Who?

I just realized something odd.

I don’t have any sermons for the late summer Sundays in the season of Pentecost. Why? Because for about 20 years I’ve been on vacation during August! I have enjoyed and been truly inspired listening to other preachers deal with the summer lectionary texts. But now I don’t have anything of my own to pull out of the barrel to share!

Oops! Sorry!

So in lieu of a sermon for this coming Sunday, here are a few thoughts about the Matthew 16:13-20 text assigned for Proper 16A/Pentecost 11.

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.

Did you notice how often the word “you” shows up in the passage? “Who do YOU say that I am?” “YOU are the Messiah…” “Blessed are YOU…” “For flesh and blood has not revealed this to YOU…” “And I tell YOU, YOU are Peter…” “I will give YOU the keys…” “…whatever YOU bind…” “whatever YOU loose…”

I count 9 “YOU’s” in these 7 short verses.

Maybe YOU are more important than you realize!

If we were to turn this passage upside down, reading from end to beginning, it appears that the YOU in these verses has tremendous power – power to loose – power to bind – power to unlock the secrets and treasures of God’s kingdom – power to withstand evil – power to build a new community called “church.”

That’s awesome! But…how do you come into such power?

Well, by knowing WHO Jesus is.

Back in the day, SOME said Jesus was John the Baptist, others said Elijah, and still others thought Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Great. But you can’t build your life on what OTHER PEOPLE think.

“WHO do YOU say I am?” Jesus asks.

“You are the Messiah – the Christ – the Son of the living God.”

Hmmmm.

Well, how did Peter come into this information that Jesus is the Messiah?

Interesting fact: this story takes place at the very end of Jesus’ ministry. Immediately after verse 20, Jesus and the boys head to Jerusalem where – well, you know what happened there on that Friday long ago.

So Peter’s “confession” (as it is sometimes called) takes place after three years of following rabbi Jesus. Listening to Jesus. Watching Jesus. Learning from Jesus. Experiencing Jesus.

Peter has seen Jesus do all the things the long-promised Messiah is supposed to do – healing the sick, freeing the oppressed, raising the dead. Peter saw Jesus touch lepers, redeem the dignity of women, break down laws that hurt people, forgive sins, and even welcome and eat with tax collectors, sinners, prostitutes, enemy soldiers, Samaritans, and a whole host of people the society of the day rejected.

Do you see it? There was something in WHAT Jesus did and HOW Jesus lived that revealed to Peter WHO Jesus was.

And now Jesus gives Peter the good news: what he has seen in Jesus, now he is to go and do! Live like Jesus! This is what faith is all about! And in living the Jesus Way the true Church is born, evil is defeated, heaven’s treasures are unlocked, and you are set free!

You see, people come alive in the WHO of the man from Nazareth.

What would it be like if we ditched all the theology for a while, stopped quoting from the Bible, quit turning the scriptures into laws, and simply studied Jesus – for three years?

Maybe the WHO of Jesus would transform YOU!