The Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Kingdomtide
Teacher Dedication Sunday
September 14th, 2003
"A Hard Act To Follow"
Rev. John P. Wood

The Psalm:

Psalm 19

No greater evidence of the glory of God exists, says this psalmist, than the majestic order of creation and the orderliness of God's law. The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy, and like a strong man runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and nothing is hid from its heat. The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the Lord are sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. But who can detect their errors? Clear me from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from the insolent; do not let them have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

The Old Testament Lesson:

Proverbs 1:20-33

Divine Wisdom personified as a woman tells of the discipline she has to offer to willing listener and the calamity which will befall the one who refuses to heed her counsel. Wisdom cries out in the street; in the squares she raises her voice. At the busiest corner she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: "How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? Give heed to my reproof; I will pour out my thoughts to you; I will make my words known to you. Because I have called and you refused, have stretched out my hand and no one heeded, and because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when panic strikes you, when panic strikes you like a storm, and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, would have none of my counsel, and despised all my reproof, therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way and be sated with their own devices. For waywardness kills the simple, and the complacency of fools destroys them; but those who listen to me will be secure and will live at ease, without dread of disaster."

The Epistle Lesson:

James 3:1-12

Were some of the teachers in the Christian community letting their tongues lash their listeners? The passage consists of a series of four metaphors for a careless tongue and how it may be controlled to everyone's benefit. Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no one can tame the tongue--a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.

The Gospel Lesson:

Mark 8:27-38

In a foreign location Jesus confronts his disciples with a question and an answer which were also foreign to their way of thinking. Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" And they answered him, "John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." He asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Messiah." And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him. Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things." He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "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, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."

"A Tough Act To Follow"

I want to ask you three questions to begin our time of meditation together today: The first on seat belts and God. "Do you believe that wearing seat belts increases your chances of survival in an accident, and that you should always wear them?" "Do you believe in some concept of a God and the fact that you have some kind of responsibilities to that God?" And finally… "In your day to day life, which do you pay more attention to…your consciousness of the need to wear your seat belt or listen to your God?" You can substitute almost anything in place of "seat belt." The need to exercise, to avoid that extra helping at dinner, to discipline your children, to get to work on time, or pay the electric bill, etc. The truth is we can be very disciplined when it comes to "what really counts." The problem is when we are totally honest---being faithful to God doesn't always make the cut and it is just as impossible to be "a little faithful" in one's relationship with God as it is to be "a little faithful" in one's marriage. These are practical teachings, just like those we find in the books of Proverbs and James. Today, James zeros in on the problem we can have with our tongues, which are to be used to bless, edify and praise. We bless God and curse the Republicans (or Democrats), the Asian workers steeling our jobs away from us, the Mexican immigrants moving into our neighborhoods, the driver who thoughtlessly tosses the paper out the window and onto our lawn. James' teaching, if we believe it, says that the same instrument we use to praise God should not be used for foul language, which includes gossip, backbiting, nagging and complaining. He tells us we must stop, and then admits that the tongue is untamable. We are in big trouble. Written before the modern world brought the gifts of reading and writing to the majority of people, the tongue was the only way for the masses to communicate. Few of all the people who lived wrote, and very few could afford to own or even touch that which was written,--but everyone could open their mouth and speak, or a least make a sound. The tongue is still used as the primary means of blessing or execution of characters and it's power has been greatly enhanced by all the means of mass communication available to us today sending our words faster and further than ever before. Imagine if you will that every word we have ever spoken or written is being recorded. (Remember those presidential tapes?) The bible tells us it is being done! For better or worse people hold on dearly to those words that have touched them most deeply…carefully preserving love letters and hate letters. So is it any wonder that someone like Billy Graham whose whole life has been devoted to spreading the gospel might say: "The greatest single cause of atheism today is Christians who profess Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door and deny him with their lifestyles. This is what the unbelieving world finds unbelievable." "With our tongues we bless God and curse those made in God's likeness." (v.9) Like Peter, we proclaim Christ "You are the Messiah" and then turn around and rebuke him with the very next breath. This is a continuation of the spiritual battle idea that we were given in the lections several weeks ago when encouraged to put on the full "armor of God." The battle here is in taming the tongue, a task suited only to the degree of our willpower, and perhaps one which is necessary to get out of the way in order for Jesus to alter our hearts. This past summer we were given plenty of examples of the kinds of devastation, loss and heartache caused by little sparks that set forests on fire. They claimed thousands and thousands of acres, destroyed many homes, took several lives and cost millions of dollars to fight. We can reforest and rebuild, but nothing that was "lost" will ever really be replaced. How did they start? Some were started by lightning, some were suspected arson, and at least one has been traced to human disregard and neglect at a campsite. Add to that loss all the sicknesses that will be worsened because of the smoke permeating the atmosphere that we will breath day in and day out, as it travels for miles by the whim of the wind…and ask what we have unleashed? To hear that the words that I speak can be just as destructive as such a forest fire should surely reach my heart and soul. But there is good news as well! God's word can refresh our minds and spirits regarding how to conduct ourselves in ways that bring peace, joy and love instead of destruction, sadness and hate! Have you read that it has been scientifically proven that laughter can help to heal pain? One of the greatest gifts we can share with those we truly care about is "laughter in the simple joys of life." No lesser authority than the American Medical Association confirms that prayer, spoken or silently voiced, has power to heal bodies and spirits and restore the quality of broken lives. At least three thousand years ago the writer of Proverbs recorded these words of wisdom: "A soft answer [word] tuns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."( Proverbs 15:1) "A word aptly [fitly] spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver." (Proverbs 25:11 ) Yet how we criticize each other in the Body of Christ both within our congregations and from one denomination to another. I believe that we "mean" to do better in terms of the way we control our "words" but we "choke." Something gets stuck in the translation and then we panic, and when we panic we do crazy things. Did you know that choking which is usually controllable always has a tendency to cause panic which may not be? Think about it. Babies often start to choke and a level headed parent has to be quick. Adults too have to remember to lift their arms, to learn certain techniques that can remove the blockage. People in later stages of progressive diseases have to "think about" something as natural as swallowing, and when they don't think about it the "normal" reaction is panic. A scuba student descending for her final dive before passing her test for certification got to the ocean floor with her partner, and had to take out her regular mouthpiece, and replace it with her spare. It's training for what one would do in an emergency. When she took out her regular mouthpiece, reached around for her spare, she accidentally took a breath and got a mouth-full of salt water instead. She panicked and although all she needed to do was to reach back down for her regular mouthpiece, she couldn't think about what she should do because the only thing within her sight was the air mouthpiece of her partner. Her first reaction was to reach out to grab that. We are accustomed to asking, "What is wisdom? What is truth?" whereas these passages would have us reflect on "Who" embodies these qualities. Wisdom is spoken of as a being, a reality, "a mirror of the active power of God and the image of God's goodness." Wisdom "makes all things new," "spans the world in power from end to end, and orders all things benignly," "rises from the power of God, a pure effluence from the glory of the Almighty." She is the means by which we become "God's friends and prophets." She stands at the busiest street corner, and comes into the midst of life and vocation, where commerce is conducted and where justice is supposed to be levied. She does not wait for people to find her but goes out searching and calling: "How long...how long will she be ignored?" As we open our lives to Wisdom, we open our lives to grace. Wisdom cries out in warning, but also in promise. For to hear Wisdom's cry, as the final verse affirms, is to discover the path that leads to life without fear. Wisdom cries out. Wisdom calls us to become God's friends and prophets. Who will listen? Who will follow? The legal phrase, in plain view, comes to mind as I read this passage in Mark. The clarity of Jesus' identity is so strong that the answer to his questions of "who do they/ who do you say that I am" do not require much thought. They are what we would call today "no brainers." When you add the words of Psalm 19 where the creation itself gives plain and certain voice of witness to the glory of God it is as though nothing but panic could cause us to make a mistake. The Old Testament phrase of Isaiah comes to my head, "Have you not seen? Have you not heard?" And so Jesus speaks matter of factly to his disciples about his upcoming crucifixion, death and resurrection. This is how Eugene Peterson writes this passage in his modern translation of these words called "The Message." I think it helps to clarify Jesus' words: " ... But Peter grabbed him in protest. Turning and seeing his disciples wavering, wondering what to believe, Jesus confronted Peter. "Peter, get out of my way! Satan, get lost! You have no idea how God works!" Calling the crowd to join the disciples, he said, "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering, embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how. Self Help is no help at all. Self Sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for? If any of you are embarrassed over me and the way I'm leading you when you get around your fickle and unfocused friends, know that you'll be an ever greater embarrassment to the Son of Man when he arrives in all the splendor of God, with an army of the holy angels." Then he goes on in Ch.9 vs 1, " Then, he drove it home by saying, "This isn't pie in the sky, by and by. Some of you who are standing here are going to see it happen, see the Kingdom of God arrive in full force." Was Peter just giving lip service? Or did he really believe what he said? I confess sympathy with Peter, for it is a difficult thing to live up to a professed faith when that faith asks us to trust God/Jesus when we have a "far superior" alternative plan in mind. It's very much like marriage where we make a promise in front of God, family and friends saying "for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer" but we never truly learn the punch of those words until the times of "sickness" and "worse" and "poverty" are upon us. Then we are stretched within ourselves, and we learn the true meaning of commitment, and following through with what we have confessed. My dear friend Myrna Bethke pastor of the United Methodist Church at Freehold wrote these words regarding the second anniversary of 9/11: The events of this past week leave us longing for a re-balancing of the world. Someone once said "the greatness in your life is what God can do when the bar is raised-when we're willing to get beyond self to take up our cross." The bar was raised for the children who participated in the reading of the names at the ceremony marking the two year anniversary of 9/11. The remarkable composure of the two hundred children, some as young as seven, who read the names of those killed in the World Trade center was moving. For each of them the bar has been raised in their daily living as they adjust to this new life of theirs forced upon them by the terrors of the world. As I stood watching them read over the pit of Ground Zero and heard their voices echo around Lower Manhattan I found myself wishing most of all that they did not have to be there. I wished my own children did not have to be there walking down into the pit of Ground Zero. I remembered the little girl we met in Afghanistan last summer, Amina. Another child who read the names of loved ones lost to the terrors of the world. These children, and children throughout the world should be walking to school, laughing at their games…not reading the names of dead family members. Yes, these children were amazing…but their presence also a reminder of our need to respond as the bar is raised, and to take up our crosses so that they will once again be laughing and playing and learning in all parts of the world. The same can be said in regard to one's commitment to the church. To how one listens to scripture itself as "the Word of God." To be disciplined enough to know that if what you hear does not address some deep hole in the human heart, if it does not teach about life and death-it may be entertaining, it make be self-assuring, but it is not the wisdom of God. Clarity of focus is how it begins: "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!"…but it's a hard act to follow. May we find the strength.

Pastoral Prayer:

Creator God, we worship and adore you - source of all wisdom, praying that today our understanding of your holy wisdom may be deepened. May such wisdom flow into our lives so that we begin to see the world and everything in it through your eyes; so that we know what it is to be shaped by Jesus' wisdom: when the last will be first; where the meek rather than the mighty will inherit the earth; where those who lose their lives for the sake of Jesus will find them and taking up our cross to follow him will be the wisest thing we ever do. Lord Jesus Christ, you exercised 'uncommon sense' when you turned conventional wisdom on its head with your call for your followers to deny themselves; to lose their lives for your sake and to embark on a narrow path leading towards life centered in you and your love. Forgive us when, like Peter, we identify your power with prestige rather than servanthood, and falter in our understanding of what following you really means. Forgive us for failing to trust your holy wisdom Lord, because we fear making mistakes, and our decisions become influenced by our human weakness rather than your spiritual strength. Forgive us when our common sense calls us to prefer the comfort of the familiar here and now, rather than responding to your call to follow you into the unknown and risky journey of discipleship. Lord Jesus Christ , give us the grace to listen and to trust in the midst of the unknowing nature of your call to each of us and the unknown direction which you call us to travel. You have traveled the road already so what have we to fear? We do want to be your followers so that we can reveal through our lives, as you did, the shape of God's holy wisdom and unconditional love. Renew us with the power of your Spirit so that we can commit ourselves anew to the challenge of serving others in your name and for your sake. Amen