Proper
17 :: Jeremiah 15: 15–21 / Psalm 26: 1–8 / Romans 12: 9–21 / Matthew 16: 21–28
This
is the homily given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania by Fr. Gene R.
Tucker on Sunday, August 30, 2020.
“MAKING IT BETTER”
(Homily
text: Matthew 16: 21–28)
Among the various ways we can look at Jesus’ life
and ministry is to see it from the perspective of asking this question: “In
what ways was/is Jesus making things better?”
The evidence that the Gospel accounts offer us
provide many answers to this question…Jesus came, offering genuine love and
compassion for people (a quality that many in prominent positions in those days
lacked). He cared for people’s everyday lives, healing them. He provided food
for large crowds in deserted places. His care for people extended beyond the
limits of being willing to associate and care for only the blood descendants of
Abraham, the Jews.
In what way, then does Jesus’ coming trial,
suffering and death, make anything better?
From a human perspective, these events do nothing
to make things better. In fact, from that same perspective, they make things a
whole lot worse. Which is why we can identify with Peter’s response to Jesus’
prediction about the fate that will await Him once He reaches Jerusalem….Peter
can’t see that losing Jesus is going to do anything good for the cause of
bringing in the kingdom that Jesus kept talking about. So Peter says, “Forbid
it, Lord, this shall never happen to you.”
From that same perspective, losing the leader of
the movement spelled difficulty and perhaps even the death of the movement.
Perhaps Peter thought that losing Jesus meant that the kingdom would never
come.
But, here is the rest of the story: Jesus’ death
leads to victory over death on Easter Sunday morning. If there is one main
Christian message that we – as followers of Jesus – are to proclaim, it is that
God has shown His power over our last and greatest enemy, death, in the new
life that awaited Jesus as He rose from the grave.
The post-Easter perspective shows us that this new
kingdom has the power to make so many things better….people have hope, for they
know that the risen Lord can be present everywhere: Where two or three are
gathered together in the Lord’s name, and in the presence of every Christian
believer’s heart. Jesus’ example, seen in His deep concern and care for all
people, enables us by His indwelling in our hearts, to do the same, caring for
all people everywhere. Jesus’ generosity enables us to follow His example,
providing for the everyday needs of people wherever we encounter them.
The question then comes to you and me: In what ways
are we working to make things better?
AMEN.
