Sermon for August 27, 2017
Proper 16A – RCL Track 1
When Jesus came into the district of
Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of
Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and
still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you
say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the
living God.” And 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. And 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. I 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.” Then he sternly ordered the
disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
Today we hear in the Gospel Jesus quizzing the disciples on
who people say he is. What is the
scuttlebutt around Israel as to the identity of this strange itinerate
rabbi? And I am sure that Jesus knew the
grumbling or mutterings around his identity just as much as the disciples
did. The people are convinced that Jesus
is a holy man and perhaps even one of the prophets come back to get the people’s
attention. Prophets are not popular
people because they tend speak truth to power.
They have a tendency to show up when the kingdom is out of whack and
bring the injustice of the power structures to the forefront. And those in power usually don’t like being
told that they are the problem. They don’t
like it when people like John the Baptist call the assembled leaders a brood of
vipers! And Jesus is doing things that
calls into question the power structures.
He is hanging out with the wrong people and calling out the hierocracy
of those who say they follow and worship Yahweh.
Jesus follows up with the logical question – Who do the
disciples think Jesus is? Do they too
think that he is some reincarnated or resurrected prophet? And dear Simon Peter steps forward and blurts
out “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God”. Peter gets the right answer – at least for
now. But it is an answer that when he
learns more about what being a messiah entails will find it hard to
believe. Later in this same section of
the Gospel – in the very next set of verses, which we will read next week – Peter
has a problem really understanding what it means to be a messiah. But this week we get to stop at Peter making
a bold and perhaps dangerous confession.
Jesus is the Messiah, the son of the living God. Not some dead prophet come back. God is doing better than sending back one of
the prophets. God is incarnate. God is walking with them.
And Jesus says that it is on the confession of the Living God
that we are to build the church. And that
is where it can get rough. When we
confess that we are part of the Episcopal Branch of the Jesus people we are
confessing a living God. Not a dead God. And if we really do believe that we will have
some of the same problems that we will hear Peter having next week. If we build the church on a living god and
not a dead Prophet than we will be asked to take some uncomfortable actions.
Who do you say Jesus is?
And the corollary for me is What is Jesus asking us to do if we really
do confess a living God? I think from
the outside people around us may think that we have built museums to worship a
distant God. That we remember the acts
of Jesus and that it makes us feel good to know that we can be forgiven. That
is how we frequently read the promise to Peter when Jesus says that what is
bound on earth is bound in heaven and what is loosed on earth is loosed in
heaven.
Another way to read this passage is that when we confess God
to be a living God then what we do on earth matters in heaven. That what we do matters. And in a country that seems to become more
and more polarized it is good to remember what our call is to do on earth.
Our call is not to go to a museum on Sunday and listen to
fabulous music and admire the work of stained glass artists but it is to
do. I was just in Russia and during the
Soviet period many of the great churches where turned into just that – museums. And some of them remain museums. But many of them have been returned to
worshiping communities. And while the great interiors that where preserved by
turning the churches into museums are awe inspiring there is a totally
different feeling when you enter a church where there is a worshiping
community. The prayer that continually
soaks into the walls and the care of the community is palpable.
Jesus as incarnate showed us what God cares about. God cares about the vulnerable and those who
society sees as outcasts. Jesus shows us
that it greaves God’s heart when people are hurt and abused. It greaves God’s heart when people are
hungry. It greaves God’s heart when
people are sick or in prison. It greaves
God’s heart when people do not have shelter.
It greaves God’s heart when people are thrown out of homes because of
who they love. It greaves God’s heart
when we do not Love God and Love our neighbor – all of our neighbors. Our homeless neighbors, our Muslim neighbors,
our Jewish neighbors,our black neighbors, our GLBTQ neighbors.
Our call is to continue the good news of the incarnate Jesus
by doing. And thanks be to God I see
people around here doing as well as worshiping. We follow Jesus when we open
our church to people no matter their place or their appearance. We follow Jesus when we help sponsor safe
ground for homeless youth. We follow
Jesus when we feed people who otherwise would go hungry – and I see us doing
that so often with both our sack lunch program and with the wonderful meals
served after the weekday services. We
follow Jesus when our parish hall is opened up to people when it is hot outside
as a shelter and safe place.
And I know many of you do much behind the scenes to work for
justice in our society. To demand that
if we really think we should ban people living along our Rivers than we need to
find a way to offer them someplace else to live. It absolutely grieves God’s heart when we
treat our homeless neighbors as the problem instead of looking at a society
that has priced people out of the housing market. It greaves Gods heart that instead of
confronting a society that turns a blind eye to mental illness we blame those
we see for their illness and addictions.
If we believe that we still worship a living and incarnate
messiah then we are called to action. We
are called to make decisions and take actions in accordance with our
faith. The good news is that Jesus built
his church and continues to build the church on people like Peter. And people like you and me.
I say good news because Peter shows us that we don’t always
have to get it right. This same Peter
who boldly proclaims Jesus as the incarnate messiah will in almost the next
breath deny what being a messiah really means.
This is the same Peter who will deny Jesus three times after his
arrest. But his is also the same Peter
who after the resurrection confesses his love to Jesus three times – and each
time he is told to feed God’s sheep.
So when we don’t always get it right – when we occasionally
stumble and don’t love our neighbor.
When we occasionally – and I pray it is only occasionally – when we take
actions that grieve God’s heart we are not lost. We can confess our love for God and for all
of God’s creation and then there will be rejoicing in heaven as we take right
actions towards our neighbor and towards preserving all of God’s wonderful
creation.
When we care and show love to the vulnerable as Jesus did then
we are doing what Paul called the Romans to do.
We are presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice. Not a dead sacrifice but a living sacrifice –
one that continues as we work to bring justice and peace to our hurting and
hurt filled world. And that is what we
are called to do as crazy Jesus people.
We are called to serve those who society would be happy if they
disappeared. We are called to affirm
that racial hatred and white supremacy have no place in our churches or in our
society. We are called to bring a
radical peace and a radical love to our corner of God’s creation. We are called to pray for the reconciliation
of those who grieve God’s heart by spreading hate.
We are called to follow a messiah that upset a society that
was focused on worshiping the cult of Caesar and the cult of many God’s by
upsetting our society that so often seems to follow an economy built on the
destruction of people and the environment.
We are called to show a different way.
To show an economy that can be built that values people and values our
environment. We are called to turn a
society that has many of its values upside down right side up.
So I will ask you the same question that Jesus asked his
Disciples – who do you say that Jesus is?
Is Jesus a living, incarnate God for you calling you to action? Or is he one of the prophets come back and
now gone? Or?? It is by our very actions that we answer that
question.
I pray that we may show the world that this place – this corner
of 15th and J streets – houses a worshiping
community that believes that Jesus is an incarnate living God who grieves at
the meanness in our society and that this community is working to Love God and
Love our neighbors, all of our neighbors, and that we continue show that by our
actions.
Amen.
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