Sermon on Matthew16:21-28

Pastor Jennifer Garcia

It would be so nice if Jesus had come, taught us to live well together, died, rose again, sent the Holy Spirit, and then no Jesus followers ever fought about anything ever again.

Unfortunately, that wouldn’t happen, and Jesus knew it.

It’s not long into the book of Acts before Peter and Paul started loudly disputing about whether followers of Jesus should be required to be circumcised or not.

Paul’s letters are full of advice and heartfelt pleas for early churches to settle their disputes.

The first quite a few centuries of the Church involved people declaring people heretics and excommunicating each other.

Jesus knew conflict would happen in the Church.

It would also be nice if that were all ancient history, and the Church had resolved all of its disagreements, and now we could just focus on loving God and our neighbor in peace.

But the Church is made up of humans, and humans have conflict.

It’s not just the Church. Society’s having a hard time discerning how to address conflict. I’ve heard it said that we live in the most politically polarized time in US history other than the Civil War.

How do we have constructive conversations and respectful disagreements when everyone from journalists to politicians calls each other names? That’s behavior we were discouraged from when we were still on the playground!

We’re also trying to figure out how to hold people, especially powerful people, accountable for abuse and misconduct.Where’s the line between holding people accountable and cancel culture, blacklisting people based on the court of social media?

And conflict in the Church is rarely handled better than outside of it. I hear constant stories from colleagues around the country dealing with bullying behavior from parishioners, the aftermath of bad conduct from previous clergy, and factions tearing congregations apart.

Jesus had advice for conflict as we read in our Gospel reading, but even that gets misused.For instance, ifwe follow the letter of these instructions, it requires someone who has been abused to confront their abuser alone before bringing witnesses along. That’s a terrible way to handle an already terrible situation.

And getting the whole congregation involved in the final step can be used as a way topublicly shame someone who doesn’t fit into a congregation’s culture. Plenty of LGBTQ folks have experienced this “biblical” way of handling “sin.”

This is a situation where we have to look not just at the letter of Jesus’ teachings but the spirit of them. Let’s look at four principles we can draw from the spirit of this teaching.

First, address conflict. “Turning the other cheek” doesn’t mean ignoring wrongs and letting resentment fester.

Priya Parker, whose book The Art of Fighting will come out on Tuesday, said, “in twenty-five years as a conflict dialogue facilitator, I’ve learned something deeply counterintuitive: long-term communities need love, and they also need conflict.The relationships that last aren’t the ones that never fight. They’re the ones that learn how to fight well.”

This can be challenging for some of us who come from families or cultures that tend to be conflict averse. There’s no singular “right” way to handle conflict. Some people bring big emotions to conflicts. Others may be more reserved.

There are multiple healthy ways to handle conflict. But not acknowledging that there’s a conflict in the first place is not healthy. Our emotions can only be ignored for so long before they start coming out sideways in passive aggressive behavior or misplaced anger or internalized distress.

Time doesn’t necessarily heal all wounds. Sometimes wounds need to breathe and be cleaned out before they can heal.

Second, communicate directly. If you have an issue with someone, talk to them about it instead of complaining to other people.

There’s an important caveat, though: only do this if it’s safe. There are situations where it’s imperative to get outside help, mediation, or protection. In a situation of abuse or if there’s a big power differential between you and the person who wronged you, it may not be safe to confront them directly. That’s when it’s important to seek outside help.

But in less serious situations or where the power dynamic is more equal, try to talk with the other person instead of grumbling about the situation to others andtrying to get them on your side.

This is a tough line to navigate. When are we seeking advice orletting off steam and when are we gossiping?

I don’t have an easy answer. I think that’s something we constantly have to discern in conversation with the Holy Spirit.

But, as Brene Brown says, “clear is kind.” Addressing an issue directly can often prevent deeper hurt.

Third, sometimes we need outside help.In situations where it’s safe to confront the other person, sometimes we can get gridlocked, unable to solve the issue ourselves. Bringing in someone else can be helpful for mediation, witnessing, accountability, or coaching.

Fourth and finally, bring in the smallest number of people possible. If safe, begin with just the other person, then one or two witnesses. Bring it to the whole congregation only if it’s absolutely necessary.

This last step in Jesus’ instructions is tough. We want church to be a welcoming, forgiving, loving place, so Jesus sounds harsh saying to “let such a one [who refuses to listen even to the church] be to you as a gentile and a tax collector.”

This is the absolute last resort. It’s not to be undertaken lightly. But sometimes there are cases where someone is actively harming vulnerable people in the congregation and refuses to change that behavior. Sometimes the whole community does need to be made aware of a situation. Again, “clear is kind.” Congregations need to grieve together when there’s a situation like fiscal or sexual misconduct from a leader, or else the wound festers from secrecy and gossiping.

Throughout this teaching about conflict, Jesus’ ultimate concern is caring for the vulnerable. He talks through the whole of chapter 18 up to this point about protecting “little ones.” There are situations where the most vulnerable are protected by just a few people working out the conflict and others where the most vulnerable are protected by the compassion of the whole community.

And still, Jesus’ words about treating people like gentiles and tax collectors sound harsh. But remember also that Jesus was consistently being criticized for hanging out with tax collectors, and his mission was to the whole world, including gentiles. So, it’s not a slammed door. There may be situations where someone’s harmful behavior means they can’t be a part of the community, but that doesn’t have to last forever. Jesus forgives, redeems, and loves all people.

To sum up, these are four of the principles we can take from the spirit of Jesus’ teaching:

1.    Address conflict.

2.    Communicate directly.

3.    Seek outside help if necessary.

4.    And bring in the smallest number of people possible.

Maybe we can add “protect the vulnerable” and “allow people to change” to that list.

Jesus knew there would be conflict among his followers, and there continues to be.We’re human. There will be conflict.

But that just means we care about things. It means God created us in beautiful variety. We’re not carbon copies or robots. We’re unique with different ideas about what to prioritize, how to do things, and what values to uphold.

I know this congregation has experienced conflict. I have heard the hurt around people disagreeing about the ELCA’s decision to ordain LGBTQ folks and bless LGBTQ relationships in 2009. I know that’s still tender for some of you who were part of this congregation during that time.

I’m sure there have been plenty of other disagreements over the years. A congregation doesn’t last this long without some conflict.And we’re still here, feeding our neighbors body and soul.

When we fight, let’s fight well, facing the conflict directly, seeking to understand, receiving disagreement compassionately.Let’s try to forgive each other and forgive ourselves as God forgives us.

Above all, let’s strive to protect the most vulnerable within this congregation and in the greater community, as Jesus did.

Whenever we gather, even if it’s in conflict, Jesus is here among us. Thanks be to God!

Sermon on Matthew 16:21-28

Pastor Jennifer Garcia

This week’s Gospel reading continues right where last week’s left off. Peter had declared his belief that Jesus was “the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”He understood what the crowds who called Jesus a prophet did not. But his understanding only went so far.

When Jesus started trying to prepare his disciples that the religious leaders and the Roman overlords were going to find him so threatening that they would put him to death and that he would be raised on the third day, Peter wasn’t having it.

He was understandably upset that his beloved rabbi and the Messiah would even suggest his untimely death. If an important mentor or teacher in our lives said something like that, we would also be concerned and distressed.

For Jesus’ disciples, all they could see was that there was so much more for Jesus to accomplish. If he was the Messiah as he just confirmed, then certainly he would rescue them from the Romans, showing God’s power and protection of God’s people like God had done through Moses. Or maybe Jesus would be a powerful military leader like his ancestor David and show God’s power over their enemies.

God surely wouldn’t allow Jesus to be a victim of state violence like so many would-be revolutionaries against the Roman Empire. Jesus would triumph! He had to!

What they didn’t understand, of course, was that triumph could look different from what they expected. God isn’t a God of violence and war.God is a God of liberation and healing.

God liberated God’s people from Egypt. And God helped them heal from their enslavement.

And now God was going to heal the world through something that would look like utter defeat: the cross.

It would take much harder work than crafting a military strategy. It would take total self-emptying.

It would mean riding a donkey into Jerusalem instead of a warhorse.

It would mean being jabbed with a crown of thorns instead of wearing a crown of gold.

It would mean being mocked and insulted and lied about without defending himself.

It would mean submitting to the excruciating death of a criminal and enemy of the state.

Jesus went through all that because he loves us. Because he believes in God’s shalom, the Beloved Community, where the last will be first and the first will be last.

He came to bring God’s peace, not just the lack of war.

He came to bring God’s healing, not just the lack of sickness.

And because he didn’t match what people like Peter expected, we profoundly misunderstood what he was about.

Even those of us who have spent decades in church pews still get derailed sometimes in our understanding of Jesus when we get caught up in the way the world thinks.

Society cares about the size of our bellies instead of the size of our hearts.

About the number of dollars in our wallets instead of the number of kind words we say.

About thereach of our platform instead of the reach of our generosity.

If God is alluded to at all, it’s usually in a “God helps those who help themselves” sort of way, which discounts the way Jesus encourages us to support each other.

Or a #blessed message that correlates earthly possessions or good fortune with God’s blessing, which has troubling implications for any of us who take a financial hit or receive a difficult diagnosis or who are born into under-resourced circumstances.

Sometimes we’re fed an image of Jesus as strong, vengeful, powerful.

Other times, we’re fed an image of Jesus as so meek and mild that a breeze would blow him over.

But worldly power isn’t true strength, and self-emptying isn’t fragility.

As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians about God’s response to his request to remove the “thorn in his flesh,”“’My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’”[1]

This is so opposite of what the world says.

The world says, “Might is right.”

God says, “My might is in the cross.”

The world says, “The one with the most toys wins.”

God says, “How much can you give away in love for your neighbor?”

The world says, “Hustle.”

God says, “Abide.”

The world says, “You’re nothing if you’re not the richest, fittest, most powerful, most attractive, most influential.”

God says, “I loved you before I made you. I became human, lived, died, and rose again out of love for you. I love you exactly as you are right now, and that will always be the case.”

Jesus came to heal the world, and that healing looks very different from what the world sees as success.

Now, all that is easy to say and even believe in your head, but it can be hard to feel it in your heart, your gut, your bones.

So, today, we’re going to spend some time a little later in the service asking God for healing.You’ll be able to receive individual prayer, healing oil on your forehead, the laying on of hands—a gentle hand on your shoulder or head. Any or all of these things as they feel right and meaningful to you.

We’re going to need help setting our minds on divine things instead of passively accepting the way the world defines success.

The healing Jesus came to bring to the world may not look like success. It may not include curing us of our illnesses or disabilities. It may not remove our challenges.

But it does mean that Jesus is here with us in all our challenges. It means that we’re together in the Body of Christ to support each other. It means the Holy Spirit lives in your heart and brings you God’s peace and comfort.

Jesus, the Second Person of Almighty God, emptied himself, accepting humiliating execution by the state, in order to bring God’s surprising life and healing to a world that wouldn’t understand it.

We don’t have to understand it. We can let that healing sink into our bones togetherso that we carry that healing into ourhurting world.

[1] 2 Corinthians 12:9

Sermon on Matthew16:13-20

Pastor Jennifer Garcia

They say notto read the comment section in online posts. If you publish an article or make a statement, there might be some supportive comments, but there will probably be a lot more toxic ones. It’s easy to get sucked into reading criticism and misunderstanding, internalize it, and stop creating, speaking, and sharing. It’s far easier to misunderstand and criticize for the sake of getting attention than to create something new.

In our Gospel reading, Jesus was being misunderstood and criticized. People didn’t really get him. When Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” they shared positive responses: that people thought he was a prophet.

But we know from elsewhere in the Gospels that Jesus was suspected of being possessed or in league with demons. His disciples didn’t mention that part.

But even the most positive answers didn’t present the whole picture.

So, Jesus asked his disciples, “But who do you say that I am?”

And Peter answered: impetuous Peter, who in our reading a couple weeks ago asked Jesus to let him walk on water while the other disciples stayed in the boat.

Maybe it was that experience—feeling the waves roll under his feet and knowing Jesus had power over the natural world.

Maybe it was the feeding of the 5,000 before that, filling his belly with a miraculously abundant meal. Or the feeding of the 4,000, where Jesus fed people in Gentile territory, expanding his mission to the whole world.

Something made Peter realize that his rabbi Jesus was so much more than a prophet. This was “the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” This was the savior God promised,the anointed leader descended from David, the man after God’s own heart.

It was Peter, a fallible and faithful fisher, who really got Jesus. And Jesus declared that he would build the Beloved Community on the testimony of an ordinary, everyday guy with a big mouth and an even bigger heart.

It’s encouraging that Jesus didn’t pick the most learned, the most strategic, the strongest, richest, or most powerful person. He picked Peter.

That’s some good news for the days when it’s hard to be a follower of Jesus.

And it’s definitely hard to be a follower of Jesus sometimes:

1.    When the loudest Christians act in unloving ways

2.    When the media treats Christianity like a monolith instead of acknowledging its incredibly different traditions and perspectives

3.    When so many people have been hurt by Christians that it makes you not want to fess up to being one

4.    When you’re learning yet another aspect of how Christians throughout history have hurt people in the name of Jesus

People today often don’t get Jesus any more than they did in the first century.

It’s hard to really get Jesus when there are centuries of culture, theology, art, etc. to sift through to figure out what we believe about him. And so many people today speak in absolutes about Jesus and Christianity, leaving little room for questions, doubt, paradox, or mystery. There’s so much we don’t know for sure—why else would we call it faith?

One thing we don’t know for sure is what Jesus looked like, and yet, I bet for many of us, if we closed our eyes and pictured Jesus, he would look something like the Jesus window up there at the front of the church, based on the famous 1940 painting by Warner Sallman.

But, we don’t have any photographs, portraits, or even written descriptions of what Jesus looked like when he was walking around in the first century.

Chances are, he had dark brown hair, brown skin, and brown eyes. He was probably fairly muscular with calloused hands from learning carpentry from Joseph.

And yet, people would often joke that my next-door neighbor in seminary looked like Jesus. He was tall, lean, blond, with a trim, light-colored beard, and skin with a similar color to mine. Not exactly Middle Eastern looking.

Then, I have a family friend who is like a bonus grandmother to me. She’s originally from Lebanon, and she was my mom’s supervisor at the library when I was born. She grew up picturing Mary as blonde.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with picturing Jesus (or Mary)in different ways. It’s beautiful for people to imagine Jesus as looking like them and seeing Jesus reflected in their own humanity. Or imagining Jesus as someone very different from them and seeing Jesus reflected in the humanity of others.

But when white European missionaries carried portraits of a white looking Jesus with them to places where people looked very different, it was natural to conclude that the missionaries were more like Jesus than the people being preached to. This compounded the harmful and racist theologies often being taught.

So much damage has been done in Jesus’ name.

But it’s not too late to examine our own understandings of who Jesus is and what he looks like—maybe clearing up some misunderstandings and getting a clearer picture of Jesus’ heart.

A few years ago, when we had Messy Church, we were learning about the different stained-glass windows here at First Lutheran, because the kids had a lot of questions about them.

When we got to the Jesus window, I brought in a bunch of art depicting Jesus: the Warner Sallman portrait, a sixth-century Byzantine icon, a modern-day portrayal of Jesus as an unhoused person, paintings of Jesus as a Black person and an Asian person, a feminine-looking Jesus, a computer-generated image of what the historical Jesus might have actually looked like, etc.

It was so fun to hear the kids explore the different images. They noticed kind eyes or similarities in their hair textures.

And then, we drew our own portraits of Jesus and let me tell you: they were all very different. And that’s okay.

As I told the kids: it’s okay to imagine Jesus looking like us or any way we like, as long as we remember what Jesus probably looked like and don’t impose our version of Jesus on someone else.

It’s great to let our imaginations run wild. As our reading from Romans puts it: “we, who are many, are one body in Christ.” Jesus is present in the Body of Christ, and so can look any way we can dream up.

It’s helpful to imagine Jesus looking like us so that we see the image of God in ourselves.

And it’s helpful to imagine Jesus looking like people very different from us so that we see the image of God in every person.

How might opening our hearts to different images of Jesusopen our hearts to our neighbors, especially those who don’t necessarily look like the Jesus window?

How might that lead us to a deeper response to Jesus’ question: “who do you say that I am?”

It’s okay if your answer isn’t as succinct as Peter’s. It’s a powerful question that we can continue to answer for our whole lives.

Jesus is both Messiah and mystery, Son of the Living God and present in the least of our siblings, and present at this table, in our communities, and in our own hearts.

Jesus is in the mirror and in the face of the person you would rather not deal with today.

Let the question, “who do you say that I am,” live in your heart and let it shape the way you move in the world.

Maybe having more Christians with better questions and fewer answers will be an antidote to the ways our world is determined to misunderstand Jesus.

At least, it may help us be braver in loving people in Jesus’ name.