Pentecost -14 - Year A - Proper 16

Exodus 1:8-2:10; Psalm 124; Romans 12:1-8; Matthew 16:13-20

Preached by The Rev. C. Lorenz on August 24, 2008 at Little Portion Friary

In the name of one God: Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. Amen

 From the Gospel of St. Matthew, "Who do you say that I am?"

    When Don Shula was head coach of the Miami Dolphins, he took his family on vacation. On one rainy afternoon, they went to the movies in a small town. When they arrived, there were very few people in the theater. However, the few who were there began to clap when Mr. Shula and his family walked in.

    The coach was no stranger to applause, but he was surprised. He thanked them for their kind gesture and remarked that he did not expect to be recognized in this town so far away from the city of his football success. Whereupon one of the moviegoers said, "We don't really have a clue who you are, but just before you arrived, the projectionist said that unless a few more people show up, the movie would be canceled."

    It is quite easy to see people for what they can do for us, rather than for who they really are. Movie stars and sports figures are valued for how much they can entertain us, but often those same people go from celebrity status to forgotten has-beens, once their talent wanes.  In the business world, people who are courted for how much money they can bring are just as quickly pushed aside when they are no longer useful for that purpose. People in leadership positions are quickly forgotten when their terms are up.

    So Jesus had good reason to ask his disciples how people looked on him. "Who do people say that I am?" he asked.  The answers made it quite evident that many people were no more aware of who Jesus was than the small town movies goers were aware of Don Shula for any other purpose than that they would get to see their movie. Some people thought they knew who Jesus was, and they were wrong.  Others knew what they wanted him to be and were both disappointed and angry when their expectations were not met.

    We have come more than two thousand years from the time Jesus asked his question. The number of churches bearing his name would hardly fit onto the most sophisticated web site. The buildings dedicated to his name number in the thousands, and the denominations claiming to represent him make for a very long list in the Yellow Pages for any city. But what answer would people from these churches give?  

    More importantly, if the question were to be asked of us gathered here today in his name, what would our answer be?

    Jesus has become many things to many people since he walked the roads of Galilee.  Jesus has been called by many names. Would he be flattered that a battleship is named after him? Would he be impressed and comfortable that his name is used as a reason for division when he prayed that we all be one?

    Just look at a few of the faces that have been put on him throughout Christian history. He would not need enemies to misrepresent him. Those who claim to believe in him have done so rather effectively.  He has been an excuse for war and other killing despite the fact that he insisted upon non-violence, even to the point of allowing himself to be crucified.  He has been seen as a kind of earthly king who runs enemies out of town and off the map, even though he rejected that role in riding on a donkey instead of a horse.  He has been used as an excuse for judging people, even though he told us to judge not. This Jesus, who was born in poverty and who aligned himself with the poor, would probably be uncomfortable at many of the celebrations of his birth as they take place today.

    Yes, it is true that we proclaim that he is the Son of God. But our belief about that identity of Jesus is spoken so much more by the behaviors that we endorse in his name than by the titles we impute in our creeds.

    When we pray concerning war today, do we pray that the Prince of Peace will help our side to kill more of the other side, or do we pray that those who perpetrate the evil on either side will be converted to an understanding that the identity of Jesus is tied to the notion that with God there are no sides?

    Notice that in this gospel scene Jesus does not take very long to get to the bottom line. After asking who people think he is, Jesus asks, "Who do you say that I am?" We have already seen some of the ways in which he has been misrepresented through history. We can even look around and see how he continues to be presented and used for something that he is not.  But how do we who meet here in his name see him?

    Doing things in the name of anyone, claiming to know anyone, having a connection with anyone can often offer the illusion that we really do know that person. Some can be married and thereby assume they know their partner, when in reality they know very little beyond the surface.

    We might work along side of someone for years and claim to know the person really well, when in fact we do not know them at all.  It is just as easy to claim to be a Christian person, because we can sing the Christian hymns and perform the Christian rituals, and recite the Christian creed. But beyond this, what indication do we give that we know Jesus Christ?

    Back in the nineteen seventies a little book was published, entitled Plastic Jesus. Many people at the time had plastic statues of Jesus held to the dashboards of their cars by a magnet. Throughout the centuries Jesus has been fashioned in plastic, in marble, in wood, and on canvas.

    All of these symbols have a purpose, but we need to be careful that we do not allow the symbols to pass for the real person. Carrying a family member's picture in one's wallet may be a way of reminding ourselves of the wonder and the warmth of that person, but it can never substitute for a relationship to that person. The person who can make a difference in our lives must become more important than a picture, and that takes work. Getting to know another person - even one who has been in our life for a long time - means that we have to move out of ourselves.

    Little children have a great way of making their heroes real to themselves. They imagine that they are the hero, and then they act out that hero.

    What would happen if those of us who gather in the name of Jesus, those of us who claim him as our hero, were to act out the way he was? What would happen if we acted out his non-judgmental ways? What would happen if we responded to the needs around us, as he did? What would happen if we endorsed the non-violence he exemplified? What would happen if we adopted as our way of life the beatitudes that he proclaimed?

    Perhaps what would happen would be that we would come to know Jesus at a level beyond what the movie goers in a small town knew about a football coach. We may come to know him in a way that would be a reminder to our world of who he really was - and is.  Perhaps we would offer evidence that we really believe that Jesus is who we say he is.