Time for A Tune-Up

The Rev. Dr. Skip Ferguson

Manassas Presbyterian Church

Manassas, Virginia

June 18, 2017

Time for A Tune-Up

Matthew 16:24-26

Music – joyful, energetic,

even triumphant.

It’s the music coming from the television

that first pulls you in,

your ears first,

and then your eyes,

followed by your mind,

and then every bit of you

focused on the screen.

The music slides down and moves to the back,

to make room for a voice,

smooth, rich, honeyed,

a voice talking to you in high definition:

“Don’t settle for less

when God wants you to have more,

more!

Have the life you deserve,

the life God wants for you,

a life overflowing in blessings,

God’s richest blessings,

Yes, you can be free to enjoy

all of God’s richest blessings!”

The images on the screen

show happy, carefree men and women,

standing before lovely homes,

driving shiny new cars;

and then as the music swells,

you see a woman dancing, spinning around,

her hands in the air as money rains down on her,

dollar bills raining down,

as though from God’s heavenly hand itself.

“You can be free to enjoy

all of God’s richest blessings!”

“Yes!” you think to yourself,

this is the life you want,

this is the life you deserve to have,

overflowing in the richest of God’s blessings.

So on Sunday morning you go to church,

go with a whole new attitude;

go where you once went reluctantly,

complacently;

today you go eagerly,

filled with anticipation,

a sense of expectation.

The music stirs you as the service begins.

You can’t help looking up,

looking not so much for God,

but for perhaps a few dollars floating down,

down, down, from the heavens,

into your lap.

You wait, impatiently, for the sermon.

You’re so eager for the preacher

to step behind the pulpit,

eager in a way you’d never been before.

You can’t wait for him to open his Bible,

read scripture,

and then interpret God’s Word,

reveal God’s secrets,

open the door,

show you the path.

Finally the moment comes.

The preacher stands up from his chair

and walks toward the pulpit.

Each step is measured, deliberate.

His face is somber, serious,

his eyes fixed on the pulpit.

He steps behind the pulpit,

stands behind that great sacred desk.

He clears his throat,

adjusts his stole.

The room is silent,

you are on the edge of your seat… literally.

The worn tattered Bible

the preacher put on the pulpit,

along with his sermon manuscript—

you look at them

and you see a treasure map.

Finally the moment comes.

The preacher opens his Bible

and says in bold baritone,

“Our lesson this morning comes from

Matthew’s gospel,

reading from the 16^th chapter.

Jesus is gathered with his disciples,

speaking to them.

Jesus is speaking as well to you and to me

…Listen:”

“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?”

(Matthew 16:24-26)

This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.”

“Wait a minute,” you think.

Wait a minute!

“Deny yourself?

Take up your cross?

Forfeit your life?

Is the preacher kidding?

Where are the riches?

Where are the blessings?

Deny yourself?

Take up your cross?

Lose your life to find it?

Your blood pressure rises,

your cheeks burn.

You’re not just disappointed,

you are angry.

Your mind is no longer on the preacher.

You don’t hear him say,

“As the apostle Paul tells us,

‘Set your minds on things that are above,

not on things that are on earth’”

(Colossians 3:1)

You can’t wait for the service to end.

You can’t wait to leave.

You can’t wait to go find another church,

a church where the preacher

will tell you of riches and blessings,

a church where the preacher

would never even dream of saying,

“deny yourself”.

A church where the road rich in blessings

will finally be revealed.

This is our struggle

the struggle we have with God,

with Jesus,

with our faith.

We want blessings,

sometimes we even expect blessings

to flow,

flow in return for our faith—

that’s the deal.

After all

aren’t those the very words we sing   

in the Old Hundredth,

the doxology we probably know best:

“Praise God from whom all blessings flow.”

We want blessings.

We want blessings to flow.

We want an abundant, rich life,

each of us, all of us.

Deny yourself?

Take up your cross?

Lose your life?

No thank you!

But yet, those are the words

of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Those are his teachings:

his words to his disciples;

his words to you and me.

How easy it is to turn a deaf ear to Paul’s words:

‘Set your minds on things that are above,

not on things that are on earth’”

We cannot fool God with our denial:

our minds are firmly on things of this earth.  

It’s no wonder we balk at our Lord’s teachings.

Imagine if our minds were set,

truly, faithfully set,  

on things above.

Imagine if our minds were set on things above

rather than always pressing our own wills,

our own agendas.

We would welcome aliens and immigrants,

not fear them.

We would take communal responsibility

for healing the sick,

feeding the hungry,

rather than turning from them,

telling them its their own fault

they’re sick or hungry.

We would care for this earth,

God’s creation,

rather than denying our responsibility to God,

and to the generations who will come after us.

We’d look constantly for ways

to burn away the anger

that seems ready to consume our world,

burn it away with grace and love,

as improbable a road as that might

seem to walk.  

We’d turn from the judgment that colors our lives,

the judgmental mindset we all have,

even as we furiously deny having it.

Denying ourselves,

our focus on things above,

we wouldn’t struggle,

as another denomination recently did,

to condemn racism and bigotry.

We’d quickly adopt,

as they happily ultimately did,

a statement bold, strong and faithful,

words that are a call to action:

“Racism and white supremacy are, sadly,

not extinct but present all over the world

in various white supremacist movements,

sometimes known as “white nationalism”

or ‘alt-right’;…

We decry every form of racism,

including alt-right white supremacy,

as antithetical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Listen again to our Lord’s words,

from Matthew’s Gospel,

this time through Eugene Peterson’s paraphrasing

in the Message:

“Anyone who intends to come with me

has to let me lead.

You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am.

Don’t run from suffering; embrace it.

Follow me and I’ll show you how.

Self-help is no help at all.

Self-sacrifice is the way, my way,

to finding yourself, your true self.

What kind of deal is it

to get everything you want

but lose yourself?

What could you ever trade your soul for?”

Jesus asks us hard questions,

and expects much from us;

he sets the bar high.

It’s easy to turn away;

it’s easy to lose sight;

it’s easy to muddle our Lord’s message.

Remember:

you and I are not in the drivers seat;

Jesus is.

And, continuing with our car metaphor,

like any car engine we occasionally run rough,

sputter,

even backfire.

We need regular tune-ups,

spiritual tune-ups

to call us back to our Lord’s way.

Our Lord knows we’ll sputter, fall,

turn away.

But his promise to us is always the same,

grounded as it is in grace:

“If you fall, I will help you back up,

If you turn away,

I’ll help you find your way back.

Try it again.

I’m with you every step of the way.

I’ll never give up on you.”

So, as the first letter of Peter teaches us

“roll up your sleeves,

put your mind in gear,

….Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves …,

doing just what you feel like doing.

You didn’t know any better then; you do now.

As obedient children,

let yourselves be pulled into a way of life

shaped by God’s life,

a life energetic and blazing with holiness.

 (The Message)

“As obedient children,

let yourselves be pulled into a way of life

shaped by God’s life,

a life energetic and blazing with holiness.”

A life rich in blessings.

AMEN