by Fr. Bill Garrison
Please note that the following sermon text was provided prior to the audio recording. The two versions may differ substantially.
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, 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.
—Matthew 16-13-20
One of the things we will be chatting about today is the importance of names and how names can be given to a person in a way that informs who they are or what they become. Here is a quick story about that to get things started.
A relative newcomer to America who was a native of Sweden rushed his pregnant wife to the hospital. During the delivery he found out she was having twins, and then he fainted. He didn't come to for a few days so his brother was brought in to help name the children.
“My brother named my kids?!" he exclaimed when he woke up. "But my brother is illiterate. And he can't even speak any English. Oh my, so what did he name the girl?"
“He named her Denise."
“Denise? Well, that's not such a bad name. I kind of like it. And what did he call the little boy?"
“De Nephew."
Let’s think about today’s gospel and think about the questions we just heard Jesus ask of those with him. As we recall this is the first. “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
Let’s set a possible scene for the story. I can see Jesus and his disciples sitting around chatting and relaxing after a long day, recounting what had gone on during “working hours”. They were probably tired, maybe even a little sore. Certainly, their feet hurt. And their backs were probably aching too. But they were undoubtedly pretty proud of themselves; the way we can all feel truly first-rate after a hard day’s work, in which a lot has been accomplished.
There was probably some playful kidding going on too. I can see Jesus taking part with everyone else having some fun after a long day. Maybe a couple of the disciples were taking a little cat nap before dinner.
Reviewing Matthew’s gospel, regarding the events surrounding this evening’s reading, we observe Jesus healing all sorts of maladies in all sorts of people, feeding about five thousand men along with attendant women and children, teaching, answering questions, and traveling. I can only imagine the crowds of people that had to be attended to and managed by Jesus and those who were regularly with him. It must have been an amazingly busy time for all of them.
After thinking back over their conversations with those they had encountered, and recalling what people had said about Jesus, they responded to his question we heard a moment ago. “Who do the people say that I am?”
They reported to him that some thought he was John the Baptist or Elijah, or perhaps Jeremiah, or maybe one of the prophets. I imagine there was a certain relaxed cockiness in the room. They were close to Jesus, and everybody outside of their circle wanted to see him, and to some extent they were the gate keepers. I doubt they suspected the bombshell question Jesus that was coming.
Can’t you see Jesus sitting there quietly, his eyes calmly taking in the room? I imagine he encountered some self-confident smiles looking back at him.
And then he asked the second question. “But, who do you say that I am?”
I imagine myself as one of the disciples, not Simon the disciple that eventually answers the question. It hangs like smoke in the air. For most of us our breathing almost stops. The silence becomes pregnant with expectation and maybe a little fear. We look at each other. Jesus continues to relax while he awaits an answer. This has become all too personal. It’s no longer about the crowds and what they think and believe. It’s about us. What do we really think?
Thankfully Simon answers the question for the rest of us, getting us off the hook. “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” We begin to breathe again.
“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.”
This is the first time Simon has been called Peter in this gospel. Jesus has just renamed him. Let’s think about the name. In Greek it’s Petros, meaning stone. In Aramaic it’s Cephas. We hear Paul referring to him as Cephas all the time. If we were listening in English, we would understand that Jesus has just renamed him Rocky. It’s an affectionate name and it’s a name that describes the man. He is a rock. He is solid. We are reminded of the renaming God did of folks in the Hebrew Scriptures. Abram became Abraham. Sarai became Sarah. Naming in antiquity was important and told us that this person is being made new. He is different, and in some way improved. Simon has become Peter/Cephas/Rocky. He is new and improved.
The other important word to be aware of in the words of Jesus is Blessed. The Greek work is better translated “enormously happy”. So, Jesus has just renamed Simon Cephas, and has declared him to be enormously happy. Recognizing the savior of the world and saying it out loud would indeed make someone enormously happy we are quite sure.
Some of you may have noticed over the years that when we celebrate a Baptism, I ask the parents to “name this child”. It’s a holdover from the previous prayer book, and a salute to antiquity. A name has meaning. They, with God, have created the child and it is their duty to raise the child and take their part in the child’s becoming. The name has meaning. The child is becoming new and improved through the act of baptism. Peter is new and improved by Jesus in his renaming.
And so even though Peter has saved our bacon, answering the question Jesus asked in our stead, we come face to face with it again this morning. “Who do you say that I am?”
I would say it’s a question we hear on a regular basis. As Christians I believe this is not a question we answer just once and we’re good. Jesus confirmed our salvation on the cross already. That question is already answered. The question becomes what are we going to do in the current situation we might be addressing if we truly believe that Jesus is the Christ? “Who do you say that I am?”
In the reading from Romans today Paul lists gifts for each of us from God. We don’t all have the same gifts, but we all have gifts of one kind or another. I quote Paul. “We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.” This is just a partial list. There are many more gifts to which Paul refers in scripture. Every gift needed in the church of Christ is already within her members.
We come equipped for service, each and every one of us. And the use of our gifts depends on how we answer the question Jesus asks, each time he asks it. “Who do you say that I am?”
If, like Peter, you answer that Jesus is the Messiah, the son of God, then the use of our gifts is pretty easy to discern no matter the situation. And please know that the question is asked of us again and again. Each time it is asked we have a new opportunity to answer. So, when Jesus comes knocking in the next situation you encounter, how do you suppose you will answer? Will you be able and willing to make use of your gifts?
And will Jesus say to you: “Enormously happy are you Bill. Enormously happy are you Carole. Enormously happy are you Tim. Enormously happy are you Mary Jean. Enormously happy are all of you that know who I am.”
