Get Behind Me.....

We sometimes forget that discipleship is not an out front, take charge, give direction, role. We sometimes forget that being disciples means following, being disciples means working toward someone else's goals, someone else's plan for the future, building someone else's kingdom.

Peter forgot that. He was riding a wave of exuberant certainty after Jesus had praised him for his testimony, and told him that the kingdom  would be build on the rock of his witness. He had done well, and now, he felt he had gained the standing to be able to question Jesus' mission, to be able to act as Jesus' adviser, set the course of the coming kingdom.

Jesus quickly, even harshly, puts Peter back in his place, reminds him that he is a follower, needs to be a follower, needs to be behind Jesus.

This Sunday, we'll spend some time thinking about how Jesus words to Peter might apply in our lives today. Are we willing to follow, to take up our crosses, to give up our lives, or are we chasing our own vision of what God's kingdom should look like?

Who Do You Say Jesus Is....

Its pretty easy to answer the question of who Jesus is when we are in church. The Apostles Creed likely gives us the most concise definition recognizing Jesus birth, his life, his death, resurrection and ascension. Its easy to agree on these things when we are in church, with other Christians, with people like us.

But what do we say in the workplace, at the mall, at the beach, at the campsite, at the block party, when we are not with, and among people with the same beliefs and understanding as we have? Is our profession the same? Do we say the same thing? Do we echo Peter's words: You are the Messiah, the son of the living God?

Join us this Sunday, as we look more closely at Peter's testimony, and at how we can, and should emulate it.

Crumbs for....

Racial tensions have been in the news a lot lately. The horror of Charlottesville is still very fresh in all of our minds even though we watch from the other side of the border. Words spoken, and left unspoken, fill our newscasts and our social media feeds. The words and actions of white supremacists and neo-Nazis show us that hate and sin are alive and well in our world.

The Lectionary, this week, brings us to the story of the Canaanite woman and her interaction with Jesus. Its a puzzling piece, because, initially anyway,  Jesus seems to support sense of superiority the Israelites held over the Canaanites, seems to join in with the culture of name calling, and division. Yet, by the end of the interaction, Jesus commends the woman for her "great" faith. Nowhere else in Matthew's gospel is this level of praise offered by Jesus. I wonder what Twitter would have had to say about that. 

This Sunday, we'll spend some time wondering about this narrative, wondering how it relates to our walk as Jesus disciples in a world that is very different, and yet, so much the same. 

Only Five Loaves and Two Fish

All of the gospels tell the story of Jesus feeding a huge crowd with a miserably small amount of food. It was a miracle. Jesus preformed many other miracles, some of which are not even recorded, but this one the gospel writers recognized as so important  all of them make it part of their gospel account.

Matthew records Jesus telling the disciples that they should feed the crowd of people. They are incredulous,  hold up the little bit that they have, five loads and two fish, not really even enough for themselves, and suggest that sending the people away was likely the best idea. They feel they just don't have the resources to carry out the task  put in front of them.

"Really Jesus? You must be kidding...we don't even have enough for ourselves!"

How often don't we look at the overwhelming needs around us, hear Jesus words: "Feed them" and react in the same way while holding what we feel are meager resources in our hands.

This Sunday we will continue to look at what discipleship looks like in a world where our resources and efforts seem too small to do anything to solve the problems around us.