August '23

August 1

Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning,

for in you I put my trust.

Teach me the way I should go,

for to you I lift up my soul.

Psalm 143:8

I haven’t shared this prayer in a while. I like how it moves us to ask for God’s blessing so that we might be a blessing to others.

MORNING PRAYER

God of Light.

Spirit of Compassion.

You open up the morning skies again before me

You breathe in me the breath of life.

Be my guide in this new day

Be present with me and in me.

Heal me

Lift me

Stir me

Gift me

Let me be a blessing and a sign of you

to all I meet, let me find your blessing

and your sign in each one of them. Amen

Blessings to you today. Pastor Phil

August 2

Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy.

Exodus 20:8

I just got back from vacation.

I always feel a bit funny about telling/not telling folks that we are gone. In this day and age, it seems wise to be careful about advertising that your house is vacant. At the same time, I wonder if I should be a bit less careful. A lot of things are like that. It is hard to know exactly what to do...

Well...

After a time of rest, I would like to share this quote on the Sabbath by Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, a great 20th century American rabbi.

“We usually think that the earth is our mother,

that time is money and profit our mate.

The seventh day is a reminder

that God is our father,

that time is life

and the spirit our mate."

Abraham Joshua Heschel

Peace to you today,

I would love to see you at Pastor's Noon Class here today at... NOON!

Pastor Phil

August 3

Jesus said to them, "They need not go away;

you give them something to eat."

Matthew 14:16

On Sunday we will hear the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 from Matthew 14.

This important story is the only miracle of Jesus that is in each of the four Gospels. Jesus’ compassion for the crowd, which led him to feed them from God's generous abundance, is a compassion that each of the Gospel writers considered to be central to our own story and our call to live as God's people in the world.

Here is a quote from the 14th century mystic Meister Eckhart

The Last Word

For not only bread

but all things necessary

for sustenance in this life

are given on loan to us

with others

and because of others

and for others

to others through us.

- Meister Eckhart c.1260-c.1327

As you bear the compassion of Christ into this day, may you give thanks for such a wonderful calling!

Pastor Phil

August 4

Taking the five loaves and the two fish,

[Jesus] looked up to heaven,

and blessed and broke the loaves,

and gave them to the disciples,

and the disciples gave them to the crowds.

Matthew 14:19

There is an interesting looking book, that - although I have not read it - I am quite taken by the story it tells.

It is “Take This Bread” by Sara Miles.

The subtitle is: “A radical conversion”

Part of what is interesting to me, is how this story is centered on Holy Communion - and then on feeding hungry people. It comes to mind as I consider our Gospel story this Sunday from Matthew 14.

Here is the description that goes with the book:

“The story of an unexpected and terribly inconvenient Christian conversion, told by a very unlikely convert, Take This Bread is not only a spiritual memoir but a call to action. Raised as an atheist, Sara Miles lived an enthusiastically secular life as a restaurant cook and writer. Then one morning, for no earthly reason, she wandered into a church. She ate a piece of bread, took a sip of wine, and found herself radically transformed, embracing a faith she'd scorned and which would lead to feeding others in a way that she'd never imagined. Sara started a food pantry giving away literally tons of food from around the same altar where she'd first received the body of Christ, and providing hundreds of hungry families with free groceries each week. Take This Bread is rich with real-life Dickensian characters-church ladies, millionaires, schizophrenics, bishops, and gangsters - all blown into Miles' life by the relentless force of her new-found calling. Here, in this beautiful, passionate book, is Christ's living communion.”

Bless you who also - with Sara Miles - take this bread, and join Christ in feeding the world. Pastor Phil

August 5

Jesus said to the Disciples,

“…you give them something to eat.”

They replied,

“We have nothing here

but five loaves and two fish.”

And he said, “Bring them here to me.”

Matthew 14:16-18

Here is a prayer based on our Gospel story for tomorrow…

Glorious God,

your generosity floods the world with goodness

and you shower creation with abundance.

Awaken in us a hunger for food to satisfy

both body and heart,

that in the miracle of being fed

we may be empowered to feed the hungry

in Jesus' name.

Amen.

The 10th Sunday after Pentecost

August 6

Worship this morning at 9:00 a.m. I hope to see you here.

The service will be posted online.

The Prayer of the Day

Glorious God,

your generosity waters the world with goodness,

and you cover creation with abundance.

Awaken in us

a hunger

for the food that satisfies both body and spirit,

and with this food

fill all the starving world;

through your Son,

Jesus Christ,

our Savior and Lord.

Amen.

August 7

Taking the five loaves and the two fish,
he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves,
and gave them to the disciples,
and the disciples gave them to the crowds.

Matthew 14:19

A friend first shared one of Steve Garnaas-Holmes daily devotions with me this past Easter. I don’t read them every day, but considering how often they spur my thoughts, maybe I should.

I liked this reflection on the feeding of the 5,000 from last week. I share it (sort of) in the format in which he sends them…

Peace to you today, Pastor Phil

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.

Taking the five loaves and the two fish,
he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves,
and gave them to the disciples,
and the disciples gave them to the crowds.
—Matthew 14.19

You will not have enough.
It will be taken from you.
It will be blessed by hands not your own.
It will be broken.
It will be given away.

And you, you will not be enough.
You will be taken.
You will be blessed by hands not your own.
You will be broken.
You will be given.

This is how miracles happen.

Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

August 8

Immediately [Jesus] made the disciples get into the boat

and go on ahead to the other side,

while he dismissed the crowds.

Matthew 14:22

This past Sunday we heard the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 with five loaves and two fish. Immediately following, Matthew tells of the Disciples in a boat, battered by waves, and Jesus walking to them.

Interesting.

To go from such a great success to terror on the Sea of Galilee.

As you go from one challenge to another, as you delight in the gifts that have been given to you, may you know that in your baptism into Christ, God has promised to accompany you in every storm, and to bring God's joy to every feast.

Peace be with you, Pastor Phil

August 9

But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said,

“Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”

Matthew 14:27

I often enjoy the reflections of writer and preacher Sarah Dylan Breuer. Reflecting on the story of Jesus walking on the water, and Peter walking out to join him, until he begins to sink and cries out “save me!”…

"As I've preached before, having faith doesn't mean convincing ourselves that we're convinced of something.

Faith isn't an activity of the brain so much as of the heart, and then I mean it not in the sense of drumming up some kind of feeling, but of pumping blood to ones feet and hands.

In other words, faith is about doing. A faithful person eventually gets to the point at which s/he can say to God,

"I don't know where you're going, but I know that wherever it is, I'd rather be drowning with you than be crowned by somebody else."

That kind of trust in Jesus, in my experience, comes from experience with the person of Jesus." - Sarah Dylan Breuer

I like that.

May you know that Jesus is with you, and when your faith falters, may you know whom to call to as the winds blow and the waters rise.

Peace, Pastor Phil

August 10

But when Peter noticed the strong wind,

he became frightened, and beginning to sink,

he cried out,

“Lord, save me!”

Matthew 14:30

On Sunday we hear the story of Jesus walking on the water.

Here is a prayer known as the Breton Fisherman's Prayer.

Dear God, be good to me.

The sea is so wide,

and my boat is so small.

In part, I share this very brief devotion to give you time to take a look at the article about Kamy Michelena...

Blessings to you today, Pastor Phil

August 11

Peter …cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Matthew 14:30

I liked this reflection on Matthew 14 by David Lose, who was preaching professor at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, and now serves Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church in Minneapolis.

“Have you ever noticed that it’s often in the most challenging times of life that we sense God’s presence most clearly? I’m not saying it should be this way. Or that God only appears when we most need God. Rather, I think that there’s just something about significant challenges and trials that clarify our priorities and cut through the manifold distractions of everyday life so that we may see God more clearly…”

I sort of chuckle at how David begins this thought, “Have you ever noticed…?” Haven’t we all?

Of course, he is writing as a preacher, and inviting us to note that in challenging times we are more attuned to God’s presence in our lives, and we might well invite one another to always be on the lookout for the ways God is present to you today.

Blessings, Pastor Phil

August 12

When they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

And those in the boat worshiped him, saying,

"Truly you are the Son of God."

Matthew 14:33

Usually on Saturday, I share a prayer grounded in Sunday’s Gospel. Today, I’m offering you a poem by Catherine of Siena, who was a 14th century doctor of the Church. Wikipedia tells us that “doctor of the church” is a title given to saints recognized as having made a significant contribution to theology or doctrine through their research, study, or writing."

This poem is shared by Rev. Suzanne Guthrie in ‘At the Edge of the Enclosure’, her weekly reflection on Sunday’s Gospel, which she calls a Self-Guided Retreat.

Blessings to you this Saturday, Pastor Phil

Raise My Sails to Catch the Full Wind

You, O Eternal Trinity,

are a deep sea into which,

the more I enter,

the more I find,

and the more I find,

the more I seek.

O abyss,

O eternal Godhead,

O sea profound,

what more could you give me than yourself?

God’s grace, unsought and unearned,

blows through my life,

and all I need to do

is raise my sails to catch the full wind.
- Catherine of Siena 1347-1380 - click here to go to At the Edge of the Enclosure http://www.edgeofenclosure.org/proper14a.html

11th Sunday after Pentecost

August 13

I hope to see you at worship at 9:00.

The service will be posted online.

O God our defender,

storms rage around and within us

and cause us to be afraid.

Rescue your people from despair,

deliver your sons and daughters from fear,

and preserve us in the faith of your Son,

Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

Amen.

August 14

Peter answered him,

“Lord, if it is you,

command me to come to you

on the water.”

Matthew 14:28

In my reading last week, I liked this reflection on the story of Jesus Walking on the Water by Professor Will Willimon, I thought perhaps you might also find it interesting and challenging:

“And that's how you will know Jesus. Jesus is the one who extravagantly, recklessly, commands you to leave the safety of the boat, to step into the sea, to test the waters, and show what your faith is made of. That's Jesus. "Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling, calling for you and for me," goes an old gospel song. Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling you in today's scripture to risk your life, to throw caution to the wind, to step out the boat and defy death.

We began this gospel story, with Jesus calling a group of very ordinary people to drop their fishing nets, to leave their families to venture forth with him on a perilous sea called discipleship.

First, he said to us, "I'm going to teach you to catch people." And then as we go on the journey with him, he said, "Now, I'm going to teach you to carry a cross."

Why then should we find it strange for one of those people now to say, "Lord, if it is you, call me to get out of the boat and to walk on the waves"?

"Jesus calls us o'er the tumult of our life's wild, restless sea, in our joys and in our sorrows, 'Christian come and follow me.'" Isn't that how another old gospel hymn puts it?

But in today's Gospel, Jesus doesn't simply call us over the tumult. Jesus doesn't call us out of the tumult. No, in today's Gospel, Jesus calls Peter into the tumult…

May you be mindful of where Jesus is calling you today!

Peace, Pastor Phil

August 15

… forgive each other;

just as the Lord has forgiven you,

so you also must forgive.

Colossians 3:13b

My parents were married 70 years ago today. I don’t often think of things like that, but 70 is a marvelously big and round number, and so it comes to mind.

On Saturday I was blessed to preside at the wedding of Katie Weitz, who was a grade school friend of Susie’s. It was a delightful time. During the service, I preached about forgiveness being the key gift that God gives to nurture their love. Although our scripture text was I Corinthians 13 (“love is patient, love is kind”), my favorite reading for weddings is from the third chapter of Colossians. There Paul has that wonderful line that we are called to forgive each other "just as the Lord has forgiven you."

I firmly believe that the key to community, the key to the nurturing of love, is forgiveness. This is so for all relationships, and so, let us once again, give thanks for the gift of forgiveness that God has poured out for us in Jesus Christ.

Peace to you today, Pastor Phil

Colossians 3:12-17

As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

August 16

And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked with favor

on the lowliness of his servant…”

Luke 1:46

Yesterday was a day of remembering Mary, the mother of Jesus in the Catholic Church. The daily devotion of WELCA had an excerpt from a marvelous reflection on the Magnificat by Rev. Susan Sparks. I checked out the article and Pastor Sparks included a striking quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

I want to share this with you today:

The song of Mary is the oldest Advent hymn.

It is at once the most passionate, the wildest,

one might even say the most revolutionary Advent hymn ever sung.

This is not the gentle, tender, dreamy Mary whom we sometimes see in paintings;

this is the passionate, surrendered, proud, enthusiastic Mary who speaks out here.

This song has none of the sweet, nostalgic, or even playful tones of some of our Christmas carols.

It is instead a hard, strong, inexorable song about collapsing thrones and humbled lords of this world,

about the power of God and the powerlessness of humankind.

— Advent Sermon, 1933, from The Collected Sermons of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Fortress, 2012).

Every once in a while I think about a story a colleague told me. He served an interim ministry at one of our congregations, and he introduced them to the Holden Evening Prayer service. A member of that congregation told him he did not like the Magnificat in that service. (You may well know the song, it begins: “My soul proclaims your greatness, O God, and my spirit rejoices in you…”)

Why didn’t he like it? Because of the line… “you have filled the hungry with wondrous things, and left the wealthy no part.”

This reminds me that Mary’s song bears, as Bonhoeffer preached, a revolutionary character.

May you bear God’s revolutionary love into this day!
Blessings, Pastor Phil

August 17

And be thankful

Colossians 3:15b

I have spent a bit of time at the hospital the last few days, not for me, I’ve been praying with members of our congregation. In those visits, we seek God’s presence and comfort in stressful and sometimes scary times.

As I’ve thought about the excellent medical care we are able to receive, I am so very grateful. This makes me think of a line from the reading I shared on Tuesday. It is this very short sentence that concludes the 15th verse of Colossians 3; “And be thankful.” That is almost as brief as the shortest of Bible verses, “Jesus wept.” (Granted, this short sentence is not the entire verse 15, but…)

We have so very much for which to be grateful, and I find myself sometimes filled with wonder in response to God's abundant gifts.

May we find gratitude for great gifts God has granted to us, and may our gratitude send us out in love…

Peace, Pastor Phil

August 18

Jesus said to them,

“I am the bread of life.

Whoever comes to me

will never be hungry,

and whoever believes in me

will never be thirsty.”

John 6:35

On Sunday we hear the striking story of the woman who asks Jesus to heal her child, and Jesus, at first, does not respond to her. After a fascinating exchange, Jesus commends her faith, and her daughter is healed.

I liked this, poetic, prayerful reflection by Rev. Todd Weir:

This bread of life

is not a scarce commodity

o be jealously guarded

or eaten only in times of crisis.

God's banquet table

is abundant,

there is enough

for you

and more than enough left over

to invite others.

Come to the table now,

receive this bread

and be reconnected with God,

receive this cup

and be reconciled

and whole

with one another.

- Todd Weir

A blessed weekend to you, Pastor Phil

Thanks to a generous gift from LeRoy and Inez Johnson, the parking lot asphalt has been coated, and tomorrow we will begin landscaping work on the shrubbery around the Jesus statue.

August 19

“You are the salt of the earth…”

Matthew 5:13

A prayer grounded in our readings tomorrow:

Blessings to you today. Pastor Phil

Holy One of Israel,

covenant-keeper,

you restore what is lost,

heal what is wounded,

and gather in those who have been rejected.

Give us the faith

to speak as steadfastly

as did the Canaanite woman,

that the outcast

may be welcomed

and all people

may be blessed.

Amen.

Reproduced from Revised Common Lectionary Prayers

12th Sunday after Pentecost

August 20

Worship this morning at 9:00 a.m. I hope to see you here.

I want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who joined together to begin the landscaping project. Thank you for your time and hard work!!

Thank you to Doug Lofgren and Stewart Deines for leading the way!

The service will be posted online, click here. https://www.trinitylutheransheridan.org/12-pentecost-august-20

God of all peoples,

your arms reach out

to embrace all those who call upon you.

Teach us

as disciples of your Son

to love the world

with compassion and constancy,

that your name may be known throughout the earth,

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

Amen.

August 21

““I am the true vine,

and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit.”

John 15:1-2

Someone teased me the other day. I summarized yesterday’s story in such a way as to entirely avoid the fact that Jesus engages in a very unsettling conversation with the Canaanite Woman.

I called their conversation a [quote] “fascinating exchange.”

Yes.

It seems the most difficult thing for many of us is to truly admit to our brokenness.

I though of this on Saturday as we trimmed some trees around the Church…

Here’s a picture.

I remember seeing coffee plants in Hawaii. They said that they grow to about 12 feet, and when they are pruned, they cut them back to about 2 feet. We saw some trees that had recently been pruned, and it was hard to believe they would recover. . .

In the story of the Canaanite woman, it seems that Jesus relents from the path he started on with her. Perhaps he changed his mind, and we know that he chose to work God’s healing for her daughter.

What needs trimming or pruning, or healing or forgiving in your own self?

Jesus is more than ready to work the grace that will lead to bearing more fruit in your life.

Peace, Pastor Phil

August 22

The apostles said to the Lord,

“Increase our faith!”

The Lord replied,

“If you had faith the size of a mustard seed…”

Luke 17:5-6a

Over the next few days I will share some of the quotes I have set a side over the years. I love these insights, and I thought I would share one or two (or maybe three) per day over the next several days (with Prayers of the Day on the weekend.)

Perhaps these quotes can visit with each other and with you to spur your thoughts and prayers:

This is a nice reflection on God’s seeming preference for working through the unexpected and tiny:

Blessings to you today, Pastor Phil

The power of goodness is found in the tiny.

Since the beginning, God has chosen the tiny over the large:

David over Goliath,

Gideon and his three hundred soldiers over thousands of Midianites,

Elijah over the prophets of Baal,

one sheep over ninety-nine sheep.

Spirituality is about doing the tiny work of God,

little acts,

small responses to God’s presence in our lives.

- Mike Yaconelli

August 23

The heavens are telling the glory of God;

and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.

Psalm 19:1

Many of the quotes I have set aside revolve around wonder and mystery.

Interestingly, St. Gregory lived around 335-395…

May you find occasions for wonder today.

Peace, Pastor Phil

Never once in my life did I ask God

for success or wisdom or power or fame.

I asked for wonder, and he gave it to me.

- Abraham Joshua Heschel

It is not the task of Christianity

to provide easy answers to every question,

but to make us progressively aware of a mystery.
God is not so much the object of our knowledge

as the cause of our wonder.

- Kallistos Ware

Concepts create idols.

Only wonder comprehends anything.

People kill one another over idols.

Wonder makes us fall to our knees.

- St Gregory of Nyssa (Life of Moses)

August 24

“But God chose what is foolish in the world

to shame the wise;

God chose what is weak in the world

to shame the strong…”

I Corinthians 1:27

Here are quotes on simplicity. One irony, the people quoted here are anything but simple…

May you have a great day, Pastor Phil

One day I will find the right words,

and they will be simple.

- Jack Kerouac

Everything should be made as simple as possible,

but not simpler.

- Albert Einstein

I adore simple pleasures.

They are the last refuge of the complex.

- Oscar Wilde

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

- Leonardo da Vinci

God loves all simple things.

For God is the simplest of all.

- “A Simple Song” - Leonard Bernstein

August 25

And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years,

and in divine and human favor.

Luke 2:52, the end of the Christmas story…

Some quotes today, centering on humility, which I think might be described as an elusive gift…

A blessed weekend to you, Pastor Phil

The only wisdom we can hope to acquire

is the wisdom of humility:

Humility is endless.

T.S. Eliot

Life is a long lesson in humility.

- James M. Barrie

Don’t be humble. You’re not that great.

- Golda Meir

Humility is a virtue all men preach,

none practice,

and yet everybody is content to hear.

The master thinks it good doctrine for his servants,

the laity for the clergy,

and the clergy for the laity.

- John Seldon

August 26

A prayer grounded in the lessons we have in worship tomorrow. Our sermon tomorrow will center on the story of Moses in the basket and his family watching over him…

God of Miriam and Moses,
you are our help from age to age.
Accept our worship, our living sacrifice,
and transform us by your Spirit,
that, being many members of one true body,
we may dare to pray together
in the name of Christ the Lord.

Amen.

The 13th Sunday after Pentecost

August 27

I hope you can be here for worship today at 9:00 a.m.

LOOKING AHEAD - We will continue with ONE SUNDAY SERVICE at 9:00 a.m. each Sunday. Sunday School will follow worship, beginning at 10:15.

Today’s service will be posted online, click here.

https://www.trinitylutheransheridan.org/13-pentecost-august-27

The Prayer of the Day:

O God,

with all your faithful followers of every age,

we praise you,

the rock of our life.

Be our strong foundation

and form us into the body of your Son,

that we may gladly minister to all the world,

through Jesus Christ,

our Savior and Lord.

Amen

August 28

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,

and with all your soul, and with all your strength,

and with all your mind;

and your neighbor as yourself.”

Luke 10:27

Three quotes that might be summations of a philosophy of life (sort of)

I trust they can spur thought for you…

Blessings, Pastor Phil

If you must look back, do so forgivingly.

If you must look forward, do so prayerfully.

However, the wisest thing you can do

is be present in the present… Gratefully.

Maya Angelou

"Three things in human life are important.

The first is to be kind.

The second is to be kind.

And the third is to be kind.”

- Henry James

Life is not a problem to be solved,

but a reality to be experienced.

- Soren Kierkegaard

August 29

And the one who was seated on the throne said,

“See, I am making all things new.”

Also he said,

“Write this,

for these words

are trustworthy and true.”

Revelation 21:5

Of the quotes I have shared in the last week, these are probably the most recently published of them all. I just listened to a great interview of Stanley Hauerwas (I had not heard him before, although I’ve read his work for decades). Sadly, Rachel Held Evans died 4 years ago, she was not yet 40 years old, yet was a very wise theologian and an excellent writer…

May you know for certain that God has written you into God’s story of love and light and hope and forgiveness and peace!

Pastor Phil

Not only is knowledge of self tied to knowledge of God,

but we know ourselves truthfully

only when we know ourselves in relation to God.

We know who we are only when we can place our selves

- locate our stories -

within God’s story.

- Stanley Hauerwas

The gospel means that every small story

is part of a sweeping story,

every ordinary life

part of an extraordinary movement.

God is busy making all things new,

and the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus

has opened that work to everyone who wants in on it.

- Rachel Held Evans

August 30

And the king will answer them,

‘Truly I tell you,

just as you did it to one of the least of these

who are members of my family,

you did it to me.’

Matthew 25:40

One of my favorite devotional books is The Word for Every Day by Alvin Rogness. He served as a pastor beginning in the 1930’s and became President of Luther Seminary in 1954.

I like this passage from a reflection that names how your salvation is something that is a gift - not only to you - but also to all around you…

In a profound sense we can never be alone,

not even with God.

When we pray to him and invite him to come to us,

we discover that we have no private party with him.

He brings with him all who are his.

He also brings with him all who are in need and says:

“Whatever you have done for the least of these,

you have done for me.”

So, as we go to our private rooms or sit alone with God,

we sense the vast company to which we belong in him,

and we cannot escape

those whom the Lord asks us to help and to love.

Al Rogness, The Word for Every Day

Peace to you, Pastor Phil

August 31

Then Jesus told his disciples,

“If any want to become my followers,

let them deny themselves

and take up their cross

and follow me.”

Matthew 16:24

On Sunday we hear Jesus’ challenging call to discipleship: “take up your cross and follow me.”

This reading follows that of last Sunday. There we heard:

“And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” (v. 17-18)

This was in response to Peter confessing his belief that Jesus is the Messiah.

Yet in just a few verses, after Jesus points out what it will mean for him to be God’s chosen one, Peter objects, and Jesus tells Peter:

“Get behind me, Satan…” (v. 23)

Dr. Greg Carey, Professor of New Testament, at Lancaster Theological Seminary wrote a commentary for preachers on this story.

Perhaps the title says enough for reflection today:

“Jesus Has No Part-Time Disciples”

May your full-time discipleship give life to love for this world which God loves so very much, that he sent Jesus, who bore his cross, and bids us to follow.

Blessings, Pastor Phil