Finnish Lutheran Church in Ball

Pastor Timo’s sermon, August 31, 2008

16^th Sun after Pentecost, Matthew 18:21-35 translated by Katja Kupari

Good is the worst enemy of bad" You may have heard this saying, talking about making choices and options. But a good choice may not necessarily be the best choice, although it may look like the easiest and most convenient one. The most inexpensive purchase may not be the most durable, and therefore not the most inexpensive. Life is full of daily and everyday choices, but there are also choices of value and choices between faith and no-faith.
In today's gospel Peter tries to protect Jesus from ending up at the mercy of the chief priests and the teachers of the law, so that He would not have to suffer and be killed. A very human and kind thought from Peter, but once again; when it comes to Jesus it is not about human thought and wisdom - it's divine.
Jesus is about to start the road of the Cross, the road that would change all human understanding of what is God's will and plan for the salvation of man. But Peter does not yet understand what will happen, although he has just acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of Man, in a bout of faith. Now Peter's heart is filled with doubt about what Jesus says will happen.
Peter thinks that Jesus’ words are dangerous, even crazy. He is still not able to see past Easter and understand God's wisdom that Apostle Paul writes about later to the Corinthians "18For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength" (1 Cor 1:18,25)
So then Peter seems to be on the right track, but what looks like a good thing turns out to be a plan of the enemy. That is why Jesus talks so harshly to Peter. He sees Peter's heart and can see the hold that power and temptation have on his thoughts "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." (Matthew 16:23)
But Jesus’ plan is higher and more far-reaching than Peter's. Where Peter wants to enjoy Jesus’ closeness in the disciple-circle and nearby villages and towns, Jesus’ vision of God's Kingdom reaches all nations and all of the world. Where Peter wants to shield Jesus from suffering, being captured and death, Jesus sees the upcoming suffering and death as atoning the sins of people with God. Where Peter wanted to spend the rest of his life with Jesus listening to his teachings, Jesus sees resurrection as a way to bring eternal life to all those who believe in Him. Where Peter sees grief, Jesus already sees comfort. Where Peter sees defeat, Jesus sees triumph.
The easiest option is not always the best, the most convenient solution is not always the wisest. The shortest way is not always the safest. I remember a Finnish author who wrote about the question of accountability in parenting. Where it used to be an important basis for parenting to let the children face their own responsibilities in mistakes or oversights, it now was a more important principle, according to him, to look forward, to think positive in a way, where you didn't have to face problems or your own mistakes or accountability anymore but put them aside and look forward. The problem with this is that if adults or children do not have to be accountable, they cannot experience the meaning of forgiveness either. The conscience will not quiet down even though you concentrate on looking forward and being positive. Guilt is always difficult to face, but it will only become more difficult if you just forget and cover it up. "Good is the worst enemy of bad".

According to John's gospel Jesus was "full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). It means that with Jesus "the truth will set you free" (John 8:32) Facing the truth is not always easy, and it can be very painful, but it is only through facing the truth that we can truly become free. And unlike with us humans, God's truth does not leave you with guilt and cuts that do not heal. God's truth cures, forgives and heals.
Jesus is still full of "grace and truth". He knows the truth about us, our limitations and offenses. He sees into our hearts, just like Peter's, and wants to remind us of the truth and grace that He has. He does not offer band-aids when the cuts need to be cleaned and healed. He does not say "it doesn't matter" when we hurt inside. God wants to meet us in truth and grace.
Just like I preached about repentance last Sunday, by turning to God and by confessing our sins to Him we will be forgiven and this way also be renewed and be blessed.
Jesus’ truth will always bring grace with it. Human truth may often only bring guilt or blaming. That is maybe why we sometimes shy away from accountability, avoid facing our own incompleteness. But at the same time we deeply long for our pain to be cared for and healed, but have trouble trusting and are afraid of being hurt even more. But God offers us His love, His love that cares for us, makes us whole, so that we don't have to be afraid of facing the truth. He wants to make us free, strong and brave on the inside! Christians who turn to God, not to people.
It is important who we plan our lives on. God's plans are always wiser than ours. Like the Bible says; "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. 9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9).
God's plans are good for us when we look for Him in our hearts, like the Bible says: For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11)
In the end Peter realized how his own thoughts were misleading him, they would have been in the way of Jesus’ great mission. Later Peter saw what Jesus meant and why His road was not the easiest, but why it still was the best.
The same goes for us too. Like today's gospel says; life with Jesus is a voyage of discovery. Not the easiest road, but the best. This road is often the road of surrender. Surrender to let God's will take place in our lives, giving up our own selfishness so that God's better plans can actualize and our lives can turn into the voyages of discovery, like Jesus says: "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it" (Matthew 16:25)

Saarnat Suomeksi	Previous Sermons in English

*Elok. 24, 2008*	*Aug. 24, 2008*
Toukok. 25, 2008	May 25, 2008
Toukok. 11, 2008	May 11, 2008
Huhtik.27, 2008	April 27, 2008
*Maalisk. 30, 2008*	Mar. 30, 2008
Maalisk. 23, 2008	Mar. 23, 2008
Maalisk. 09, 2008	Mar.09, 2008
	Feb.10, 2008
	Jan.27.2008
	Jan 13,2008 Baptism of Our Lord