15A Pentecost                                         Matthew 16:13-20                                   Aug. 25, 2008

In today’s gospel reading Jesus raises a question.
He raises a very important question.
Do you remember what that question is?
“Who do you say that I am?”

Does this strike you as an odd question?
I have to admit that initially this struck me as a strange question, what do you mean, who do you, say that I am?
I have come to realize that the question strikes me as odd because I am hearing the question with the ears of a person raised in a land that values individualistic identities.
For as long as I can remember I have been told that each person is special, and that each one of us has unique characteristics thereby making each of us distinctive.
And to be honest, I have to admit, I have kind of enjoyed hearing that and I don’t believe that is a particularly bad thing.
But it is not a Mediterranean thing.
In fact it is a distinctly opposite thing, for folks raised in the Mediterranean world the emphasis was not so much on the individual self, but rather on the perception of others.
Jesus question therefore was not so much a “theological quiz” for his disciples, but rather he was merely getting feedback as to what others are thinking.

To Jesus adversaries, he was “Jesus of Nazareth” because to know a person’s home village is to know everything about that person.
Therefore all people in Nazareth were presumed to be alike.
Do you remember when Jesus encountered Nathanael and what was Nathanael’s response was one of, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?
I can assure you that Nathanael’s comment was not particularly complimentary.

Another stereotypical identification of Jesus can be found in the occupation of one’s father or the status of one’s family.
It is believe that to know a family is to know everything about every member of that family. 
I love my family of origin dearly, but I also believe that I ought not to be judged or stereotyped by my family’s assets or liabilities.
While there may be truth to the notion that the apple does not fall far from the family tree, I’m not sure I want that gravitational theory to pigeon hole me, nor do I believe that my children want that potential albatross hung on their necks.
So, the question, “who do you say that I?” is not so odd, at least not in the culture that defines who you are by where you come from and your family tree.

So what do the disciples say?
How do they respond to this question?
Well, in good Mediterranean form, the disciples tell him what others are saying about him and how they perceive him. 
Some say he is John the Baptist, others Elijah or Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.
Unlike his adversaries who mocked his hometown, or his former neighbors who knew his family of origin and thought he was getting too big for his britches, the response that the disciples gave were honorable, but mistaken perceptions.

This leads Jesus to look at Peter and ask him point blank, “Who you say that I am?”
In other words, I don’t want the word on the street, I don’t want the most recent public perception poll, I want to know, who do YOU say that I am?

What does Peter say? He says, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.”
Bingo! Peter is the big winner! But wait, does he really know what that means?

I am reminded of my 10th grade geography class.
At the beginning of the year the teacher was handing out our textbooks.
Much to my surprise I was accidentally given a copy of the Teacher’s Edition with all the answers.
Lucky me! I thought.
Now I was bound to get the answers right.
You what the problem was?
For some strange reason, the teacher also wanted us to show our work, so he could see how we came to the answer we came to.
You know what; the Teacher’s Edition didn’t have that information.
I could answer the question correctly, but I could not explain how I got the answer.
And either could Peter because it quickly became apparent that he had no idea what the implications where to the answer he gave.  (Yes, I did return the Teacher’s Edition and managed to pass the class without it.)

Thanks to Peter, the disciples heard the correct answer—and like Peter they too initially failed to fully comprehend the magnitude of the statement, and yet, over time, with the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit, it sunk in.
In time, they all understood and could with complete confidence make the confession; you are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God!

How do I know that and why do I believe that?
Because without such confidence and conviction they would have never taken the Good News of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth.
And had they not had that confidence and conviction and had they not had the Holy Spirit inspiring and supporting them—you and I would not be here this morning.
Had the disciples not finally grasped the magnitude of such a confession—you and I would not be here making that similar confession that Jesus is Lord!

So far we have considered the significance of Jesus asking the question.
We have considered the response of Peter and the disciples.
This brings us to two other questions.
Who are you?
And: Who do you say that Jesus is?
And it would seem to me that these two are tightly linked to one another.
Who are you? The question of is identity is one of the key questions of life.
Our scripture today among other things involves a question of identity--specially, Jesus identity, but it also cause us to reflect on who we are, because if we call ourselves a Christian, then who we say Jesus is makes a difference in who we are.

In regard to the second question, there are more potential answers to that question than we have time for this morning.
We could use the traditional answers—we could say that Jesus is the Messiah, Christ, God with Us, the Son of God—we can use all such language to signify particular theological beliefs, but I don’t believe that is exactly what Jesus is asking.
And even then, it kind of begs the question.
When you say Jesus is the Messiah, or the Son of God, what does that mean?
Not in just an abstract way, but what does it mean to you personally?
What difference does your confession make in your daily life?
Jesus was not so much asking for official textbook answer to his questions, he was asking for a personal response, he wanted to know how that answer was going to impact and transform your life.

So, who is Jesus?
I don’t know about you, but the more I ponder this question, the tougher it becomes.
If we are going to call ourselves Christians, this is really a crucial question.
I believe it really is best that we can’t give just one easy, simple, distinctive answer, because that would mean that we have Jesus domesticated, that we have created him in our own image and transformed him into our particular pet peeve and special interest.
We can repeat Peter’s answer—“You are the Messiah, Son of the living God”—but the real question for each of us is what does this mean to me?

Maybe you came here this morning and thought that the question of who Jesus is was a pretty simple question. But on further reflection, it’s not so simple.
And maybe that’s the point—this is a question we have to struggle with, and answer for ourselves, and keep answering for ourselves.
At the same time I really don’t want to just throw the question out there and let it hang, I would like  to for the sake of the reflection start by offering a fairly traditional answer to the question, “Who is Jesus?”
The very earliest Christian confession of faith was three simple words, “Jesus is Lord.”
We have since come up with complex doctrinal statements and thousand and thousand of pages of theology have been written, and there is value in all that, but for the earliest Christians, it all boiled down to “Jesus is Lord.”
This is not so much a theological statement as it is a relational statement.
To say that Jesus is Lord is to say that I live in relationship with Jesus, that Jesus has a claim on my life, that Jesus is the One whom I follow.

As Lord, Jesus is our example and model, the One who shows us how to live.
In the scriptures, Jesus shows us one who lives for others and in relationship with others, one who works for the kingdom of God.
Jesus shows us what God is like and changes us, transforms us.
And Jesus shows us what being human is suppose to look like and lead us into that image.

This isn’t the only right answer to who Jesus is.
And even if this is your answer, you still have to ask, where is Jesus leading me?, and grapple with what it means to follow Jesus day by day.
But this question of who Jesus is is more than an interesting little exercise, because if we claim to be Christian, than who Jesus is has something to do with who we are.

Let me give you a real life example.
On Friday when I got up I knew what I had to do.
I had to get the announcements ready for Karen so she could get to work on the bulletin when she arrived.
I knew that I needed to finish up the work I started on the Acolyte Training Manual I was preparing for our training after services this morning.
I knew that I had to start working on the campfire service that evening as well as the message for the evening and the sermon this morning.
If I got lucky, and got all that done, I could start on my second list of things to get done.
It was a lot to do, but if I knuckled down and didn’t spend too much time wandering around looking at the rummage sale stuff I might very well pull it off.

What I had not planned on was a phone call from someone looking for help in getting their son home from Vermont. Help that consisted of a bus ticket to the tune of about $200 and an additional $50 for food on the way home.

What I had not planned on was a visit from one of the young men in this community who was currently homeless and down to his last $10.
He was hoping I could find a place for him to spend the night so that he would not have to spend yet another night sleeping on a park bench in town.

I won’t belabor you with all the details, but suffice it to say, this was not the first time I was called upon to bail him out of some current crisis and I hardly doubt it will be the last.

What I had not planned on was the amount of time both of these crises required, and both were cutting into my list of things to do and as a result I found myself getting frustrated and angry.
I will confess that my sense of Christian charity was being tested; I was not as charitable or patient as I would like to have been.
And those ill feelings were tested further when I would try to write a sermon and kept bumping into the question posed by Jesus, “Who do you say that I am?”

I knew that how I responded to the individuals before me with their separate crisis would determine the deeper significance of the response I might make to that question.
In other words, my actions or inactions would reflect my true confession.

I might be able to answer the question correctly, but my real life response would reflect a response that says something completely different.

Like Peter, I might be able to answer the question right, but I was potentially going to mess up on the real life application.

We might say all the right words—but as you know—our actions and inactions speak louder than our words or our confessions.

And when that happens—and we all know that it will happen—we are reminded in a very profound way that we are not saved by our works, we are not saved by our ability to spit out the right words, we are not saved by showing up and going through the motions—but rather—we are saved only by the grace and mercy of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.

And if we answer the question “Who is Jesus?” by saying that Jesus is Lord, then as we grow and change and learn, Jesus will be part of the process.
That doesn’t make everything easy or neat and tidy.
It doesn’t mean you your well intentioned to do list won’t get interrupted, but it does give us one to follow, one to give us hope and strength and grace and patience for the journey.

There are a lot of ways of answering the question, “Who are you?” you may answer that question by saying, “I’m a parent,” or, “I’m a construction worker”, or “I’m retired”. You might answer by saying, “I’m a student”, “I’m a life long Lutheran”, or, “I’m a middle aged father of two.”

Who are you?
We are all what we do, in part, and where we come from, in part, and what others see and expect of us, in part, and we are defined by our relationship, good and bad, in part. But we are more than that.

We are made in the image of God, which means that we are something distinct and special and uniquely made.
We re children of God and we are Christians, followers of Jesus Christ.
As Christians, we are more than the sum total of what we do and where we come from and what others see and expect of us, because we are being led and transformed through a vital relationship with Jesus.
There is a source of strength and power and wisdom beyond ourselves.
And we are part of the church, the continuing community of Jesus, connected to brothers and d sisters of a variety of flavors and expressions who share the journey with us.
Through Christ’s church we draw strength and help one another as together we lean and follow Jesus’ ways.

Who is Jesus?
It’s an important question.
And the way you answer it says something about who you are.
Peter Gomes the chaplain at Harvard University has a good answer to the question of identity.
He writes:
Who are you? Let me suggest that are
Formed by God
Nourished by God’s love
Preserved by God’s mercy
Open to God’s promises
Expectant of God’s future
You are the human expression of Divine hope…
You are that, and more.

And for that we can all say, Amen. Thanks be to God!


Pastor Stephen P. Blenkush
Zion Lutheran Church
Milaca, MN


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