternity and anchored in the love of Christ, then we're able to enter into the smaller stories without getting lost in them.  We can go to the dark places and proclaim grace and love without fear of losing who we are, without fear of being lost.  We can go to people experiencing loss and sit in the darkness, trusting that there will yet be another dawn.  We can go to the darkest corners of the world and know that we will not be lost there, for we have been claimed by the light and marked as Christ's own forever.  There is hope when we remember who we are, and we don't need swords, for we have grace and light and peace, and that is sufficient.

Matthew 26:36-46

Matthew 26:36-46 

English Standard Version

  When we pray the Lord's prayer, we say Thy Will be Done, but it's such a hard thing to pray and fully mean.  We want to mean it... but God asks some huge things of some Biblical characters.

  Remember when Daniel went into the Lions' Den?

  Or when Gideon had to get rid of most of his army?

  Or when Esther risked her life to address the king?

  One way to read the Bible is to read it as a collection of heroes of the faith who we are called to emulate.  And while there are certainly traits of many Biblical leaders, male and female, that we are wise to imitate, the Bible isn't a book about human heroes.  It's a book about God and what God is doing.  The Bible is meant to teach us about how God works through ordinary people, and the best Biblical characters reflect traits of God.  So Jesus is a braver Daniel, willing to demonstrate his mastery over creation.  Jesus is a stronger Gideon, taking on any force one his own.  Jesus is a better Esther, willing to risk his own life to save his people.  All of these Biblical characters are pointing us to God, just as we are called to point to God in our own lives.  We aren't the heroes of the story -- we're the ones who are saved by the true hero who never disappoints, who always wins the day, who delivers us from peril.

  So even if we struggle to truly follow God's will, afraid of what might come, we can give thanks that Jesus always follows God's will perfectly, meeting the demands that we cannot, and it is his faithfulness that saves us.

Matthew 26:30-35

Matthew 26:30-35 

English Standard Version 

  Again, this is really high on the list of the sections the disciples would have omitted if they were making the entire story up.  If they were trying to 'sell' Jesus as ultra-successful and the disciples as the prized recruits ready to take on the world, they likely wouldn't include the section about Peter incorrectly predicting that he'd never deny Jesus, right before Peter denies Jesus.  Oops.

  But these sections are crucial to seeing how human the disciples were.  Peter didn't want to deny Jesus -- he likely meant these words as he spoke them.  But situations change and people get scared and things happen faster than we predict.  Plenty of people never mean to look at their phones when they drive, but then it makes that noise and we figure we can look quickly and it won't do any damage...  Or people think they'll just tell a little lie and they can correct it later and it won't hurt anyone and then things escalate beyond our control...  We've all seen things get out of control faster than we expected.  We think we can be in control, and we often discover the opposite is true.  

  Isn't it marvelous that these are the people Jesus calls into discipleship?  Jesus knows Peter will deny him, and Jesus calls him anyway.  Jesus knows they will all flee to save their own skin, and Jesus calls them anyway.  Jesus knows you'll mess that thing up, and Jesus calls you anyway.  Jesus knows I'm going to forget that other thing, and Jesus calls me anyway.  It's marvelous, and wondrous, and we are the recipients of grace, freely given.

  Thanks be to God!