Readings: Jeremiah 20: 7-9; Psalm 63: 2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9 (2b); Romans 12: 1-2; Matthew 16: 21-27
A favorite song of mine offers this modern lament, “Do I have to tell the story of a thousand rainy days since we first met? It’s a big enough umbrella, but it’s always me that ends up getting wet!” (From the song "Everything Little Thing She Does Is Magic" by the Police) Have you ever felt duped like the Prophet Jeremiah? Has God ever tricked you? Have you ever been seduced and deceived only to find that God, or your faith, or your Church, or even Mass isn't what you want it to be? Get in line! Today we hear from two disgruntled leaders of the faith, who swore they had things figured out. One was a Prophet who came to build and plant the faith that we all share in God, and the other was an Apostle who came to build and plant the seeds that have become this Church. Both offer us honest examples of disillusionment and misguided piety, and both show us the reward that is waiting for us when we learn, and press on, and move forward following God’s will and The Way led by His son Jesus Christ.
Jeremiah begins by speaking the hearts of many who have committed themselves to this journey of faith: “You duped me, O Lord, and I let myself be duped!” The word duped was translated from the word Pata (Pay-tah), meaning “to be seduced”. The word pata (pay-tah) was used to identify false prophets, that is they have been duped into thinking that they speak for God. So for Jeremiah to speak to God daring to use such a word, reflects his raw emotion in realizing that our God is not playing fair! When Jeremiah was called, he was tasked with tearing down and destroying all that is bad, so that he could build and plant all that is good. But he only seemed to be getting the negative end of the equation, tearing things down, only to be torn down himself, his spirit destroyed by threats and persecution. Most would feel betrayal, and their being duped would send them packing. Jeremiah, on the other hand, shook his fist at God, and spoke his anger and his disillusionment from his gut. Do we have that sort of relationship with our God? Can we worship and love a God who is not fair and balanced? For also in the gut of Jeremiah was a fire that burned. It was the Word of God, blazing with the same consuming fire as when Moses came to the Lord in the Burning Bush. Its was a desire to continue, in spite of the anger, doubt and disillusionment, because fair or not, it was not about himself… God is God and Jeremiah was not… So he kept proclaiming because not doing so would make things much worse indeed!
In today’s Gospel, the second of our examples is quite literally a “Come to Jesus” moment to help us truly understand what we’re called to be as authentic disciples of Christ. I guess you could say that the Apostle Peter had his own gut-check experience. We’ve heard it here before, and often; God is not here to make our life easy by providing us with the things that we’d like to have done for us. No, that is the church of a good vibe* (cf. "The Insufferable Joel Osteen" by Joel J. Miller, Patheos.com, Oct. 28, 2011) instead the Church of the Good News. The church of the good vibe has a goal of making you happy, or at least offering you some marginal improvement in your mood. This is a very real challenge for many of today’s Christian Churches, no matter the denomination. I was reading an interview this week for an article in the online publication called Christian News, Steve Camp, a Florida Evangelical Pastor, calls this good vibe a “me-centered” style of faith and offers this: “The me-centered church is about what’s temporal rather than eternal… The end of worship in a me-centered church has to be money, has to be fame, has to be the pragmatics of temporal culture. Therefore, it won’t do anything to offend a culture. Me-centered churches are based on the pleasure of [people] over the glory of God, and are more concerned with being liked than being truthful.” ("Do Good for Your Own Self..." by Heather Clark, Christian News, Aug. 28, 2014)
This Example of the "Me-Church" inspired this Homily!
As scathing and challenging as this critique is for us as an American Christian church, it also eludes to the motivation and the temptation that Peter was wrestling with in today’s Gospel. When offered the Good News, which included an honest picture of the difficult path ahead, Peter opted for the good vibe instead of the complete picture. Last week, when we read from the first part of today’s passage from the Gospel of Matthew, Peter was very happy in being the one who answered correctly that Jesus was truly the Son of God. And upon expanding on what that truly meant for himself and his disciples, namely that Christ must suffer greatly, Peter rebuked the Lord, offering a much easier solution basically saying, “We’ll take care of things. We know how this world works. We’ll save you Jesus, just follow us, keep your head down, and stay out of trouble!” We know Christ’s response, and moments after rewarding Peter with the Keys to the Kingdom, he says, “Get behind me Satan, you are an obstacle to me!” The good vibe had to give way to the Good News. Jesus was not identifying Peter as the devil, but rather a stumbling block. He wasn’t asking that Peter be removed from the room, he just wanted him to fall in line and stay focused, because a very key element of the Good News is that the Master leads, and the Disciple follows.
Then Christ went on to offer five specific sayings meant for the disciples alone, challenging them and us to BE TRANSFORMED. First, take up your cross daily, and follow the Master. Second, the Good News requires a self-giving love, for those who attempt to save their own life lose it, while those who lose their life, gain it. Third, those who try to gain the whole world, get nothing, and we see this in Peter’s attempt to avoid the pain with his worldly experience. We need to love God by doing His will, not avoiding suffering, or equating death with stopping* (cf. Line inspired by the song "Thank U by Alanis Morrisette), but getting behind Jesus who is the Way. Fourth and Fifth lie in the promise that the Son of Man will come with His Angels, and he will repay you according to your conduct.
God duped Jeremiah because he needed him to be prepared for the trials and tribulations ahead. Christ stumped Peter because he needed him to refocus on God's plan instead of his own human intellect. When the Lord seems to trick you, and you're stuck, standing in the rain again, get ready to grow, because you are being asked to branch out in a new direction. Trust in God’s will, and be willing to transform your own desire to His. Accept the love of Jesus Christ, and continue to pray and build a relationship with him in spite of the doubt and question marks, seeking authentic happiness in the giving of yourself as a genuine Disciple. Bear witness to the Good News and not just for the good vibes, so that you, along with the many witnesses in places all over the world, can remain steadfast in your faith, faithful in your suffering, and courageous in the face of persecution. Today, the Lord and his Church are calling on all of us to be transformed from a me-centered community, to a self-giving Body of Christ, worshipping and loving the God who loves us first, and following Jesus along the entire Way.
Just because I mentioned it at the beginning...
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic by The Police
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