The Gospel for October 14, 2004 (Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereschewsky)
Luke 9:18-27
Now it happened that he was praying alone, and his disciples came to him and he put this question to them, ‘Who do the crowds say I am?’ And they answered, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others Elijah; others again one of the ancient prophets come back to life.’ ‘But you,’ he said to them, ‘who do you say I am?’ It was Peter who spoke up. ‘The Christ of God,’ he said. But he gave them strict orders and charged them not to say this to anyone. He said, ‘The Son of man is destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and to be put to death, and to be raised up on the third day.’ Then, speaking to all, he said, ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me. Anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, will save it. What benefit is it to anyone to win the whole world and forfeit or lose his very self? For if anyone is ashamed of me and of my words, of him the Son of man will be ashamed when he comes in his own glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels. ‘I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.’ -- The New Jerusalem Bible. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1995, c1985
A Study
Now Peter gets a chance to be the Apostle par excellence. It is Peter who finally makes the leap of faith and proclaims in faith who Jesus is.
Immediately, Jesus starts preparing them; now that they know his real mission, he begins to set them up for the means of achieving the mission.
And two hard sayings: one is hard because it rips us out of our selfishness, the other, because we still don't really undertand it.
First, we are told that to follow Him, we must abandon everything else.
Second, we are told that (for us now) the kingdom of God has already been seen.
A Reflection
I certainly hope that God grades on a curve. If he doesn't, it will be very sparsely populated in Heaven, and the son of man will be ashamed of most of the world's cumulative population. Is this an enjoinder to be less worldly, or, as it seems, telling us to eschew completely material goods and comfort?
Some think that Lukes' writers meant that those living then would see Jesus in glory at the Transfiguration, which happened some days after Peter's proclamation. Others think that it means the second coming, which doesn't allow Jesus' prediction to be true. Others think that His coming again in glory occurred somewhere, somehow other than we know.
I think it's a hard saying, and continue to seek some insight.
The Collect
O God, who in your providence called Joseph Schereschewsky from his home in Eastern Europe to the ministry of this Church, and sent him as a missionary to China, upholding him in his infirmity, that he might translate the Holy Scriptures into languages of that land: Lead us, we pray, to commit our lives and talents to you, in the confidence that when you give your servants any work to do, you also supply the strength to do it; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
7:50:14 PM 
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