Sidney UMC - Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost - 08/27/23 - Sermon - "Who Are We Better Than?"

Sunday 08/27/23 - Sidney UMC 

Sermon Title: “Who Are We Better Than?”                                  

Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 124                                       

New Testament Scripture: Romans 12:1-8

Gospel Lesson: Matthew 16:13-20

          Have you ever been in a situation where someone just snapped at you, or verbally “jumped all over you,” and it was completely, I mean completely unexpected? Maybe you were just talking in a group of people, or just talking to one person, and suddenly someone just blew up at you? Maybe you just said hello to someone, and that hello was met with a rude and or mean response?

          I am sure that we have all had situations like this happen. When it does happen sometimes though, we are often shocked and caught completely off guard. We might ask, “why did the person in grocery store shout at me?” We might ask, “why did my friend unexpectedly snap at me for no reason?” We can go on and on with other examples, but we all have experienced these realities at one time or another.  

          I remember watching a couple of commercials for Snickers candy bars a few years ago, and the theme of these commercials were “you’re not you when you’re hungry.” In these hilarious commercials a person is acting strange and not like themselves, due to being hungry. At the end of the commercial they eat a Snickers bar and they are instantly themselves again.

          Maybe someone has snapped at us because they were hungry, tired, in pain, or some other reason. What is it that causes others or even us to lose our cool? Have you ever lost your cool on someone? Why did you lose your cool? Were you tired, hungry, in pain, the Yankees are in last place, or some other reason? I guess if we ourselves have snapped on someone else, we can understand why we did it, but sometimes when we are the recipient of this, we may be shocked and or taken aback.

          Sometimes these things happen, and sometimes we are the giver and or receiver. Most of us know how we are supposed to act and treat people, but I guess we all have our moments, don’t we? I have in fact, had people say things to me like, “Pastor Paul I was so mad that I could just scream!” Or “after the day I had at work, I didn’t want to talk to anyone!” Or maybe you remember Ralph Kramden in the television show the “Honeymooners,” saying “To the moon Alice!” Maybe you walked into church today saying to yourself this morning, “Pastor Paul better be nice, or I’ll give him a piece of my mind!”

          Further, when we have snapped at someone, do we then apologize to the other person, and do they apologize to us? When we do this, maybe we feel like a bad person, or maybe we think that the person that snapped at us is a bad person. Sometimes we feel mistreated therefore, and sometimes we might make others feel mistreated.

          We all know that as Christians, and as people, we are called to love and care for all people, and yet we are so human sometimes. Nevertheless, we hear in our reading from Romans 12:1-8 for this morning, in Romans 12:3, once again:

³ For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned (Rom. 12:3, NRSV).

Sometimes when we or others are not ourselves, we can lose sight of what the Apostle Paul just said. In our busyness and in our haste, we sometimes forget how reliant we are on each other. We are reliant on truck drivers to deliver, grocery store workers to stock shelves. Lineman to fix power lines and keep our electricity on, water and sewer workers, and dare I say Amazon trucks. I can go on and on.

          We are all made special in God’s image, or in Latin “Imago Dei,” but we are all part of the greater whole, as well. In our case, we are the church, are we are no better than anyone else. We have different gifts, abilities, and graces, but “Who Are We Better Than?”

          We are reminded in our reading from Psalm 124 this morning, in 124:8, once again, that:

⁸ Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth                       (Ps. 124:8, NRSV).

We all have moments that maybe we feel more important, and have a bigger ego than we should. Or maybe we have moments where our anger or emotions get the best of us. We sometimes take our focus off of Christ, and as a result, sometimes we do the wrong thing.

          The Apostle Paul speaks about this morning, and gives us some good guidance to be more like Jesus. Looking again at Romans 12:1-8 for this morning, it says starting in 12:1, once again:

12 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ² Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect (Rom. 12:1-2, NRSV). 

          The Apostle Paul is telling us that with our lives, our hearts, our souls, and our bodies, to be a living sacrifice, that is acceptable to God. We are called in every way to be like Jesus, even though we have our moments. Offering ourselves sacrificially to others, is an act of spiritual worship, and we are called to love each other. We are not called to blow up or lose our cool with each other, although we have all probably done this at some point. Even so, the Apostle Paul tells us to not pursue worldly things and things that aren’t like Jesus. Instead, we are called to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, and to be discerning of God’s will in our lives. Living God’s will in our lives is what is good, acceptable and perfect. Yet, we all have our moments, don’t we?

          In continuing on in reading from Romans 12:1-8 for this morning, the Apostle Paul picks up in 12:3, saying once again:

³ For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. ⁴ For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function,              (Rom. 12:3-4, NRSV).

          While we have our moments, we should not think too highly of ourselves, and we are to act with sober judgement. We should act this way according to the measure of faith that God has assigned or given us. Further, as the Apostle Paul says, that as the church, we are one body of Christ, with many members, and yet we don’t all have the same function in life, and or in the body of Christ. Even though we have different functions, different roles, and different gifts, we are all important to God, and should be important to others. As my sermon title for this morning says then, “Who Are We Better Than?”

          If we were to act to superior to others in church or in general, we really need to ask ourselves what makes us better and more superior. For as the Apostle Paul tells us this morning in Romans 12:3, once again:

³ For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned (Rom. 12:3, NRSV).

          Getting more specific, the Apostle Paul picks up in Romans 12:5 saying:

⁵ so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. ⁶ We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ⁷ ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; ⁸ the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness (Rom. 12:5-8, NRSV).

          The Apostle Paul says that we are one in the body of Christ, and that individually we are members one of another. Yet, we have gifts that differ in the body of Christ, and in general. For example, the Apostle Paul says there is the gift prophecy, in proportion to faith, ministry, in ministering, teaching, exhortation or encouraging, giving generously, leading diligently, compassion, and cheerfulness.

          So as per my sermon title, “Who Are We Better Than?” The answer is no one, but we do have different gifts, abilities, and gifts and graces. Even so, we should not think higher of ourselves than others, even though we are not all the same in our gifts, abilities, and graces. We are equal, but not necessarily the same in every way. Given this, “Who Are We Better Than?”

          In looking at our gospel of Matthew 16:13-20 reading for this morning, there were differing beliefs being discussed over who Jesus was. All of these ideas of who Jesus might be where all positive and good, but not all equal. In fact, in looking at our gospel reading from Matthew 16:13-20, it says once again, starting in Matthew 16:13:

¹³ Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ ¹⁴ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ¹⁵ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God’ (Mt. 16:13-15, NRSV).

 

          So, when Jesus is coming into the district of Caesarea Philippi this morning, he once again asks his disciples who people are saying he is. Some of the disciples say that some people claim that Jesus is John the Baptist, that some say Elijah, that some say Jeremiah, and some say that Jesus is one of the prophets. Yet, Simon Peter told Jesus that he is the savior, the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Simon Peter claimed that Jesus was God on earth, and the other disciples said for some people that the jury is still on who Jesus is. While some people were debating who Jesus is, Peter got it right.

          Jesus though, was not offended when some thought his role or status was lower. In fact, in the Book of Philippians the Apostle Paul said in 2:5-8:

⁵ Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, ⁷ but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, ⁸ he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross                        (Phil 2:5-8, NRSV).

          So even though people were debating who Jesus was, and many still are even today, the Apostle Paul said that Jesus was God in the flesh. Even so, Jesus did not act proud, or like he was better than anyone else. Instead, God in the flesh, Jesus went among all manner of humanity, and humbled himself to the point of death, even on a cross. He didn’t think he was better, and saw various gifts, graces, and talents in others.

          Since Peter was correct in saying that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God, the gospel picks up in Matthew 16:17, saying:

¹⁷ 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. ¹⁸ 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. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’ ²⁰ Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah (Mt. 16:17-20, NRSV).

          So, Jesus was not ready to announce that he was fully God and fully human to the world yet, as this would get him crucified, he also blessed Simon Peter for declaring who he really is. Jesus then tells Peter that on the rock he will build his church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it. Jesus gives us the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and power to bind or loosen. The church is founded on the rock of faith in Christ. Our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters would say however, that Jesus made Peter the first Pope or leader of the church, but many argue that Jesus was founding the church on the rock of faith in Christ, not Peter directly. Thus, we don’t necessarily need one central leader to govern the entire Universal Christian Church. Much of the separations and schisms in the history of the Universal Christian Church have been over who the rightful head or bishop of the church. Today there is still a debate over who is the true head of the Christian Church.

          Even though Jesus did not get angry when people where wrong over who he was, he still humbled himself to the point of death on the cross. Even though we have different identities, different gifts, graces, and abilities, we are still all made in God’s image. Even though we might lose our cool on others, or them on us sometimes, “Who Are We Better Than?” The answer is that we are different, but we are no better than anyone else! Amen.