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Synod Sermon August 23 Gospel: Matthew 16:13-20 13Now When

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Synod Sermon August 23 Gospel: Matthew 16:13-20 13Now When Synod Sermon August 23 Gospel: Matthew 16:13-20 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. Public Mindset and Your Mindset This lesson is often referred to as “The Confession of Peter,” since it’s the first time that anyone – and wouldn’t you know it’s Peter – says out loud what was becoming apparent to more and more people – that Jesus was the promised Messiah. But note how the lesson unfolds: • The setting is Caesarea Philippi, a place named for Caesar, the Roman emperor – the head of the foreign occupation forces. And Jesus, a Jew, was of the religion that believed a new Messiah, a new King David, was promised who would throw off the occupation and return Israel to its lofty status as God’s favored people. So that’s the setting. • Jesus is with his disciples. And he takes an informal poll about public opinion: “Who do people say that I am?” o And their answers reflect that Jesus has already gained a lot of attention from the public: “They say,” the disciples report, “that some think you’re John the Baptist (returned to life)… some say Elijah, Some Jeremiah or other prophets.” • But Jesus isn’t really after what others are thinking. He wants to know what his disciples are thinking – “Who to you say that I am???” • And it’s here that Peter – always the most impetuous – blurts out what probably some of the others are thinking: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” • And Jesus says that it’s on that bedrock of faith that the church will be built. And the question echoes through the years, right down to our time, and to our own ears: “Who do you say that I am?” It’s the question of faith: who do you believe Jesus is? Because in the final analysis, it doesn’t really matter what everyone around you is thinking about that – it’s what you are thinking about that that matters. I think we do well to recognize how Jesus went about asking the disciples that question: He first asked about what was being said around them – what were other people thinking. After all, none of us are an island, we’re all part of the community of people around us. So it’s not surprising that Jesus would preface his questions by asking what others are thinking. But what he really wanted to get at was what they were thinking… what they – each one of them – were thinking. Peter named it. And each of the other 11 at that point had to decide if they also believed it. The Spirit was doing the work of bringing them to faith. Because Jesus had only a little time to be recognized as the most important reality in their lives. In Jesus they were to see God, know God’s heart, follow God’s lead. “Who is it that you say that I am??” Not what are others saying… what are you saying. There will always be public voices around you. What do you say? What do you believe? Not what do others believe – what do you believe? We live in a time of very strong public opinions. Lots of voices around us. Observers say differences of opinion are becoming hardened, more polarized, less open to question. Influences on us are strong. We sort ourselves into tribes. In this election season you can drive through whole neighborhoods or communities and see signs for all one candidate/party, and on another day take another drive and see just the opposite. The sociologist Bill Bishop wrote The Big Sort a few years back, documenting how people are even choosing where to live by seeking to be surrounded by like-minded folks. Debaters are taught that you can only be persuasive to someone who doesn’t hold your opinion if you can state the contrary opinion well enough that they would say “yes, you understand me correctly.” I don’t think many can do that these days… • Folks on the right believe that the true America is being eroded, that the freedom and rights of the individual are being eroded, that God-fearing public leaders are being side- lined, that personal responsibility and morality is being tossed aside by an anything-goes immorality, that the government is increasingly invading our personal lives, and on and on… • Folks on the left believe we are drifting away from being the America that is the place of welcome for all people, that we’ve given way to the control of the rich and powerful to the exclusion of the poor, new immigrants, minorities, that the role of government as the safety net for those on society’s lower rungs is being callously taken away, and on and on… And I want to cry out in the midst of all this – People of God, put aside your tribal allegiances! Jesus isn’t really all that interested in what others are saying, Jesus is asking what you are saying. We are to be followers of Jesus. We come with our own faith, and our own values. We enter the public square with that faith and those values. We are supposed to be involved in the public square – the Bible says so: we are to be salt, light, leaven. We can listen to good debate about political theory, we can argue the role of big government or limited government, robust foreign policy or limited foreign policy… but as Jesus people we will be asking the questions Jesus set before us: which shaping of our public life will care for the poor and needy, which will make of us servant leaders for the sake of the world, which will lift up the values of compassion, love of neighbor, humility, modesty, care for the stranger and outcast, the worth of every individual. No political party or economic theory has an exclusive lock on those values. We – Jesus’ people - bring to the public square the starting point of knowing the Jesus who asks us what we believe. Who do we say Jesus is? And what does that mean for our lives… There will always be voices around us, ever more strident in these coming political days. But we are first and foremost God’s people, because we know Jesus, we know his love, we carry it in our hearts. In a confusing world, a cacophony of voices around us, Jesus asks us that question: Who do you say that I am? And as we answer, we follow. Amen. Peter Rogness .
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