Readings: Jeremiah 20:7-9; Psalm 63; Romans 12:1-2; Matthew 16:21-27
Grace and peace to you my dear brothers and sisters in the Lord. We pray that the Holy Spirit will lead us to encounter the love and power of God through His Word.
Looking at today’s Gospel, there are so many themes calling for our attention. For instance we could look at:
I. The place of suffering in our Christian life.
II. Get behind me – remembering that our place is behind not ahead. We are not wiser than God.
III. The need to be careful – Peter was initially praised but soon enough He misused his key and was rebuked.
IV. The theme of self-renunciation and cross-bearing.
V. Soul-care – This is a very strong point for our reflection. How well do we care for our souls, our eternity? What can we offer in exchange for our souls? One of the reasons that our relationship with God should be a priority is so that we don’t end up gaining the world and losing our souls.
VI. God will reward each one according to their behaviour.
I would like us to meditate on this last statement. Jesus reminds us that when He comes again or when He calls us to Himself, He will reward each of us according to our own behaviour.
So today, let us think about our behaviour/attitude. What reward do I think I will deserve from God for my behaviour?
Let’s break it down. What is my behaviour towards:
I. My family members – parents, children, husband, wife, siblings, in-laws, extended family members.
II. Colleagues at work or school.
III. My spiritual family – other Church members, including those that God has appointed to shepherd us. In the First Reading, Jeremiah the prophet laments because of the behaviour of the people towards him. They were eventually punished for ridiculing the prophet.
IV. The weak, vulnerable, the elderly, those who need my care and support, strangers, and those who are of different religions, cultures, colours, languages and races.
In the Second Reading, St. Paul says “Do not model yourselves on the behaviour of the world around you (which includes: selfishness, being judgemental, wickedness, unkindness, lack of compassion, discrimination, manipulation, using people for our advantage, indifference to people’s plight, rejection of those who are different) but let your behaviour change, modelled by your new mind.”
The ‘new mind’ here refers to the mind of Christ, which we are called to have. Our behaviour must reflect that of Christ, i.e. His love, patience, forgiveness, compassion and kindness.
Let us go home today with the resolution to behave better towards others, not just because of fear of judgement but because this is who we are in Christ Jesus – people with new minds.
Sermon preached by Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Baraka-Gukena Okami on September 3, 2023