Redford Aldersgate
United Methodist Church

Matthew 16:13-18

"Who do you say that I am?" That’s the question we all must answer.

But first Jesus gives them an easier question: What is it that other people say? It’s always easier to speak for OTHER people than it is for ourselves. So, they come up with several answers. These are answers that reflect what often we think ourselves. The first response is that Jesus is like John the Baptist. Everyone knew that John the Baptist had been killed, but Jesus is so like him, that perhaps it is John’s spirit, or even John himself in some mysterious way who has come back. Now John was a powerful preacher. He called the people to repentance and challenged them to live a more righteous life. Is that not true of Jesus as well? Jesus was a great teacher and if we follow the things that he taught, we will lead a more righteous life. So, in many ways, Jesus was like John the Baptist ... at least Jesus was a great teacher and showed us a wonderful way to live. So, who is Jesus? A teacher and one who shows us the way to live. Good Answer.

But there is more. Others, say that Jesus is like the great prophet Elijah. Elijah was a fantastic miracle worker. He did lots of amazing things, but probably the most famous of all was when he gathered all the prophets of the god they called Baal and challenged them to a contest. They each made an altar and piled it high with firewood and put a sacrificial bull they had cut up on the wood. Then each were to pray to their god and the god who sent down fire would be recognized as the true God. Well, the prophets of Baal prayed and prayed and danced around their altar, but no fire came down. Finally when they were all tuckered out from all that praying and dancing, then Elijah had them throw a bunch of water over the wood on his altar. Then, with one simple prayer to God, fire came down and consumed the bull and the wood and even the rocks and stones of the altar. He was a miracle worker. So who is Jesus? A miracle worker. Good Answer. Certainly Jesus did many miracles. For the last several weeks, we have looked at several of them: fed 5,000 people with just 5 loaves and 2 fish; walked on the water; healed everyone who touched his robes; and even healed a pushy, Canaanite woman’s daughter who was possessed with a demon... and that’s only a few of the miracles he did. Jesus was indeed a miracle worker. So, who is Jesus? A miracle worker... one who continues to work miracles in our lives. Good Answer.

But there is more. Still others say, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Now Jeremiah was a prophet who tried to hold the government of his day accountable. He tried to tell people that they should not worship other gods. He also warned them that terrible things would happen if they didn’t change their ways, but he also held out hope that a day would come when there would be a new and more enduring relationship with God. Jesus also tried to tell people that they needed to put God first and not be worshiping false gods. Things will get bad because of the evil people do, but Jesus also held out hope for a new and more enduring relationship with God. So Jesus holds us accountable, yet holds out hope. Jesus is the hope for the future. Good Answer.

All these answers are "good" answers.... Jesus is a teacher: Jesus is a miracle worker; Jesus is the hope for the future.. These are the things the disciples said OTHER people were saying. Then Jesus asks the really big question. What do YOU say? The disciples realize that these were good answers, yet they seemed to realize that there was more. So, what do they say to Jesus? Simon Peter speaks up first. He says: "You are the Messiah [other translations say Christ - same thing], the Son of the Living God." Peter hits the jackpot! It’s not just a good answer ... it is THE ANSWER. It’s the answer that he didn’t get by listening to other people. It’s the answer he got from God! Whooowho! YES! High 5... you got it Peter! "Blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah! For flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven." Yeah! You got it!

So what is so special about this answer. The others are good answers, but what is so special about this? Peter is recognizing that Jesus is the one they have waited for... the one who would be their deliverer ... their savior. That’s what messiah or Christ means: deliverer, savior. Now granted, there were lots of people who thought that the messiah was going to come in on a big strong horse and defeat the Romans and make everything good and easy again. This idea of messiah resulted in a restored nation. But along side that notion of "messiah" there was the concept that the messiah would bring deliverance in a moral and spiritual sense. Jeremiah talked about a new covenant written on the heart ... a true religious community, not just a political organization (Jeremiah 31-33). So when Peter connected the word "messiah" and Son of the Living God, he was pointing toward that second concept of the messiah. As the Son of the Living God, Jesus could reveal God to us in an incredible way and open the way to being in relationship with God. Whether Peter realized Jesus was not that kind of political messiah that would restore political stability, I don’t know. But that he said he was the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, indicates that he realizes Jesus is a deliverer – a savior – who could help us be in that true kind of religious community where the covenant is written on the heart..a savior and deliverer in a very vital and eternal way. Connecting the word messiah with the Son of the Living God was what the real key to the awesomeness this answer entailed. Peter got it. His answer would be the foundation (the rock) on which that new religious community would be built. Understanding Jesus as the one who would open the way to being in relationship with God ... the one who would be the bridge to a restored relationship ... that was THE ANSWER.

Peter got it ... or at least, at this point, seemed to. But what about us? Do we get it? Do we get that Jesus is the one who can open the way for us to be in relationship with God? Or do we even realize that we NEED a relationship with God? I think many people today are content with just the "good answers." We think of Jesus as a good teacher. We know that the world would be better off if we all loved one another and did the things Jesus taught, so we think of Jesus as a good teacher. Others of us turn to Jesus when we need a miracle. When our team is behind or we get bad news from the doctor or our employer, then we turn to Jesus. We think of Jesus as a miracle worker. Others of us look for Jesus when we think of hoping for the future. We hope that when we die, Jesus will come through for us and somehow get us into heaven. None of those things are bad things. Jesus is there to help us know how to live, to help in time of trouble and to help us get into heaven. But when we are face to face with Jesus and he looks at us and says, "Who do you say that I am?" ... can we profess something deeper? Can we, like Peter,say that Jesus is the one to save us ... to deliver us ... to bring us into a right relationship with God? If not, then now is the time to let yourself be confronted with that question, because it will make all the difference in the world to you.

We all need deliverance. Sometimes we think we can do it all ourselves. We don’t sin ... or at least that much, maybe little sins, but nothing major. We are good people, but are we ALL we COULD be? We need to be saved from our sin (little ones as well as big ones) ... saved from our busyness ... saved from our greed ... saved from our boredom ... saved from ourselves in so many ways. Life would be so much fuller if we were truly in a right relationship with God. We can reach out to God, but it seems that there are so many forces trying to keep us from reaching God. But Jesus is the bridge that makes it possible.

I read a story recently about a man named Andrew Parker. There was a European ferry boat that capsized several years ago in a raging storm. Many passengers were in the cold and churning water. A man named Andrew Parker and his family were stuck on the sinking ferry. Although they were only six feet from safety, the spraying water made that six feet too far for several of the people on the ferry to jump to safety. So Parker stretched out his 6'3" frame across the chasm and formed a human bridge, inviting the other passengers to walk across him to safety. As one passenger later recalled, "I was the first to climb across and I was petrified when I stepped on his back." Thanks to Andrew Parker, though, twenty-two people made it to safety. That is an analogy to what Jesus has done for us.

When we accept the help Jesus offers, we are able to reach the safety and security and fulfillment that comes by having an enduring relationship with God. Jesus is our bridge across the great divide that separates us from God.

The first step across that bridge is to realize that Jesus loves us so much that he was willing to die for our sin ... to take the punishment for us. Do we really realize that?

I’ve been teaching at the License to Preach School for many years. Teaching people who are coming into the ministry. As part of that school, we have the students tell their "call stories." (Their encounters with God that make them think that God wants them to be a pastor.) One woman in one of the first couple classes had a call story that I will never forget. She had gone to church some as a child, but not much. She grew up and married a Muslim man and moved to the middle east. After awhile, the marriage broke up and she returned to the United States. In attempting to start a new life, she went to a vocational counselor and took a battery of tests to see what line of work would be best for her. To her surprise, the tests indicated that she was most suited to be a Christian pastor. But she didn’t know anything about being a pastor, or the church. Most of her religious experience had been with the Muslims. But she remembered a person she had met at the exercise club she belonged to. This woman happened to be a United Methodist pastor. So, she went to see the pastor and told her the story. The pastor was excited and gave her a book to read about the steps to become a pastor. But the woman said, "I’m not even a Christian." The pastor said, "Oh, don’t worry about that. It will come. Here’s how you go about being a pastor." So the woman started the studies. She called the District Superintendent and was interviewed by him. He gave her a mentor and started her on the way. She said to the D.S., "But I’m not a Christian." The D.S. said, "Oh, don’t worry about that. It will come. Here’s what you are to do." So she did the studies and then interviewed with the District Board of Ministry. It was the same thing. They looked at her work and her qualifications. She said, "But I’m not a Christian." They said... "Don’t worry about that. It will come." By this time in the story, I couldn’t wait any longer. I had to know. I said, "Well, has it come? Are you a Christian yet?" In my mind, I’m thinking, "I don’t know about the rest of those crazy people, but no one who’s NOT a Christian is going to pass my class. I can’t let a non-Christian become a pastor. She smiled and said, "Yes, I’m a Christian and here’s how it happened. My friend asked me to help her serve communion. She said that I must say to everyone, ‘The blood of Christ shed for you.’ I thought that was simple enough so I said it ... over and over and over again. At first I didn’t think about it as I said it. But as I said it over and over, a strange thing began to happen to me. Then, when everyone had been served, I went up to the altar to put the chalice back on the altar. As I set it down, suddenly I KNEW that Jesus had died for me. ME ... who didn’t even believe in him! I was overwhelmed. I believed! I knew he was my Savior!" Do you know that? If not, today is a great day to open your heart and experience that exhilaration and relief that comes when you realize that Jesus died for you ... Jesus was that bridge that will get you across that great gulf that separates you from God. Knowing in our hearts that Jesus is the Son of the Living God ... the one who has come to save us ... to help us be in an enduring relationship with God ... the one who is our Messiah. If you have never truly declared that, then today is a great day to do it because that is why we are here. The foundation of the church is Peter’s declaration that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. That’s our foundation ... the reason why we have gathered here today.

Yes, the church is a great place to come. It’s a good place to make friends and have fun. It’s a good place to renew your pledge to live a good life and hold our lives accountable to high standards. It’s a good place to reach out and do good works to help others. It’s even a good place to come when things are tough and you need a good miracle. Those are all part of who we are as a church. But the foundation ... the rock on which we are built .. Is to provide an environment where people are encouraged to confess, like Peter...to say to Jesus, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God." When you do that, then "the gates of Hades will not prevail" against you... The storms of life and all the evil that goes on around us, will not destroy us, because we are in right relationship with God. We know the great truth that Jesus loves us and died for us. That, is the true miracle we need.

A story came through e-mail this week that told about a person who had watched a worship service at an Atlanta church on TV. They were honoring one of their senior pastors who had been retired for many years. He was 92 years old. At first, the guy watching the TV show wondered why in the world they had asked that old man to speak and started to turn the channel. But then he became intrigued as he watched the old man walk slowly with great effort to the pulpit. Without a note or written paper of any kind, he placed both hands on the pulpit to steady himself and then quietly and slowly he began to speak. "When I was asked to come here today and talk to you, your pastor asked me to tell you what was the greatest lesson I ever learned in all my years of preaching. I thought about it for a few days and boiled it down to just one thing that made the most difference in my life and sustained me thorugh all my trials. The one thing that I could always rely on when tears and heartbreak and pain and fear and sorrow paralyzed me ... the only thing that would comfort me was this: Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong. They are weak but he is strong. Yes Jesus loves me ..." The man watching the TV said that the church was so quiet when he finished that you could hear his footsteps as he shuffled back to his chair. The people there, as well as the man relating the story, had an opportunity to encounter God through the simple witness of an old man who had grown very wise. What is the most important lesson you’ve learned?... to know that Jesus loves me.

Now is the time for each of us to come face to face with Jesus. I like the picture on the front of the bulletin. Jesus looks warm and friendly, yet strong. He is asking "Who do you say that I am? What will your answer be? Who is Jesus for you? It’s a question we must all answer for ourselves. Usually we have a unison prayer after the sermon. But the prayer I wrote I called a silent prayer, because I dare not put words in your mouth for something as important as this. These words are a suggestion of what you might say to Jesus as he asks you who you say that he is. But the words must be yours, not mine. As Michael plays a variation of Jesus Loves Me, let your heart be open to encountering the Son of the Living God who offers to be your bridge to an enduring, lasting exciting relationship with God. Who is Jesus for you?