God's Last Words

JESUS CALL A STAFF MEETING

Matthew 16: 21-28 (NRSV)

How do you know our country is making progress: Last week I heard a Senator from California say that our greatest need is an investigating committee to investigate an investigating committee.

I’ve never been big on committee meetings because I’ve seen what one or two people can accomplish when put up against the productivity of a committee of 7; it often takes too much time laying the groundwork and getting coffee then it does to do the actual job. Committees have their place in doing work that isn’t critical.

I’ve also seen the ability one person has to cause conflict and render any action of a group of people useless. It reminds us that there are some tasks and activities that aren’t right to be handled by a committee. Worship, and issues of faith among others, is one of them.

The great Reformed Pastor Campbell Morgan, while he always kept abreast of the activities of the church, detested committee work. He once told a friend, "I would prefer to preach three sermons a day rather than spend half an hour at a deacon's meeting discussing where to keep the keys to the door."  I agree.

The next time you hear about a committee being appointed and the committee then names several task forces to do its job, think of this story:

To hype up its annual Labor Day picnic one year, a Boston based company rented two racing skulls and challenged a rival company to a boat race. The rival company accepted.

On the day of the picnic, everyone entered into the spirit of the event and went retro. Women wore colorful summer dresses and big, floppy hats. Men wore straw skimmers and white pants. Bands played, banners waved. Finally the race began.

To the great surprise of the host company, the rival team immediately moved to the front and was never overtaken. It went on to win by 11 lengths.

The management of the company was embarrassed by its showing and appointed a committee to place responsibility for the failure and make recommendations to improve the host team's chances in a rematch the following year.

The committee appointed several task forces to study various aspects of the race. They met for three months and issued a preliminary report. In essence, the report said that the rival crew used unfair tactics in the race.

"They had eight people rowing and one person steering and shouting out the rhythm," the report said. "We had one person rowing and eight shouting orders."

The chairman of the board thanked the committee and sent it away to study the matter further and make recommendations for the rematch. Four months later the committee came back with a recommendation. "Our guy has to row faster," it said. 

Sadly, this is a true story and so is our Gospel Lesson from Matthew 16: 21-28. Let’s let Jesus set the stage for our discussion of today’s lesson:

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. 

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

Then Jesus told his disciples, "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. 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. 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."

What will you give to save your life? I know Jesus wouldn’t want a committee making that decision for you. Even His disciples, Peter in this case, aren’t thinking straight in the midst of this staff meeting. But let’s think for a second.

Many people, including Peter, can’t answer that question because they are too busy trying not to lose it or further complicate it by adding more responsibilities or hassles to it. Life shouldn’t be complicated they say. And I think Jesus would agree, up to a point.

Today’s Christian lives this. They don’t want long sermons and biblical teaching that makes them think too much or makes them uncomfortably aware that they will need to change their behavior or thinking.

People want humor and sermon topics that are safe – after all we’re not actually going to change things, are we? People really don’t want personal religion or faith – they want assurances of salvation by anonyous committee confession – they want their attendance, membership, and offerings to show evidence of good works and good intention.

The church has developed into a place where people can sit in an anonymous pew for 59 minutes and 59 seconds and participate in committee work for the week. Occasionally they may be asked to vote on this or spending money on that, or responding to things some people don’t think are right or may intrude on their concept of faith or tradition.

I think a lot of our current church problems and social problems have come from the overarching attitudes and teachings of evolution and particularly the concept of the “survival of the fittest among the herd of the human race.” There is a belief that enough will survive and flourish that life will go on. This has encouraged life by committee and that’s the problem.

Look around, we are living life by committee in our society and we didn’t nominate those in charge to make the changes that are happening.

There’s an old joke that says: “For God so loved the world He didn’t send a committee.” God is personal and He wants a personal relationship with us. But does that mean that God is different for each one of us?

If you took a representative sample of people from the churches in the Clear Spring Area, put them together, and asked them Jesus’ question “What do you need to do to get to heaven?” what would the answer be? Would they even be able to answer? Some would be outraged at just being asked.

Would the answer be biblical or represent the national doctrine and polity of their denominations? At worse, would anyone care what the answer was?

You see we operate with human interest and desires and sins in our hearts, minds, and hands. Our intentions and efforts may appear blameless and altruistic but we still have blind spots and are easily lead astray by evil. Only Jesus and God have pure and loving intentions and we need to be careful never to reject them.

In Psalm 107: 23-32, as we read in unison today, we find some sailors in a dire situation. We are told they “were at their wits’ end.” Finally, the staggering sailors realized that they were at the mercy of Almighty God and “they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.” (verse. 28). The storm ended, and the sailors found safety.

Mark this down: the Lord hears and answers the cries of desperate people.

When will we be at our wits end? When will our country be at its wit’s end?

Over and over again in the Bible, people are needy and God is ready to deliver at their word. Some were in trouble because of their sin, others because of natural disaster, others were enslaved by evil men, but they all equally felt their need of God. 

But generally God hears individual prayers and may bless individually or a group of people He favors, but it starts with a single person praying first, and then joining others. Repentance and getting to Heaven is usually not a spectator sport.

Remember that when you come to your wits’ end, remember that you are not at God’s. He is not reeling, and He has not left you alone in the dark stormy night. Cry out to Him.

Jesus has been there too, coming before his Father without worldly hope or a way out of the pain. He wept in the garden, and will wipe your tears. He felt the pangs of affliction, and He’ll calm your fears. When your portion is the darkness of death, He has been there already. He suffered alone, so that you never have to.

Peter tried to tell Jesus that day, as he was in the meeting with his disciples, that the end would not be worth it. Peter, in his narrow human view, wanted God to forbid such sacrifice. Peter wanted to tell God what to do. Not an uncommon thought for a person hiding in the middle of a group of people.

You see my friends, God relates to us as individuals first, and looks at the called out body of believers called the church, not as committees, but as doers of the Word. He’s already given us the rules, the goals, and the mission. It’s up to us to go and do, or as Jesus says:

Then Jesus told his disciples, "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. 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?

One last thought – did you know that the German Reformed Church had no system of government or organization when it came to America? Is was only after the church began to get involved in community affairs and public education that the church had to borrow the Presbyterian system which they called “a consistory” to serve as focal points between other Reformed Churches. The church had had no need for committees up to that point. Amen.