13th Sunday after Pentecost
Jeremiah 15:15-21
Psalm 26:1-8
Romans 12:9-21
Please pray with me,
May the words of my mouth and the
meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable and suitable in your sight, O
God, our rock, our strength and our redeemer.
Amen.
Hey friends, remember last week? When in the gospel reading Jesus asked the disciples, “Who do you say that I am?”
And Peter responded… “You are the Messiah. The Son of the Living God.”
He gets it.
He really gets it.
And then this week…he
doesn’t.
There’s this scene in one of my favorite movies that kept popping into my head as I thought about Peter getting it and then not getting it.
The movie is The Goonies. It’s a great adventure flick from the 1980s
and a group of kids who search for treasure.
In one scene, Chunk – one of the boys bumps up against a water cooler,
which back in the day was a big glass bottle…unlike this plastic one. He bumps it, catches it before it falls…and
says, I got it, I got it, I got it.
(Drop) I don’t got it.
It made me think of Peter and how in one moment he proclaims who Christ is, and in the next moment, he doesn’t comprehend the fullness of who the Messiah is and what being the Messiah means for Jesus life and death.
And for me, it’s all about grace…that last week Peter proclaimed Jesus the Messiah, the Son of the Living God and is named the Rock and this week, he is shocked by the role that the Messiah must play and is rebuked by Jesus, called Satan and goes from the Rock on which Jesus will build the church to a stumbling block to those in the faith.
It’s all about grace, because time and time again, we, like Peter, get it right. We see God at work in our world, we tell others about where we see God at work in our world, and the message of the gospel is proclaimed through our words and actions. The kingdom of God is revealed. Woohoo!
It’s all about grace, because time and time again, we, like Peter, get it wrong.
We – either by doing something or not doing something – we become stumbling blocks to ourselves and others around us eager to grow in their faith and relationship with God. And we fall short. We stumble…causing others to stumble as well.
I’m not sure if you had a chance to see a certain video this past week, but I encourage you to check out the Opening Day video for the Reading School District. Any Reading teachers with us today?
**I shared the link to the video
on Trinity's Facebook page after worship, but here's the link for you: Reading School District Opening Day Video
It opens with the Superintendent speaking about the beginning of the school year and he is about to explain how it’s like the Robert Frost poem, when he is pleasantly interrupted by “Kid Superintendent” who is basically a kid version of the superintendent.
Kid Superintendent steps in
insisting that we all need a pep talk.
He lifts up how 2020 has been kicking our butts…and then names all the feelings the watchers may be having like feeling anxious, overwhelmed or nervous…and says they are all okay. He mentions that he’s worried himself and everybody else.
He reminds us all that we are doing the best we can and that’s all that matters.
He reminds us to be good humans.
(Unless you’re an insect or a blobfish.)
He reminds us to sprinkle
kindness.
He reminds us to give one another
grace, not grief.
But he reminds us to give one another grace, not grief.
In the midst of challenging times, we are encouraged to give one another grace, not grief.
Grace in our listening to one another.
Grace in our actions towards one
another.
Grace in our presence with one
another.
Grace in our reactions when things don’t go the way we thought they would. And when plans change, and change, and change again.
When we talk about grace it is the love and mercy given to us by God – not because of anything we have done, but out of God’s great love for each and every one of us.
Thank God we begin worship
together the same week after week after week: In confession, with one
another.
We, you and I, together, we
confess our brokenness, our need for forgiveness.
We, you and I, together, confess that we have turned from God and given ourselves into the power of sin.
We apologize and repent. We ask
for forgiveness of our sins…known and unknown…things we have done and things we
have failed to do.
We ask God to turn us away from ourselves, our selfish words and actions and towards God once again.
Thank God we start worship this
way every week. I don’t know about you,
but I need it. I need to confess. I need to admit my failures, faults and
foibles.
I need to be forgiven by a loving God. One who loves and forgives over and over and over again.
I need to hear those words. You are forgiven.
I need to be turned again and again…away from myself and towards God in the world around me.
To see the beauty in creation.
To see the face of Jesus in my
neighbor.
To feel the love of God as we hold one another in our hearts and prayers and journey together in faith and life.
Know that you are abundantly washed in the grace of God this day and every day. The abundance of God’s grace flows and flows and flows…into our hearts and lives…and out of our words and actions as we live our lives each and every day.
And here’s the thing…some days that grace will wash over us and we will respond out of that grace with love and grace to all those around us. Like when Peter named Jesus as the Messiah…I got it!
And some days, that grace will wash over us and we will not respond…or we will hold onto that grace for ourselves…because we’re human and that happens to all of us. Let when Peter didn’t like how Jesus described what must happen as the Messiah…I don’t got it!
But on those days when the grace flows in and out…we are representing and presenting the kingdom of God here and now.
As we go about this week, I
encourage you to respond with grace, not grief.
Some days will be easier than others.
But each and every day…each and
every moment, we have the opportunity to live out from and respond with
grace.
We will ebb and flow in this
river of grace.
We will live and learn washed in
God’s grace.
And we will do all of this as the
Body of Christ, together.
And now may the peace, which surpasses all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus and let all God’s people say, amen.
PS. Want to watch me drop the water jug? It's in this clip on Trinity's YouTube channel
PPS. Want to watch Chunk drop the water jug? Check it out: "I got it!" - Chunk
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