Christ the King Epiphany/ Wilbraham, MA

Matthew 16: 21-28

Dcn. Michael Hamilton

August 30, 2026

Please pray that the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts are pleasing and acceptable to God. Amen. (pbs)

As you know, I always get the difficult readings to preach on, but I suppose my reward in heaven will be enough consolation, so I just smile and go on.

Aside from teasing Pastor Martha that she parses out the hard lessons to me, the single statement of “get behind me Satan” has always sounded harsh and scary. This feeling goes back as early as my parochial school days when conjuring up the idea of Satan or the Devil was enough to produce bad dreams later that night. To a grammar school kid, this sentence spoken by Jesus would fall into the uncomfortable category, like when Jesus called the woman a dog. But now, as an adult, it is possible to tease out the larger meanings of these passages, but it is still the little kid in me that hears these words, and my younger self takes over for a short time.

When preparing a sermon and reading different commentaries, the explanation often includes the etymology of words or phrases. I do not read Greek, Latin, or Hebrew so this knowledge is often wasted on me, but this week, I found it helpful. I won’t attempt to pronounce the translations, but in Greek, “get behind me” was more aligned with a rebuke telling a student not to think they know more than the teacher, or an apprentice/the master. The origins of the word “Satan” in Hebrew are of an ‘adversary’ more than a red-horned angel with a pitchfork. It might be a slight nuance, but for me, this information is more palatable as a correction rather than a throw-down death match between Jesus and the Devil. Now I can read that passage as a rebuke and correction of Peter, or of me in my life, when he or I try telling Jesus what to do or how to act, as if either of us would know better than He does.

If I ask you to recall last week's Gospel reading, it might take a moment to rewind the brain seven days ago, but if I give a hint by sharing half of a verse, you would probably immediately recall the text. Here is the hint: Jesus asks the disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” Now we probably recall that the responses were all over the board. “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets,” but spot-on Peter says, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” After commending Peter on knowing that He IS the Messiah, Jesus shares the knowledge that He is going to die, and Peter immediately reacts and tells Jesus, “No way! Hey, change of plans. I will stop you, and I will come up with a better plan.” This earns Peter the rebuke and attitude adjustment for crossing the line and believing he needs to take charge. This makes more sense to me than Jesus squaring off with the Devil.

Let’s put this in perspective- I asked you to recall last week's Gospel, and I provided a hint. Seven days is a good amount of time but I think most of us were able to pull the story together well. But the ever-lovable Peter first announced that Jesus was the Son of the living God a mere seven seconds before he took charge of the plan of action. Sometimes I want to shake my head and ask, “Really, Peter?”, or think, ‘here he goes again putting his foot in it’, or ‘when is Peter going to get it?’ But the truth is, I am no better. I can come here and sing, The Church’s One Foundation is Jesus Christ the LORD, I can pray for peace in the world and protection for all of the oppressed, I can hold my hands open for the ‘Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ broken and shed for me’, and I can leave this place of prayer hearing the last words of, “The Kingdom of God has come near, go and share the Good News.” In reality, I will leave here today forgiven for past sins, embraced by the people around me, and fortified by the meal that I received at the altar. With all of these affirmations of my faith and experience, I need to ask myself, what proof do I have that I acted on any of this knowledge and experience between church services? How was my week different? Are these examples only true for 55 minutes on a Sunday morning? This past week, did I think about Jesus being my one foundation? When did I actively pray for peace in the world? Have I exercised any discretion when I encountered another person with a hat, shirt, idea, or bumper sticker that I disagree with? Have I shared even a smidgen of the Good News that has come near, by word or example, or is that something I protect like it is ‘my little secret?’

Dorothy Day was a lay Roman Catholic woman. She was an advocate for the poor, and an outspoken political activist when it came to loving her neighbor as herself. She founded The Catholic Worker tradition that has led to Catholic Worker farms and initiatives all around the world for the betterment of those who live there and the community they find themselves in. She famously said, "Don't call me a saint—I don't want to be dismissed that easily" because she feared that putting her on a pedestal allowed others to excuse themselves from doing difficult, everyday work for social justice. She believed calling someone a saint was a way to say, "What she did is impossible for ordinary people." She knew her work was hard, but she insisted that anyone could do it. Dorothy lived through messy, difficult realities like cleaning up soup kitchens, sleeping on jail floors, and dealing with daily frustrations. She did not want those actions romanticized as she believed in the universal call to holiness. She felt that labeling individuals as "special" saints let everyone else off the hook from following radical gospel challenges. Dorothy lived the dismissal of “Heaven has come near, go and share the Good News.”

Dolly Parton is being mourned the world over. She was a devout Christian who openly credited her deep faith as the foundation of her life, music, and philanthropy. Dolly developed a deeply personal, inclusive, and non-dogmatic approach to her spirituality. Dolly stated that her relationship with God was talking to a "best friend," and the passage of scripture that she lived was "To whom much is given, much is required". As more people find out about her philanthropic endeavors through her biography in obituary form, she too is an example of someone who lived and shared what she heard in the Gospel all the days of her life.

This week, I invite all of us to think about how we try to limit God and God’s message in our lives because we think we have a better idea…. With that considered, let’s ask this old question, “If I was put on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict me?” Amen.