August 30, 2020 Proper 17 Matthew 16:21-28 The Rev. John Reese<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s estimated that at any given time 0.7% of the world\u2019s population is drunk.<\/p>\n

On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents every day.<\/p>\n

Oh, and in the 1830\u2019s ketchup was sold as medicine.<\/p>\n

The world we live in is filled with seemingly strange, but potentially useful, facts and insights. You know, the kind of quirky truth that can catch you off guard when first heard, but is legitimate enough to warrant a bit of space in your brain. Like, for example, the fact that coconuts kill more people every year than sharks do.<\/p>\n

We take such inane truths and store them away, digging them out of the recesses of our brains to rescue a struggling conversation at a dinner party or for that moment when we happen to be a contestant on\u00a0Jeopardy!\u00a0and the category is \u201c19th century medicines now used as condiments.\u201d Good to know.<\/p>\n

Scripture, as well, is full of \u201cgood to know\u201d truths — insights that we\u2019re certain are somehow applicable even if we can\u2019t immediately find an application for us. Take the book of Proverbs, for example. Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, will be counted as cursing (Proverbs 27:14). In other words, wait until your neighbor has showered and eaten a bagel before you shout blessings over the fence. Good to know.<\/p>\n

Jesus\u2019 words to his disciples in Matthew 16 are packed full of \u201cgood to know\u201d insights. They come at us – no matter how many times we\u2019ve studied them – with a tone that can feel harsh when read and seems to lack context for the stark picture it paints. After all, prior to this moment the picture Matthew paints has been largely positive for Jesus and his followers. Yes, John the Baptist has been murdered, but for Jesus it\u2019s been miracles, healings, profound parables and victorious verbal battles with the religious elite. Plus, just a few verses earlier, Peter had the greatest \u201ca-ha moment\u201d of human history, clearly confessing that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God.<\/p>\n

Yet here comes Jesus with a list of stark, strange insights about following him that jar us out of our joy. Yet they\u2019re so laden with truth that we can\u2019t ignore them. We cannot help but sense they\u2019ll come in handy sometime soon. Let\u2019s examine a few.<\/p>\n

First off, Jesus is not surprised by his suffering, death and resurrection. He saved us with eyes wide open.\u00a0Good to know. Look at verse 21. It\u2019s tempting to see Christ as a fortuitous Savior, thrust to the cross rather than one who embraced it and steadily pursued it on our behalf. Christ perceived the path of righteousness as one marked by suffering and he understood that his ultimate trial – as one of death to be vindicated through life – must shape how we see our own lives, following in his footsteps.<\/p>\n

Second, Jesus doesn\u2019t need us to protect him or defend him, but to follow him. We\u2019re his disciples, not members of his entourage.\u00a0In an entourage, there\u2019s the star at the center, the one around whom all the others orbit and who live off of his or her awesomeness. Part of the job then is to protect the shine of the star, to help her or him perpetually look good and in doing so to protect the glow that you get to live in.<\/p>\n

This is, in essence, what Peter\u2019s attempting to do in his famous attempt at talking Jesus out of the cross in verse 22. He assumes there must be a better, shinier path for his man, Jesus (and therefore the rest of the entourage) to travel. But Jesus reminds Peter – and us – that our task is not to protect Jesus, but to follow him. Good to know.<\/p>\n

Third, to \u201cfind\u201d ourselves, we must be willing to \u201close\u201d ourselves.\u00a0This is also very good to know. (See verses 24-25.) Discipleship, Jesus tells us, is counter-intuitive in this sense. In the same way that we don\u2019t protect Jesus from his path, we must not protect ourselves from it either.<\/p>\n

In this broken world, everything is backwards. We will only discover the greatness of God when we know and experience our very human limits. We fight against this truth in a thousand different ways – in our living, in our praying, and even so often in our preaching. And yet, we must always temper ourselves with the truth that God\u2019s grace is located at the end of our rope, not the top of it.<\/p>\n

And fourth, there will be a reward in the end when Christ returns.\u00a0See verse 27. This is really good to know. Sure, we\u2019re not told what the vindication will be for those who die to self through faith in Christ, but there\u00a0will be\u00a0vindication. Will it be some kind of parade around the pearly gates? Will it be a monetary prize? If so, what currency will be used in the new creation? Euros? Dollars? Bitcoin? The lack of detail would be bothersome if Jesus hadn\u2019t proven himself so trustworthy through his resurrection.<\/p>\n

So while we don\u2019t know just what this \u201creward\u2019 will look like, we can be absolutely certain that there will be one. Good to know, especially on the days that the road of discipleship is, as predicted by Jesus, decidedly dark.<\/p>\n

The world we live in is filled with strange and painfully obvious information. For example, dumbwarnings.com is a website that compiles the world\u2019s dumbest warning labels found on everyday products. For example, a Zippo lighter that warns users \u201cDo not ignite in face\u201d and the warning on a bottle of Bayer Aspirin that says, \u201cDo not take if allergic to aspirin.\u201d<\/p>\n

And while these may be obvious to most sober individuals, the sad fact is that the only reason such warnings are placed on products in the first place is because someone, somewhere, wasn\u2019t as wise as the rest of us. Someone did, in fact, ignite a lighter in his face and set his beard and hair on fire. So this information is useful to someone. Good to know.<\/p>\n

And perhaps that\u2019s how these insights from Jesus strike you: strange, true and obvious. And yet, for a good number of those who grace our churches or who walk the streets of our neighborhoods:<\/p>\n

– the idea of a God who\u00a0chooses\u00a0suffering in order to save is strange;<\/p>\n

– the idea of discipleship as discovering God at the\u00a0end of me\u00a0rather than the\u00a0best\u00a0of me is new;<\/p>\n

– the idea that our ultimate reward is guaranteed now but not delivered until\u00a0then\u00a0is foreign.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all \u201cgood to know\u201d – essential to know – but many don\u2019t yet know it. Or at the very least are in great need of being reminded of it.<\/p>\n

Which of Jesus\u2019 strange but essential, tough but true, \u201cgood to know\u201d insights from Matthew 16 is needed most for you? Is your picture of Jesus a little too safe? Are you at a particularly low point, needing to be reminded that you are, now, closer than ever to the goodness of God? Are you near the end of your existence, fighting for breath and wondering if it\u2019s all been worth it? If so, it\u2019s good to know that a reward is secured and soon in sight.<\/p>\n

A regulation golf ball has 336 dimples. John Lennon\u2019s first girlfriend was named Thelma Pickles. The plastic bag that you brought your groceries home in is not a toy. All these things are good to know. They may come in handy at some forthcoming trivia night or the next time you\u2019re stuck in an insanely dull dinner conversation.<\/p>\n

If such obscure facts can seem even remotely useful, how much more are the words of Jesus in today\u2019s Gospel worthy of some space in our brains and hearts. We can park the truth that \u201cJesus doesn\u2019t need us to protect him\u201d right next to \u201cJimmy Carter was the first president born in a hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n

You never know when you\u2019ll need to access such truths, but something inside us tells us we will. They\u2019re both good to know; one just a little more than the other.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

August 30, 2020 Proper 17 Matthew 16:21-28 The Rev. John Reese It\u2019s estimated that at any given time 0.7% of the world\u2019s population is drunk. On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents every day. Oh, and in the 1830\u2019s ketchup was sold as medicine. The world we live in is filled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n