Living in Denial
Rev. Mark Schaefer
Kay Spiritual Life Center
Sunday, March 16, 2008--Palm Sunday
Isaiah 50:4-9a; Matthew 26:57-75

Is. 50:4    The Lord GOD has given me
                        the tongue of a teacher,
            that I may know how to sustain
                        the weary with a word.
            Morning by morning he wakens—
                        wakens my ear
                        to listen as those who are taught.
5          The Lord GOD has opened my ear,
                        and I was not rebellious,
                        I did not turn backward.
6          I gave my back to those who struck me,
                        and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
            I did not hide my face
                        from insult and spitting.
7             The Lord GOD helps me;
                        therefore I have not been disgraced;
            therefore I have set my face like flint,
                        and I know that I shall not be put to shame;
8          he who vindicates me is near.
             Who will contend with me?
                        Let us stand up together.
             Who are my adversaries?
                        Let them confront me.
9          It is the Lord GOD who helps me;
                        who will declare me guilty?
 

Matt. 26:57   Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas the high priest, in whose house the scribes and the elders had gathered.  58 But Peter was following him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest; and going inside, he sat with the guards in order to see how this would end.  59 Now the chief priests and the whole council were looking for false testimony against Jesus so that they might put him to death,  60 but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward 61 and said, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’”  62 The high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer? What is it that they testify against you?”  63 But Jesus was silent. Then the high priest said to him, “I put you under oath before the living God, tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”  64 Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you,
            From now on you will see the Son of Man
                        seated at the right hand of Power
                        and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
65 Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? You have now heard his blasphemy.  66 What is your verdict?” They answered, “He deserves death.”  67 Then they spat in his face and struck him; and some slapped him,  68 saying, “Prophesy to us, you Messiah! Who is it that struck you?”
 69   Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A servant-girl came to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.”  70 But he denied it before all of them, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about.”  71 When he went out to the porch, another servant-girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”  72 Again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man.”  73 After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you are also one of them, for your accent betrays you.”  74 Then he began to curse, and he swore an oath, “I do not know the man!” At that moment the cock crowed.  75 Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said: “Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

I.      BEGINNING

         Among the many things about Washington that it takes some getting used to, the way language is used is perhaps the biggest.  People in Washington talk differently.  And I am not talking about the Tidewater Accent that people have, I am talking about those in the halls of power who use speech differently.

         First there is the use of the passive voice to evade direct responsibility, employed famously by President Reagan who said of the Iran-Contra scandal, “Mistakes were made.”  That’s always a good one since you never have to say by whom the mistakes were made.

         Second is the popularity of euphemisms: “revenue enhancements” instead of “tax increases”."Economic downturn" instead of "recession".  "Friendly fire" instead of "shot by your own side" and my all-time CIA favorite: "terminate with extreme prejudice" instead of "to kill."

         Third, is the way people make denials in Washington.  They don’t make denials, they make non-denial denials.  The most famous one of these was President Clinton’s “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky” by which he was understood as denying having had an inappropriate relationship with Monica Lewinsky but in reality was only denying a very technical understanding of “sexual relations”.  People in power make this kind of denial all the time.  They’ll say that the charges are “ludicrous” or “absurd” and that they won’t “dignify them with a response” but rarely do they ever say, “That did not happen.”  That would be a denial-denial.  Very few people make those, the way William Tecumseh Sherman did when he said “If nominated I will not accept, if elected I will not serve”--a statement so clear in its denial that such statements are now called a “Sherman Pledge” [1] .  The most important thing to remember about hearing any politician’s “denial” is to listen very carefully to what is being said.  Upon further reflection it might appear that no denial had been made at all.

II.    The TExt: PETer’s Denial

We cannot exactly accuse Peter of a non-denial denial.  His denial is as forthright as they come.  Jesus is being tried by the Sanhedrin inside the Temple, and Peter is sitting outside in the courtyard.  He has this much going for him: he stayed around, all the other disciples have fled.  A servant girl comes up and says, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.”  He says, “I do not know what you are talking about.”  I suppose you could argue that was a non-denial denial, but there’s no equivocation really, he denies knowledge as to the truth of her statement.

Another servant girl sees him and says, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”  This time Peter says, “I do not know the man” and this time we are told he makes this pronouncement with “an oath”—a solemn vow or promise.  Then others come up to him and say, “Certainly you are also one of them, for your accent betrays you.” That is—you talk like someone from Galilee, not from Jerusalem or Judea.  And Peter answers, this time cursing and swearing an oath—going forcefully on the record—and says, “I do not know the man!”  At that moment the cock crows and Jesus prediction that Peter would deny him three times before the cock crowed has come true. 

Not even the spin factories of modern Washington could really get us around Peter’s denial.  There’s no way to say, “What my client really meant was that he is a friend of Jesus of Nazareth, but is not necessarily affirm Jesus’ claims about destroying the Temple in three days.”  No, Peter says, “I do not know the man!”  There’s no real way around that.  That’s a denial-denial.

III.  Our Denials

How about us?  What is the nature of the denials of Jesus that we make?  Into which category do we fall?  I think it’s fair to say that none of us here is directly denying knowing Jesus.  It would be an odd thing indeed to be such a person and be coming to church—although, now that I think about it, you could be here writing a paper for class, so I don’t want to presume. 

But chances are that no on here is likely to deny Jesus as forcefully as Peter did.  No, on the contrary, to the extent we deny Jesus, they are subtle denials that can be easily missed. And our denials are all the more problematic for all their subtlety. 

It has not gotten any easier for us since Peter’s time to claim Christ as ours.  On the surface it has, of course.  No one persecutes us for going to church—we don’t have to have secret house meetings for fear of the Romans.  We can take our day of worship off because the calendar reflects that day.  In many ways it is easier to be a follower of Christ than it was for Peter and for the early Church.

But the forces that cause us to deny Christ are much more subtle, as subtle as our denials are in response.  For we will not be persecuted for going to church or wearing crosses around our necks or anything like that.  Rather it is the pressures that we feel that cause us to betray Christ in our actions while we can continue to give lip service to our Christian faith with our speech.

We can say that we are followers of Christ, but if we do not care for the poor, do we not deny the One who challenged the rich man by saying, “if you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”

We can say that we are followers of Christ, but if we do not gather in community to worship and praise God, to take our time out to honor God, do we not deny the one who would have us give praise to God?

We can say that we are followers of Christ, but if we succumb to the idolatries of consumerism and consumption, do we not deny the One who told us “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal;  but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."?

We can say that we are followers of Christ, but if we are not committed to holiness of living, do we not deny the One who warned us against hatred, who called us to be pure of heart, who called us to an internal righteousness higher than the demands of the Law?

We can say that we are followers of Christ, but if we are not committed to hospitality and the inclusive love of God, do we not deny the One who said that when we welcomed the stranger we welcomed him? 

We can say that we are followers of Christ, but if we are not committed to justice, do we not deny the One who was himself unjustly crucified by tyrannical power structures and the violence of the world? 

We can say that we are followers of Christ, but if we do not love, if we do not live lives of love, do we not deny the One who told us to love God and our neighbor, to love our enemies, and who embodied a wondrous love for us?

The reality is, we do.  We can say we are Christians.  We can wear the clothing, the necklaces, the outer markers.  We can put down “Christian” in “religious views” on Facebook.  But we continue to deny Jesus in ways that are at once subtle and yet clear.  We continue to issue non-denial denials, or more to the point, non-affirmation affirmations.

IV.  The One Denied

But this is not a sermon of guilt.  This is not a sermon of judgment.  For if it were, not even the one delivering it could stand.  For, I deny Christ with every mean-spirited word, with every action that breaks faith with one of my brothers and sisters. When I fail to respond in love, forgiveness, and mercy, and respond instead in hate, vindictiveness, and judgment. I stand adjudged guilty as well.

Rather, this is a sermon of hope. A sermon grounded in a very real hope.

For part of the power of the story of Peter’s denial is that it does not come as a surprise.  It was predicted by Jesus.  Indeed it was the reminder of that very prediction that causes Peter to break down and weep.

But that means that Jesus knew Peter would deny him.  Jesus knew that the disciples would scatter and flee.  He knew that the crowds that were shouting “Hosanna” now would be shouting "Crucify him!" later that week. 

And it stands to reason that Jesus knew of our denials, too.  Knew that Christians everywhere would continue to deny Christ.

And therein lies our hope.

V.    END

For our hope is in the fact that we are in relationship with one who knew we would deny him, and yet, who gave himself for us in spite of our failings. 

That, my friends, is the grace that we proclaim.  We are fallen, broken creatures who are accustomed to denying Christ when it suits us to do so.  We live in denial.

But the God who calls to us through Christ Jesus is a God of love and grace.  A God who overcomes our failings and brings us into life.  A God who acts for our sake.

In a few moments, we’re going to sing another hymn for Palm Sunday.  It may seem odd to respond to this sermon with a happy Palm Sunday hymn like “All Glory, Laud, and Honor.”  And given that we know we are those who are living in denial—those who will take these happy hosannas and turn them into the mocking taunts and the cries for crucifixion—the lauds that we sing in that song might ring somewhat hollow.

But if we sing not to the one we pretend to follow, but to the one who knows of our denial, who knows we will scatter, and who gave himself for our sakes anyway, then we can sing fully and with great energy.  For it is a wondrous love indeed that sacrifices for people who would turn their backs on you.  A wondrous love that transforms us, that convicts us, that leaves us, like Peter, weeping.

But as with Peter, it does not leave us there.  We learn nothing of this Christ if we understand ourselves in relationship to him only as betrayers, only as deniers.  For just as Peter is redeemed—he does become the leader of the church—so too are we.  We are not imprisoned by our denials, for Christ has set us free.  We are liberated from the burdens of our guilt and faithlessness to be more perfect followers of Christ. 

We are liberated to worship God fully, to minister to the poor and needy, to resist the idolatries of consumption, to holiness of living and righteousness, to create cultures of hospitality, to work for justice, to live out lives of love as individuals and as a community.

We live lives in denial, but we are not limited to denial.  As Paul said, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  But our hope remains in the one who foreknew our failings, who knew of our faults, and who went to Calvary for us anyway.  Our hope is in the one whose love for us is so great that it lifts us out of the prisons of our denials into the way of life eternal.