Let's Find An Alternative Route!
Posted on Aug 31, 2014 by David Whetter
Grace and peace to you from God our Creator, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who abides in which of us. Amen
With all of our modern technology, there really is no need for maps anymore, is there? Now, Jill and I have a GPS in our car so we often use it, but I still like to use good old fashion maps sometimes, particularly when I am traveling on long trips to places with which I am not familiar. I got this map on our vacation last week. You see, we decided we wanted to go from Austin to Port Aransas for a few days, so I stopped at AAA in Austin so I could get this map so I could get a better understanding of the various routes I might want to take for the 3 hour drive. I quickly discovered that I had several options, but all would get me to Port Aransas.
Now in our Gospel text last week, Jesus wanted to know if his followers were beginning to really know who he was and what that meant for their lives. This was important because he needed to know if when he began to tell them the next part of his story, that is the route he was needing to take to fulfill God’s will, that they would understand it and follow that route. And, for a brief moment they seemed to get it “You are the Messiah, the son of the Living God.” Yes, they got it! And so, Jesus immediately begins to explain the next part of their journey. “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 (16:21). For Jesus, the only way to overcome the tyranny of this world, the oppression of his people, the injustices in the world was to suffer and be killed, so that he could overcome death and be raised from the dead. That was, and is the only route that will end all the suffering in the world.
But, as he explained this route to his disciples, they didn’t like it. They were sure there had to be a different route that he, and they, could take. I was just like the disciples last week when I was planning our drive to Port Aransas. The AAA folks had suggested a route, but I was sure there was a better way and the way I chose got us to Port Aransas, but the difference is, for salvation, for God’s will to be fulfilled, there was no other route for Jesus, but Peter could not believe that, so he rebukes Jesus and says, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you" (16:22). If Jesus is the Messiah, which he just admitted he was, surely, suffering, persecution, murder and death were not the best way to go! There must be a different/better way, right? Wrong, there is no other way and so Jesus turns to Peter and says, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things" (16:23).
Peter wanted to put up one of those “alternate route” signs we see so often on our roads around here. The problem was, and is, God’s way is the only way that works. Just like Peter, we try so hard to deny God’s ways. We are just sure our ways are best. We are so sure that the ways we have been doing things for the past several millennia are right that we refuse to change our ways, even when God is the one telling us we are wrong.
We humans, just don’t like to change our ways, do we? Earlier this year, several of us went to a conference on leadership development and while we were at that conference, each of us was challenged to look at how we do things and to change. As we discussed how to change, there was a lot of push pack from all the participants at the conference and the leaders there shared with us how difficult it is for us to change, even when we know we need to change. They shared with us that in a medical study on heart patients conducted several years ago, of all the heart patients that were told that unless changed their lifestyles they would die, only 1 in 7 patients were able to make the necessary changes. Even when faced with death, changing our ways is hard.
As you all know, during the past year, we have been asking you a lot of questions about our mission and ministry here at Salem. We have begun to talk about reorganizing our ministries so that we might be more effective in our mission and ministries. A new team has been formed, the Welcome Task Force, whose purpose is to help us become a truly welcoming community. The goal of this team is to help Salem decide whether or not we can and will become a congregation that votes to create and accept a welcome statement that publically states all people are welcome here regardless of race, sexual orientation, class, gender…
As we have been doing all of this, many have been questioning the need for any of this. Why should we reorganize our ministries? They work for us. But that is not the issue, the issue is do they meet the needs of our guests, or the visitor, or the new member who cannot find the way to connect in to this congregation? Maybe our organization and our ministries are not as effective as we think.
Many have asked, why do we have to talk about being welcoming to the LGBTQ community? Some have said by bringing an issue like this up we are just bringing up potentially divisive issues and that is very true. But if we don’t discuss these divisive issues, if we don’t challenge ourselves to overcome our own struggles and our own prejudices, we will never change and we will die. Many continue to say, “We are already a friendly and welcoming community,” but, are we a truly invitational community that really means what our sign out front says, “All are Welcome.” Or do we really mean, all are welcome if you are like us?
The way of Jesus Christ is the only way to peace in this world. The way of Jesus Christ is the only way to reconciliation in this world. The way of Jesus is the way of the cross. "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (16:24). Jesus isn’t talking about suffering for suffering sake here. He isn’t saying, like so many of us think, oh this issue, or this problem I have, or this illness I have is my cross to bear. No, those are not God’s will for us. The cross Jesus is challenging us to pick up is the cross that fights injustice in this world. We are called to pick of the cross that says we will no longer tolerate children going hungry in this world. The cross we are called to pick up is the cross that says, we will not tolerate the prejudice and injustices against minorities, the LBGTQ community, women, children… These crosses are about bringing about justice, not personal suffering.
Are Jesus’ ways challenging? Are they difficult? Are they divisive at times? Are they counter-cultural? Absolutely, but the way of the cross is the only way that will lead to God’s kingdom. The way of the cross leads to life. All other ways lead to death. There is no alternate route.
So why are we working so hard to change this year? Why are we raising difficult questions this year? Because, if we don’t, we will die. Our challenge is not to be a stumbling block to God’s kingdom. Our challenge is to change our ways so that we might take the route Jesus has laid our for us and that we might stop seeking a different, more convenient route for us. Our challenge is to become a faith community that is transforming the world, not succumbing to the world. Our challenge is to be that one out of seven patients who says yes to the changes we must make in our lives, so that we might live and as Jesus promises, and live abundantly. Amen.