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"Who Do You Say I Am?"Matthew 16:13-20First Message at MessiahSeptember 24, 2017Pastor Mark J. MathewsThis morning we begin a sermon series on the "I Am" sayings from the Gospel of John as we explore Jesus' identity and what I would describe as his relational identity to the world. But before we launch into the Gospel of John readings we explore how in the Gospel of Matthew there is a fundamental question asked by Jesus to his disciples of who people think he is. Once this is answered Jesus addresses this personally to his disciples as he addresses this personally to every human being in the world today.Identity - We all have an identity - right? And at so many levels. In some ways it can be as simple as a fact or a reality about us - male or female, tall (Pastor Nathan) or short (Pastor Mark,) young, middle age or old(er), blue or brown eyes, a redhead, blonde or brunette in our hairstyle, even if that can be somewhat altered. But identity is about much more than physical characteristics, it's about who we are as a person. It can be about personality - shy or outgoing, or it can be about what we do for a living. It can be about what drives our passions and our purpose. What we most value.I think the identity/core of a person gets down to the things or thing in life that you hold clear and dear to your heart. We all are different physically and have our own uniqueness, but it's those core allegiances that really tell the story of who we are as people. I also think one of the problems with the modern world is those core allegiances are misplaced and/or given to things that don't lend towards passion and purpose in life. In the scripture from Matthew's Gospel today before the section we read just now, the Pharisees - the religious leaders of Jesus' day - come to "test" Jesus by asking him to show them a sign from heaven so they could confirm his identity. Was he the promised Messiah that the Jewish people had been waiting for or not? Surely a sign, a miracle, or something performed especially for them could be the thing to prove to them Jesus' identity. But Jesus rebuked them for their "test" and moved on. It wasn't long after this Jesus asks his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" Who do they say I am?The disciples gave different answers they have heard from people: John the Baptist; a reappearance of the great miracle-working prophet, Elijah, from Old Testament times; or simply one of the prophets. This same question posed to modern people might get the answer: a very wise man, the best human that ever lived, someone to model your life after, or something of the like.But then Jesus asks this question to his disciples - "Who do YOU say that I am?" It's personal now, it's no longer what the masses of people are saying or thinking - it gets down to YOU. What is your verdict of me? After all, you've been with me for some time. You've seen my teachings on the Sermon on the Mount. You've fed 5,000 hungry people with little to no bread/fish. You've seen me heal the blind and lame. Who do YOU say I am?Peter, the bold and impulsive disciple, is ready with an answer - "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Contrary to the earlier rebuke, the scolding of the Pharisees, Jesus commends with a blessing this identification/confession of Peter and even tells him on this bedrock of a confession, "I will build my church." True confession of Jesus Christ is the reason for the church and its mission - to proclaim this name of Jesus as the Savior of the World in word and deed.You see this question Jesus asks was key not only to his disciples but it's the key to each one of our lives. Also, notice what Jesus says about his confession in these verses - "Flesh and blood have not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven!" The life of faith isn't simply some human thing but it's born from above, like Jesus taught in John. (You must be 'born again' or another way to translate it is 'born from above.') The origins of faith are not worldly but heavenly, not human accomplishment but gift and grace of God lest we boast. Paul writes in Romans that faith comes from hearing and from hearing the proclaimed/preached word of God.Romans 10:9-10 declares if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. This confession, this faith in Jesus to our inner core is why we gather in worship Sunday after Sunday. It's a confession that proclaims to the world who we are as followers of Jesus Christ. In other words - it's our identity. In gathering around the confession of Jesus as Lord, we have our mission as the church.You see a lot of times in the world we live in and even in the church of Jesus Christ that we've substituted a lot of things for the core identity of who we are and what we are in what Christ has freed us to do. We can get caught up in the personality and charisma of the pastor; we can think the way we do worship is the be-all or end-all; we can desire to be entertained in the church rather than challenged or fed by the message; to name a few things these are areas we can get off track.Last summer on a Wednesday night I was heading out to the country church I served with Parker and Chase in the car and I had a Christian radio station on and there was what I assumed to be a pastor preaching, although I couldn't really be sure it was preaching, as he told joke after joke, story after funny story, to the loud laughter of his congregation. I had listened to him for five minutes with no clue or evidence or reference to God/Jesus/Holy Spirit. I had heard this same preacher before in the car for even a longer period of time with no clue he was proclaiming or speaking about the Christian Gospel. But wow, I thought he was funny. As far as I was concerned he was light years better than almost any comedian I've heard, especially because he was eliciting laughs with clean material rather than the rather racy, often degrading way many comedians get their laughs these days. Parker asked me who this was and I said I don't know his name but I quipped, "He is a heretic." To which Parker replied he wasn't happy with me listening to such a one I could refer to as a heretic (I was impressed that Parker knew what that was) and Parker asked me why I was listening to him. I replied this was a good question since there was so far none of the Good News of Jesus Christ to be found in what he was "preaching."Now don't get me wrong, I love a good laugh as much as the next person. I even believe it's a good thing to share laughter in this sanctuary of God we are worshipping in. You will find this out about me. However, you will also learn that I believe that we must never be confused about why we are here or for what purpose we gather together in worship, in our singing, in our proclamation of God's Word, and finally in our going out of worship and into the world. It's all about the Good News of Jesus Christ. I looked back at some of the sermons Pastor Nathan preached in this assembly and in one of the first ones he preached, he told you in so many words that his preaching and ministry must be about proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ and the salvation/life he offers. If not, what are we doing here? I submit to all of us today this same vision. We gather in this sanctuary because we gather around God's Word and seek to proclaim it, live it, and share it with the world. If we go outside of that we risk losing our singular focus and our passion/purpose for why we gather and even exist as the church. I think that is why Jesus asked his disciples who they thought he was at that certain point in his ministry. He wanted clarity and focus from them as well as the knowledge of the Truth and Confession the church is built on. It was the most important question in Jesus' ministry on earth then, and it's still the most important question for us today.I believe that a church that has this focus and confession will be the modern church version that the book of Acts declared the early Christian disciples of Jesus were the people that were "turning the world upside down." This is the business we are engaged in - the work of declaring who is the One who is the Way, Truth, and Life; the one because we know his identity and are able to stake our identity on.Like I said in the beginning of the sermon, our identity is many things. There are many pieces of us that come together to form the whole of who we are in this life. But it's God the Father's desire for us to have the core of who we are to be conformed to his Son, so we can be salt and light to the world. As Paul says in Romans - "Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."God's Word implores us, encourages us to be about making that confession of Jesus as the Messiah of God. The One who ignites our passion and purpose to make a difference in our daily lives and in the world. AMEN. ................
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