Who is Jesus to you?

Sermon on Matthew 16: 13-20

“Who am I to you?” That’s the kind of question calling for trouble. At least in relationships. We all know that. It’s usually the beginning of complaining that one doesn’t feel valued enough or seen in the right way by one’s partner. It’s the perfect indication that something is wrong and needs to be talked about. “Who am I to you?” will almost always end in a conflict that will reveal some truths and need some relationship-mending afterward.

Jesus is no exception, even though the trouble won’t start for Peter before next Sunday, when we will listen to the second part of this Gospel. Jesus starts playing it safe. What do others say about me? Me, the Son of Man? Which just means, “me, the human being”.

So, his friends tell him, what they have heard others say. You are John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah. Basically, a prophet. But a dead one who was resurrected for some reason. While this could have totally been the case with Elijah and Jeremiah, it sounds weird to me, that John the Baptist is part of the list. John was Jesus’ age and had a great reputation himself. And he had just recently been beheaded by Herod for rocking the boat by telling people to repent quickly and to stop their sinful ways of living. People never take that message well.

Well, we know that Jesus is none of these prophets who came before him. And yet, there is a lot of truth in associating him with these men of God. The crowds have gotten an important part of Jesus’ identity exactly right. His ministry is not a diversion in the narratives of God’s interactions with God’s people. Jesus is not a detour on God’s plans. Instead, Jesus belongs in a long line of faithful servants of God. Prophets willing to stake their lives for the sake of God’s people. Prophets telling the truth no matter what, calling a sin a sin and showing ways out to repent.

Jesus listens to these answers and then confronts his friends: “But who do you say that I am?” Now they have to talk straight with him. Like a good student and disciple Peter answers, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” But what does this actually mean? It means that Jesus is the Christ, the anointed one. It’s the subtle, politically less suspicious way to say “Jesus is King” or “Jesus is Lord”. The title he got crucified for eventually. Because powers hate to be challenged by people they think aren’t entitled to do so. Which includes pretty much everyone without power.

This king now even claims to be the Son of the living God. That’s even more offensive. The idea that Gods had kids wasn’t new to Romans and Greeks at all. The point is the emphasize on “living God”. Romans and Greeks worshiped stone statues of Gods. They fed them, dressed them, honored them as if they lived. But Jesus and his friends tell their audience boldly that those statues are dead and in no way like the living God who is Jesus’ father.

And Peter made this proclamation in the district of Caesarea Philippi. A place that was named after the very ruler of the Roman Empire, the Caesar. The message to Roman and Greek ears was obvious: Jesus is King, not your Caesar. And Jesus is the Son of the only living God there is, forget your rocky statues. “Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” A sentence that sounds pretty common to us nowadays, was politically and religiously explosive back then. It insulted kings and gods alike and everyone obeying them.

The question is, what does that mean to you and me? And our answers might differ. Because this is a very personal question. Who is Jesus to you?

Here is my answer as of the summer of 2020. That’s important because my answer has changed throughout the years and will probably be slightly different in a couple of years. Individual confessions aren’t meant to be made for eternity. They are meant to be lived and reevaluated and filled with reality and hope.

Who is Jesus to me? Jesus to me is Lord. He is the one who saves me from being selfishly focused on myself. He is the one who reminds me that I am not God and that I never will be. And that no one else ever will be God on Earth. No leader, no best friend, no beloved child, no president or presidential candidate. People won’t save us in any fight for any soul. All we can do is point to Jesus and claim that he is Lord. And that means that his rules apply.

And these rules are tough ones. Love everyone. Don’t worship the money. Ever. Or Jesus might come into your house and turn over the tables. And, for Jesus’ sake, love everyone.

It’s great to go home after church and feel loved by God. It’s even better to go home and feel the love as a dire need to show love to as many people as possible. The needs these days are out and beyond. It’s overwhelming. We are not only fighting the pandemics of Covid-19 and racism at once. We are now also in the midst of wildfire season. Way too early, way too many fires, way too scary on top of everything else.

I have to admit that I have become a little weary during the last couple of days. It’s just too much and I sometimes feel like I am starting to become numb by one crisis following the next one. And in my numbness, I just keep going, closing all the windows, telling my kids to stay inside as much as possible, praying to God to bring some relief to this seemingly endless nightmare. I find myself praying much more intensely this year, much more existentially.

And God does bring relief. Jesus lives. You all are the best proof of this. Because you haven’t given up on feeding the hungry neighbor and calling the lonely friend and supplying the kid with school supplies. You haven’t given up even though many of you have been doing this for decades.

I realized this when I was on a call with members of our Social Ministry at CTK to meet with CityServe Compassion Network based here in Tri-City. It’s an organization grounded in their deep Christian faith that has the goal to connect volunteers with people in need. They have been around for 13 years now yet most of us hadn’t heard about them. Probably, because the participating churches lean more towards an evangelical direction.

I was absolutely impressed with their passion to proclaim Jesus as Lord through their actions. Members of 70 churches have served over 22.000 people in Tri-City in the last 13 years. Wow! And what I loved most was that they didn’t say like “Oh, but you are a fairly small church on the older side, what could you possibly contribute to our case.” Instead, they invited us to let them know our gifts and talents and interests so they could match us with people who might need exactly what we can offer. Just as Paul wrote to the Romans in today’s reading: “For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.”

And while we were talking to Josh from CityServe I looked at the members of CTK on that call. Dedicated women who never stopped to help people. Who never gave up or became cynical since the needs never seem to get any smaller but just keep piling up right in front of our doorstep. And I felt deep admiration and love for them. And I really hope that I will be like you when I will be your age. Still fighting the good fight with Jesus in my heart. Not giving in into the narrative of destruction and hopelessness ever. Because we serve a God who is very much alive.

Jesus is Lord to me means that no one else is. I know I have said that already. And it sounds easy enough to get this message the first time. But the consequences of this belief are severe. They are life changing. If Jesus is Lord, no one has the right to claim any superiority whatsoever. No Caesar back then, no ruler today. Because that one place is already filled. With Jesus. Who decided to be one of us despite his superiority. Jesus, who led by being of service to the people he encountered.

Jesus who playfully challenged the authorities even when talking church business to his friends. “You are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church.” Meaning: Others build their Gods out of rocks. Jesus builds his church onto a living rock. Onto Peter who proclaimed him as the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Onto us who proclaim Jesus as Lord, as Savior, as Son of God.

You name it. You claim it. And you proclaim it with your heart and your soul and your hands. This world belongs to our Lord “and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it”. No injustices, no illness, no deaths and no fires will prevail against it. Because Jesus is the Son of the living God, the Messiah. Jesus rocks! And so did Peter, the living rock. And so do you, followers of Jesus. You all rock! Thanks be to God. Amen.