Who Do You Say That I Am?

Presented to Trinity UMC, Lenoir City as a video-recorded service for August 23, 2020.  The video may be accessed at this link: https://youtu.be/BaOgC8-BHo4

Welcome/Announcements:

Welcome....thank you for faithful generosity, keep it up.

Bell-ringing for 19th Amendment, Women's Suffrage... You may not know that the passage of that amendment, giving women the right to vote had a Methodist connection. Let me read you a little of the story from last week's UMC News.

“Suffragists in the gallery that morning knew that only 47 of the 96 legislators present were committed to their cause. They had little hope that eastern Tennessee Rep. Harry T. Burn, the state’s youngest legislator at age 24, would join their ranks.

The suffragists could see that Burn’s lapel bore a red rose, a symbol of opposition to the women’s vote.What they could not see was the letter in his pocket — carrying advice from his Methodist mother.“Dear Son: Hurrah, and vote for suffrage!” Febb Burn wrote from the town of Niota, Tennessee, where she attended what is now Niota United Methodist Church. “Don’t keep them in doubt.”

Burn’s sudden “aye” tied the vote and emboldened fellow legislator Banks Turner to give the decisive 49th assent. Thus, Tennessee secured women citizens a voice in their nation’s democracy, including in that year’s presidential election.”

So we at Trinity were proud to honor the ratification by ringing our bells 100 times last Tuesday, August 18, on the 100th anniversary. Special thanks to Walter, Sandra and Ed who made it happen.

Call to Worship:

Modern Affirmation

We believe in God the Father, infinite in wisdom, power and love, whose mercy is over all his works, and whose will is ever directed to his children’s good.

We believe in Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of man, the gift of the Father’s unfailing grace, the ground of our hope, and the promise of our deliverance from sin and death.

We believe in the Holy Spirit as the divine presence in our lives, whereby we are kept in perpetual remembrance of the truth of Christ, and find strength and help in time of need.

We believe that this faith should manifest itself in the service of love as set forth in the example of our blessed Lord, to the end that the kingdom of God may come upon the earth.

Amen.

Joys & Concerns:

Now is the time in our service when we usually share our joys and concerns. I had the joy of a trip to the mountains with my dearly beloved husband this week. It was refreshing to disconnect from the news and noise of the world to challenge my body with a couple of hikes, to just breathe the fresh mountain air. Our grand-daughter Claire goes off to college this week and in the age of coronavirus that ritual is tinged with more anxiety than usual, but also good excitement. I lift up all the students and teachers who are returning to school with both anxiety and excitement.

I invite you to spend a few minutes reflecting on those people and situations which have touched your heart this week, and think about those moments that have brought you joy. You may want to pause the recording here and take as much time as you like in personal reflection and prayer, then join me for the Morning Prayer, ending with the Lord's prayer.

Morning Prayer/Lord's Prayer

Gracious God,

We know you have heard the murmuring of our hearts. You know our need even before we speak it. We have spoken the names of a few of our family. In our hearts we have named others that we lift to your unending mercy. Hear our prayer, O Lord.

We give thanks for your presence in our lives. When we call your name, you are always there, ready to meet us wherever and in whatever circumstance we find ourselves; ready to love, to comfort, to encourage, to empower, to heal. We seek your touch to heal our brokenness, whether of body or of mind or of spirit. We seek your touch to restore us to the wholeness for which we have been created. We seek your guidance to light our way along the path of life. We seek your mercy to forgive us when we have wronged another of your children. We seek your power to encourage and empower us to do the hard work of bringing forth your kingdom on earth.

We pray for all this and more as we pray together the words our Lord Jesus taught us:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. AMEN

Scripture: Matthew 16:13-20 and Romans 12:1-8

Matthew 16:13-20 CEB

13 Now when Jesus came to the area of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?"

14 They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the other prophets."

15 He said, "And what about you? Who do you say that I am?"

16 Simon Peter said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

17 Then Jesus replied, "Happy are you, Simon son of Jonah, because no human has shown this to you. Rather my Father who is in heaven has shown you.

18 I tell you that you are Peter. And I'll build my church on this rock. The gates of the underworld won't be able to stand against it.

19 I'll give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Anything you fasten on earth will be fastened in heaven. Anything you loosen on earth will be loosened in heaven."

20 Then he ordered the disciples not to tell anybody that he was the Christ.

Morning Message:

Joel read two passages from this week's lectionary. If you regularly worship with us via our website and YouTube channel, you may remember that Pastor Kristie used the selection from Matthew a few weeks ago as part of her message. Today, I hope we can build on her message and extend the key question that confronts every person who encounters Jesus – Who do you say that I am.

The two questions that Jesus posed to his disciples - who do others say that I am and who do you say that I am – are so central to the story of Jesus, they they are recorded almost word for word in the three synoptic gospels. And of course John's gospel contains the many “I AM” sayings of Jesus. The very name of God, Yahvey, means “I AM that I AM.” So this question is of paramount importance!

Mark's story is the earliest recorded account of Jesus life and is the most basic. Luke's account is virtually identical to that in Mark. Matthew's has the most elaboration. In all three accounts Peter declare's, on behalf of all of the disciples, You are the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God. After their declaration of belief, Jesus begins to teach his disciples in more depth about his coming death. I want you to hear Jesus's question again: Who do you say that I am? If the I is emphasized, then the question is about the identity of Jesus? Much of theology since has focused on defining who is Jesus - What is his nature? Was he divine? Was he God? Was he human? Was he both? Was he really even a historical character? If you think that is a shocking question, you aren't paying close attention to current culture here and around the world? Most seekers today are not seeking a theological answer to Jesus's question, if they have encountered him at all. People today are not looking for a Messiah in the way they might have been in his day and age. So to say, “Jesus is Lord and Savior” because “the Bible Tells Me So” just don't carry weight with a lot of people, those who are looking for something more

personal to meet their needs.

Of course, Peter got it right. Jesus – the Messiah – the one who embodies God – is the one we need. I love the way the commentary that I studied in preparing for today says it: “Jesus is the one who connects, who brings together human need and divine presence. Jesus is the one who reconciles, who puts us in our brokenness back in touch with God's wholeness.” This is a message that can resonate in our broken world. God's SHALOM, becomes our shalom through Jesus.

I want you to hear Jesus's question once again: Who do YOU say that I am? This questions is about the disciples – where do they stand. Peter, always the bold one, takes a stand that becomes the foundation of the church. This question, Who do YOU say that I am? Is for us. How we answer is our declaration of faith. How we answer declares our identity. If we answer as Peter did, “You are the ONE.” then our identity can no longer be as individual follower of Jesus, one who thinks Jesus was a good guy and had some valuable lessons to teach. We become a member of a community of faith. As Pastor Kristie put it few weeks ago, we become part of the foundation of the church universal, the body of Christ.

Then Jesus ends this conversation with a very strange command. He warns his disciples not to tell anyone that he is the Christ, the Messiah. I've always found that odd, because later he commands them to tell the whole world. Generally this is considered a timed command. Don't tell anyone – for now. We are going to circle back to this command, “don't tell anyone,” a little later.

Now it's one thing to SAY with our tongue that we believe that Jesus is the Messiah. But it is another thing altogether, to live out that faith as a member of the body of Christ. Here is where Paul comes in to the picture. Much of Paul's writing is about teaching people who Jesus was. Remember, he was writing to a gentile audience, that was not steeped in Jewish religion and culture. He was writing to people like us – teaching us how to be Jesus-followers.

Last week, we explored the characteristics that a person “puts on” when they become a follower of Jesus as Paul described them in his letter to the Colossians: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, truthfulness and over all these – Love.

In today's passage from his letter to the church at Rome, Paul goes even further. Romans was written near the end of Paul's life and ministry and is considered to be his most sophisticated and theologically important writing. The letter had a significant impact on Reformation doctrine. John Wesley was said to be studying Romans just before he experienced his transformative moment at Aldersgate. For those of you listeners who are not conversant in Methodist history, that is a story for another day.

Here in Romans, he tells us to not just put on these characteristics of a Jesus follower, but to offer our very bodies – our full and complete self – as a living sacrifice. This is our true and proper worship. Is he asking us to become a martyr for Jesus? To literally die for the cause? Not necessarily. He is telling us to “go all in.”

Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Paul is saying that our worship consists more than what we do when we gather in this building on Sunday morning. Just because we can't be together because of circumstances beyond our control doesn't mean we can worship. Our true and proper worship is how we offer our full and complete self to living out words that we say and sing. God, as revealed to us in the life of Jesus, wants us to DO our faith, not just think about it or talk about it on Sunday. Our faith is revealed in how we live out each day – not so that I can feel good about my good deeds or thinking myself better than anyone, but as a sacrificial offering of Love.

He puts it this way in verses 3-5:

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

He is reminding us that individually, we should not think we are better than others because all of our gifts, great or small, are necessary for the whole church body to function as God intends. And each of us is part of all of us.

Then he goes on to elaborate in verses 6-8:

We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

The point is that everyone of us has a gift to share. I can't sing or play and instrument, so I am grateful for the members of our body who can and who are willing to share their gifts. I shouldn't think that I am a better church leader than anyone else because I am standing before you speaking. Your gift is just as critical to the vitality of the church community as anyone else's, including our dear Pastor Kristie. She has gifts of speaking and teaching, gifts of the Spirit. And you have gifts that are just as important to the life of our church. It is the collective offering of our gifts – given freely and sacrificially – that make the church. Not the building nor the pastor nor any individual make the church the church.

I urge you to read the 12th chapter of Romans in its entirety. It is a beautiful description of how to live as Jesus did. It ends with this: Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Now let's circle back to that strange command that Jesus gave the disciples. They had just declared that they understood him to be the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God. And then he commanded them not to tell anyone about this marvelous news. As I said, this is usually taken to mean, Don't tell anyone YET. But we could also interpret this command in a different way.

Perhaps Jesus was reminding them that sharing the Good News, the Gospel, is about more than telling. It was and is about showing the way; that sharing Jesus begins with listening and with showing HIS love in and through our life and actions. Maybe it wasn't so different back then than now. Maybe people just needed to be heard, to know that someone care about their everyday struggles, their needs, their pain, their joy. Just like today. The witness that those outside the church care about is not in what we say with our tongues, but what we say with our deeds, about how we offer our gifts and live our faith.

Jesus wants to know. He asks you, Who do you say that I am? And the only answer that counts is the one we Live.

Benediction:

Let us go forth in the world to live, to love and serve as Jesus would have us do – answering his question with our whole selves. Shalom aleichem – peace be unto you.