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Christ Episcopal Church, Puyallup – Proper 16A – August 23, 2020

Matthew 16:13-20 (& Romans 12:1-8)

The Rev. Rachel Endicott

May the words of my mouth and the mediations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.

For those of us who are parents, teachers, mentors, or even business leaders, we have times when we ask questions of others. We ask questions of our children, students, those we mentor, our employees. Sometimes it is simply to get data. A husband asks his wife if her paycheck was deposited into the checking account. If so, there will be money to pay the bills. A parent asks a child whether the child remembered to bring back his or her shoes from summer camp. Depending on the answer, another trip might me needed! A boss may ask their employee if they've made the contact that they were earlier asked to

touch base with. Yes or No. But there are many other reasons to ask questions besides simply gathering data, right.

Another significant reason for asking questions is to prompt others to learn, as part of an educational process. Where on the page do you see the giraffe? How might you reach out to our suppliers? Why do you think Shakespeare wrote plays with such a variety of characters? In our Godly Play children's curriculum, the leaders not only do straight storytelling, but they use wondering statements and reflective prompts to encourage not only learning, but deeper engagement with the Scriptures.

“• I wonder which part of the story you like best?

• I wonder which part of the story is the most important?

• I wonder which part of the story you like the least?

• I wonder if there is a part of the story we could leave out and

still have all of the story?

• I wonder which part of the story is most about you?...

“I wonder what it felt like for Noah and his family to be shut inside the ark for so long?” or [in the passage about] The Good Shepherd ... “I wonder who the sheep could really be?”"1

In some areas of education -- law and medicine prominently -- but also even at seminary, the Socratic method, with it's heavy reliance on a process brimming with questions, is still used to encourage engagement with the topic, quick thinking, and lively verbal responses.

Even -- as Episcopalians -- in our Catechism (also called An Outline of the Faith), the teaching is done via question and paired answer.

Q. What are we by nature?

A. We are part of God's creation, made in the image of God.2

or further along, and appropriate for today,

Q. Who do we believe is the Messiah?

A. The Messiah, or Christ, is Jesus of Nazareth, the only Son of God.3

And in Today's Gospel passage, we get a pair of pointed questions, two questions that draw the disciples and us closer into realization of the fullness of Jesus. First "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" And they (Matthew doesn't say exactly which disciples contribute here) come up with a variety of choices: John the Baptist, Elijah,

Jeremiah. An unnamed prophet or two are also dropped into the potential pool of individuals.

But then Jesus comes closer, more to the point -- not to mention glossing over the fact that the previous answers are incorrect. Jesus asks the second, and more pointed question, "But who do *you* say that I am?", who do YOU say.... This is a pointed personal question. It's not just what others think or believe, it is directed intimately

to those who knew Jesus most closely.

And, indeed, Peter speaks up. He verbalizes out loud the belief that Jesus -- as unlikely as it probably seems -- is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. And Jesus gives him a partial "Atta boy". Jesus acknowledges Peter’s correct answer, but points out that Peter would not have known this except that it was revealed to him -- and to the others and us -- by God the Father.

So, we are indeed presented with the good news, that Jesus is the Messiah, the one who will -- in the most surprising way through his death and resurrection -- come to save us. It isn't through political or military might. It isn't even by trickery or smarts. Rather it is

by allowing himself to be brought through the place of death into new life, where he also invites us through our baptism into his very body here on earth.

Now if we were asked to define or describe Jesus, I'm wondering how we might do it. Certainly, visually some of us might regress to our childhood, to our Sunday School classrooms with the picture of a blond, Scandinavian looking, long haired Jesus. In present day, several people have intentionally used computer modelling to come up

with a visual type of a Palestinian man from the cusp of the Common Era as a stand-in for a more accurate portrayal.

But more than his physical look is the question of how people, Christians and non-Christians, envision Jesus. Even the Bible has to use a variety of descriptors along with today's descriptor: Messiah. We find others used include: lamb of God, Emmanuel, morning star, the Word, shepherd, and many more.

"The Rev. Rachel Hosmer had a dream about ordering from the Sears catalog. [Some of us might be old enough to remember how we ordered things to be sent by mail before one hopped on your phone and computer and did so online.] Only it was no ordinary catalogue. In it, she could order the Jesus of her choice.

There was Jesus as a seminary professor, with pipe and tweed jacket. There was Jesus the farmer, with calluses on his hands and dirt under his fingernails. There was a suburban, churchgoing Jesus in a suit and tie. There was a Latino Jesus, and an African-American Jesus. There was a feminist Jesus, who enabled the bent-over woman to stand up.

In her dream, Hosmer chose one and ordered that Jesus. She received a Jesus, but it was different from the one she had ordered. She requested another Jesus, and again she got an alternate Jesus from the one she had chosen. This happened again and again. Every time she received a variant from the one she had ordered. And every time, it really was Jesus whom she was given.

The message of her dream finally became clear to her. Jesus would come into her life; but he was always different from her expectations, always wonderfully surprising."4

My hope for us, for you and for me, would be a little like that. First, that you would invite Jesus into your life. Second, that you would acknowledge that he is the Messiah, the one who comes for you. Third and last, I hope that he will always come in a way which is

unexpected and not quite what you envision. Sometimes we need a Jesus that prompts us out of our complacency, sometimes we need a Jesus that gives us comfort. Sometimes we need a Jesus that reminds us that we are to be good stewards of God's creation and even of our own bodies, gifted to us by God. Sometimes we need a Jesus that reminds us that we are nothing if not part of community, something that is hard for 21st century Americans to chew on.

But, I would remind you that we know who Jesus is: the Messiah. But that doesn't stop us from asking ourselves or each other lots more questions. We ask questions in our continuing exploration of who Jesus is. We ask questions in the process of discernment: our calling, vocation, and -- yes -- even discernment of our spiritual gifts as mentioned in Paul's letter to the Romans, and perhaps more importantly in how we use those spiritual gifts.

Friends, you know who Jesus is. May you be bathed in his glory. May you follow as his disciples.

Amen.

1

2 BCP, p. 845

3 BCP, p. 849

4 Synthesis, Son of the Living God, Postscript, 8/27/2017, p. 4.

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