St. John’s Lutheran Church, Toluca, IL – 14th Sunday after Pentecost
Jeremiah 15:15-21; Psalm 26:1-8; Romans 12:9-21; Matthew 16:21-28
Matthew 16:21-28
From that time on, Jesus began to show 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 and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me, for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any wish to come after me, 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. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? “For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
NRSVue
Against Cancel Culture
Grace to you, beloved of God, and peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
If I was sure that Christ had returned, was walking among us, and by an abundance of generosity and grace had chosen me to walk with him, only to tell me that soon he was to be handed over to the authorities to be tortured and killed, leaving me and my fellow close followers in charge of advancing his kingdom into the world, I would probably react with something in the lines of “c’mon man, again?” All this injustice and sorrow! So much to be restored and made right! And we will go wherever you go, but you have powers we don’t! Can’t this time be different? Couldn’t things happen the way they were supposed to?
If that was my reaction, I am certain the Son of the living God would say to me, “Get behind me, Satan – which is the Greek word for adversary – for you are putting your mind in human things, not divine things. You are thinking of yourself according to your views of what things should be. The mission is a little bigger than you, buddy.
This would definitely not be the best moment in my relationship with Jesus. I would have said selfish things in a moment of frustration that I shouldn’t have while being sternly admonished by my teacher for acting like his opponent when I had left everything to follow him. It would be a moment of crisis in my relationship with my Lord and Savior.
Fortunately for us and all the timeless churches of living stones, Peter and Jesus did not cancel each other.
I know this might be a tough pill to swallow, but fellow disciples, we are losing the spiritual strength and resilience to advance the kingdom of heaven in this world. Maybe not as much here at St. John’s, but, in general, it would be hard to deny this reality. We are losing the joy of working together in many segments of our lives and the joy of working together for Christ for the sake of the world as his church. Case in point: cancel culture.
Here is what I think of canceling someone. Sometimes, it is our only recourse when our faith is weak and our hope is lost. It is the power we think we have left, and we pump our chest and say you are canceled. You have disappointed me. Therefore, you are canceled. You have spoken truth about me, and I did not like it- canceled. You have not done what I wanted – canceled. You have done what I did not want – canceled. You can’t understand me – canceled. You disagreed with me – canceled. Canceling is easy and cheap. Canceling leads to the death of relationships and to loneliness. Canceling allows evil to take foot among us.
There is truth about our common bondage to sin. Sooner or later, we all have done it. Canceling has been around forever, too. It is just a new name for ancient things. That is the failure of human beings to extend compassion, empathy, forgiveness, and love for one another. Instead, we have always been experts on quitting on each other too fast.
It does take a lot of emotional hard work and spiritual resilience to sustain the body of Christ. It takes to deny our impulses to walk away from each other and to look only to ourselves and the rewards we think we deserve. It always has.
I leave you then and again with the words of the Apostle for the budding church in Rome:
“Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
May we be with and for one another. May we not quit on each other and on ourselves. May we be assured that Jesus walks with us, for he never cancels anyone. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Bridging Faith 