09/01/2026
August 30, 2026—Pentecost 14
Sunday Promise
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you.
Let us pray. Almighty and ever-living God, by Jesus’ cross you give us life. Help us to lose our life in him, so that in him we live in love and mercy for each other, through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
A READING from Matthew 16:21-28
21From 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. 22And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you." 23But 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." 24Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. 26For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? 27"For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. 28Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."
Sisters and brothers in Christ,
Waking up was a good thing. Forget if there were any aches or pains. Today would be another day to see people laugh with joy! It felt so good to see people laugh with joy when Jesus healed them and they felt so good again. Some people cried with relief that such a wonderful thing had happened to them. Usually they had lots of bad luck, bad breaks, so when Jesus healed them, it was like God had broken through and had blessed them. It really was a miracle. That is why some people, when Jesus healed them, they would praise God.
It was good to wake up in the morning and to have hope that came from Jesus making people feel God cared for them.
That time being with Jesus had been really good. Now if Jesus would keep doing this for at least five more years, he would become someone people would remember. He would have really done something with his life. If he kept healing for five more years, he would not be a one-time thing. He would be seen as something that mattered. He would be seen as something that was more permanent. He would be a part of people’s lives so when he retired, they would have a big banquet to honor him.
But that day Jesus told his disciples that their work together, good as it had been, was coming to an end. What was this? Early retirement? No, no, it was too soon. Jesus was well known, but he was still a new thing. If he retired, people would soon forget him. Jesus had not yet made a lasting impression. That takes time. He needed to keep doing his healing work. However, if Jesus was done, they could still have some kind of party to commemorate their time together. They could go to a nice resort on the beach, have a catered supper, an open bar.
Jesus then said that the final event would be in Jerusalem, and that when there he would undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed.
Peter didn’t hear a thing after that.
No, no, no, no, this is all wrong. Be killed? We don’t want that! That is not how you end your career. It would ruin Jesus’ reputation. All the work he had done would be covered over by his being crucified. His death would spoil all the good things he had done. The shame and humiliation of being crucified would so disgust people that they would not want to think of Jesus at all. Everything Jesus had done would be for nothing. It would be like he wasted his life, like he had accomplished nothing. No success, no lasting fame, no great achievements, and he would be forgotten. And all the time the disciples had spent with Jesus would be wasted time.
So, no, no, no. Jesus cannot be crucified. Forget it, Jesus, you have a good thing going here. We need to keep it going. We want your life to matter, and, well, we want our lives to matter, too.
That attitude is what Jesus was talking about when he told Peter that Peter was setting his mind on human things. Forty-five years ago, people set their minds on earning their first million dollars by the time they were thirty. The really rich set their minds on their collection of ten fancy antique cars that never get driven and are kept in a big garage. That is their great accomplishment. That proves their lives amounted to something.
That need to achieve or to win or to succeed or to have worked hard is with us every day. We go through each deciding what we are going to spend our money on to get us a good life today. For example, there were three kids walking down the sidewalk, maybe third graders, and each of them was eating ice cream, one had a cone, two had a cardboard container and a plastic spoon. They all had the same flavor—whatever flavor is blue and white and orange and pink all splotched together. Where did they get their ice cream? Well, around the corner from where they were walking was the ice cream truck and a woman was there still getting her ice cream. Years from now those kids won’t remember that day. But right then, as they walked down their street eating their ice cream, it was a special moment. It made their day a good day.
We go to Persnickety’s Pies and we see a pie we want and we ask, “How much for that pie?” We want it, we have to buy it. Ooo, look, here is some sweet corn, freshly picked. How much for six of them? We want it, we have to buy it. How much?
That is why Jesus asked, “What will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?” We could work seventy hours a week our whole life and gain billions of dollars, but at the end, we would still have to forfeit our life. We want our life. We want to live. How much? How much to buy our life so we don’t die? How much to buy life after death? What can we give in return for our life?
When we buy ice cream, we buy it from the guy in the ice cream truck. When we buy the pie, we buy it from the owner of the store. When we want to buy our life, who do we buy it from? Who can we buy life from? Who can we buy eternal life from? What do we have to do to make our life, to make ourself, worth something and worth celebrating at the end?
We can’t do it. Not even the famous like Dolly Parton can do it.
Jesus says to us again that he is on his way to Jerusalem where he will be killed. I know, I know, we don’t want to hear it, but Jesus is not done. He has more to say. Yes, he will be killed, and on the third day he will be raised from the dead! Raised from the dead! Oh, my gosh, here is the very life we want! How does Jesus do it? Can we get it? What do we have to do?
Jesus offers us this: we are to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him. Nothing about what we have to pay. We are to give up on thinking we can pay something or do something to get life. That's the deny yourself part. We are to pick up our death--our cross--and then follow Jesus. We die, but this way we die with Jesus. Dying with Jesus means we get raised up from death with Jesus.
Jesus promises to raise us to new life. We trust him to do just that. He makes life a gift. His death and rising make eternal life a gift. He makes eternal life happen for us. We don't have to pay for life with our collections or achievements or wins or wealth. We get life by Jesus' dying for us. That is his promise. That means we don't have to go through each day buying life. Instead, we get to live. We get to make people smile. We get to make them feel relief from the stress and worry caused by evil and suffering and weeping and boasting and getting even with people.
We give relief to people by doing things the world does not do. We get to hold fast to what is good, rather than threatening to hurt people more than they have ever been hurt before. We bless those who yell at us. We rejoice in hope. We love one another with mutual affection, using the love Jesus gives us, not depending on how much we like or don't like someone. If our enemy is hungry, we feed them; if they are thirsty, we give them a drink. The world returns violence with violence, hate with more hate, racism with more racism. The world gets overcome by evil. In Jesus, we overcome evil, not with evil, but with good, with Jesus' grace and with his mercy. Such things will make people laugh with joy. And Jesus will remember us. He will have a place to celebrate our new life with him.
Life is not about what we buy or achieve. It's about trusting Jesus as the way to give people a reason to smile.
Amen.
Be present, merciful God, and protect us through the hours of this day, so that we who are wearied and worried by the changes and chances of life, may find our peace in you. Amen.
Be at peace. Serve the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
