Pentecost XIV, Proper 16, Year A

Isaiah, 51:1-6
Romans, 11:33-36
Matthew, 16:13-20

But who do you say that I am?

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

I admire whistle-blowers, those people who have nothing to gain, much to lose, and stand up to expose wrong-doing in an institution. Sure, not all of them are wholesome, altruistic characters, but many of them are. They usually face all kinds of intimidation - calumny, hatred, smears, even violence. Life for most whistle-blowers often gets quite miserable, quite lonely. They usually lose not only sleep and their jobs, but a lot of friends. They often become scapegoats. They suffer a lot of injustice. It takes a lot of courage. It takes a lot of integrity.

In 2002 Time magazine called Cynthia Cooper of WorldCom, Coleen Rowley of the FBI, and Sherron Watkins of Enron its 'Persons of the Year.' Each of these women refused to conspire with corruption in their institutions. Consequently, each of them endured fierce anger and malice instead of living a lie, instead of becoming divided people, instead of compromising their character. They show us what we can be, and sometimes what we are. They are not only an inspiration to us. They are a challenge to us to live a righteous life, a life of moral seriousness and principal, a life dedicated to a lot more than gain and status, instead of conforming and getting along with the ways of the world. In our perversity, we sometimes resent that challenge.

Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" It's an essential question for each of us to ask ourselves regularly. "Who do I think Jesus is?" Forget about what preachers or books or friends say about him. What do you think he is? Answer that question your own way. If we believe and confess, like S. Peter, that Jesus is the Son of God, then we're whistle-blowers, standing up to the corruption of the world's values. We're courageously saying we believe in the power of love, mercy, hope, peace, truth, meekness, not the perceived advantages of control, vengeance, force, dissension, deception, manipulation. We're standing up to say that life is rich and full of purpose, that we become more truly ourselves not by seeking our own satisfaction and glory, but by sacrifice, by living for others.

If we confess Jesus is Son of God, then we are acknowledging our obligation to follow Jesus, then we are recognizing our identity, our purpose in life, then we are committing ourselves to him above every other claim upon us in life. "Who do you say that I am?" How we answer that doesn't say much about God, but it is the most profound statement we can make about ourselves. And we answer that question not only in our words, but far more powerfully in the way we live.

After Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus gave Peter special authority - the keys of the kingdom of heaven, the power to bind and loose on heaven and earth. He gave Peter the right to admit or to exclude. That's why we talk about meeting Peter at the Pearly Gates where he lets us in or kicks us out - heaven's bouncer. We tend to emphasize the negative aspect of this responsibility - keeping people out of heaven. But we would be better off to emphasize the great responsibility of welcoming people, of telling people the gospel, of leading people into the richness and joy of life - both on earth and in heaven.

We see in Peter's ministry that his chief concern was spreading good news and expanding the realm of God. It was Peter who was decisive in admitting Gentiles into the Church. S. Paul and S. Barnabas, of course, believed that they were sent to the Gentiles, but many, probably most of Jesus' first disciples, especially in Jerusalem, had serious qualms about admitting Gentiles. Peter's opinion decided the issue. For S. Peter, the power to bind and loose is about inclusiveness. It is not power to exercise over other people, not power to control, but the Christian responsibility to introduce all people to Jesus.

The way we make God known to other people is not through mere argument and discussion, though that may occasionally be helpful. The way we introduce people to Christ is by the holiness of our own lives; it's by our love and concern for other people - strangers, even enemies, as well as friends; it's by loving the way Jesus loved: turning the other cheek, forgiving those who've trespassed against us, giving thanks at all times, making peace, praying for our enemies, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, welcoming the stranger, visiting the sick and those in prison.

Jesus gave Simon the ironic nickname 'Peter' - meaning rock, but Peter was mercurial and impetuous and squishy; he was hardly a rock. In the verses just following today's gospel, moments after he had confessed Jesus as 'Son of God,' Peter is rebuking Jesus, trying to correct his behavior, trying to improve upon God's plan, trying to deny the Cross. Jesus responds to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan. Follow me. Don't get in my way. You are a stumbling-block." So within moments, Peter goes from being the foundation rock of the Church to being a rock over which people will stumble.

Peter stands for all of us who follow Jesus. Each of us tries to follow Jesus, to stand up for him, to have integrity and courage, but we're not perfect. Peter fell asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane, and three times he denied he knew Jesus. We are Peter - imperfect rocks, but pieced together by God to form his Church. We're the material God uses. The Church has integrity not because of the rocks, but because of the builder. The mortar that holds us together is God's love, God's grace.

Reed College, a highly esteemed liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon, has an annual "Renaissance festival." It's really a Bacchanalia, and they shut down the campus for the weekend because the students get wild. I read recently that a group of Christian students there decided to set up a confession booth in the middle of the campus during the party. The twist was that the party-goers weren't going to confess their sins. Rather, the Christian students were going to apologize for the Church's sins. The organizer explained, "We will apologize for the Crusades, we will apologize for televangelists, we will apologize for neglecting the poor and the lonely, and we will tell them that in our selfishness we have misrepresented Jesus on this campus." ⁽¹⁾

No doubt, it was a corny ploy, gimmicky, but certainly no sillier than their peers drinking excessively and tripping on drugs. Perhaps incredibly, some students did check out the confession booth, and they heard a confession from one of the Christian students along these lines:

Jesus said to feed the poor and to heal the sick. I have never done very much about that. Jesus said to love those who persecute me. I tend to lash out, especially if I feel threatened, you know, if my ego gets threatened. Jesus did not mix His spirituality with politics. I grew up doing that. It got in the way of the central message of Christ. I know that was wrong, and I know that a lot of people will not listen to the words of Christ because people like me, who know Him, carry our own agendas into the conversation rather than just relaying the message Christ wanted to get across. There's a lot more, you know. ⁽²⁾

Most of us can make the same confession. The Church is hypocritical because human beings are hypocritical, and the Church's sins, the sins of Christians, are especially conspicuous because they are in such sharp relief to the way of Jesus. We can ask hard questions of the Church in Christ's name. We should do so, even though we will find the Church wanting. But what makes the Church holy is not our perfection. What makes the Church holy is that the Church is where we meet Christ, where we have cleansing, where Christ renews our lives.

Christians know that the two questions, 'Who do you say that I am?' and 'What do you say that the Church is?' are not two questions, but really the same question put differently. We can't have Jesus without the Church. We know Jesus, we have personal relationship with him through the Church, through one another, through parishes like ours. We, together, form the body of Christ, and we continue Christ's work.

"Who do you say that I am?" Jesus, you're the Son of the living God, and you're claim on us is absolute, and one of the essential and most powerful ways we live out our commitment to you is our commitment to your body, the Church.

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

1. Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz, Thomas Nelson (2003), ch. 11.

2. Ibid.