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Contemporary Sermons 
Contemporary Service
Reign, Rain, Rein
Rein Me In
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Scripture: Matthew 16:13-23
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. 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 stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."
Sermon: Rein Me In
This may surprise you, but I was one of those quintessential little girls who always dreamed of having her own pony. Okay… I guess it’s probably not that surprising. Like most little girls, I never did get that pony whose tail I would’ve braided and tied with beautiful bows, but when I was about ten years old my mother did let me take horseback riding lessons.
“Blue” technically belonged to my riding teacher, but in my mind he was my very own pony. I brushed him and picked out his feet. I saddled him up and put the bridle on him and led him out to the ring. Everything was perfect… that is, until I got settled in the saddle and took the reins in my hands. You see, “Blue” had a mind of his own and wasn’t afraid to use it. He knew when he wanted to go to the left, when we wanted to go to the right, when he wanted to veer off the trail, and when we wanted to put his head down to snack on the grass. Once he set his mind to something I was helpless to persuade him otherwise, despite the encouragement of my riding teacher. “Blue” and I parted ways about a year later, after I had fallen off him three times and was stepped on once. I guess I just was never comfortable behind the reins.
This is the third Sunday of our Reign, Rain, Rein series and we get to focus on reins. Reins, in particular, are those leather straps that attach to either end of a bridle. You exert pressure on the reins to control the movement of a horse or other animal. (Which is apparently something I can’t do!) However, more generally, reins can be understood as any controlling or directing power. The reins of government, for example. In our language we talk about the reins of power, giving someone free rein, and taking up the reins. When a change in made in leadership we often say we are handing over the reins. And when someone is rushing ahead we may say they need to be reined in.
In our Scripture lesson today we have a very clear example of Jesus reining in one of his disciples who had, perhaps, overstepped a bit. You’ve heard this story before, right? Jesus survey’s his disciples to find out what people are saying about him. But then he turns the tables on them and asks, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter pipes up right away, “Me Jesus! I know the answer! You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And Peter was right. Jesus gives him a gold star and Peter is on top of the world.
But then Peter hears something that he doesn’t like the sound of… something about Jesus suffering and being killed. He decides to confront Jesus about this, to try to shake some sense into him. As the New Living Translation puts it, “Peter took him aside and told him he shouldn’t say things like that.” Peter’s idea of a Messiah certainly didn’t fit into what Jesus was saying.
Now it’s easy for us, from our vantage point, to point out Peter’s mistakes. He rushed ahead without thinking… He didn’t have all the facts. Certainly none of us would talk back to Jesus the way Peter did, right? Right? Or maybe we would… maybe we do. I know there have been several times in my life when the path God laid out before me didn’t seem to make any sense. You want me to do what, God? I’m sure I must be hearing you wrong. God, you really shouldn’t say things like that! We’ve probably all had our Peter moments.
That’s because we share something very important in common with Peter…. we’re human. Let’s think about Peter’s situation for a minute. He had already risked quite a bit to be a disciple of Jesus. He and his brother Andrew had left behind a lucrative fishing business. Taken a step out in faith, so to speak. He had already seen Jesus’ miracles ~ healings, feedings, walking on water ~ and he had an idea of what the messiah was supposed to do. He knew the stories about King David and understood that the messiah would come as a royal figure to establish God’s reign forever. What Jesus was saying didn’t jive with what Peter already had seen and understood about the Christ. So Peter sets about to tell Jesus what kind of Messiah he was to be. As one pastor explained it, “It can be so easy to ask Jesus to meet out needs and fulfill our expectations, and yet so difficult to follow his leadership when his way appears unpopular, uncomfortable, and uncompromising.” (Rev. Harvard Stephens)
But Jesus doesn’t stand for it, does he? Jesus reins Peter in and puts him in his place… literally. “Get behind me Satan.” That had to hurt. “Get behind me Satan.” Some consider those the harshest words in Scripture. Jesus reminds Peter that we don’t always know everything we think we know about what’s going on.
Our experience of being reined in is probably not so direct. Yet, we may ask ourselves, how many times are we guilty of wanting the easy way instead of the challenging way? How many times do we want to set the agenda instead of following? Henri Nouwen voiced this struggle in his decision to leave academic life at Harvard to go live with disabled adults within the L’Arche community. Nouwen reflected, “Everything in me wants to move upward. Downward mobility with Jesus goes radically against my inclinations, against the advice of the world surrounding me and against the culture of which I am apart.” If Nouwen listened to the values of the world, he would’ve stayed at his academic post. Yet God continued to tug at his heart until he stepped out in faith and lived some of the most challenging and spiritually fulfilling years of his life among those many would consider to be the least of our society.
So how has God reined you in or set you straight? How has God reminded you that you don’t always know everything there is to know about what’s going on? How has God gotten your attention when you’ve had selective hearing? There’s something comforting to be about Jesus’ words to Peter, “Get behind me Satan.” I know that sounds strange, but if Peter, a man that Jesus loved deeply, can let Jesus down so profoundly, can illicit such a response from Jesus, and Jesus will still trust him to lead his church, than I think there is hope for me.
We are all stumbling blocks ~ to ourselves, to each other, to the church. We all get in the way and miss the important signs and trip over each other along the journey, yet God is with us continuing to show us the way, reining us in. Sometimes we may be like “Blue,” chomping at the bit, determined to go our own way, but God is still there tugging at the reins.
So here is a question to ponder between how and next week: What steps can you take to follow God’s guidance more faithfully? Any thoughts come to mind off the top of your head? Steps you can take to follow God more faithfully? I’ll give you free rein to answer that question next week when we are together. In the meantime, let’s pray….. |
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