Life in Focus

I would have trouble getting the picture in focus, besides the problem of leaving off part of the subject's body...or accidentally turning on the movie function and taking pictures of the floor.

Perhaps some have that little area in the viewfinder that if it comes into focus, the rest of the picture will be in focus.

That is the idea we need to grasp today; the things that are central must be in focus for life to make sense.

When driving to Philadelphia, we try to avoid the Schuylkill Expressway, which many have re-named the “sure-kill.”

The designers decades ago did many things well, but the missed the central fact that the highway must handle an incredible volume of traffic, with drivers who almost always go too fast.

Those central things were not quite in focus, and hence the road has been obsolete ever since it opened. They have rebuilt parts of it as much as they can, but it is still often tied in knots, and still has deadly accidents.

The central things must be in focus; that is a good summary of the Gospel lesson today.

You are the Christ, the anointed one, the one long awaited, the Messiah, blurts out Peter, and he is right.

He has the right subject in his sights, but not quite in focus.

When Jesus begins to talk about suffering, Peter tries to stop \him, but Jesus forestalls Peter with the shocking get behind me, Satan.

Peter meant well, but he failed.

He only grasped part of the picture.

To call Jesus Messiah is right and true, but Jesus had in mind a far different meaning for that term than did Peter.

Peter expected the Messiah to rule with great power, to smash the enemies, to make kings his footstool, as some of the prophets had said.

Peter would also have known of the tradition of the righteous sufferer of whom we hear in Isaiah 50 this morning, but that idea was not in focus as Peter spoke with Jesus.

Jesus instructs his puzzled disciples that his majesty as the Anointed One is made clear precisely in his giving of himself to the world.

His power is in his giving!

The superhero cartoons demonstrate the same confusion as the disciples.

In nearly every episode of the universe-crashing cartoons, the chief bad guy intones “...and now I have the power to rule the universe.”

It is power based on grabbing all that he can by deceit, or cleverness, or sheer force.

Even if the good guys do win alter one, the message is nonetheless hammered home to the viewers: life is all about amassing strength and power.

Jesus tells us that this commonly-made assumption is sadly out of focus.

The name of Jesus' game is life-giving, not power-grabbing.

A pastor's life is truly amazing in its variety of activities with staff, congregation, council, family, and others.

--negotiating with contractors

--helping care for the household

--wrestling with God's Word in my study

--trying to speak that word of promise to a person who has never before bothered to listen

--attempting to follow the conversation of a slightly confused shut-in

--assisting a panicking person with a water-shut-off notice

--supervising staff, and this week writing the annual reviews...and on and on goes the list.

If I am to understand my life as more than just a big glob of unrelated events, it will be as all of those many things are brought into focus by the self-giving of Jesus to me, and his call to me to live in that same way in relation to those around me.

And it is the same for all of us as well.

The figure of Jesus for this day is not the remote judge on high,

but the one with his hands outstretched in giving.

--In the first window on the south side of the nave, it is the figure of the father with his arms outstretched in loving welcome to one of the returning sons.

--In the second window on the south side it is Jesus with his arms outstretched on the cross, giving his life for us all.

--In the fifth window on the south side, it is the Holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus who gives his seven gifts to the huddled disciples.

--In the west window it is Jesus with his arms outstretched giving us the example of prayer and thanksgiving to the Father.

Giving, God's self-giving is the theme that become our model.

--In the window closest to the choir on the north side, we come to treasure and share the gift of life with marriage, birth, baptism, family life and activities.

--In the second window we give thanks to God and call attention to the beauty of his gifts and share them through the work of artists, musicians, architects, and more.

--In the third window, we pass on the knowledge gleaned across the centuries through all the levels of education.

--The fourth window reminds us that our daily work is not just about getting all we can, but about providing the many things that we all need for living in a complicated world.

--In the last window on the north side it is the water of Holy Baptism that spills out over all of our activities of caring for one another and sanctifies those works, too.

We know the big names like Mother Teresa and Oscar Romero, persons who gave their lives in such dramatic ways.

But the call to us is to give also in ways no less important, even if not that dramatic.

Jesus will rebuke us as he rebuked Peter when we forget that.

What about life?

Is it a unrelated string of events?

Is it a search for the path of least resistance?

If so, one would probably not bother being here!

Life is to be focused on the person of Jesus, who represents God's commitment to us for the life he gave once, the life he promises finally, and to the life he sustains even now.

This day we can say that Stewardship is the way in which we keep Jesus in focus;

letting our lips and lives confess the Gospel we believe;

letting our words and virtues shine with truth that we perceive.

Let us be the living word that hope has come to earth. Amen.

Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.