In our gospel reading for this morning, Peter rebukes Jesus for talking about the coming suffering of the Messiah. Jesus responds to him by saying, “You are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” Now, I don’t know about you, but I often set my mind on human things rather than divine things as well. Oftentimes, those human things I set my mind on are things that make me more comfortable  or give me more pleasure. They are selfish things, things that focus only on me and no one else, certainly not on God.

So, how do we get out of that place? How do we turn our focus back to God and the things of God? Do you have any thoughts?

One time, quite a few years ago now, when I was in that place of focusing on myself and not on God, I realized that in order to right the ship, I needed to reconnect to God. I needed to worship. And with that in mind, I wrote this song. It’s called “I Need to Worship.”

PLAY “I Need to Worship”

Our passage from Matthew continues, ’Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any wish to come after me, 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 will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?’” The way of Jesus is tough. It’s not popular. Quite often, it costs us something. Jesus tells the disciples that following him means denying themselves, taking up their cross, and following him. With crucifixion being the Roman Empire’s preferred method of punishing the vilest of offenders, I imagine the disciples shuddered to think that following Jesus meant following in a way of such suffering. But, what Jesus is telling them is that following him means putting God’s way ahead of our own; it means being willing to do the hard thing, the thing we might most want to avoid, and following God.

Back in Matthew 7, Jesus says this: “Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Becoming disciples is difficult work. It’s not easy. The gate is narrow and the road is hard. It’s not the way most of us would choose if we were looking for something that is easier, costs us less, or feels more comfortable. But, it is the way that leads to life. It is the good way. It is the way Jesus calls us to walk.

The next song we are going to play is a song called “Narrow.” I wrote this song as I reflected on the difficult call of Jesus to pick up our cross and follow him. The gate and the way might be narrow, but God’s way is the way that leads to life.

PLAY “Narrow”

Less than a year after April and I met, I was sitting in my office at work when the morning radio show that I always listened to was interrupted by the news that an airplane had crashed into one of the twin towers in New York City. A few minutes after hearing what was happening, I called April to tell her to find a TV at her college and watch the news. Then I made my way to the breakroom at work to watch as the horrifying events of 9/11 unfolded.

Not long after that, April and I sat down to write a song together. We began jotting down lyrics and putting a tune to them. When the chorus had come together, we stopped and thought about the lyrics. The words we’d written were, “My faith isn’t strong til I’m moved by November winds.” Thinking about that in relation to the lyrics of the verse revealed to us that the song we were writing was really a response to the events of 9/11. It was our way of processing the tragedy that the whole world had witnessed. That realization changed the course of the rest of the song, shaping it into what you will hear this morning.

The part of the whole experience that came into focus as we penned this song was the way that people across the country were drawn to God through the tragedy. People were praying. God was being blessed publicly. Churches saw a rise in attendance. Our nation seemed like it was drawing closer to God. And we thought about our own experiences of God and saw how it was through our moments of greatest doubt and trial that our faith actually grew. We came nearer to God in those moments because we realized that we couldn’t make it through without him. “My faith isn’t strong til I’m moved.”

Peter didn’t like the things Jesus was telling them. Though he’d come to trust Jesus, he did not believe that the Son of Man, the Messiah, the one who would save all of Israel, would have to suffer and die first. But Jesus said to him, “You are a hindrance to me, for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” Peter had focused on himself and what he thought should happen or what he wanted to happen. Peter was drawn away by doubt. We know that Peter draws away from God again when Jesus is arrested. Peter watches Jesus get taken away to be killed and then denies knowing him. Yet it is through those experiences of doubt and tragedy that Peter truly comes to believe in Jesus and finds his calling as the rock upon which Jesus builds the church. “My faith isn’t strong til I’m moved.” This is the first song we ever wrote together and hopefully an encouragement for any today who are suffering from tragedy and loss or any who are doubting the love and calling of God in their lives. This is September Winds.

PLAY “September Winds”