First Lutheran Church

August 27, 2023 + Pentecost 13A

Matthew 16:13-2013Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17And 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. 18And 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. 19I 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.” 20Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Sermon

“But Who Do You Say That I Am?” 

Pastor Greg Ronning

In today’s appointed Gospel, Jesus asks the disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Jesus asks, “Who do people say that I am?”

Jesus is known for asking tough questions, but this one is actually pretty easy!  The disciples effortlessly begin spouting out the various names, opinions, and ideas - thatthey have heard on the streets. The scriptures tell us they begin listing all the different things that they’ve heard, “John the Baptist,” “Elijah,” “Jeremiah,” “a prophet.”  I can’t help but think the list continued as they took advantage of this simple question.  Everyone getting in on the answering.  I remember doing that in college.  I would be sure to raise my hand and speak out early in the lecture, and then quietly disappear later in the lecture when the questions got more difficult.  And I imagine some of the disciples even included some of their own theories about Jesus, safely testing them out under the guise of someone else’s ideas.  It was a great question, easy to participate.

And I suppose that’s what we do when people ask us about Jesus.  We fall back on what we’ve heard, the religious language that we have inherited, the traditions we learned from our families, the proclamations we’ve heard on Sunday morning, the facts we’ve read or heard on TV, and most likely the teachings we memorized in confirmation.

How many of you remember Luther’s Small Catechism? The Second Article of the Apostles Creed  … “What does this mean?” “I believe that Jesus Christ is true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary; and that He is my Lord, Who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins, from death and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood, and with His innocent suffering and death; in order that I might be His own, live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness; even as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity.” “This is most certainly true.”

“Who do people say that I am?”  That’s the easy question, but that is not the ultimate question that Jesus asks his disciples in today’s gospel, nor the ultimate question he asks each of us this morning.  Jesus listens patiently to the lists of things the disciples come up with, and then hits them with the harder question, Ok, “But who do you say that I am?”

This time he doesn’t want them to express the thoughts and ideas of others, he does not want them to “parrot” back what he has taught them, he does not want them to make a well thought out theological statement, he does not want them to recite a creed.Instead, he wants to know who they think he is, what they are experiencing with him, what the relationship means, what is happening, and where things might be going.  Jesus wants a dynamic answer, not a static one.

And now,Jesus presses us with the same question, “But who do you say that I am?”  It’s OK to begin with the “facts”we know about Jesus. It’s not a bad place to begin, with the history and the tradition, the various teachings that we’ve been taught, the things we have heard proclaimed in the faith community.But at some point, the question of Jesus must become personal, our response, our beliefs must flow from a deeper place –from the heart and from our own experience.Theologian Debie Thomas reminds us, “We cannot build our faith lives on hearsay alone.”

In today’s Gospel Peter boldly attempts to answer the question, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  While Jesus commends Peter’s answer, we also know that in just a few more verses,in Matthew 16:22, when Jesus tells him that the Messiah must suffer and die, Peter actually rebukes Jesus, “God forbid it Lord!”  Peter’s simple answer, “You are the Messiah,”seemingly does not hold up to the reality of what Jesus is about to face.  His confession does not come from a place deep enough to hold such a moment.  Accordingly, Jesus quickly rebukes Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!  For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” 

So it is that Jesus presses us with the harder question, “But who do you say that I am?”  Because following Jesus, being a disciple, living out and experiencing the promises of Jesus, takes something more than just remembering your confirmation lessons, memorizing the scriptures, and unconsciously confessing the creeds.

This past week I had a wonderful conversation with a pastor friend of mine from Texas.  We were talking about the creeds of the church.  At one point he asked me, “Do you know what’s missing from ‘The Apostle’s Creed’ and ‘The Nicene Creed?’”  He paused while I reflected, and then said, “LOVE.”  “Wow!”  None of the creeds, none of those inspired and well developed theological attempts to name and proclaim the identity and nature of God, of Christ, and of the Spirit, - use the word LOVE!  How did we miss that?  That seems pretty important.How can we begin to describe our understanding of Jesus without using the word love?

In the fourth chapter of First John, we are reminded of this core identity and characteristic of God, “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.”… “God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.” (1 John 4)Once again,how can we begin to describe our understanding of Jesus without using the word love?

So it is that when we are asked, when we consider, when we need to know, - who is Jesus; Let us first remember the most important thing -“God is love.” - the love of God that we have experienced in Jesus.  For it is “this love” that not only informs us, but more importantly - has transformed us.  It is the story of this love, the relationship that was created out of this love, that creates faith, that reveals grace, that gives life hope and meaning.  The creeds, as valuable as they are in their context, can never replace the living witness of Christ’s love that we have experienced in our life.  It is from this love, in this love, because of this love - that we know and understand Jesus.

“But who do you say that I am?” Debie Thomas reflects on how Peter might have “better answered” Jesus’ question, perhaps later in his life, recounting the relationship and the experience of love that he shared with Jesus.  “Who do you say that I am?”  “You are the one who found me in a fishing boat and gave me a new vocation.  You’re the one who healed my mother-in-law.  You’re the one who said, “Yes, walk on water."  You’re the one who caught me before I drowned.  You’re the one who glowed on a mountaintop while I babbled nonsense.  You’re the one who washed my feet while I squirmed in shame.  … You’re the one I denied three times to save my skin.  … You’re the one who fed me breakfast on a beach and spoke love and fresh purpose into my humiliation.  You’re the one who gave me the courage to preach to three thousand people on Pentecost.  You’re the one who taught me that I must not call unclean what you have pronounced clean.  You are the one who stayed by my side through insults, beatings, and imprisonments.  You are the one I followed into martyrdom.  You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

“But who do you say that I am?”  Hear the good news this morning, you don’t need to be a theologian to answer this question, you don’t need to recall those things you memorized in confirmation, you don’t need to stand up and perfectly recite and understand the creeds, you don’t need to look to anyone else.  Instead,simply remember your experience, the presence of love in your life.  Simply remember this, “God is love.” 

Remember the times in which you were loved.  Remember the times you shared love with another. “Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.” (1 John 4) 

Remember that here in this place you are loved; loved in the breaking of bread, loved in serving those in need, loved in the waters of baptism, and loved in the sharing of the bread and wine of holy community.“God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.”  (1 John 4) 

In this love you know God, in this love God knows you.  “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” (1 John 4) 

“But who do you say that I am?” May the question remind you of the presence of God’s love in your life, and may it inspire you to bear witness to that story of love with all those you encounter.   Amen.

Sermon on Matthew 15:10-28

Pastor Jennifer Garcia

Our Gospel reading today is tough, particularly the second half about Jesus’ encounter with a Canaanite woman.

Jesus doesn’t sound like himself. To my modern sensibilities, Jesus sounds inconsiderate, rude, and even prejudiced.

I miss the Jesus portrayed in the chapter before this: the generous Jesus in the feeding of the 5,000, the encouraging Jesus who invites Peter to walk on water, and the merciful Jesus who heals a bunch of people in Gennesaret.

But what we get in these two stories in chapter 15 is a Jesus who seems to be done with everyone’s nonsense. He lashes out at the grumbling Pharisees and then ignores the woman calling out to him on the road.

Scholars don’t agree on what to make of the story of the Canaanite woman. Plot twist: scholars agree on very little of pretty much anything.

But it’s worth unpacking some ideas, because they influence how we see Jesus here.

The Church early on came to the conclusion that Jesus is fully human and fully divine. Both at the same time – not 50-50 or any other breakdown, but 100-100. The mathematicians in the room can take any complaints up with the early church fathers.

But we don’t necessarily agree on what fully human and fully divine looks like to us.

We can lean more heavily on the divine side. For the nerdy folks among us, that’s called having a “high Christology.”

Someone with a high Christology might read this story and imagine that Jesus knew what the woman was going to say. He knew her heart and knew that if he said, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs,”

she wouldmake the very witty comeback: “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

And then Jesus would reward her cleverness and faithfulness by granting her request.

It also may be that Jesus was just responding the way a rabbi was expected to. He had his band of disciples and wouldn’t have been expected to talk to a woman, let alone a Canaanite—the age-old enemies of the Israelites.

But he did stop and talk with her. As much as his dialogue sounds demeaning to my ears, it’s not fair for me to impose my modern-day culture on the first century. Jesus could have let his disciples send her away, but he didn’t. He stopped and talked with her the way a rabbi would with a disciple. And she stepped into the role of a disciple and gave a wise response.

Maybe Jesus knew his disciples’ hearts and was using this as a teachable moment to show them some of their own prejudices before rewarding this marginalized mother. Perhaps he was illustrating his own lesson from the previous story that it’s what comes out of a person, like prejudice and lack of mercy, that defile and not eating with unwashed hands.

Whereas, someone who emphasizes Jesus’ humanity (called a “low Christology”), might look at what came before and see Jesus as burned-out.

Jesus at this point hadn’t had any time to grieve the death of John the Baptist. After hearing about John’s violent death, Jesus tried to go into the wilderness by himself, but a crowd of over 5,000 people followed him. After he fed them all, walked on water, healed a bunch of people, and got chewed out by the religious authorities because his disciples didn’t wash their hands, Jesus had had enough.

So, he left town with his disciples, and wouldn’t you know it? This random woman started shouting at him.

Jesus was exhausted, grieving, and didn’t have time or energy to deal with one more thing, however much it might have normally pulled on his heartstrings.

Someone who emphasizes Jesus’ humanity might read Jesus as coming to understand his mission in the world gradually versus someone who emphasizes Jesus’ divinity who might read Jesus as knowing that his mission was to bring about the Reign of God for all people and that he would die on a cross and rise again.

Someone who pictures a more human version of Jesus might read Jesus’ words to his disciples, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” as the way Jesus understood his mission at that point. He was focused on his priority, which was spreading the good news of the Reign of God to God’s chosen people. This woman may have helped him understand that his mission was actually to the whole world.

These are both valid readings of this story, and I’m not going to tell you that one is right and the other is wrong. And if you understand it differently from either of these, you are probably in good company among the scholars who don’t agree on how to read this story. It’s a difficult story, and there are pros and cons to every understanding.

But whether it was Jesus or the disciples or the readers of the Gospel of Matthew who understood Jesus’ mission differently by the end of this story, this is a turning point in Jesus’ ministry. In the Gospel of Matthew (and also the Gospel of Mark, because it has an almost identical version of this story), Jesus’ encounter with the Canaanite woman marks for the reader the point where Jesus’ mission became far greater than it looked like up until this point. Jesus’ ministry was not just for his hometown and surrounding villages, it was for the whole world.However you picture Jesus, at least the reader now understands Jesus’ global mission.

And it will be Jesus’ followers who will carry that mission to the rest of the world. The Gospel of Matthew closes with Jesus’ Great Commission, where Jesus commands his followers to continue his mission in his physical (though certainly not spiritual) absence: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

And then, the book of Acts describes Jesus’ followers bringing the good news into the world around them.

And that mission isn’t over yet.

Jesus entrusted his followers with the continuation of his mission, and that task has been passed down over two millennia and has gotten to us.

But it’s hard not to fall into the burned-out, compassion fatigue that we can read into Jesus’ behavior in these stories.

It’s easy to get snippy when someone grumbles behind your back, the way the religious authorities did to Jesus.

It’s easy to focus hard on one’s own priorities and ignore someone else’s request for help.

It’s easy to let bias and prejudice affect the way we treat others, no matter how well-intentioned we are.

It’s easy to slip into “us versus them” thinking instead of remembering our common humanity.

It’s easy to focus on our sense of propriety about things like handwashing and inadvertently let out uglier behaviors like racism, homophobia, or classism.

But our Gospel reading reminds us that Jesus’ mission, and therefore our mission, is to show God’s love to the whole world.

And our reading from Isaiah reminds us that that has always been God’s mission: “for my house shall be called a house of prayerfor all peoples.”

And that requires a lot more than simply tolerance or blanket statements of “all are welcome.”

It requires solidarity.

It requires people with privilege to stand aside and follow the lead of people with less privilege.

It requires people with resources to share them with people who have fewer.

It requires people to advocate for people with different experiences than they have.

It requires sacrifice. It requires getting your heart broken over stuff you could choose to ignore. It requires changing your mind and your lifestyle and your heart.

Because God’s vision for us is far bigger than we can imagine.

Because no one deserves just the leftover crumbs.

Because every person is a child of God.

God Believes In You!

Pr. Jaz Waring |

Pentecost 11 August 13, 2023

Elijah had enough. After years being God’s chosen prophet, giving towns and kings bad news of God’s judgement, he was done! Elijah was on the run, with a “wanted: dead-or-alive” poster pinned to his back. "May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.” The words of Queen Jezebel playing like tapes over and over again. The voice of the LORD breaks in, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” What am I doing here? That’s a loaded question. Flash back a few weeks ago, I was at the height of my career! Israel once again got caught up in idolatry and was worshiping Baal. Next thing I knew, I was caught in a battle-of-the-gods competition against the prophets of Baal, and I represented team “God of Israel.” The challenge was to call fire down from the heavens, and light an altar piled with wood and a sacrificed bull (God loves a good BBQ). I was confident God was with me in this, so I wasn’t worried. The prophets of Baal were so tragically funny to watch. They were running around chanting and cutting themselves up in order to summon Baal all day long. It was getting a little ridiculous, and I might have gotten a little cocky. I told them, “Hey! Maybe you should chant a little louder, I don’t think he could hear you.” They didn’t appreciate my input. Then I said, “You know, maybe Baal is stuck in the bathroom, maybe that’s why he’s taking so long!” I’ll admit, that was a little out-of-pocket. I thought this battle could use a little more theatrics. So I placed 12 stones around the bull to represent the tribes of Israel, and dug a trench around the altar. Then I had them dump 3 buckets of water over my altar so that it was completely flooded, just to add insult to injury and raise the stakes a bit. Then came the moment…I said a simple prayer to God, and God delivered. Literally, God delivered a pillar of fire from the heavens! The flames burnt up the water-logged wood on my altar, and the bull offering. The people in the audience were amazed an afraid…and then they were terrified because I immediately after started slaying all 4,500 of Baal’s prophets. It’s problematic, I know! When Queen Jezebel, King Ahab’s wife, heard about this she sent a messenger to me. The messenger said, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.” Fear and dread struck me in the gut like a cold knife. I was paralyzed with anxiety, her words running like a tape in my head over and over again. I can’t breathe! I’m a dead man! I gotta run for my life! So that’s what I did. I ran into the wilderness, sat under a sad solitary tree and asked the LORD to take my life. I was done! Instead God sent angels to feed me and give me water. Just let me die already! “What are you doing here, Elijah?” the LORD said. Elijah shakes his head back into the present moment. He verbalizes the other running tape in his head, his defense to God. “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” God leads him to Mount Horeb, the same mountain Moses met with God. God sends a mighty wind, an earthquake, and fire from heavens…typical controlled elements in which God’s presence had manifested in, but God was not in these elements. Instead, God came to Elijah in the sound of silence, like a whisper. So intimate and so gentle. God is revealed to him like Moses, a sight only these two men have ever experienced. After this incredible moment, God asks Elijah again, “What are you doing here?” Elijah responds the same way he did before, playing the same tape that has been running over and over. Elijah experienced the power and presence of God, and yet he leaves unchanged. How did he become so familiar, so cynical, so weary, so afraid, so numb to the power of God at work in the world and not be changed or transformed by it? I didn’t even know that was possible. Elijah clung to the story running in his tapes instead of entering into the story God was creating in the world. I know I just talked a lot of about Elijah, but this sermon is not actually about him. It’s really easy to focus on Elijah’s lack of faith in his ability to continue God’s call, or how he was paralyzed with fear. What I find more interesting is who God is, and how God is at work in our readings today. Who is this God we are a witness to? First, this is a God who acts, influences, and wants to be in relationship with humanity. God acts in these controlled elements of wind, earthquakes, and fire that is different from nature. This echos the whirlwind speech God gives in the book of Job where God said, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” Yet God is not in these powerful forces in this story. Instead God tries to influence Elijah in intimate and gentle silence. Like a whisper speaking directly to his heart. This is a God who holds galaxies in motion, and limits Their own power in order to be in right relationship with humanity. Secondly, this is a God who is with us. God asks Elijah twice, “What are you doing here?”. This implies that God is also here with him. God was with Elijah in the battle-ofthe-gods and in his highlights, and God was still with him at his lowest point. Even when Elijah called it quits, God was still never left him. God’s promise to Israel, to Elijah, and to us that God will never leave or forsake us continues to this day. Finally, this is a God who is compassionate and willing to help. When Elijah was at the end of his rope and wanted God to end his life, God didn’t give up on him. Instead God sent messengers, or angels in some translations, to give him food and water in the wilderness. When God saw that Elijah was not being receptive or willing to be changed, God didn’t judge or curse him. Instead, God offered a way out for Elijah. God is not going to force us to do anything we don’t want to do, because that is not love. However God will find someone else who is willing to take up the call. How do we respond to this God we are a witness to today? One possibility is we can remain unchanged. Both individually and as the Church, we can be burnt out and at the end of our rope. We can become numb, cynical, weary, afraid, and ambivalent to the power of God at work in our world. You have given everything you got, and now you’re done. Because we serve a gracious and loving God who is not going to force us to do anything we are not willing to do, God will say, “Ok, let’s find you a way out.” However, it will require you to go outside of yourself and bring in others who are willing to carry on the work. Elijah had to anoint new kings and train up his replacement. God doesn’t want us to abdicate our responsibilities, God wants us to delegate and pass on the mantle to an empowered next generation. To some, this sounds like Good News! To others who feel a sting when you hear about God finding someone else, then perhaps you can take on a different possibility. If you’re not willing to give up or pass the mantle off to someone else just yet, then its time to step out in faith and ask for help…like Peter. In our Gospel reading, Jesus calls Peter to walk on water with him. Jesus knows Peter can walk on water, but Peter is not sure! Peter steps out in faith and begins to walk like Jesus. Then great winds were blowing, waves were crashing all around him, and Peter begins to doubt his ability to walk on water and begins to sink. Peter could have given up and drowned. He had a good run, right? No! Instead he cried out, “SAVE ME LORD!” and Jesus reached out and helped him back on the boat. Typically preachers like to emphasize how Jesus was kind of disappointed in Peter, and saying that it was Peters lack of faith in Jesus. However I don’t think that was Jesus’ intention at all. When he said, “Why do you doubt?” I believe he is saying to Peter, “Why didn’t you believe in yourself? I’m right here with you, I called you out because I knew you could do it and be like me.” This is a God who is compassionate and willing to help us! The Good News is, God believes in you, even when you don’t believe in yourself. Church, we are witnesses to a God who acts, influences, and is in relationship with us. This is a God who is with us in our highs and our lows. A God who is compassionate and willing to help, if only we ask for it and allow ourselves to be helped by others. If you’ve had enough and are ready to pass on the mantle to the next generation, may you experience the grace and love of God who will find a way out for you. But do not abdicate your role, empower and come alongside the ones who will carry on the work for you. If you still have fight in you, then for the love of God, ask for help (not just from God). And may all of you change out the tapes in your head that are repeating stories of your fears and failures, and enter into the liberating story God is writing in the world today. God believes in you, beloved, even when you don’t believe in yourself. Amen.