Sunday, September 13
Proverbs 1:20-33; Psalm
19; James 3:1-12; Mark 8:27-38
Today we hear that in
this pivotal moment of Jesus finally being recognized for who Jesus is, Peter the
rock, had the right answer but the wrong response. Peter knows and declares
that Jesus is the Messiah, the Anointed One, but then Peter wants to take
another step and tell Jesus just what being the Lord should look like, what it
should mean, how Peter wants this Lordship thing to work out for him, thank you
very much.
I’d like ask you
some questions, but do not answer them out loud; answer only to yourself—in
your hearts:
Do you believe in
Jesus?
Is Jesus your Lord and
Savior?
Do you want to have a
close and personal relationship with God?
Do you want your life
transformed by this relationship?
As a priest, you
probably think I am really keen on how you answered those questions in your
hearts.
But, I am not. I am not
really interested in your answers. I am really interested—and I think God is
most profoundly interested—in your response. Your response, our response,
to Jesus asking us: Who do you say that I am? Our response, of course, is
nothing less than our lives—our actions and behaviors based on our beliefs—and
if these do not support the answer we whispered to ourselves, then it is all
for naught. Our worship, our beautiful words, our hymns and declarations are
meaningless. In a very real way, it doesn’t matter who we say that Jesus
is. What matters is how we live our answer—do our lives proclaim that Jesus
is Our Lord? Do our actions reveal that we follow the way of Jesus, live
the life of Jesus, proclaim the truth of Jesus? Of course, when they do,
then we are set apart—holy—consecrated. Because when our actions and
behaviors declare that Jesus is our Lord, we do not look, act, think or speak
like those around us—those who have other lords and Gods—the god of money, the
lord of self-importance; the god of self-preservation; the lord of personal
comfort and preference. The god of I am right so you must be wrong. When
Jesus is Our Lord and Savior, and we live as if He is, we will most likely find
ourselves out of step with the world.
Last week in the letter
to James we were reminded that Faith without works is dead. This week we are
told that our tongue is a powerful instrument—Our words, our talk, our language
can evoke transformation and inspiration—or they can fall flat when there is
nothing to back them up. Faith + works = Talk the talk and walk the walk.
Our answer to Jesus’
question:" Who do you say that I am?” is made clear to
others by how we live, by how we speak, by how we treat people—especially
people from whom we have nothing to gain. Our answer becomes visible, is made
manifest, by how we use our time, our talents, our treasure. Our calendars
reflect the level of our desire to flourish in our faith and to know God
intimately. Whether we mean them to or not.
The Good News is that
Jesus has already saved us. Saved us from what, you ask? From a
life without God. From a life of disconnection. From a life of not being
who the Creator has dreamed us to be. From a life of always seeking and
yet never finding, never resting. As St. Augustine said, "“Thou hast
made us for thyself [God], and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in
thee.” -Jesus has already redeemed us—restoring us to God so that we might know
peace.
If we answer yes to
Jesus is our Lord, our Savior, then the only possible response is to dive
deeply into the life that Jesus has made possible. To dive into the deep
and live.
Jesus asks us today:
Who do you say that I am? How we answer in words may be a step in the
right direction. How we answer with our lives is everything.
