Psalm 19
The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims God’s handiwork…
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul;
the decrees of the Lord are sure, making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever;
the ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
But who can detect their errors? Clear me from hidden faults.
Keep back your servant also from the insolent; do not let them have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

The grass may wither and the flower will fade, but the Word of our Lord will stand forever.

Mark 8:27-38
Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that I am?’ And they answered him, ‘John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.’ He asked them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered him, ‘You are the Messiah.’ And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.
Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’
He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’

The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Let the words of our mouths and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable unto you, O Lord,
our Rock and our Redeemer.

Get behind me Peter, Satan, for you are setting your mind not on the things of God,
but on the things of man.

In our Community Group last Sunday afternoon,
we were talking about how we wake up in the morning, how we set our minds for the day.
Some of our group are those “eager beavers” who wake up ready to roll with a song in their heart.
They hit the ground running, even before that first cup of coffee.
Others, like myself, arise more like we are coming out of a month-long coma.
It takes a little while to get the energy flowing and the body moving at a normal pace.
The book we are sharing encouraged us to consider a daily sentence prayer to start our days.
One of our older members said that he wakes up with this prayer most days:
“Thank you God! I’m still alive!”
Another person in our group said that, at least on her good days,
she remembers this verse as her feet touch the ground in the mornings:
This is the day Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it!
Our psalm for today, Psalm 19, includes a verse that could become a daily prayer for us.
Consider this prayer for when you awake in the morning, or perhaps as you are leaving your home.
You might repeat this prayer as you enter your place of work,
or perhaps whenever you approach that person who may be challenging to you:
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Will you repeat that verse after me?
May the words of my mouth….and the meditations of my heart….be acceptable in your sight…
O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Meditations of the heart, thoughts, are powerful.
A few years ago, I shared this quote with you in a sermon:
“Watch your thoughts, they become your words.
Watch your words, they become your actions.
Watch your actions, they become your character.
Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.” (anonymous)

As our thoughts go, so go our words, and so go our lives,
and even beyond that, so go the lives of those around us.
We are not islands. Everything we do or say impacts the people around us.
The words we say; the decisions we make; the manner in which we vote,
affects other people, real people.
When we are talking with people who disagree with us,
when we are disciplining our children,
when we are having a discussion with our spouse or a friend,
when we facing an important business decision….
may the words of our mouths and the mediations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, our rock and our redeemer.

We noticed yesterday at the Memorial Service for Steve Ortlip the tremendous ripple effect
of Steve’s life and ministry.
Over many decades, countless souls in the congregations he served and in the Young Singers choirs
were nurtured by Steve as he led them in song and in prayerful worship,
as he led them in an example of joyful living.

Steve Ortlip, during his long and full 98 years, absorbed music daily, mostly sacred music.
And what he absorbed into his ears, and into his mind and his heart,
from there returned from him tenfold.
Steve would walk around humming hymn tunes; he would play carols at the piano;
he would pluck the strings of a harpsichord he built with his own hands.
Anyone who leads or sings in a church choir memorizes volumes of Holy Scripture.
Hum a particular tune and any of our choir members can spill out an entire psalm
or a full passage from Isaiah.
Steve, because of what he absorbed every day of his life,
had a ready inventory of inspiring scripture and song which influenced his life greatly,
and, often, influenced the lives of others as he shared what was on his heart.
As a result of what he absorbed and shared, Steve was, as he often said to his family, “rich in love”.

It is worth considering what we absorb through our ears and our eyes every day.
What is entering your mind each day through the media you consume?
What is entering your heart each day through the central relationships of your days?
You have heard it said: “We are what we eat”, and there is some truth to that.
You could also say: “We become what we intake”.
We become what we absorb from the world around us.
And then, inevitably, like squeezing a sponge, we return what we have absorbed to the lives of others.

The words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts do not occur in a vacuum.
We are influenced every day, every hour by what we read or watch on television or view on our phones.
Looking to Psalm 19, are we absorbing “the precepts of the Lord” which “rejoice the heart”?
Are we coming to know “the commandment of the Lord”, which “enlightens the eyes”?
Are we reflecting upon “the ordinances of God, which are true and righteous altogether”,
and are “more to be desired than gold”?
What are our daily habits that feed the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts?

Jesus and his disciples had ventured north, this time to Caesarea Philippi.
Caesarea Philippi is an extremely interesting historical and geological place.
It sits at the foot of Mount Hermon and there is a creek that literally flows from the bottom of a cliff,
which eventually becomes the Jordan River.
When Jesus and his disciples walked some 25 miles north to Caesarea Philippi, now called Banias,
they entered an area where the worship of false gods was in full swing –
those timeless gods of money, sex, and power.
There was an elaborate temple to the god Pan and his nymphs,
the god of economic fertility, of fertile crops and profitable livestock.
There are some 14 ruins of ancient Baal worship in that district.
There stood a lavish new temple to Caesar, the powerful Roman Emporer,
which had just recently been dedicated when Jesus and his disciples visited this area.
It was in this place that Jesus asked his disciples the question: Who do you say that I am?

Peter got the first part right.
He exclaimed, “You are the Messiah!”, the one for whom we’ve been waiting.
But when Jesus replied that he would suffer, and be rejected, and even be killed,
Peter rebuked him. This was not what Peter had imagined. He wanted no part of a suffering savior.
In front of all the others, Jesus rebuked Peter.
He told Peter to get behind him, to “get in line”, so to speak,
because Peter was setting his mind “not on the things of God but on the things of man”.

Now, of course God cares about human things.
God created our beautiful, wondrous world and all that is in it.
God cares about those issues of money, sex, and power.
God knows we must work in order to eat and pay the bills and keep a roof over our heads.
And work itself can be holy – it does not matter if you are garbage collector or a business executive.
If the world needs your work to be done, and you can genuinely do your work to the glory of God,
then your work is holy, a calling from God.
If your work is to build widgets, and the world needs widgets, then you are doing God’s work!

Setting our minds on the things of God does not mean that we neglect human things.
This is more a matter of priority.
Peter was trying to line up the human things in front of the divine things.
Jesus told Peter that he had things out of order.
What is at the forefront of our lives? The things of God or the things of man?
That which God desires, or that which our self or others desire?

Consider your calendar for this week: Because you are here today,
there exists some evidence that you are seeking to focus your week on the things of God.
Consider your bank account: When you put your offering in the plate or send a gift online,
there is some tangible evidence that you are showing concern about the things of God.
What does it mean to prioritize the things of God over human things?
Surely it means more than just worship and giving, though those things are a good start.
What does it mean for you when Jesus says:
If you want to become my follower, deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me;
if you want to save your life, you will lose it, but if you lose your life for my sake, it will be saved?

Friends, how then shall we live?
How shall we live as those whose lives are “in order” and not “out of order”?
As part of my sabbatical, I explored societal trends and emerging practices of congregations
that might be instructive for imagining the future of Decatur Presbyterian Church.
What I discovered are five key elements for any faithful 21st century congregation:
Follow Jesus…Nurture relationships…Share stories…Embrace change…Celebrate diversity

First, we are called to follow Jesus, which seems obvious,
but what does it mean to live thoughtfully, prayerfully, as Jesus did, in a manner acceptable to God?
What does it look like to seek what is good and right and acceptable in God’s sight,
and avoid what is not?
We are called to take up our cross and follow him, which probably means – at least occasionally –
that we will have to risk something, to sacrifice something good, for the sake of something better.
When we follow Jesus, we set aside, or at least put in line, our own plans and agendas.
When we follow Jesus, we seek to love our neighbors as he has loved us,
which inevitably will force our own comfort and pleasure to be set aside, or at least put in line.

Consider this campus: If we were to follow Jesus around this campus, loving as he loved,
what might his ministry look like?
In what ways might we love, as Jesus loves, the dozens of preschoolers and their parents
who come to DPCC every day?
How might we love, as Jesus loves, the 45 teenage young women and their teachers and volunteers
who arrive at Global Village Project every day?
How might we love, as Jesus loves, the masses of children who walk across our campus
on the way to school every day?
How might we love, as Jesus loves, our business neighbors
who depend upon upon a secure and pleasant atmosphere for their businesses?
While at the same time, how might we love, as Jesus loves,
our neighbors who sleep on the benches every night,
who are stressed beyond measure and struggling in their hearts, minds, bodies and souls,
because they have little to no resources and no home?

Did you know that we had 414 registered guests in our Threshold Ministry during August?
That’s not 414 individuals, as some return every time for Christian fellowship and hospitality.
But we are seeing almost twice as many persons as we did a few months ago.
When it comes to loving all our neighbors,
what might it meant to set our mind on the things of God and not simply on human things?

O Lord, when next I meet a DPCC family, or a Global Village volunteer,
or a homeless person in need,
may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight,
for you are my Rock and my Redeemer.

The biblical words to our opening hymn are not just a song to be sung, and then forgotten.
They are a challenge to the Church…to this church.
Today we all are called to be disciples of the Lord,
to help to set the captive free, make plowshare out of sword,
to feed the hungry, quench their thirst, make love and peace our fast,
to serve the poor and homeless first, our ease and comfort last.
As our thoughts go, so go our words, and so go our lives,
and beyond that, so go the lives of those around us.

We are not islands. Everything we do or say impacts the people around us.
So, tomorrow morning when you awake, perhaps the sentence prayer from Psalm 19
may help us all follow a bit more closely the ministry of Jesus:
(repeat it with me, if you will)
May the words of my mouth…and the meditations of my heart…be acceptable in your sight…
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.

Rev. Dr. Todd Speed
Decatur Presbyterian Church
Decatur, Georgia
September 16, 2018