Clergy/Leaders’ Mail-list No. 3-143 (Sermon)

A ROCK OR A STONE? Jeremiah 15:15-21; Matthew 16:21-27

by Kim Thoday

The Book of the prophet Jeremiah, in the Old Testament, contains within in it a great deal of inspiring, challenging and disturbing poetry. The text from Jeremiah 15: 15-21 is part of a poem forewarning times of deep distress and yet it also contains a promise of strength and triumph. The ultimate victory for God’s people over suffering and oppression is summarised in the closing three verses 19-21, where God promises to redeem the Israelites once they repent of their apostasies and evil ways:

“If you repent, I shall restore you to repent before me. If you distinguish between the precious and the base, You shall be as my own mouth. As far as these people are concerned, I shall make you A fortified wall of bronze. They will fight against you But will not overcome you, Because I am with you To save you and rescue you, Yahweh declares. I shall rescue you from the clutches of the wicked And redeem you from the grasp of the violent.”

In Matthew 16 we have the beginning of very definite predictions by Jesus concerning his suffering and Death. Following Peter’s great confession of Jesus’ identity, Jesus teaches Peter and the other disciples the content of that Christological identity. The identity: “Christ, the son of the living God” is to be understood in this first passion prediction: “… that [Jesus] was destined to go to Jerusalem and suffer grievously at the hands of the elders and scribes and to be put to death and to be raised up on the third day,” (Matt. 16:21). As with the above text from Jeremiah, this is a declaration of the harsh realities of true discipleship but also a revelation that God has destined that the just will ultimately triumph; that God’s kingdom of justice will arrive with power in the raising of Jesus on the third day.

I want to create for you a picture. It is not a pleasant one and in some respects it is with reluctance that I recreate this moment drawn from the harsh realities of life. The scene is a special concentration camp in Poland during World War II and a truck is being loaded up with young Jewish women prisoners. It is early morning and as the truck moves off to its destination about 1 kilometre away, the chimney stacks of the death camp’s crematorium glow red against the grey sky. The furnaces have been prepared for their victims. The young prisoners have long lived with a sense of foreboding as to their fate. But now as the truck moves toward the grim, glowing giants, there arises from those girls a terrible chorus: one long and chilling “death wail.” (This phenomenon is also known as death panic.)

I have read and reflected upon many of the sickening crimes against humanity of the twentieth century, but this scene recounted by a survivor of the Jewish Holocaust (better understood as “the Annihilation;” the Shoah), has remained indelibly with me. I re- caste this story not so much to shock you or depress you, but to illustrate simple human emotions in the face of inevitable and cruel death.

There is a sense in which we are all living within sight of death and find ways of coming to terms with it or escaping it, but when it stares us in the face with cold blue Aryan eyes, it is not an easy gaze to meet.

So when Jesus, following Peter’s great Christological confession, begins to speak of his own suffering and death, Peter justifiably protests: “God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” What a natural reaction this was – an impassioned plea by one of Jesus closest companions; a cry from the heart against the spectre of a cruel death of both a leader and a movement for liberation and restitution of the people of Israel.

Yet comes Jesus’ reply, sudden and shocking: “Get behind me, Satan ..” It is a shocking response for many obvious reasons. Not least of these is that just previously in the same scene Jesus affirms Peter as the foundational rock upon which he will build the new community of faith. At a surface level, Peter understood Jesus’ true identity or nature. Jesus is indeed the long awaited Messiah, the Anointed One, who will usher in the new dawn of salvation and liberation for the God’s chosen people. But at a deeper level Peter does not understand the content of this messiahship. Peter does not realise the implications or degree of clash between the two kingdoms, between the forces of God’s kingdom of liberation for the poor and the worldly forces of self-interest, wealth and power.

Jesus’ abrupt use of language about the demonic, is indicative of the “otherness” of his true identity. What Jesus really stands for and the kingdom he represents will be revealed in a lifestyle of solidarity with the poor and oppressed. Discipleship that carries on this solidarity has about it the solid characteristic of a rock. Ironically, the one who is identified as a rock with solid faith, but does not yet truly understand the nature of God’s kingly reign revealed in Jesus, has become an obstacle; instead of a rock, a stone.

Here is Peter the rock, now suddenly a stumbling stone. Peter, like all of us, has the capacity for both – rock and stone. Sometimes we are hopeful and optimistic, at other times we can be downcast and pessimistic. But our despair is also necessary for hope. Both belong to an emotional and psychological continuum for being human. Just as death also means life, for without death life becomes meaningless. And without the Death of Jesus Christ, the fullness of life will always remain elusive and unattainable. Christ and Crucified stand opposed and yet together there is an ultimate power of love, solidarity and fullness of meaning.

Peter and the other disciples, following the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, had to make a choice between the rock of faith or the stone of despair; that is, a choice between solidarity with the poor and oppressed or an allegiance to Satan and his principalities and powers. We too must make our decision and pledge our allegiance each new day. Every time that we break bread and commune together in Jesus’ name, we pledge our allegiance afresh to God’s new republic of equality, liberty and fraternity. Let us stand on the rock and take –

COURAGE

Bravery or courage can be found in the most unlikely of people. In war or at peace courage is called for and many rise to the occasion. At a dying woman’s bedside, she invites me to preside over her funeral. Her husband rushes out from the hospital room, long used to finding courage on the football field in his younger days, but unable to face this issue which his wife deals with calmly and realistically. And she is fully aware that she is yet to face the worst in the next week or so as the cancer wins its final hold.

Some argue for euthanasia in order that unnecessary suffering in terminally ill patients be curtailed. This is a perfectly understandable humanitarian response and for me carries with it something of Peter’s passionate plea in the face of Jesus’ passion prediction. Yet some who work constantly among the terminally ill say that for many terminally ill people the journey of palliative care is one of self-discovery for the person as well as their families and friends. Euthanasia of course is a complicated moral question for the Christian faith and a discussion upon it really goes beyond the scope of this sermon. Certainly I have experienced situations of people in prolonged situations of agonising suffering where there does not seem to me to be any quality of life, let alone possibility of self-discovery.

In such situations it would seem that the miracle of death is the only answer. My problem with euthanasia is that it may rob us of the final great spiritual possibility of courage; the rock of courage. As Christians especially, we are called to have great courage because our God promises never to leave us or forsake us. The words again from Jeremiah: “Because I am with you.” Courage is one of the answers to the problems of life and death. And let us stand on the rock and take –

COMPASSION

One of the defence mechanisms we build up against suffering and death is to build “walls” to keep unpleasant things out. We pretend that death doesn’t exist. It is popular to pretend that the dead are still alive in many funeral arrangements. I believe that there is a company in America that sells post-burial survival kits. These can be purchased by loved ones to be placed in the casket … you know just in case! It’s hysterical stuff isn’t it and yet it is the logical extension of a pathological avoidance of death in Western culture. I officiated at a funeral recently in one of those large necropolis crematoriums. I find these interesting places because everything about them from the soft piped music, to the waterfalls, to the white everything – more whiteness here than an OMO ad, to the embalmed faces of the funeral directors, is designed to deny that someone has actually died. Apparently the post-burial kit company also offers a crematorium version complete with mini fire extinguisher.

It is the living who require compassion, not the dead. I have been reading about some of the situations of prisoners of war in Eastern Europe during World War 2. One account I read was by a British officer. He recounted that the Russian POWs always fared far worse under the Nazis than the British. He describes the inhumane conditions that the Russian POWs endured. He says: “After I had seen this I didn’t feel sorry for myself any more. During the next few months self-pity often crept easily into the mind, a secreted antidote to pain, but always I had only to look at the pathetic weak figures of the Russians who struggled for life all around me to exchange it for the depths of shame.” And there are millions who still struggle for life around the world living in extreme poverty, war and oppression. It is their need and our rock of solidarity and compassion that gives meaning to all our lives. Like Jesus, our lives must be lived in solidarity with those most in need. So we stand with Christ on the rock of courage, the rock of compassion and let us also stand upon the rock and take –

CONVICTION

Some people find that the terrible injustices and sufferings of life make it difficult for them to believe that life has meaning and that God exists. Yet ironically enough, many who live in affluence and greed, and perhaps especially the vast comfortable middle classes of the West appear to be the ones who most struggle with meaning and purpose. In no way should poverty be romanticised. However, it is fascinating that religious conviction is to be found most profoundly amongst the masses of the two-third’s world. It seems that there is a strong connection between self-sufficiency and idolatry. We can all find our conviction for life in solidarity with the God of Jesus, who is in solidarity with the poor and needy. This is the rock of conviction upon which we are called to stand.

I think of Leonard Cheshire, one of Britain’s heroes of WWII, who found his fame hard to bear. And yet he made use of his notoriety and outstanding abilities to organise care for the maimed and the needy after the war. This compassion of his came from his Christian conviction. This conviction is the rock of Christian faith.

Religion can be an escape from some of the hard realities of life and death. And when this escapist religion finds common ground with the religious fundamentalism and the politics of racism or patriotism or materialism then it becomes a curse. This type of religion is constantly opposed by the prophets such as Jeremiah.

The rock of faith and salvation can so quickly become the stumbling stone of apostasy and idolatry. In spite of Peter’s failures and misunderstandings, ultimately he comes to stand upon the rock of faith. Let us also stand, with Peter, upon the rock of courage, compassion and conviction, as we journey with Christ!

Blessings in Jesus’ name

KIM THODAY

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