At
Home Worship
First
Presbyterian Church of
Deport,
Texas
11th Sunday after Pentecost
August 23, 2020
Matthew 16:13-20
Now 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,[a] 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
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
The text of this sermon:
I think one
of the most awesome sights I’ve ever seen was stepping inside St Peter’s
Basilica in the Vatican. It’s a huge
building: ornate, old, sacred and beautiful beyond description. We had an
excellent tour guide who had prepared us for our visit. One of the most interesting facts I learned
was that the expenses to build it were partly to blame for the Protestant
Reformation in the 15th century.
It’s so crammed with masterpieces of great Italian Rennaisance art that
Michaelango’s Pieta is sitting off in a corner like they forgot about it. The
great churches were built to show the majesties of God and this church is the
greatest of them all: the inside ceiling
is 400 feet high. That’s four stories—inside.
And it is the dome in the center of the ceiling I want to tell you about
because that is what took my breath away when I saw it. It was just words, really. But words written in gold letters, six feet
high, gold letters. And it was the
scripture we just read. In Latin: “Tu es Petras” That’s what caused me to stop dead in my
tracks and it all came together for me.
Written in
Latin, in a circle around the dome of St Peter’s Basilica are the words Christ
spoke to Peter: “You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church.
When You are standing 400 feet below it’s hard to make it out because, even though the letters are six feet high, the whole scripture is up there and it’s just a LOT of words and they ARE in Latin, for goodness sakes. But for some reason, the day I walked into that building, that gorgeous cathedral, I looked up and it was like God had shone a spotlight on just those three words and it was crystal clear to me: “Tu es Petrus.” You are Peter.
And here I
was, humble little Jane, standing there over 2,000 years later in a building
named for Peter to the glory of God for the ministry of Christ. His church.
People who
advocate travel, and I am one of them, will tell you there is no substitute for
the experience of actually being there, of being in a place. And that remains of of the greatest
experiences of my life.
Jesus had just asked the disciples
“who do you say that I am?” and got all sorts of answers. Some said Elijah, some said Jeremiah, John
the Baptist or a prophet. But only Simon
hit the nail on the head. “You are the
Messiah.” It was like Simon, son of
Noah, brother of Andrew, had won the Great Colossal Cosmic Game
Show. You kind of expect to see confetti
shoot out and sirens go off and a convertible show up on the stage.
Jesus tells him that this answer didn’t
come from Simon himself but that God had provided it for him. Then he changes everything for the guy.
Jesus completes the relationship. It
was two halves of a circle. Simon had
provided the first half and now Jesus would add the second. Jesus gives him a new name. This happens throughout the bible. God changed Abram’s name when he made a
covenant with him. Abram became Abraham. Jacob became Israel. And now Simon will become Peter.
And then, to complete the
relationship, Jesus told Peter who he would be.
It would complete the circle. Who
am I to you? Who will you be to me? If I am your Messiah then you will be the one
to spread my word.
“You are the Messiah”. This might not
have been that big a stretch for Simon.
Anyone who had been at Jesus’s baptism would have heard God’ voice
coming from a cloud declaring that Jesus was the Son of God. And even though
the disciples weren’t there at the time, word must have spread. So, Simon had
hints and rumors and just plain old “instinct” to rely on to tell him this. But
He had seen the miracles and the healings with his own eyes. He was there afterwards when the crowds
murmured, “clearly this man is the Son of God….”
Jesus
also knew Peter’s personality. He knew
Peter better than he knew himself. Jesus
picked him out for his ministry based on his strengths and also what some might
see as his flaws. Peter was a poster
child for ADHD. He was loud and brash
and impulsive. He would say the most
outlandish things. And he did outlandish things.
But Peter also had an instinctive
understanding that the other disciples did not:
that Jesus was the one sent by God, that this guy was the Messiah they
had been waiting for. Peter was tuned
into Radio Holy Spirit.
Christ asks us
these questions today. Who do we say that he is? We have all the
evidence laid out for us in the bible.
We even have something Peter lacked at the moment Jesus asked him the
question: we know the ending to the
story. We know about the
resurrection. Peter was able to answer
without knowing that part. So we are
given a test with the answer sheet tucked into the pages.
We still have to muddle through the
question through our own life. Who do we
say that he is? Is Jesus the Messiah of
the world? Is he our personal intercessor? A buddy in the foxholes of life?
Somebody to talk to in the checkout lane at the store? At night when the world
is dark and scary?
Our own understanding of Christ will
change and grow as we mature in the faith because that is the very definition
of faith. Faith that claims to know everything ceases to be faith. Who do we
say he is? We can spend our lifetime
figuring that one out and fortunately, God has forever.
I was at a youth retreat once when a
teenager told the story of a low point she reached when she was balled up in
tears over a huge disappointment. I
think her disappointment was in herself, actually, at the moment. But whatever it was, she had reached a point
where she saw no hope ahead. And she
told her mom, “I don’t think I believe in God anymore.” And her mother took her in her arms and said,
“That’s OK, baby, I will believe in God for you while you can’t.”
Faith is like this. There is plenty of room for uncertainly to
sneak in. When we go to answer the
question, “Who do you say that I am?” the very question indicates some sort of
uncertainly. God knows that we may need
some time to answer that question. It
may be that only an impulsive guy like Peter has the answer ready immediately.
And here is the cool thing about
Jesus: Even when we don’t have a clear
understanding of who he is or what exactly to do with him, he knows who we
are. Tu es Petras. You are Peter.
Jesus knew who Peter was. He was a man
full of frailties and faults. But he
also knew who Peter was capable of becoming. Upon this rock I will build my church. And there is a magnificent building in Rome
as a statement of that fact today.
Do we know who Jesus is? He knows who we are.
Peter would go on to deny Christ but
he would also preach great sermons, travel far and suffer imprisonment. And
there is a great cathedral built literally on top of what some believe are
Peter’s bones.
My life may pale in comparison but I
know that God can take my small talents and my large frailties and weave them
into something wonderful for God’s Kingdom.
Peter won the quiz show called “Who Do
You Say I Am?” He knew the correct
answer when others dithered.
Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is the Son of God. Step out in faith and claim him. God will do the rest.
Regrettably, Armel's sermon didn't post. The camera cut off right at the end. I think there may be a limit.
May I take a moment here to mention that Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary does NOT teach a class in electronic technology? All of what you are seeing is self-taught brought to you by two people who barely took typing in high school (and I seriously doubt Armel took typing in high school because it was assumed that boys would all have secretaries to do that for them)?
So, this week, we failed to capture Armel's excellent sermon on video. But he delivered it in person to the folks in Paris, Texas and I will post the text of it here. wiat. I will post it later when we gets back. I don't have a copy of it right now.
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