GOSPEL READING MATTHEW 16:13-20
13 Now 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.
MATTHEW 16 13_20 UPON THIS ROCK
Dear friends in Christ, grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and his Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The students were studying math in a fifth grade classroom, and the teacher was using the method of “estimating” to help them come to a greater understanding of numbers. “How many ping pong balls do you estimate there are in this jar?” she asked. “About how many do you think there are?”
One young boy estimated that there were forty. Another girl estimated 25. When the balls were taken out of the jar and counted the correct number was fifty, so the boy cheered for himself when he was given the prize. Then the teacher decided to ask how the students arrived at their answers. The little girl said, “Well, it looked like there were five balls on the bottom row, and there were five rows, so I counted up to five, five times.” The boy who had the correct answer said, “Well, yesterday was my dad’s birthday and he was forty, and that sounded like a good number.” And which student was it that got the prize? Was it the one ‘Who thought and analyzed and estimated, though wrong? Or was it the one who took a flying leap at a number, and guessed correctly? Unfortunately, it was the one who guessed.
It seems to happen with regularity in our world: people who are perfectly willing to give an answer without thinking about the question. Even in religious circles, it happens. A pastor was giving a children’s sermon one Sunday and began in this way: “Kids, what’s small and gray and furry and climbs oak trees?” No response, so the pastor tried again: “Oh, come on, kids. It’s small and furry, with a bushy tail, eats acorns and climbs oak trees.” Finally, one little boy raised his hand. “Yes, Billy, do you know?” And Billy said, “Well, I was gonna say ‘a squirrel’ but I suppose the answer’s Jesus.” Do you see what I mean? Giving an answer without thinking about the question, and it happens all the time in our world.
Our Lord had been with the disciples for quite some time, as this Gospel text opens up to us. They were with Him long enough to watch him heal the lame. Long enough to watch Him feed the 5,000, long enough to see Him walk on the water, and argue with the Pharisees, and teach the parables. So now the time had come for Jesus to do a reality check, to see if the disciples, or anyone else, had yet figured out who He was. So Jesus asked them plainly, “Who do people say that I am?” What do you hear on the streets? What are the people saying about Me? Has anyone ventured a guess as to My identity, or My purpose, or the source of My authority?
The disciples may have previously discussed this very question, because their answers were immediate and specific. “Some people say you are John the Baptist. Others say you might be Elijah. Still others think you might be Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.” You see, they were listing their religious heroes. They knew that Jesus spoke about God and that He was prophetic in nature, so they took a shortcut… an estimate … a guess, if you will. But then Jesus made the question more pointed.
“But who do you say that I am?” It suddenly became obvious that Jesus was not content to hear what other people believed. He was not interested in public rhetoric or popular opinion, nor is He today. Jesus is always wanting to know what you think, or what you feel, or you believe about Him. When Jesus made the question pointed and specific rather than vague and general, the disciples dared not say a word. No one dared to risk saying what he thought about Jesus. It was easier, after all, speaking for someone else, it was safer reporting what other people believed. So the disciples fell silent. But not Peter.
In an instant, Peter blended all that he knew about the man Jesus together with all that he knew about the promised Messiah. For a brief moment, the curtains raised, and he recognized who Jesus was. It was then that Peter blurted out his answer. “You are it! You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!” If he was wrong, he would, at best, be humiliated … and at worst, be stoned to death for blasphemy. But to Peter, it was worth the risk. Peter staked his opinion openly and boldly, and the other disciples stood there in awe.
The problem with the church today is that we are more like the other eleven disciples than we are like Peter. When we are asked to profess our faith, we spew out the religious words that we have heard in church over a lifetime, rarely stopping to think about their meaning. When we are asked to say what we believe, we describe what our parents believe, or mumble what we think our church believes, or report what popular culture says we’re supposed to believe. What we are essentially doing is answering the first question of Jesus: “Who do people say that I am?” However, Jesus does not let us off the hook so easily. “But who do you say that I am?”
Who do you say that he is? Do you say that He is “Savior”? Do you know what that means? That means that Jesus and Jesus alone is responsible for dealing with your sins. Your good deeds have absolutely no power in earning forgiveness. Your guilt and shame cannot buy God off. Not even taking communion four times a month, without the true presence of Jesus, can assure forgiveness; these element, while they are a means of grace, are simply bead and wine unless the Word is present. So please, don’t just say He is Savior without thinking about it. Who do you say that Jesus is?
Do you say that He is “Lord” of your life: if so, that makes you His servant. If He is the Lord, then you are the slave. It also means that everything you have is His, since slaves cannot own anything. Further, it means that whatever the master tells you to do, you have to do it. Have you ever thought about that? Who do you say that Jesus is?
Do you say that He is “Creator”? Is He Creator of everything? That means that He is creator of our enemies as well as our friends. He is the creator of people of different religions, people of different color. He is the creator of the people you love … and the people you hate. Do you know what you are saying when you confess that Jesus is your Savior, and your Lord, and the Creator of the universe? When Peter made his bold confession, Jesus bestowed upon him a most astonishing nickname.
“You are Petros; a rock, because your faith is so solid.” And then Jesus went on to say, “Upon this Rock I will build my Church.” I respectfully take issue with our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters at this point. Peter is not the Rock of the Church … but his confession is. He was the first to confess Jesus as Lord. His statement of faith ‘was the first stone in building a new Church that would come to worship the cornerstone … Jesus Christ. And the building of this Church has continued throughout human history.
Each generation of Christians has been adding its stones of faith. Faithful people of every age have stood up and professed Jesus as their Savior and their Lord, and then they, too, became stones upon which the church is built. Saint Peter. Saint Paul. Saint Augustine. Martin Luther. Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Mother Teresa. It was not easy for them … nor is it easy for us. The time has come for each of us to stand up and be counted.
Vague is no longer good enough. Lukewarm is no longer appropriate. Sincere confessions of faith are what the Savior asks of us, because the world needs to see bold, authentic witnesses once again. And not just the world, but our fellow church members, and our impressionable children, and our curious colleagues at work, and our weary friends and neighbors who wonder where the hope is in this world.
Tonight, you hold in your hands your contribution. It is a small stone, imperceptible perhaps, when compared to the mighty rocks that comprise the Church throughout history, but yours is every bit as important as theirs. For all the times we have failed to speak boldly about our faith in Jesus Christ… for all the times we have denied ever knowing Him… for all the times we have withheld the possessions that we now belong to Him — today we say we are sorry. Today we lay our stone at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ, and dare to be called His disciples. No power on earth can destroy what the Church has become. And for that we say, thanks be to God.
Amen.