Who do you say that I am?

Sunday, August 27, 2017

Matthew 16: 13-20

Who do you say that I am?

Let us Pray:

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you my Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.

Who do you say that I am? Jesus asked Peter and his disciples.

I remember working at Luther Crest bible camp in Alexandria, MN while I was in college. There was a song we used to sing that Jay Beech wrote called We Are The Church.

Chorus goes:

We are the church, the body of our Lord, we are all God’s children. We have been restored.

Verse 4:

The church, it is the people living out their lives, called, enlightened, sanctified for the work of Jesus Christ.

Amen to that song. It is 100% right!

We are the church. We are the hands and feet our Lord Jesus Christ.

Many people understand the church as being the building. We often ask some people or people ask us. Where are you going Sunday morning? We often say we are going to church. This is not the biblical understanding of what church is. The word church comes from the Greek ekklesia which is defined as an assembly. So us sitting in the pews right now, we are the church. It's nice to have a building in which we can hold worship, Sunday school, council mtgs, bible studies, potlucks, lockins and much more. It's a building that holds the church not the other way around. So when people ask where are you going Sunday morning you should say I'm going to worship at Family of God.

The Gospel story takes us to a place where Jesus is talking with his disciples, where they were probably the only followers of what Jesus was teaching them. They were in a region where pagan gods were worshipped and that is where Jesus asks Peter, Who am I? Jesus you are the one, the Messiah, the anointed one. The disciples were excited because they got the answer right. Then he goes and tells the disciples you know keep this on a down low and between us. Jesus was waiting for the right time and place to reveal that he was the Messiah. Jesus had his plan.

Aren't we all like Peter. We have a strong faith when it's easy but when it gets tough we question our faith. Like Peter, he denies Jesus three times. This is the person whom Jesus says that he is going to build the church upon. Can you imagine being Peter and the amount of weight is on your shoulders?

It's hard being a Christian, being Lutheran and doing the right things. But yet despite everything that goes on in our life we keep on keeping on. We keep the faith. We pray for each other. We care for our community. That is what we need to do.

We have amazing young people here at Family of God. This summer for vacation bible school we learned about Martin Luther but most important they learned to serve our community. We made over 500 corner care kits for our brothers and sisters out on the streets.

Our middle school youth went out in a neighborhood and walked around and picked up trash. This organization called Project 1013 made an agreement with the neighborhood churches that we will support the church for the next six years so that we can beautify this neighborhood. We will bring volunteers and equipment and finances to help restore this neighborhood. They have turned empty lots to urban gardens instead of trash dumps, turned drug houses to group homes, chopped bushes and trees down so that neighbors can greet each other and say hello. I was talking with a neighbor and said that she loved that the trees and bushes were gone because she has lived in that house for 30 years and didn't know her neighbors. This work brought a light into the community and brought the church together.

Our senior high spent time in the silver valley of Idaho where it was a thriving industrial community until the industry left. Being in the Shoshone Mountains was a great experience for me because it reminded me of the beauty God has created everywhere. It was awesome worshipping as a church in the middle of the forest in the chapel or campfire area. For our senior high youth to get out and serve unselfishly was such an amazing moment.

Peter, the church, our young people have opened the door of faith in the world, and it is our duty as Lutherans to keep that door open for the entire world. We need to make sure that it stays open for everyone.

We are called by the Great Commission in Matthew 28: 19-20. To go make disciples of all nations. Go make the church. Teach them about Jesus and who Jesus was. Teach about Jesus’ love, hope, and grace.

Answering that question I asked in the beginning, Who do you say that I am? This question is a sign of mature faith. We can't let others answer this question for us, nor can we let others’ answers stand as our own answers. We have to decide the answer to this question, we have to say it, claim it, and live our faith like like Jesus has taught us. Just like Peter we are followers of Jesus and like Peter who has a deep faith but we also lack faith just like Peter. Jesus saw in Peter the same thing Jesus sees in us. We are the building material that can be shaped into people of faith that can be his hands and feet. We are the church.

Amen.