Sermons

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THE Question
May 18, 2003
Dan Baumgartner
Matt 16:13-23

You know that I am continually on the lookout for things that will aid you in your spiritual journeys. I am, after all, the one who told you on Easter about the new book, “Spirituality for Dummies.” I know that’s been a lifechanger for many! This week, I scored again. Some of you probably saw the website described in the Seattle Times: Afterlife Telegrams.com. It works like this. You want to give a message to a loved one who has passed away. For a $5-per-word fee, you write the message. The website owner then has a person who is terminally ill memorize the message, with the idea that it can then be recited to your loved one on the other side of the grave. (!) Please note that there is no guarantee. And so far, the company has only received one order…from a newspaper columnist who paid to have a snotty message delivered to Adolph Hitler! Sigh. Maybe spirituality IS for dummies.

Actually, today’s scripture passage may provide the antithesis of the sloppy, anything goes, whatever works for you kind of spirituality that is on display virtually everywhere. We are looking at Questions That Jesus Asked. Please turn with me to Matthew 16:13-23.

Are you ready to answer the question? WHO IS JESUS?
It’s THE question of the New Testament. It’s the question of the gospel of Matthew that we’ve been studying together. WHO IS JESUS? The question gets asked over and over again, in various forms.

Matt 8:27 When Jesus calmed the storm and saved the disciples from drowning, they asked “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?”

Matt11:2 John the Baptist from prison: “Are you THE ONE who is to come, or should we wait for another?”

Matt 12:23 After Jesus healed a man who was blind, mute and had an evil spirit, “Can this be the Son of David?”

Are you ready to answer the question? WHO IS JESUS?

The disciples of Jesus have had the previous 12 chapters to wrestle with this question. They have followed Jesus, traipsed around Galilee, watched Jesus teach, argue, heal, care for people, do miracles, all the time the question growing in their minds,
WHO IS THIS MAN?

It is Jesus who pushes the issue forward: Who do people say that I am? And, as in other places, the geographical location is of great interest here. Matthew tells us that they are at Caesarea Philippi. One of King Herod’s sons, Philipp, has ended up with responsibility for the territory in the north. He has rebuilt this city, naming it after Caesar and attaching his own name to the end of it (thus, Caesarea Philippi) to distinguish it from another Caesarea on the coast. The area is almost exclusively a Gentile area (non-Jewish).

And let me tell you, there was a LOT of “spirituality” in that place. You name it, you could find it. Historians say that in the vicinity of Caesarea Philippi there were 14 temples to worship the Syrian god Baal. AND nearby, was a hill with a very deep cavern in it. It was said to be the birthplace of Pan, the Greek god of nature. The original name of the city, in fact, was “Panias.” AND in the same vicinity, the springs, the headwaters of the Jordan River were located, with the obvious interest and tradition for the Jewish people. AND finally…Phillip had built there a huge temple, all in white, as a tribute to the Roman emperor and god…Caesar. Syrian idols, Greek myths, Jewish tradition, Roman deities and practices abound. Spirituality is everywhere. And it is HERE in the midst of every competing religion that Jesus decides to ask the question: Who do people say that I am?

The answers from his disciples are not shocking. John the Baptist, resurrected from the dead (Matt 14). Elijah, the Old Testament figure who, according to the book of Malachi would come before the Messiah (“Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.”) In fact, still to this day, during the Jewish Passover meal an extra chair is put at the table, and someone checks the door to see if Elijah has come. Jeremiah the OT prophet whom several extra-Biblical sources said would return to herald the Messiah. Or another prophet. ALL the answers said “You are seen as a forerunner, someone who will point to the coming of God’s Messiah who will save Israel.”

Who do people say that I am? Jesus started them off with an easy question. all they are doing is reporting the facts, what they had heard, what other people thought.

But after they have exhausted their memories, Jesus cuts immediately to THE question:
“But who do YOU say that I am?” The YOU in this Greek phrase is emphatic…it is repeated for emphasis, more like: But YOU, who do YOU say that I am?” Suddenly it becomes very quiet. Jesus has changed everything. No longer is the answer just reporting, or a philosophical wondering. Now it is intensely personal: “Who do YOU say that I am.” Are you ready to answer that question? The disciples find themselves in the place of the rich young ruler, whose life flashes before his eyes…and he sadly turns away from Jesus. The disciples are at a point of decision, a point of commitment.

Oh, Peter. Thank God for Peter. “You’re the Christ! The Son of the Living God!” “You’re the Anointed One, you’re the Messiah. You’re not a forerunner who points to another…all history has pointed towards you! You’re not hear to talk about God’s answer for Israel/for the world…you ARE the answer!” Thank God for Peter, big mouth Peter! Jesus says “You know me! And this came to you from God…not just from your best thinking, or books or teachers, but a revelation from God has been given to you.”

So Peter CONFESSES. He articulates what is deep inside him. Usually we think of confession as the ADMISSION of our sin. But confession also means to DECLARE what we know and believe deep inside. And it's critically important. We sometimes think real confession is just for the famous saints: for Dietrich Bonhoeffer, bearing witness to Christ on the way to the gallows. For Martin Luther, standing before the Tribunal to say "Here I stand" on the gospel.

But it’s for you and me. We confess. When we come to Christ for the first time, when we testify to God's presence in our lives.

When you are baptized, and you answer the question, “DO you turn to Jesus Christ, and accept Him as your Lord and Savior?”

When you join the church and answer the question: “DO you trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?

When you baptize your child, question: DO you believe in Jesus Christ as Lord & Savior?

When you walk out of here on Ash Wednesday, and walk into Thriftway with the cross of ashes on your forehead, every time you confess…you say with Peter, “Okay, I’m ready to answer the question.” Who is Jesus? The Christ. God’s Messiah. My Savior.

On Easter I shared with you story of a man I have met at sunrise last two Easters in a row. He’s a man I didn’t really know, just knew who he was…and that life has been difficult…very difficult. There’s been addictions, family pain…hard things. His name was JERRY. The last 2 Easters, I’ve gone to a lookout at sunrise, to see the sun coming up. Each year, Jerry has looked me in the eye and given the centuries-old Christian greeting of Easter: He is Risen!. Me: He is risen indeed! Jerry: He sure has. He sure has. I’ve learned more about Jerry in the last couple of weeks. Jerry died in a fire just a couple of blocks away two weeks ago. In fact, I will do his memorial service at 2 PM this afternoon. As I talked with his daughters Friday, they affirmed that Jerry’s life had been very hard. But also that he had quite dramatically met Jesus about 9-10 years ago. And in many ways, he has spent last years…confessing who Jesus is. Even in an Easter morning confession to a stressed out pastor.

God’s revelation to Peter drew forth his confession of Jesus. It also created the community of Jesus. Peter was the first church member! I’m sure he got a little certificate in the mail! He was the first to recognize, the first to confess…and he didn’t become part of some organizational hierarchy, but a foundational piece of the community of Jesus. When Jesus says “I’m naming you ROCK (Petros) and on this rock (Petra) I will build my church…” , church is a community word. It’s a people word. It actually means “the called out ones.” It’s the New Israel that Jesus is bringing into being, built upon the foundation of what God was doing in Jesus…His Son, his Messiah.

This community…world-wide, historical and into the future…is something unique. It is comprised of people all over the world…who are ready to answer this question: “Who do you say that I am?” People in Iraq, scared over what new government restrictions may appear against Christians. People in China, unable to meet together in public. (pause) I received an email from a friend, talking about several leaders being arrested a month ago…and one of their schools being closed down. They were treated poorly, and finally released a month ago…Already, they have plans to re-open the school in a different location. Why? Because they are a community that has come together out of the confession…that Jesus is the Christ. We’ll want to pray for them in the weeks ahead.

This church, this called-out people…is unique. Unique SO LONG AS WE CONFESS Jesus Christ, and pursue His ends, and point towards him. When we quit confessing…we are done. You can get social groups anywhere. You can find charities everywhere, you can find food banks, soup kitchens, music. What is unique about this community…is that we point towards Jesus Christ. We confess him. We look to him for forgiveness, for love, for eternal life. Jesus says “I will build MY church.” We point to him and say “I’m ready to answer the question.”

So Jesus calls forth confession…then community. And then, oddly enough…CONFUSION. As right as Peter was the first time…he’s just as wrong the second time. After having the revelation of the ages…Peter messes it up. When Jesus tells these same disciples what will happen to him, what is NECESSARY: suffering, death and resurrection…Peter blocks him. Jesus is the Christ, but not the kind they expect. Jesus is God’s answer, but not the answer they thought was coming. Peter now knows who Jesus is…but he doesn’t understand the real purpose in Jesus’ ministry. He doesn’t understand the weight and walls that sin has put into the world, and thereby doesn’t understand the cross. Jesus is there not to establish political independence for Israel, or provide material blessing…he is there to defeat sin, to save people from a worse enemy than Rome. Themselves.

“Get behind me, Satan!” When Jesus reacts so strongly to Peter’s admonishment “This must never happen to you,” he is reacting to Peter saying “you must avoid suffering,” when that suffering will bring about salvation for the many.

There’s something comforting to me about Peter’s confusion, his not getting it. In the space of a minute, he has gone from the rock of the community of Jesus…to a stumbling block to God’s purposes. Peter has gone from hero to goat, he has gone from following Jesus to trying to lead him…he’s gotten his own agenda mixed up with God’s. And there’s something comforting in that to me…partly because it’s so familiar. It’s the story of people. It’s Peter’s story. It’s the story of the church. It’s my story. We mess up. We start leading when we should be following.

The comforting thing is…the next picture we’ll see in Matthew…is Jesus taking Peter with him up the mountain. Jesus does not abandon Peter. He admonishes him…and then says, “Okay, let’s keep going. We have a mountain to climb together.” This week- lots of conversations…and the thread of each one was the thread through so much of the scripture: the promise of God is that He does not abandon us.

Are you ready to answer the question? Who do you say that I am? The thing about this question is…it doesn’t go away. When we first come to faith…when someone says “Are you one of those Christians?,”… when you set priorities in your life…when you decide who you will work for or what your behavior will be…when you are at the lookout and someone says “Christ is risen!”…when the police come to your underground school. Over and over the question from Jesus faces us: “Who do YOU say that I am?”

And over and over, we will CONFESS. We will be drawn deeper into the COMMUNITY of Jesus. We will undoubtedly get CONFUSED. And then Jesus will say: “C’mon. Let’s go. We have a mountain to climb together.”