Proper 17, Year A, 2011

Matthew 16:21-28

The Rev. Ronald N. Johnson

In the Gospel reading last Sunday, also from Matthew’s gospel, we heard what the Church calls “Peter’s Confession” at Caesarea Philippi.  Peter responded to our Lord’s question, “Who do people say that I am?” by responding, “You are the Messiah, the son of the living God.”  It is not my intent to preach again on last Sunday’s gospel reading, but an important part of its theme carries over into today’s gospel reading.  When Peter gave his response to our Lord’s question, Jesus said this to Peter: “Peter, Jesus said, “you are really blessed. Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you.”  In other words, Peter’s answer does not and cannot derive from logic, historical data and reason.  Peter’s response was a faith response. This is what Jesus meant when he said, “Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but rather my Father in heaven.”  Peter’s response was a response from the depths of his soul, a soul enlightened by the Holy Spirit.  In other words, Peter’s recognition of Jesus as the Messiah was a gift from God.  Faith itself is a gift of God.  In faith, Peter knew the Messiah and that is the only way that we can know Jesus Christ.

The question is what do we do with our faith?  Do our lives reflect the faith we claim, and if not, what must we do to rectify it?  We cannot answer this without being fully aware of the consequences of faith and those consequences can be severe and challenging.  In today's passage, Jesus began to teach his disciples that there is a cost to discipleship, a severe cost. “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”  The reality of discipleship is that we pay a price, sometimes quite steep and harsh, because discipleship, from time to time, takes us across society's grain, and when you are at cross purposes with society the going can be quite rough. 

We’ve talked about Peter’s confession, but there is also scriptural documentation about Peter’s denial of Jesus, specifically his denial on the night of our Lord’s arrest – three denials before the cock crowed!  There is also a legend in the Church based on some scriptural writing that did not make it into the Bible.  There is a story found in the apocryphal “Acts of Peter” in which Jesus meets Peter as he is fleeing from likely crucifixion in Rome.  Peter asks Jesus, “Where are you going” Jesus responded, “I am going to Rome, Peter, to be crucified again.” The shame of denial was enough to cause Peter to rethink his cowardness and to return to Rome to continue his work of discipleship.  It eventually cost him his life.  According to the witness of two noted second century church historians and theologians, Tertullian and Eusebius, Peter was crucified upside down on the cross.  Jesus meant what he said in today’s gospel reading.  “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”

Let's look at the cost of discipleship so that we can understand what is expected of us.  Jesus said that if we want to be his followers, we have to be prepared to deny ourselves.  What did he mean?  Are we to discard our possessions, our homes, our material wealth, our secular dreams and aspirations?  Francis of Assisi did.  For Francis, that denial was necessary so that he could put Jesus before all else.  But such a denial of material wealth is not necessarily a requirement for discipleship.  What is required is that we make Christian discipleship our greatest goal, our highest value.  Jesus must be first in our lives.  If he is not, then we are not true disciples.  To deny ourselves is to make sure that nothing gets between us and the Lord, and we have to be willing to put aside anything that does.  Discernment of what must be set aside can only come through prayer and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Having denied ourselves, we must take up our cross.  This does not necessarily mean that we must die for Jesus.  Many have, but even more have not died for their faith and never will.  What does taking up the cross mean?  The first thing to note is that Jesus didn't say we had to be willing to take up our cross.  He said that we must take up our cross; we must bear cross.  Willingness is not enough; action is, and to be a disciple is to take up the cross.  Carrying our cross means simply doing the will of God regardless of the cost, and doing it even if the cost is death.  Sometimes our cross is light and easy, at other times it is severe.  Ours is not to question whether the task God asks of us is worth the cost to us.  The disciple soldiers on regardless of the price she or he pays to be Christ to neighbor.  And we are called, in discipleship to be as Christ to our neighbor, realizing that the only way that Jesus works in this world, today, is the hearts, the minds, the arms and the hands of those that are his disciples. 

The call to discipleship is the call to all of us.  As baptized members of the Body of Christ, the Christian Church, we are called to discipleship.  The gospel today asks that we be aware that the call to discipleship comes with a price.  There is a cost to discipleship and that cost is the irrevocable dedication of our lives to Jesus Christ.  Amen.