(Carl W. Kenney preached this sermon on Sunday, September 25, 2019 at Liberation Station, home of Underground Church. It was the 40th anniversary of his initial sermon)
“21From that
time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem
and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the
teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised
to life. 22Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
"Never, LORD!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!" 23Jesus
turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block
to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns."
24Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wants to be my
disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (Matthew
16:21-24)
This scripture represents a
radical shift in the teaching and focus of Jesus. It challenged the assumption of his followers. It turned their attention away from the privileges of being associated with Jesus to the responsibilities that come with being a follower.
He offers hope for the poor. He looks
at a crowd of frustrated people and calls them blessed. He tells them the poor
are blessed rather than cursed by things they find hard to control. He shifts conversations involving privileged by informing them last
shall be first.
He challenges assumptions of
power with parables regarding the least among these. He confronts religious leaders.
He violates customs by touching lepers
and a woman with a serious bleeding condition.
He refutes the political elite
with words involving a new type of Queendom
He restores sight to the blind
and heals a variety of other conditions. He redefines inclusion. He respects women
and affirms foreigners.
He doesn’t blame people for not
having enough but encourages us to take care of strangers. He feeds them. He has
compassion and redefines the boundaries of love.
it’s easy
to follow Jesus until he
changes the focus of his ministry.
The disciples
of Jesus are excited.
They have
a front seat
They are
witnesses to the miracle of his work
They are
the recipients to his transformative teachings.
Their
lives are changed by the witness of his work. There’s
no reason not to follow Jesus. the future looks bright. Thee
madness will soon stop. They will
soon enter Jerusalem where the momentum will increase. Taxes
will be lowered. They will
have their own king. The hypocrisy
that ruled the religious system will be changed. They were excited until Jesus
shifted everything with a question
It’s the same
questions we are forced to answer. It’s relevant in helping us understand why
we follow Jesus. What is it we seek to gain from his work and teachings?
Who do
they say I am?
It’s a
complicated question. It’s a question rooted in years of theological and
historical interpretation related to the meaning and significance of their
national identity.
it’s a
question about power
it’s a
question about who has the right to control others.
What do other
people think about his work? What is their understanding of his teachings? How
do they interpret all of it?
these are
questions regarding the usage of his teaching. how can we use his power? how
can we shift power in our direction.
Some say
you are a prophet. Some say you are the Messiah. Some say you’re like John the
Baptist.
There are
numerous interpretations. What do you say? What do you think?
You are
the Messiah, Peter says. You are the Promised One. The one to teach us about
our ongoing role as a nation. Teach us what it means to participate in a world
created to reflect God’s will. teach us how to use your power
Good Job Peter.
Now that you know that, there’s more. There’s more you must see. Teaching you
what it means to live together means I must show you more about what that
means.
I must
die. I will be crucified.
Peter’s
response exposes our hesitation in moving away from the Good News.
The Good
News of his teaching
The Good
news of changed lives
The good
news of healing
Problems fix
Restoration
Salvation
Peter’s
interpretation of the Good news is the story of restored personal relationship
with God. He understood the work of Jesus to place him and others in position
to rule over others.
Peter wanted
a new type of queendom
A kingdom
like king David’s
a kingdom
were men ruled
a kingdom
with power in the hands of a select few
a kingdom
defined by control over others
a kingdom
with a military to protect an agenda.
Peter
says no to Jesus’ shifted message. The new
message involves the ongoing presence of evil.
it’s not
all good news.
the
shifted message involves bad news.
it’s a
message involving Jesus’ personal struggles to maintain life due to his
message. It's a message regarding what happens to people who speak on behalf oppressed people. What happens when you shift from talk about the benefits to emphasize the pain?
It’s a
message about the dark side of life.
The dark side is the death
of Z’yon Person and other children killed in the mean streets. The shifted
focus forces us to examine all of the deaths. Today marks the anniversary of the
eulogy of mike brown of Ferguson, Mo
400 years ago, kidnapped Africans landed in Hampton, Virginia to begin the
business of legal slavery. Jesus
begins a new conversation about the bad news. in lifting the new emphasis, he is forcing a
decision on the part of his disciples. it’s the same decision we are making
today.
WHAT IS
THE DECISION WE MAKE IN CONFRONTING THE SHIFT FROM THE GOOD NEWS TO THE ONGOING
NARRATIVE OF THIS WORLD’S BAD NEWS?
I.
The shift from celebration to death exposes the dark side
This is
who we are. This is what people do. As much as we’d like to focus on the good
humans do, there’s the dark side. As much as we hate the dark side. It’s always
there. It’s there constantly reminding us of what can happen in a twinkling of
an eye. It happens when we least expect it. It happens to remind us of the
things we can’t control.
The death
of Jesus is a reminder. It’s not a Good Friday. It’s a gloomy night. Another
innocent person convicted. Another unnecessary execution. Another misunderstood
person killed because of an unwillingness to fit in.
The death
of Jesus uncovers the dark side.
The side
that killed J’yon Person, here in Durham
The dark
side was exposed on Friday in St. Louis where an 8-year-old girl was killed.
Over 250
mass shootings in America this year
Over 30
in Durham this year.
Is this
the lesson of Jesus shifting the conversation from his work as a healer,
teacher and prophet to talk about his own death? Do we
need his tragic story to remind us not to get stuck in the holy dance while
surrounded by all this darkness? Is it a challenge
not to allow privilege to conceal the rest?
People can’t pretend
it’s not there with sermons about the bright side of heaven and no tears and
sorrow.
Peter
says you can’t die. You have to preach Good news. Jesus says open your eyes to
the other side.
The side
where children die
The side
where hate attacks innocence and destroys the Utopic vision for America. The side
that used black people to make white people rich. The side
that stole land from native Americans and robbed black people in Mississippi of
more than 7 billion dollars’ worth of property.
the dark
side using government to promote the agenda of a few
this is
the dark side
the side
were scriptures are used to elect a president
the side
were hypocrisy show up to defend the biases of some men, some white people and people
intoxicated by power
Is the
death of Jesus there to remind us of things beyond our selfish intentions?
This is
who we are.
this is
who we have always been.
this is America’s
story
Not all
of us, but enough to challenge the good news
Not all
the time, but often enough to force a stoppage of our praise.
Jesus
forces a decision
We can
pretend none of it is real
Or we can
face the violence of his death
We can
sing Hosanna on the way to victory.
That’s
what the followers of Jesus did when he entered Jerusalem
They
shouted Hosanna, Hosanna
Jesus
stopped them to talk about death.
To remind
them of the dark side
II. Shifting from the good news forces a response to violent death
Begin
by rejecting the assumption that it doesn’t impact us
It’s easy
to distance ourselves from violent death. We can easily make it about those
people.
It’s what
black people do.
It’s what
poor people do
It’s a
function of having bad parents
There’s a
vast distance between them and us and religion defines the dark side of crime
crime is
a construction of their sin.
The death
of Jesus forces a different conversation.
His life and
faith aren’t enough to shield Jesus from the dark side.
Going to
Sunday School isn’t enough.Attending
Church every Sunday isn’t enough. Placing our
children in private schools where the day begins with prayer isn’t enough. Not
listening to hip-hop won’t help
The pain will
find us
When it
happens, we have
to stop the processional of praise to feel the pain cause by another child’s death
It
matters that congregations care
It
matters that we her sermons about the dark side
It
matters that we do more than pray
It matters
that we consider how faith culture impacts how we feel.
Jesus
shifts the conversation from the good news to violent death to teach critical
lessons about religion. We are not better than the victims of violence. We
should avoid building walls to protect us from them.
It’s time
to listen and learn.
It’s time
to move beyond the comforts of culture
We can
learn from others.
We
overcome divisions created by cultural differences by participating in A life
of consistent presence
When a
child dies…our work is to be present
When any person
is killed, our work is to listen
Our work
is not to judge
Our work
is not to remain locked in our churches to pray
Our work
is to walk with them
Cry with
them
Press the
age-old questions…why Lord…how lord. When lord
Our role
is not to hide
Pretend
Escape
or to Take
comfort that it’s not me and my family
Our work
is to engage beyond the celebration of the life and witness of the good news.
it’s to be present within all of the bad news
III.
Death demands a revised ending
The joy
of the Christian story is the ending. Bad Friday is renamed Good Friday because
of what happens on Sunday morning. The gift of the Christian message is trouble
don’t last always.
Joy comes
in the morning.
It’s what
gives us strength.
It’s what
helped the ancestors press forward during the heat of enslavement.
Yes, they
were brought to the Americas 400 years ago on this day. It’s a horrible story.
Some didn’t
make it.
Some jumped
overboard during the middle passage.
Some
would rather to be buried in a grave than be a slave.
Some ran in
the direction of the North Star.
Some
sought freedom
Some were
lynched due to their disobedience
Some witnessed
burning crosses upon fighting for equal treatment
It’s the
dark side of the story.
Some
never had a chance to revise the ending.
The
descendants of slaves have a revised ending
We can
shout today
We can sing
new songs because we walk in the victory of our ancestors’ dreams
Its why some
come to church.
But, not
far away.
Within a
few steps from this building
The blood
of murder victims still stains the ground.
Not far
away
The tears
of hurting parents form puddles where the bad news first came
There’s
pain in these streets.
Every
death deserves a revised ending
The story
of a resurrection
The story
of good news
The story
of dreams fulfilled
The story
of victory secure.
Where is
the revised ending for J’yon and his family?
What can
we do to revise the ending of Shaquana Atwater, a 4-year-old killed in Few
Gardens back in 1994?
The blood
of murder victims continues to speak in Durham’s streets
How do we
revise the ending?
What do
we pray?
What do
we say?
What can
we do to revise the ending to all this bad news?
I begin
by say, enough is enough
I begin
by standing with victims
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