WHO WERE THE MOST "CLUELESS"?

"And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken."  (Luke 18:34)

I miss preaching sermons terribly!  This is for many reasons, but among the most important reasons I miss preaching sermons is that I miss pouring over portions of Scripture, then "seeing" things in the verses I'd never noticed before, then receiving all kinds of insights, and finally putting together a really interesting sermon to deliver to my brothers and sisters in Christ.  Incidentally, the person who gets the most out of a sermon or a Bible Study is usually the teacher or preacher who prepares it and who gets (as it were) saturated with Truth from that preparation.  Some weeks ago, I spent some real quality time in Acts chapter sixteen and then prepared a sermon from that chapter, which like the Beatles' "Father Mackenzie" no one may hear, but I felt it was worth posting on the blog and I did so in early January.  This week, I spent some time in Matthew chapter sixteen (yeah, I don't know what it is with me and sixteenth chapters lately!) and saw a pattern I've never noticed before.  The chapter features several instances where the hearers are absolutely "clueless" about the things of God and what the Lord is trying to say to them.  I realized that insight would make for a great sermon.

I actually thought of the title: "Who Is the Stupidest?!"  I don't think that is a bad title!  It's somewhat abrasive and attention getting- and it's pretty accurate.  Yet, I remembered something a gentleman once said to me when I was a young Assistant Pastor in my twenties.  He told me I used the term "stupid" much too often in preaching and in teaching and he found it offensive and inappropriate.  Again, I think there is an effective use of the term "stupid" but I know a lot of folks would disagree with me.  Thus, I settled on the title, "Who Were the Most 'Clueless'?"   

There are twenty-eight verses in Matthew chapter sixteen, and there are really four distinct situations in which people "don't get" what the Lord is trying to say.  In the first situation, a group of  Pharisees and Sadducees come to Jesus saying they want Him to give them a sign from Heaven.  Are they serious?!  Jesus was working signs all over the place:  Dead people were being brought back to life, cripples were being healed and walking around, the blind were seeing, the deaf were hearing, and lepers were being instantly and miraculously healed.  For that matter, Jesus could walk on water, and He miraculously fed thousands of people by multiplying the food.  I'd be embarrassed to then ask for a "sign from Heaven"!  Jesus essentially brought up that old saying about the sky being red- sort of a first century version of, "Red sky at dawning, sailors take warning; Red sky at night, sailors delight."  He flatly told them He wasn't going to give them any sign.  Bravo, Jesus!  Now, I guess I will anger some of my readers, but I just have to state it:  What a stupid request to make of  Jesus!

The second situation about "clueless" people involved Jesus' disciples.  They were sailing across the Sea of Galilee, and they'd forgotten to bring bread.  Jesus instructed them to, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees".  They assumed Jesus had  to be angry with them for not bringing bread.  This may sound irreverent, but I think at times the disciples really must have tried Jesus' patience.  Jesus explained to them that He'd recently miraculously fed a crowd of five thousand and then a crowd of  four thousand.  He wasn't talking about bread, He was talking about the wrong teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

Thirdly, some situations involving Peter show him at his best and at his worst.  Peter was like that old nursery rhyme in that when he was good, he was very, very good; and when he was bad, he was horrid.  Privately, in the vicinity of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked the disciples who people were saying He was.  They gave various answers, but Peter said in verse sixteen, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus praised this response, saying that Peter did not come up with it on his own, but that God the Father had actually revealed it to him.  I can imagine Peter beaming and having a huge ego at that point.  That was Peter's nature, and sadly, a lot of us can relate.   Incidentally, this is the passage from which Roman Catholics get the idea the Church would be built upon Peter.  Well, it really doesn't say that.  The "rock" upon which the Church would be built was not Peter, though his name did mean "rock" or "stone".  The "rock" was the "rock of truth" that he'd proclaimed.  Protestants who totally dismiss Peter's authority based upon this passage, however, are as misinformed as are their Roman Catholic friends.  The Church would not be built upon Peter, but Peter would be a key authority figure in the Church and Jesus does make that clear in this passage.  Yes, old Peter must have been "riding high" that day.  Not long afterward, however, Jesus bluntly told his disciples that when He went to Jerusalem, He would greatly suffer and be killed, and then would rise from the dead.  Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him!  As a good first century Jew, Peter expected the Messiah to supernaturally kick the Romans out of Palestine and set up the Kingdom of God on earth.  The idea of the Messiah being mistreated and killed was "off the wall" to him.  Jesus' response has to have floored him!  Jesus told Peter, "Get thee behind me, Satan," in verse twenty-three.  He told Peter his thinking was that of man but was not of God!   I suppose after that, Peter's big head shriveled down to size!

It might surprise you that none of the above people or situations in Matthew chapter sixteen were the most "clueless" or (yeah, I will say it) the most stupid.  That "honor" goes to the person mentioned in the final verses of the chapter who refuses  to humble himself or herself; who refuses to "take up the cross" and follow Jesus.  Jesus had harsh words for those who put their life and their comforts and their successes and their ambition first and foremost in their lives.  Frankly, putting your life and your comforts and your successes and your ambition first and foremost in your life is, well, not Christian!  Jesus here warns of the person who does all of that and yet loses his soul.  Billy Graham can preach on a passage such as this one much more effectively than I can, frankly; but Billy Graham was never afraid to publicly proclaim this message.  The most clueless person- the stupidest person- is the person who puts all that junk ahead of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God.

It's sobering, isn't it.

Listen, I don't like to suffer.  I like to be comfortable.  At times, I've had ambition- probably too much ambition.  At times, my attitude has been,  "I want to run my own life, thank you."

It's wrong.

Yes, it's sobering, isn't it.

Someone may ask, "What about 'God helps those who help themselves'?!"
If you can find, "God helps those who help themselves" in the Bible, I'll quit preaching.
You will never find it, because the message of the New Testament is that humanity is so lost that we desperately need Jesus and we need to surrender our all to Him.  I know.  This is tough stuff.  When you  preach a sermon on a passage such as this, you may not be popular.  But, this chapter really touched me this week, and if I was still pastoring, I'd preach it in the near future.