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21 August 2011 Proper 16 - 9th after Trinity
Reading: Matthew 16.13-21
Lord, breathe Your Spirit upon us at this time. Bless now the words of my lips and the meditations of our hearts – give us an understanding of Your Holy Word and lead us in the way You want us to go. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
A man walking in the foothills picked up a beautiful rock from a North Carolina stream bed and used it as his cabin doorstop. Years later a geologist who was hiking in the area stopped at the cabin and noticed the doorstop, which he immediately recognized as a huge lump of gold. In fact, it proved to be one of the largest gold nuggets ever found east of the Rockies.
Jesus and His disciples ventured into the District of Caesarea Philippi, an area about 25 miles northeast of the Sea of Galilee and about 120 miles from Jerusalem.
He looked at His disciples and in a moment of reflection said: "Who do men say that I am?"
The disciples begin sharing with Jesus what they have heard from the people who have been following Jesus: Some say that You are Elijah; others say John the Baptist, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. It’s always been this way, Jesus as seen by the masses is seen in so many different ways.
You can speak of Jesus as prophet, holy man, teacher, or spiritual leader, and few will object.
But speak of Him as Son of God, divine, of the same nature as the Father, and people will line up to express their disapproval.
A billion Muslims will say: "Prophet, yes. God, no!"
Jews scattered around the world will say: "Teacher, yes. Messiah, no!"
Liberal Protestants and religionists of various stripes will say: "Exemplary man, yes. Divine, no!"
In our pluralistic society we have been watering down the gospels and the name of Jesus for quite some time. In an attempt to not offend other people or their religion we choose not to speak of Jesus. We accept the idea of God and we admit to trusting Him but then we go our separate way.
We believe we can control our own destiny.
Jesus then asks the disciples, “Who do you say that I am?”
This is where the rubber meets the road!
Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus was delighted to hear Peters words and answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.”
Jesus knew that Peter didn’t come to this conclusion on his own; it took a supernatural revelation from God, Himself (I Corinthians 2:11-14).
Just as any of us today cannot come to know Jesus on our own volition, it takes an act of the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth.
Jesus must have swelled with joy to hear Peter utter these words;
He knew it was time for deeper training of the disciples.
The Lord knew that Peter and the disciples could now be led into new steps of deeper truth and service.
Our Lord’s entire ministry to His disciples had prepared the way for this experience.
Jesus’ ministry was also turning in a new direction; for the next three years of His ministry He would be headed to the cross.
Once the Holy Spirit reveals Christ in our lives and we make the confession of faith, it is not the end of our journey, but the beginning.
We are then supposed to read and study scriptures,
have a daily open line of communication with God; associate with other Christians, worshiping together and we are to spread the Good News to others.
We are to be the instruments that the Holy Spirit uses to reach others for Christ.
But sometimes our own views taint what we see.
Karl Barth, a famous theologian, was on a streetcar one day in Basel, Switzerland, where he lectured. A tourist to the city climbed on and sat down next to Barth. The two men started chatting with each other. "Are you new to the city?" Barth inquired. "Yes," said the tourist. "Is there anything you would particularly like to see in this city?" asked Barth. "Yes; he said, "I’d love to meet the famous theologian Karl Barth. Do you know him?" Barth replied, "Well, as a matter of fact, I do. I give him a shave every morning." The tourist got off the streetcar quite delighted. He went back to his hotel saying to himself, "I met Karl Barth’s barber today."
Like the man who failed to recognize gold when he held it in his hands, the disciples failed to recognize the true nature of the Lord - even after more than three years with him.
We often don’t recognize greatness, even when we encounter it directly. The question before you this morning is, “What about you? Do you know Jesus?”
In the same way, do you and I see Christ in the kind deeds of others, do we see Christ in the words of comfort offered during trouble, do we see Christ in someone who we regard as less or not as good as we are??
Peter saw the divinity in the man Jesus and I wonder if we see and feel the divinity of Christ today??
We can miss seeing Jesus who is all around us and in each of us, because at times we get so caught in the exterior stuff of our faith that we cannot see the God that is beyond all of that stuff to the God who is active, living, and interested in our individual lives.
How about you?
Who do you say Jesus is?
Oliver and Tilley-Mae, parents and godparents are going to make commitments this morning about recognising Jesus as Lord and God. They will join us in saying we believe and trust in him.
This is not because we know it all, it is the beginning of a journey that we all take
albeit each of us are on different parts of that journey.
But I would encourage everyone to join in with the words.
If you have acknowledged Jesus as your Lord and Saviour before it is good to remind ourselves and recommit ourselves to him; to start again; forgiven refreshed, renewed.
If you have never said it before but would like to this morning, stand with us and commit your life to Jesus
join us in what we say and there will be an opportunity after communion to tell one of the team what you have done and for them to pray with you.
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