August 30, 2020 Sermon

 

Matthew 16: 21-28     August 30, 2020     My Heart I Offer to You, Promptly and Sincerely.

            So last Sunday, the disciples scored big with Jesus.  They put together all that Jesus was doing and realized that He is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God-contrary to all the other theories the people had.  As we continue in Matthew 16, Jesus begins to explain what it means to be the Messiah, what the plan of God is to be accomplished in him: 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.
            So we know this plan very well.  We celebrate this plan every Easter.  We understand that this happened because God loved us so much, that God sent God’s only begotten Son for us.  (John 3).  We know that Jesus loved us so much that He did not count being equal to God as something to be grasped, but took on the form of a servant to be among us (Philippians 2).  We know God’s plan for us. 

            But put yourself in Peter’s shoes, or sandals.  He has just identified Jesus as Messiah, he is the Rock on which Jesus will build His church, he holds the keys to the Kingdom.  What Jesus then lays out as the plan of God is exactly what Peter and all the disciples have been fearing is going to happen to Jesus because of his ministry.  The leaders of the temple are already after his life.  Now he says that the plan is to walk into Jerusalem, get taken by the leadership, and then be tortured and killed.  I don’t think Peter processed the part about rising 3 days later.  For Peter, this is not a plan, it is the worst case scenario.  It is out of love that Peter pulls him aside and rebukes him, saying “Jesus, this can NOT happen to you!”

            Despite the resurrection talk, Jesus is saying that He is going to die.  That’s the part that sticks in Peter’s brain.  This is not the way normal people talk.  But, although it may sound rude on the face of it, we must acknowledge that Jesus is NOT normal people.  Neither is Jesus’ reaction.  He bypasses the love in Peter’s intent.  Rather, it is threat.  He replies, “Get behind me Satan!  You are a stumbling block to my plan to get killed!  Your eyes are on things of the world and not of heaven.”

            Was Jesus so sharp because he’d just ‘given’ Peter the keys to the kingdom?  That what Peter says on earth is going to go in heaven and vice versa.  And in Peter’s first pronouncement, he is undermining God’s whole plan for salvation? 

            Jesus goes on, not sounding normal.  "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”  It is language like this that cult leaders use, and in their mouths, it is crazy talk.  Especially the craziest ones who convince their followers to die for them.  The one that still haunts me took place in my first year as an ordained minister.  It was 1997 when the leader of the Heaven’s Gate cult convinced 38 members to take their own lives because they would “gain them again” by the flying saucer hiding behind the Hale-Bopp comet.

            The Word of God is called a two-edged sword in Revelation.  See how that works here?  On the one hand, the cult leader, Marshall Applewhite, used such language to convince all those people to die at “the Gate to Heaven”.  On the other, Jesus uses this language to lay out the plan of God for our salvation. 

            We are conditioned, and properly so, that if we hear a loved one talking about death excessively, oddly, about dying or killing, we are going to pay attention.  It should send up a red flag.  From a human point of view, Jesus talking so excessively about death, and then reacting to a rebuke with “Get behind me Satan…”  I understand Peter’s reaction. 

            Am I suggesting that Jesus is nuts?  Certainly not.  Because he is not talking in human terms.  He is talking in divine terms.  “For 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?  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.”  It is not about this life, it is about the life to come.  It is about a bigger reality He is just starting to talk about.

            And Peter didn’t get that.  He thought he did, he identified Jesus as the Messiah, but he did not understand what that meant.  Why did Jesus say “Get behind me Satan”?  My best guess is because Peter was doing exactly what Satan would want, interfering in the plan of God.  Maybe Jesus was so sharp in his words not because Peter was interfering in God’s plan, but because it was not Jesus’ first choice.  In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asks that the cup of wrath pass from him, if God wills, but will obey in love for us (Matthew 26).   

            The divine plan is resurrection, overcoming death, life everlasting.  We die for the Lord, we will be rewarded with our life returned.  Jesus concludes with that interesting bit: “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."  Growing up, the adventurer in me wondered if this was a promise of immortality.  The boring, but more theologically considered opinion, is that the Son of Man came ‘in His kingdom’ when he appeared to them after the resurrection-and Judas, the betrayer, was absent.  

            We have words that surround a crest in our stained glass in the sanctuary.  “My heart I offer to You (meaning the Lord), promptly and sincerely.”  That’s what Peter is doing.  He is wrong, but he rebukes Jesus promptly and with all sincerity.  He loves Jesus and does not want to see him die.  Which is a perfectly reasonable human expectation.  But God’s expectations are at a whole other level. 

            But if we are going to follow in Peter’s shoes, or sandals, if we are going to offer our hearts to Jesus promptly and sincerely, we need to understand what that means.

            Have you heard the pat response to the question, “Why did Jesus die?”  The answer is simple, “so we don’t have to”-we do not bear punishment for our sins, Jesus did.

            If we are going to offer our hearts to the Lord, Jesus’ expectations are clear.  We are to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him.  It is not a cake walk.  It is not “a cushy gig”.  It is hard and it is going to kick back at us if we take it seriously, because we are seeking to show God’s love in a sinful world.

            I think Peter saw in Jesus’ words what we might call today “death by cop”.  Jesus is intentionally going to walk into Jerusalem where the leaders are going to kill him.  “Death by cop” is a method of suicide where someone intentionally threatens a police officer in a way that forces the cop to shoot them for their own protection. 

So I do not blame Peter for trying to intervene-he just did not understand.  Jesus commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves, but what if our neighbor is in this worst-case scenario?  What if our neighbor is so broken, so ill, so depressed, they are suicidal?  We know that because of Jesus’ own death and resurrection-we know that the love of God leaves nobody behind, even if our neighbor believes otherwise.  No one has to die for their ‘bad life’, because Jesus has already died for us.  By the grace of God, if we ever come alongside a neighbor who is so in need of God’s love, may Jesus give us the words we need, may Jesus show us the way to let them know that they are loved.  This is one side of the two-edged sword.

            But the reality is that things do not always work the way we want.  Sometimes, no matter what we say, no matter what we do, sometimes our ‘neighbor’ is still going to kill themselves.  And the feeling of failure to those who tried to intervene can be devastating.  This devastation is not just on a personal level, but it can also be on a spiritual level.  How angry and disappointed can we be in the Jesus we claim to love when God’s power did not seem to be sufficient?  Is God weak?  Is God uncaring?  See how powerful that little word “doubt” can be.  This is the other side of the two-edged sword.

            This could very well be the hardest place that God could send us if we are serious about offering our hearts to the Lord.  But it is the very plan of God that provides hope even in the midst of tragedy.  Historically, Christianity is not very sympathetic to suicide.  It is often considered the worst kind of sin, squandering God’s gift of life.  That was one of the most heated conversations I ever had with a colleague in ministry.  I believe these folks are like Peter, they give their hearts sincerely and promptly to the Lord, but they got the plan of God wrong.

            How could Jesus who died for us be so harsh as to reject someone so in need of His love that they think death is their only alternative?  If a person is filled with pain and suffering that they cannot conceive that Jesus loves them, or that life isn’t worth it, is that not the person whom, in His mercy, Jesus would be the closest to?  Even if the person never sees it, would not our merciful Savior carry them as certainly as the promise in the poem “Footprints in the Sand”?

            My prayer is that if we have ever lost someone to death, we can find comfort in the knowledge that Jesus cares for his own, that he died so all may be forgiven. 

            Pastor, this is heavy stuff.  Of course it is heavy stuff.  If we are going to sincerely offer our hearts to Jesus, we need to know that the love of Christ and the plan of God is more than sufficient to carry the heaviest stuff.  One of the crosses to bear is that we can do everything right in Jesus’ name and things still fall apart.  We need to understand God’s plan is still sufficient.

            But what Peter did not understand yet, what we need to understand is that if things fall apart here on earth, they will not fall apart in heaven.  If we give our hearts sincerely and promptly to the Lord, we can, in the love of neighbor, find amazing ways to help others, and, in the love of God, gain God’s help when we, in turn, need it.  Such is the joy and power of Jesus, our Messiah.  Amen.

 

August 30, 2020 Scripture Lesson

 Matthew 16:21-28           Scripture Lesson                               August 30, 2020

16:21 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.

16:22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you."

16:23 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."

16:24 Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

16:25 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

August 30, 2020 Order of Worship

 

First Presbyterian Church

Remote and Mail Order of Worship

August 30, 2020

                                                   CALL TO WORSHIP (In Unison)                         

How shall we follow Jesus?  We shall deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him.  How then shall we gain our lives?  We will gain our lives if we lose them for the sake of Jesus.

Let us worship the Living God

AMEN

Hymn Today: “Just As I Am, Without One Plea”

1.       Just as I am, without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me,

and that thou bidst me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

 

2.       Just as I am, and waiting not to rid my soul of one dark blot,

to thee whose blood can cleanse each spot, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

 

3.       Just as I am, though tossed about with many a conflict, many a doubt,

fightings and fears within, without, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

     CONFESSION AND ASSURANCE OF PARDON (In Unison)

 Dear Father in heaven, we confess in the sure and certain hope of our salvation in our Messiah, in Jesus, in the Son of the Living God.  We seek the grace won for us in Jesus’ death and resurrection and ask You for the strength to open every part of our lives to Your cleansing light.  Lead us on our journey of faith renewed in the love of Your Spirit.  Amen.

 INVITATION

If you do not know Jesus as Your Lord and Savior, but You would like to come to Him, or come to Him again, You can do wo with this simple prayer:

“Dear Lord I need You, please come into my life today.  Amen”

 

Scripture Lesson for Today, Matthew 16: 21-28

SERMON:

“I Give My Heart to Thee”

 

 THE OFFERING OF OUR TITHES & GIFTS

Please mail your tithes and offerings to:

                First Presbyterian Church of Perth Amboy

            45 Market St.

            Perth Amboy, NJ  08861

 

Or search in Venmo for First Presbyterian Church Perth Amboy or office@fpcperthamboy.org. 

We have a virtual option!!!

 

 

A PRAYER OF DEDICATION (To be prayed individually, out loud or in silence):

Father in heaven, from the bounty You have blessed me with, I give this gift back to You with joy and thanksgiving to further the work of Your church.  Amen.

SONG OF RESPONSE: “Just As I Am, Without One Plea”

4.       Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind; sight, riches, healing of the mind,

yea, all I need in thee to find, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

 

5.       Just as I am, thou wilt receive, wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;

because thy promise I believe, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

 

6.       Just as I am, thy love unknown hath broken every barrier down;

now, to be thine, yea thine alone, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

 PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

 Pray for our brothers and sisters in this congregation as we continue to worship together.

As you lift each request to God, the appropriate response is “Lord, Hear My Prayer”

 

 THE LORD’S PRAYER (In Unison)

 Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

OUR BENEDICTION AND DEPARTURE (In Unison)

May the Lord bless us and keep us. May the Lord make His face to shine upon us and be gracious to us. May the Lord lift up His countenance upon us and give us peace. Amen.

   

Worship For Sunday, August 30, 2020

Sermon for August 23, 2020

 

August 23, 2020                                Sermon                Matthew 16:13-20

                I would like us to think of the gospel in a new way this morning.  Think of it like an action movie.  In an action movie, the bad guys carry the plot.  What are the good guys there to do?  Stop the bad guys.  The course of the movie is the plan being uncovered, the bad guys carrying out the steps of the plan, and the good guys trying to catch up, the race to the finish line where there is the climactic battle and the good guys win.  Then there is that moment where one particular hero is singled out, “Well, he/she is the only one who can stop them now.” 

                Consider what we have shared from Matthew over the course of the last weeks.  Jesus walked on water.  He demonstrated he is here for the world, not just the Jews.  He fed five thousand men, plus women and children.  He healed the sick that were brought to him.  He equipped the disciples with the same divine powers he had.  He’s been preaching about things like the Pearl of Great Price.  And now he has just been identified as the Messiah.

                Picture the gospel as an action movie being shown to Satan and his minions.  They think they are in charge of the world.  Then Jesus shows up, with a plan to disrupt things completely.  They use the Pharisees to try and stop the plans, they see the things Jesus is doing, preaching and doing miracles, showing the power of Good.  There is going to be a showdown.  But here is that moment, when Jesus is not simply the Son of Man, but revealed to be the Messiah.  “Well, he is the only one that can stop them now.” 

                What is a driving force in a good action movie?  It is the race against hopelessness, if the heroes fail, all is lost.  They are the last hope.  Flip that for the gospel.  All was hopelessness, but Jesus comes as the new hope.  What Jesus has been preaching, where Jesus has been applying the power of God, the plan that He is unfolding, is all designed to restore hope. 

                In the human action movie, the question is “Who can truly stand up to this evil mastermind?”  In the gospel, the question is “Who can truly stand up to Most Evil One?”  This is an AHA moment, when we find out.  What are the options?  Jesus starts there.  “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”  The disciples respond: "Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

                These are all powerful answers.  We know that John the Baptist was recently executed by Herod, that led to the feeding of the multitude and walking on water.  But it is a tribute to the power of his ministry that people would believe that he had actually escaped death, or maybe even overcome it, due to the power he carried as the Lord’s servant.    

                What about Elijah?  He was the most powerful prophets in the history of the Old Testament.  Ever passed by Zaraphath on 287?  Or listen to the Radio station?  Drawn from the life of Elijah and his working with the widow of Zaraphath.  Or Elijah versus the four hundred prophets of Baal?  Or how many other stories?  He shows up in 1 Kings 17 and his story stretches into 2 Kings and beyond.  The last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, also references Elijah’s return in chapter 4.

                It was prophesied that Elijah was going to return.  This is because of how his life concluded.  The Bible records he did not die, but was taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot.  The expectation, the legend was that he would return.  And so he did, but not in Jesus, but in the person of John the Baptist.

                Another possibility was Jeremiah.  Political and religious conflicts surrounded his life, as outlined in his book in the Old Testament.  I would commend it to you as a powerful read.  I would be happy to help answer questions you might have.  He is a figure of great power.   

                Finally, Jesus could be ‘one of the prophets’.  Could have been any of them, but one is spoken of in particular.  In Deuteronomy 18:15, God speaks of raising up a new particular prophet “like Moses”, the founding father of the Israelites in a future time of need of the people.  For us, it would the promise of George Washington coming back to fix things, with Hamilton by his side. 

                That is what the people are saying.  They have heard Jesus, they have seen Jesus, they have received the miracles of Jesus, they know this “Son of Man” is something powerful.  So this is how they are trying to understand it.  But then Jesus pushes the disciples to put it all together.  Take what the people say, take what you all have seen and heard.  Then, “But who do you say that I am?”

                Can you imagine the wheels turning?  Is this a test? Multiple Choice?  Choose one: A is John, B is Elijah, C is Jeremiah, D is Other…, E is All of The Above...  Always hated “All of the above”.  It is Peter who  decides this is NOT multiple choice, but short answer, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

                In the action movie, this would be the moment when it is revealed what Harry Potter is THE one who will defeat Voldemort.  It is the moment in the Lord of the Rings when Aragorn is revealed to be the King of Gondor.  This is when the legend is fulfilled and King Arthur rises up to rescue Britain in her hour of greatest need.  This is the moment when the disciples put together all the parts they have been exposed to through the previous chapters, and they put it together.  Jesus is the Messiah, the one who has come to save the world.

I imagine Jesus getting that ‘proud parent’ look when they put it together.  The disciples were not as dense as he feared.  Of all the expectations of the Old Testament, they have figured out that the greatest promise, that of a Messiah to save Israel, is fulfilled in Jesus.    

                And Jesus blesses them through Peter, laying two very important charges upon him.  First, Peter will be the Rock on which Jesus will build his church.  Anyone picturing Dwayne Johnson?  Is that a bad pun?  Well, Jesus started it.  Peter means “rock” in Greek.  Second, Peter will have the keys to the kingdom.  What he binds on earth will be bound in heaven and vice versa.  That is why the Vatican flag has crossed keys on it, as Peter was declared the first pope.  It is also why so many leaders of the church presume this gives them permission to judge others.  They see themselves as Peter’s heirs. 

                But that is a whole other sermon.

                So here’s the pivotal moment.  The world is dominated by evil and the Messiah is revealed.  From here, Jesus takes the journey that will lead to his death upon the cross.  In fact, the next verses in Matthew 16 have the disciples reacting angrily as Jesus lays out the how the Final Work of the Messiah will play out.  But the journey of the Messiah does not end at the cross, but on Easter Monday, when he rises from the dead, total victory won over all the powers of Sin and Death and Hell.  

                I love this passage because it is a reminder of what it is all for.  It is a reminder of why we are a church, of why we believe in Jesus, in why we seek to live our lives as Christians.  We are in the midst of this pandemic and we are opening the sanctuary for the first time since this began and it is fitting that we are reminded that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, and nothing less.  

                It is so necessary to remember Jesus as Messiah because too many want to water down the power of the Son of God.  He was a ‘great teacher’.  He is an example of ‘ethics and love’.  He is a Great Man, but just a man.  Or there are harsher messages, like “God is dead”, or God is weak, or God doesn’t care.  That is not the truth.     

                The truth in Song of Solomon 8:6 tells us, “love is strong as death”.  The Truth in the Messiah tells us that love is stronger than death.

                Take the measure of any problem in the world, line it up against the power of God, and success is assured.  Two examples from the headlines.  This pandemic will be overcome because the loving power of God is inspiring people to take the steps needed to be victorious.  And it would go so much faster if those people who keep obstructing the process would get with God and the program.  The Black Lives Matter movement is going to stride powerfully against racism in this nation because the loving power of God who has created us as God’s Children and the sure and certain knowledge that humans are NOT color-coded in heaven.  And while we should now that the loving power of God is enough to overcome all, how quickly do we forget and get bogged down in the sins of the world?

                I am going to be privileged to lead worship and share this sermon in the church because of the power of God over the pandemic.  I have been privileged to lead worship and share sermons virtually because of the power of God within the pandemic. 

                This is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.  This is what it means that Jesus is not simply the Son of Man, but the Son of the Living God.  This is the moment to be grabbed and held onto when things seem to be falling apart.  I will be honest, I don’t know what the pandemic is going to bring.  We may be bounced out of here once again.  But it is not going to stop us because the power of God cannot be stopped.  

                Right now, we live with the consequences of sin running the world.  Bad things happen to good people, to everyone.  It is so awful so much of the time.   But the power of the gospel story is it shows us how Jesus builds up, point upon point, what the plan of God, what the power of God, what the victory of God is going to look like.  Each piece of it, every miracle, every parable, every teaching, every healing, every prayer, every argument with the leadership of the time, every question he puts to the disciples, every moment go into building up what the victory of God over sin is going to look like and going to accomplish. 

                Follow the gospel story, through Holy Week, Jesus’ death and resurrection, and BOOM, victory is attained.  We see the results at Pentecost, when the power of Jesus enters into each disciple through the Holy Spirit, which is a promise for every Christian, that the power of Jesus enters into each of us as well, through that Spirit.  It gives us not only the strength to survive, but to thrive in a world of sin.  In the action movie, there is that scene where the good guys look like they are going to give up, that things are impossible, the bad guys are just too strong.  Those moments occur in life, when it feels like things are just too heavy or too dark or too much to bear, remembering that Jesus is Messiah, that Jesus’ presence had a plan and brings us victory, I pray we be refreshed in the sure and certain knowledge that Jesus overcame the sin that dominates the world and brings in the true power of love that conquers all.

Amen.

Scripture Lesson for August 23, 2020

 August 23, 2020                Scripture Lesson

Matthew 16:13-20
16:13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"

16:14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

16:15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"

16:16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."

16:17 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.

16:18 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.

16:19 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."

16:20 Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Order of Worship for August 23, 2020

 

First Presbyterian Church

Remote and Mail Order of Worship

August 23, 2020

                                                   CALL TO WORSHIP (In Unison)                         

Who do we know Jesus to be?  We know Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.  How then shall we praise Him?  With our hearts and minds and souls and voices.

Let us worship the Living God

AMEN

Hymn Today: “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”

1 A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

2 Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

    CONFESSION AND ASSURANCE OF PARDON (In Unison)

 Dear Father in heaven, we confess in the sure and certain hope of our salvation in our Messiah, in Jesus, in the Son of the Living God.  We seek the grace won for us in Jesus’ death and resurrection and ask You for the strength to open every part of our lives to Your cleansing light.  Lead us on our journey of faith renewed in the love of Your Spirit.  Amen.

 INVITATION

If you do not know Jesus as Your Lord and Savior, but You would like to come to Him, or come to Him again, You can do wo with this simple prayer:

“Dear Lord I need You, please come into my life today.  Amen”

 

Scripture Lesson for Today, Matthew 16: 13-20

SERMON:

“Enter the Hero”

 

 

THE OFFERING OF OUR TITHES & GIFTS

Until we have other options open to us, please mail your tithes and offerings to:

                First Presbyterian Church of Perth Amboy

            45 Market St.

            Perth Amboy, NJ  08861

 

 

 

A PRAYER OF DEDICATION (To be prayed individually, out loud or in silence):

Father in heaven, from the bounty You have blessed me with, I give this gift back to You with joy and thanksgiving to further the work of Your church.  Amen.

SONG OF RESPONSE: “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”

3 And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

4 That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.

 PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

 Pray for our brothers and sisters in this congregation as we continue to worship together.

As you lift each request to God, the appropriate response is “Lord, Hear My Prayer”

 

 THE LORD’S PRAYER (In Unison)

 Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

OUR BENEDICTION AND DEPARTURE (In Unison)

May the Lord bless us and keep us. May the Lord make His face to shine upon us and be gracious to us. May the Lord lift up His countenance upon us and give us peace. Amen.

   

Worship for Sunday, August 23, 2020

Venmo Giving to the Church

 For remote giving to the church, we now have access through Venmo.  It is a specific app that must be downloaded but I am given to understand a lot of people have it.  

Search "First Presbyterian Church Perth Amboy" or the email "office@fpcperthamboy.org.".

We have test driven the system successfully, but please let us know if there are any difficulties.

Peace,
Pastor Peter

Preparing to Return to the Sanctuary

 

Preparing for Sunday:

There will be two options for worship, our virtual service and a return to the Sanctuary.

Worship will resume at 10am this Sunday with the following rules put in place:

1.       Ceiling fans will be going constantly and doors left open as ventilation is the first line of defense against the virus in public gatherings.

2.       Everyone must wear a mask.

1.       Please have wipes or other cleaning materials for personal use.

3.       Only sit where there is a hymnbook on the pew.

4.       In the sanctuary and outside the sanctuary, social distancing of at least 6 feet must be observed.

5.       “High risk” portions of the service will not return until after the pandemic

a.       Children’s Time

b.       The Passing of the Peace will be to wave.

c.       Singing will be kept to a minimum-doing research for safely doing church has shown that singing broadcasts far more potential for infection than speaking. 

6.       If someone needs the restroom, we ask them to wipe down before and after they use it.  We are asking people only to use the restroom in the hall behind the Sanctuary. 

7.       There will be an offering plate set up to receive tithes and gifts. 

Sermon August 16, 2020

 

August 16, 2020           Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28                  Rev. Peter Hofstra

Watching What We Say

             The lesson for today is as follows: It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles the person, but rather, what might come out that defiles a person.  Jesus wants the crowd, then, and now, to get this.  He says clearly, Listen and understand.  Jesus is so specific because he is reversing the usual expectation of what ‘defilement’ means. 

            It usually refers to what we know as ‘kosher’ laws.  The law of Moses has specific rules about what someone can and cannot eat.  To eat what was forbidden was to defile the body.  In the time of Jesus, those laws were double edged.  They defined what it meant to be Jewish, but they also defined one over and against the Romans, their hated overlords.  These laws were a reminder that God was in charge, not them. 

            The disciples try to warn him.  “Do you know the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?”  They took offense precisely because their identity was so wrapped up in the observation of the law.  Jesus brought something more. 

            So Jesus, being Jesus, replies in a parable.  “Every plant that my Father has not planted will be uprooted.  Let them, the Pharisees, alone, they are the blind leading the blind.  If one blind person leads another, they will both fall into the pit.”

            Now imagine the disciples, they are gathered by Jesus, listening to what he is telling them, maybe nodding in apparent agreement, but then Peter speaks their mind.  “And what does that mean exactly?  Can you explain the parable?”

            It would not surprise me if Jesus rolled his eyes at the disciples.  “Are you still without understanding?”  

            It is not about the legality of eating.  Jesus dismisses that.  We eat, we digest, we…take care of business.  As Jesus puts it, goes into the mouth, enters the stomach, and exits into the sewer.  Jesus sets aside the legal implications of eating to make a bigger, more universal point. 

            It is what comes out of the mouth, that proceeds from the heart, that is where the danger lies, where defilement comes from.  For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander.  These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile."  In case they missed the reference to the kosher laws, Jesus undermines the laws of cleanliness as well.  In Mark 7:5, the Pharisees accuse Jesus and his disciples precisely because they have not washed their hands.

            But for Jesus, it is not about appearances, it is about what comes from the heart.  To make his point, Jesus leads the disciples north, out of Jewish lands, into the region of Tyre and Sidon.  It is time for a practical example, away from the crowds and the Pharisees and their critiques.

            There is a woman in need, a Canaanite woman (which is an archaic way of referring to her as the Canaanites were dispossessed when the Israelites entered the Promised Land millennia before). She cries out for help, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David, for my daughter is possessed by a demon.”

            Casting out demons, that is part of Jesus’ core mission.  But now the story gets hard because Matthew is illustrating what Jesus said before, but at the expense of this woman. 

            Jesus does not answer her at first.  In fact, the disciples tell Jesus to send her away, because she is making a scene.  Jesus’ response is offensive, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.”  She is only a Canaanite.  But she comes and kneels before him, debasing herself before him.  “Lord, help me.”  Then Jesus apparently gets insulting.  “It is not fair that we take the children’s food and feed it to the dogs.”  The disciples would understand that the ‘children’ are the Jews and the dogs include this Canaanite.  Her reply, “Yes Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the Master’s table.”  She will not be put off. 

            And Jesus answers her, properly this time, “Woman, great is your faith!  Let it be done for you as you wish!”  And her daughter was healed.

            How are the disciples to understand what just happened?  Jesus was sent ONLY to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.  Now he helps her.  Did he just lie to them?  Or is he redefining what it means to be the House of Israel?

            I remember a sermon on this passage where the preacher attacked Jesus full on for the way he spoke to this woman.  She was objectified, insulted, subject to racist comments, and belittled.  I can see that as I read this passage.  But the preacher’s conclusion was that Jesus was a bad man, a sinner, and we were challenged to consider our faith in Him. 

            But that is not the point that Matthew is making.  The point is, as Jesus starts, “Listen and understand.”  It is not the kosher laws that cause defilement.  The Pharisees took offense at that.  But defilement comes from the heart, comes from what is said.  And when such laws cut off people from the House of Israel, from among God’s children, that is true defilement.  

            So for the Pharisees, it was offensive that Jesus did not stay on their political message, do nothing to undermine what it means for them to be of the House of Israel.  The political message in this case is that what someone eats CAN defile the body to a member of the House of Israel.  If someone does not wash their hands before eating, this undermines what it means to be a member of the House of Israel.  And what Jesus says, For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander.  But how quickly does that universe truth of sinfulness get ignored when it is time to make a political point? 

            And up in the region of Tyre and Sidon, he illustrates exactly what that looks like.  Here comes a Canaanite woman, needing help.  But what she eats-not following the law of Moses-defiles her, according to the Pharisees.  In that frame of reference, when Jesus speaks to this woman as One Who Comes Only To The House of Israel.  And what comes out of his mouth in that moment is racist, belittling, and offensive, so the disciples can understand the defilement that can come out of the mouth. 

            Is it offensive?  Of course it is.  Jesus never backed away from being offensive to make the hard point.  Consider the story of the rich young ruler.  What did Jesus tell him?  Go, sell all you have, give it to the poor, and come, follow me.  Imagine if the Church in the United States made that the first step to membership? 

But the rich found an easy way around that.  In a very different context, Jesus observed, “You will always have the poor with you”.  So those who have use this line to justify not helping those who have not.

            Is the Canaanite woman simply a victim of opportunity for Jesus?  Is she being knocked down so Jesus can make his point?  That is one reading of the passage.  It is one way I have heard it preached.  Or is there something else going on?  Is this what Jesus does?  Or do we trust that the Son of God was able to accomplish this without victimizing the woman?  That is where I come down.  Jesus does not do that kind of thing and there would have to be compelling evidence to consider it.

            Here is something to consider, why Tyre and Sidon?  Why did Jesus go completely out of the lands in which the Jews lived?  Did he go there to find an ‘outsider’, a victim, on which he could illustrate how defilement comes out of the mouth?  Or was it something else?  Did Jesus take his disciples clear of the lands that politically identified themselves as the House of Israel to show them the truth, that faith defines a member of the House of Israel, not one’s political or cultural affiliation?

            Jesus traveled outside the bounds of his usual stomping grounds for the disciples to see that the power of Jesus was bigger than their own parochial thinking.  Maybe they were bound into the idea that Jesus was there only for the Jews, and not the world.  They needed their eyes opened and their horizons broadened if they were going to effectively carry on the ministry of Jesus.

            In the midst of the Presidential race going on right now, this is a powerful reminder for us to keep our eyes open and our horizons broad to understand who Jesus is here for.  There are going to be a lot of talking heads trying to manipulate our faith by telling us Jesus only fits their mold of what is right and wrong.  There is going to be a lot of defilement coming out of people’s mouths as, from their hearts, they are looking for their own victories and if invoking Jesus will fool people into following them, so be it.

            Jesus tells us to listen and understand this problem.  Understand the universality of what defilement is, of what sin is.  Understand that it comes from the heart.  Because to understand that sin is universal is to understand what the work of Jesus is intended to accomplish.  It too is universal.  While the Pharisees, and even the disciples, would have identified the House of Israel as those who followed the right dietary and ceremonial laws of cleanliness to be identified culturally and politically as “Jews”, Jesus opens it up to everyone who speaks sinfully.  For him, the lost sheep he came to save are not from a House of Israel defined as only one group.  For Jesus, the House of Israel includes all God’s children, all the lost sheep.

            And if the disciples did not get that, how could they be expected to carry on the work of Jesus?  Because the work of Jesus is not to identify sinners.  His work is to save sinners.  His work is to be the shepherd to the lost sheep.  His work is to restore the House of Israel to right relationship with God.  And we are all the House of Israel. 

            This is what Jesus wants us to listen to, to understand.  When humans make laws about who are people of faith and who are not, we are in danger of doing as the Pharisees did, cutting people out of the House of Israel.  Paul said “All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.”  All are lost sheep and Jesus has come for them all.  The work of the witnesses to Christ are also inclusive of all people. 

            When we return to our sanctuary, we will see the seal in our stained glass once again.  It says, and I paraphrase, “My heart I offer to You, O Lord.”  We come to the Lord to be healed of all that afflicts us that we, in turn, may bring the love of Christ to those who yet need healing.  This is the promise of our salvation. 

            May we yearn for the opportunity to share the healing love of Jesus Christ today.  Amen.