Finnish Lutheran Church in Ball

Pastor Timo’s sermon, August 24, 2008

Sermon, 15th Sun after Pentecost; Matthew 16:13-20 translated by Katja Kupari

”What will people say?” Familiar question, isn’t if? The situation in today’s Gospel resembles the presidential election polls. What will people say about Obama? What kind of a man is McCain? Analysing and editing opinions and different visions bear a significant meaning. When peoples’ opinions are known, they can be reinforced; they can be changed and fixed. The times we are living in this country right now are especially hot in this respect.

The question of today’s gospel ”what will people say?” may be particularly important in other situations, too. I have told the joke that makes fun of the Finnish personality here before;

A Japanese, American and a Finn saw an elephant. The first thought in the Japanese persons head was; what kind of technological innovations can this creature be used for? The American immediately thought; how can I make the most money with this elephant? And the Finn thought; what is the elephant thinking about me?

It’s an old stereotype, I admit that. But chasing after people for their opinions has not changed, and it probably isn’t related to nationalities, but rather is human. The people who live in the public eye may worry about being in the headlines the next day. But the biggest fear may be that there will be no stories in the paper. That they will be deserted and forgotten by people.

But amongst us so-called normal people somebody else’s opinion may become too important an issue too. Seeking popularity and shared opinions from other people is often not a sign of wisdom, but a sign of fear of people. If it benefits me, I will agree with you. I’m afraid to disagree with you because I’m afraid of being left out and being in the minority.

As we read the gospel of the day we notice that with His question ”what will people think?” Jesus was not looking to improve His own position of power, nor was He inquiring about the general opinion so that He could give a press release the next day to refute stories about Him and tell the people who He really was. No! Jesus actually does the very opposite, He forbids the disciples from telling the people who He really is. Jesus can handle the misleading and false images of Himself that circulate. He does not have the need to change people’s deep-rooted opinions, the opinions can have a life of their own, He knows the truth, He knows who the Son of God is.

What Jesus is after with His question is to ask the people He travels with what they themselves think about Him. This is not about what your neighbour of friend says. This is not about whose side you’re on, who your ally is! It is time for personal responsibility and the ultimate question; who is Jesus? What is His meaning to you on a personal level?

Peter is the first disciple to stand up. He is not a slave to people’s opinions, but has seen, felt and experienced it in his heart who Jesus really is; Messiah, the son of the living God.

Peter’s reply summarizes what the Bible heralds about who Jesus is, why He is of such importance, why humans cannot find true peace, true connection to God and experience true forgiveness without Him

Peter has personal faith in Jesus, not in what others say about Him. And as a reward for his faith Peter is given a fundamental mission; he becomes the rock on which the Christ builds His worldwide church. A church that our church, too, has a part in continuing and reflecting. The church is entrusted with the ”keys of heaven” what is binding is binding in heaven and what is loosing is loosing in heaven too. This refers to the forgiveness of sins. The church does not have the power to overrule the Christ, it does not have the authority to operate against Christ, but through Christ it works in this world with all of Christ’s authority. When sins are confessed and forgiven on earth, they are also forgiven in heaven. When there’s a conflict with God on earth, the conflict remains in heaven.

Both the gospel and the epistle of the day talk about repentance and transformation by the renewing of our minds. Repenting and transformation can be easily forgotten. They can become a habit which we remember at the beginning of the Sunday service but forget to execute in reality. But without it God cannot work with us and renew us.

I believe that good old repentance and transformation are foremost in your life as well as my life too. I feel that lately God has wanted to remind me of this repentance, forgiveness and through them of the possibility of renewing in my life and in this congregation.

Pastor Rick Warren asked the presidential candidates on live TV last Sunday what the biggest moral mistakes of their lives were. I admired the openness that both candidates readily showed in front of millions of people. To tell the biggest moral mistake of their life. A confession such as this takes a lot of guts, doesn’t it? How many of us would be willing to do that, even without the cameras. Of course a cynic can say that the media or the opponents campaign would have dug up everything there is to find about the candidates mistakes anyway. But in any case, it’s saying a lot.

I am not going to be quite as open as the presidential candidates now, as I tell you about a recent situation, a small thing about my life, when I did not behave as the Christian I should have. I am telling you because it is the little things that when ignored grow into bigger things and the true transformation that God wants cannot take place in us.

Last Friday I took my car in for service to Tacoma, to the car dealership where I bought it last winter. This time I decided that it would be fixed once and for all. I will not bore you with all the techinical details, but as background I’ll say that I had taken the car to this particular shop and another tire shop several times to fix what was wrong with it, having also of course paid for part of the service myself. My car had had problems from the beginning that were not fixed right away and I felt that they wanted to evade having to announce a problem mechanical (which would be under warranty) or normal wear and tear (which is paid by the customer).

And so this time I had decided that this problem would be fixed under warranty at the dealership where I had bought it with the pre-existing problem. I decided to make the most of the time and write this sermon in the quiet, peaceful cafeteria of the dealership. But soon I was told that the tire shop was responsible for the problem after all, not the dealership. If they repaired the car now, I would have to pay for it. I decided to be firm, though, and I told them about the company’s responsibility to the customer and about their earlier mistakes, what they had said and what they had left unsaid, in other words was trying to blame the service representative for the shops doings. At the same time I conveyed with my behaviour that I was in no hurry and was going to sit here and finish this sermon while my car was being repaired under warranty. And this friendly service representative lady was clearly trying to do her best and went from one manager to another trying to fix the issue. But the answer remained the same; it was not their responsibility but the tire shops. By now I had decided to leave and let the shop representative know how poorly they take care of their customers and sent my greetings to the manager that this was the last time I would do business with them. I’m sure my body language was speaking volumes of frustration and anger.

As I was driving home from Tacoma I then felt that God was reminding me of the meaning of repentance and forgiveness. I knew that although I would never meet the service rep again, I should apologize to her. I could not defend my negative behaviour like the slogan ”what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”. I hurt somebody else’s feelings, and she had nothing to do with my car’s problem. And even if she had had something to do with the problem, I still could’ve behaved better with a Bible and gospel bulletin righteously next to me. I operated against God’s word:‘whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' (Matt.25:40,41)

So I pulled over, called the dealership and asked to talk to the lady I had been dealing with. I personally apologized to her, I did not mean to offend her, although I felt that the dealership had treated me unfairly. She understood that I had been frustrated and was pleased that I had called. After that I drove to the tire shop and was met with friendly service and the car was fixed, free of charge!

It was exactly what today’s bible text is talking about. Without repentance there is no forgiveness. Without forgiveness there is no transformation and the blessings that come with it. We often forgive the part of Matthews gospel in the Bible where Jesus says: 14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.’ (Matthew 6:14-15)

God’s blessings in our lives are connected to how we treat eachother, do we forgive and ask for forgiveness. I can keep people’s opinions from turning against me by flattering, even lying, but I cannot change God’s opinion, except by confessing my mistakes to Him. Only through confessing to God can He change and renew me and bring His blessings into my life.

The Bible sometimes compares God’s blessings to oil. Just like an engine needs oil and regular oil-changes to run, so does every Christian need the transformation by God in their lives, both in their relationships with their neighbours as well as with God.

I would like to say this humbly and with respect that I believe that we also need repentance and transformation as a congregation here. I believe that many of you know what I’m talking about and also feel in their hearts and at times feel guilty about things that have been unresolved and left unforgiven. I want to encourage you, as well as myself, to take steps towards this kind of repentance and the renewal that comes with it.

Things cannot be resolved behind someone’s back, but person-to-person or together face-to-face. God cannot take care of us if we turn our back on Him. Also, we cannot have a good relationship with our neighbors if we haven’t forgiven, even if we felt that we had a right to feel hurt. I want you to think, though, that God has a much bigger right to turn His back on us because of what we have done. But God wants the connection that is given by the Holy Spirit, and is characteristic of every congregation, to become stronger and grow in our lives.

Heavenly oil such as this, oil that brings blessings to our lives must exist. It doesn’t have to be reinvented, it just needs to be personally utilised if it has been forgotten and left under ground. And this oil is promised to be filled with blessings and renewal for our lives through forgiveness and transformation.

Saarnat Suomeksi	Previous Sermons in English


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