08292020 – Matthew 16. 21-28
How ADAPTABLE are you? How flexible are you?
These are not bad questions to ask, ANYTIME, but perhaps especially TODAY.
In today’s culture, it is “a key question” NOT just for individuals, BUT for businesses too!
Are you able to ADAPT to our culture’s changing landscape?
To CALAMITIES that come your way?
To UNPLANNED events and surprises?
To CHANGE?
I know a lot of us simply want to DIG IN OUR HEELS and to hang on as best we can to OLD, the SAFE, the COMFORTABLE, the RELIABLE, what “we KNOW.” A great many people FEAR the unknown.
So, how ADAPTABLE/FLEXIBLE are you?
In today’s culture, this is a KEY QUESTION not just for INDIVIDUALS, but for CHURCHES and BUSINESSES, too!
The Covid-virus has taught us all, well, at least most of us, that CHANGE IS POSSIBLE. And may even be – necessary!
We CAN adapt MORE than we give ourselves credit for.
Let me tell you about “this guy:”
When a hurricane hit Roger Hammett’s home in Florida, he had to EVACUATE, taking with him only SOME “personal items.” (Just whatever he could carry!)
When he returned home days later, his home was gone, essentially washed away with the tide.
WITHIN A DAY, Roger had purchased a “portable home” –on a credit card.
Unlike simple mobile homes, “portable homes” can look like a cabin, or a cottage, or a lodge, or like anything you want. They go from 144 sq. ft. on up…you pick the size! (You should actually check them out online, they are very cool!)
Roger situated his PORTABLE HOME several miles from his home, temporarily on a friend’s land – until such time as he could begin to rebuild.
Roger has an “ADAPTABLE PERSONALITY.” He lost everything and yet, he takes a change in stride.
He is a “PROBLEM SOLVER,” not a LAMENTER or a “hand wringer.”
When tragedy strikes, Roger is always ready to take the next step. Whatever is necessary…
His “HOME,” and his IDEA about what his life needs to look like, CAN CHANGE, and Roger will STILL be happy.
He happens to be a man of “GREAT FAITH and CONVICTION!”
He has a LITTLE NEED to CONTROL his environment or his outcomes. He simply “GOES with the FLOW.”
God will provide. God will take care of him.
Roger is not the norm.
Most of us (myself included) have a bit more trouble…we fret and worry and do not trust enough!
The disciples were liking THE RIDE!
They were appreciating the way things were going.
It was fun! Along with Jesus, THEY WERE the center of ATTENTION.
As usual, Peter spoke for the group. He usually did.
He did not like for A MOMENT what he was hearing from Jesus.
The stuff Jesus was now SPOUTING was nothing that he or they had SIGNED ON FOR.
This was all NEW and DIFFERENT. Crazy Different.
Peter DID NOT want to hear anything about… going to Jerusalem or undergoing GREAT SUFFERING at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and being KILLED, and on the THIRD DAY.
It was ALL too much to take IN…too much to digest.
Jerusalem “MIGHT BE fun, under different circumstances…” But going there would mean changing venues. Things were going well. They had a CRAZY FOLLOWING…
The people LOVED and ADORED Jesus and THE DISCIPLES.
Why give that UP?
And what is all this talk about CROSS-BEARING? He was serious, too! This was not a metaphor, was it?
People really did die on crosses. People really did carry their own crosses. People really did SUFFER and DIE and face all manners of HUMILIATION and DEGRADATION.
Just WHERE was ALL this SILLY TALK coming from?
“The plans” they were a-changing. Jesus was altering, revising, modifying, amending, and changing THEIR PLANS. And Peter and the boys DID NOT LIKE IT ONE BIT!
They planned on things DIFFERENTLY. This was NOT a part of their PLAYBOOK. This was OUTSIDE of their COMFORT ZONE. While it is true – that life throws all kinds of things at you, over-time…THIS did not NEED to be one of them…
How good are YOU at adapting, and changing and being flexible, and going with the flow…? (I am asking for a friend!)
Amen.