“Who Do You Say Jesus Is?”
Scripture Psalm 124 read responsively and Matthew
16:13-20
Preached by Linda Jo Peters ~ August 21, 2011
Unity Presbyterian Church ~ Terre Haute , Indiana
INTRODUCTION TO SCRIPTURE
Psalm 124 read responsively
The psalmist is expressing a
kind of gratitude for a narrow escape or a divine explanation for having
avoided a complete catastrophe, but what does it mean to have God on our side
when we are defeated and suffering? It
may mean we are not be on God’s side or it may mean that even when we suffer
God does not abandon us. That is good
news!
1If it had not been the Lord who was on our side—let
Israel now say—
2if it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when
our enemies attacked us,
3then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their
anger was kindled against us;
4then the flood would have swept us away, the torrent
would have gone over us;
5then over us would have gone the raging waters.
6Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as prey to
their teeth.
7We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the
fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped.
8Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven
and earth.
Matthew 16:13-20
Who do people say Jesus
is? Whether you look in the Bible or
seek wisdom from preachers or pundits, people say a lot of things about Jesus.
He is the King of the Jews. He is Mary’s Son. He is the light of the world. He
is a prophet without honor in his own country. Jesus is the one who can heal
your child, cast out your demon, forgive your sins, and even lead your
revolution. Jesus is the one you invite to dinner and then invite to leave the
district. He is a messiah, a prophet, a rabbi, and a pain in the neck. He is
alive, he is dead, he is risen, he will come again. But just for a moment let
all the talk from others go. Instead
stand in Peter’s shoes and watch Jesus turn to you and ask you, “Who do you say
I am?”
13Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea
Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14And
they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others
Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15He said to them, “But who do you
say that I am?” 16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the
Son of the living God.” 17And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you,
Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my
Father in heaven. 18And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock
I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19I
will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth
will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in
heaven.” 20Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone
that he was the Messiah.
Sermon
Who do you say Jesus is: teacher,
healer, savior, God?
Jesus is not asking, “Who
does the Bible say I am?” or “What is your Christology?” Jesus is asking a personal question. What do you believe?
Believers throughout history
have tried to put into words what it is they believed. Such an action is called a confession. We usually think of confession and naming our
sinful nature, but that is just a part
of confessing. First you need to say
what your truth is about God. Some of
the historic confessions go back to the writings of Paul such as what is found
in the Apostles’’ Creed. The Horizon Bible Study that Trinity and
Rebecca Circles will be studying this program year uses the practice of
confessional writing to study the Beatitudes.
Margaret Aymer the author of the study says: in the discipline of confession we
practice the art of telling the truth as we understand it about God and
ourselves.[1]
Reflection and being honest
about what is true is a foremost action of disciples of Jesus Christ. Especially during times when the church as a
whole has betrayed the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it was time to confess who God
is and our sin. The Crusades and the
Inquisition are just two instructive examples of the church going very
wrong. But many of you are survivors of
the battle for power in churches still today.
We Presbyterians have a whole
book of Confession that seeks to state our faith and bear witness to God’s
grace in Jesus Christ. In these
confessional statements the church declares to its members and to the world who
and what it is, what it believes, what it resolves to do.
When Karl Barth and his EVANGELICAL Christians in Germany took a stand
against the Third Reich, an evil empire that attempted to say the church and
the state were one entity, they adopted the Barmen Declaration, which resulted
in Barth's expulsion from Germany and possibly the arrest and death of
Bonhoeffer. The Barmen, which is now in our Book
of Confessions, showed that anytime nationalism, patriotism and allegiance
to Jesus Christ are combined we are on very dangerous ground.[2]
In 1986 the Dutch Reformed Mission
Church in South Africa wrote a confession that confronted the sin of
Apartheid.
We believe that any teaching
which attempts to legitimate ( ) forced separation by appeal to the gospel, and
is not prepared to venture on the road of obedience and reconciliation, but
rather, out of prejudice, fear, selfishness and unbelief, denies in advance the
reconciling power of the gospel, must be considered ideology and false
doctrine. Therefore we reject any doctrine which, in such a situation sanctions
in the name of the gospel or of the will of God the forced separation of people
on the grounds of race and color and thereby in advance obstructs and weakens
the ministry and experience of reconciliation in Christ.[3]
In confirmation here at
Unity, I ask the youth to write their own statement of faith which is their
personal confession. What about your
confession? Who do you say, Jesus is? It is good for believers to not only write
what they believe but to share what they believe with others. In the discussion to clarify what one means,
we can become clearer on what is important for us. Attending an Anabaptists seminary helped me
become more assured that I believe in the baptism of infants. In my chaplaincy I worked with a Roman
Catholic Priest who would refuse communion if he felt people were not right
with the Church’s laws; I came to value open communion all the more. I would not want to give up those challenging
discussions that helped me come to terms about what it is I believe. My faith did not need to change their faith
to be my truth.
Lately I have been playing
with the idea that Jesus is a Spiritual Free Radical. Free radicals in chemistry cause change, some
good and in biology often not so good.
But Jesus is good, so I am still looking for term that speaks to the
radical change agent for good that Jesus is for my life and I believe for the
world. Amen.
[1] p. 11 in
the 2011-2012 Horizons Bible Study,
“Confessing the Beatitudes” by Margaret Aymer
[2]Commentary by Rev.
Stephen Row June 23, 2011 See: http://www.pcusa.org/resource/belhar-confession/ The Theological Declaration of Barmen was
written and adopted at The Confessional Synod of the German Evangelical Church which met in
Barmen, May 29-31, 1934.
[3] This is a translation of the original
Afrikaans text of the confession as it was adopted by the synod of the Dutch
Reformed Mission Church in South Africa in 1986. In 1994 the Dutch Reformed
Mission Church and the Dutch Reformed Church in Africa united to form the
Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA). This inclusive language text was prepared by
the Office of Theology and Worship, Presbyterian Church (USA).
