Who Is Jesus To You?
Sermon
Questions Of Faith
Gospel Sermons For Sundays After Pentecost
Introduction
Are you a Christian? That may seem like an inappropriate question to ask you who attend church. But you see, not everyone who attends church is a Christian. People come to church for various reasons. Many come to worship God and to be renewed for the week ahead; some come because they are facing a difficult decision and are hoping for some insights. Others come because it is the thing to do, it is a good place to make friends and business contacts, or they come to keep a spouse happy. Still others come because they want their children to learn Christian values. And if you are a young person, perhaps you come because your parents make you. By making you come, they are fulfilling the promise they made the day you were baptized. There is a good chance that we all have mixed motives for coming to worship, and that is fine. We are glad that you are here, whatever your reason, and we pray that the Holy Spirit will touch your heart this day.
The question still stands: Are you a Christian? That is a personal question that no one else can answer for you, but perhaps these questions may help.
1. Do you pray daily?
2. Do you live by the Golden Rule?
3. Do you try to keep the Ten Commandments?
4. Do you attend worship every week?
5. Do you tithe ten percent of your income?
6. Do you serve on a committee or sing in the choir?
7. Do you do volunteer work in the community?
If you said, "Yes," to most of these questions, there is a good chance that you are a Christian but not for sure. Being a good person serving others does not make you a Christian. Whether or not you are a Christian depends upon how you answer the question, "Who is Jesus to you?" This is the ultimate question because how we answer it affects not only our present life - how we spend our time and money, how we respond to others - but also how we view ourselves and our future life.
The Bottom Line
The bottom line is who is this man called Jesus who was born to an unwed mother in a stable and placed in a manger, whose earthly father was a carpenter? Who is this man who healed the sick, sought out sinners, preached the kingdom of heaven, and proclaimed Good News to the poor? Who is he?
Listen to what some of his peers said about him: "Never has anyone spoken like this!" (John 7:46). "He taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes" (Matthew 7:29). "He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak" (Mark 7:37).
Yet many in Jesus' day who saw what he did and heard what he said, did not believe him to be more than a man. As we read in today's text, some thought that he was John the Baptist, who had come back to prepare the way for the Messiah, others thought he was one of the prophets who had returned - Elijah or Jeremiah. It was not unusual for people to believe that someone long dead, especially a great person, could appear again in the living flesh. In other words, the people were not sure who Jesus was, but they knew he was a great man.
There is just as much confusion today as there was in Jesus' day. Some will say he was a good man, a remarkable healer, a charismatic leader, a great teacher, a martyr, a model, a friend. He is all these things, but he must be more. Other great men are not remembered so long or have inspired so much art, music, and literature.
Nowadays it seems that people join a church more by location or by their friends or family than by their beliefs. For instance, recently a friend told me about a guest who had spent the night with her. She came late and left early the next morning, so they didn't have much time to visit. However, they talked long enough for my friend to find out the woman was a Latter Day Saint. She wanted to be sure to see the new LDS temple that had been built in Oakdale. My friend expressed surprise when she learned that the woman had become a Mormon. She thought that she was a member of the United Church of Christ as she had been when they had first met. Her guest told her that she had not only been a member of a UCC church, but also a Lutheran, and a Unitarian, and that now at age 55 she was a Mormon.
These religious bodies where she had belonged are all quite different from each other in their expectations of members and in their understanding of Jesus Christ. Yet this woman seemed comfortable in each one and now spoke enthusiastically about the Mormon religion. She was proud of the over 100 magnificent Morman temples built in the world and that the Mormons were the fastest growing church body with over ten million members. And she was proud that to belong, you are required to tithe. But when asked about what Mormons believe, she didn't really know and said she could get my friend some literature.
Now it is not so unusual for a person not to know what his/her church body believes. An article in the Metro Lutheran (August 2000) states that most Christians are confused about salvation. According to this article, the Mormons believe salvation is directly tied to a believer's good works in this life. Roman Catholics believe that God's grace and human behavior are both important for salvation, while Lutherans and all Protestant Christians teach that salvation is a pure gift from God, and that human behavior and good work cannot assure salvation. This understanding is based on the key argument set forth by Martin Luther in the sixteenth century that salvation is a free gift from God, and not dependent upon works. Yet a survey of 6,242 adults nationwide by The Barna Research Group showed that between fifty percent and sixty percent of Presbyterians, Lutherans, Episcopalians, and Methodists believed that a good person could earn his or her way to heaven.
Within the Christian Church there are people with many different beliefs about salvation, but whether they are Christian depends upon how they answer Jesus' question: "Who do you say that I am?" The answer to that question is more important than their theology, how they worship, and how they live their lives.
Today's Gospel is a turning point in the ministry of Jesus. It marks the end of his public ministry of traveling about from town to town, and it marks the beginning of the church. The beginning of the church is in the answer Peter gave to Jesus' question: "Who do you say that I am?" He said: "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Peter got it right. It was the answer Jesus wanted to hear. God had given Peter that understanding, for Jesus says: "Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven."
Peter's confession was an inspired and insightful declaration, and it was on this confession that Jesus is the Messiah, the Living Son of God that the church is established. On this rock, this confession, Jesus said he would build his church. This church will be so strong that nothing can prevail against it. And it is this confession that ties all Christian churches together. It is the center of the faith. It is the fulfillment of God's long--standing promise to send one who would begin the process of redeeming the world. This confession is the bottom line, the ultimate answer, or the heart of the matter. Nothing else matters because it is a declaration that Jesus Christ is the Savior and the Lord and Master of life. It is a confession that gives meaning to life. It calls forth personal commitment, loyalty, and compassion. It is a confession that inspires good works.
How Do We Come To Believe?
Each Sunday many Christian churches will confess their faith in the words of one of the creeds. When we say the Apostles' Creed, the most common of the creeds, we confess: "I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord." How do we make that confession more than a rote reciting of the creed? How do we help people come to the understanding that Jesus is more than just a great man? How do we help people come to the place whereby they confess that Jesus is the Messiah, the one who saves and calls them to a new way of life?
As long as I can remember there have been articles in magazines and newspapers addressing the best way to educate our children in the three R's and now the four R's - reading, 'riting, 'rithmetic, and respect. More recently the articles have been on the state standardized tests and what should be included in them.
It is more difficult to address the question of faith development than academic development. Churches do not have standardized tests, but some churches do have expectations as to what children should memorize at each age level. But memory work is not the answer. Nor is it enough to gain mastery over the historical facts connected with Jesus of Nazareth. The goal of Christian education is not to impart knowledge but to transform lives. Thus faith is not something you can teach. It is not a skill to be learned, but a life to be experienced.
A couple of years ago a conference on Leadership in the 21st Century was held at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. The presenters, Bill Easum and Tom Bandy, reminded participants over and over again that we are living in a post--Christian world and we need new creative strategies to reach people for Christ. One of these new ways is through technology. In the last forty years something big has happened, and that is the web. Five hundred years ago the major event was the invention of the printing press. For the last 500 years the question was: How well can you read? But now the question is: How well can you surf the net?
We are living in what has been called the Information Age. We have access to more information than we have ever had. Computers give us information at faster and faster rates. Anything we want to know is at our fingertips with just a couple of clicks. As the church, we need to make use of this technology to inform. Still it may not be the means of transforming lives unless we use it to share our own personal faith journey.
The core issue today in this post--Christian world is how to make disciples of Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. And we do that best by telling our own stories, why we are a Christian, and not a Buddhist or some other religion. How many of us can tell someone why we are a Christian, and how many of us have actually done it?
Faith development may be compared to the growth of a plant. The seed is planted in the ground and then sprouts. We become aware of the new life when a blade appears above the ground. And then with water and sunlight it grows, a bud appears, and then a beautiful flower. Or if it doesn't get enough sun and water, it will shrivel up and die. This is the story of faith.
The seed is planted in baptism when we receive our identity as a child of God. The blade of faith shoots forth as a person is nurtured in the Word of God by hearing the Bible stories, singing the songs of Jesus' love, and experiencing God's love through a teacher, a pastor, or other adult. The church of Jesus Christ is a place where we are accepted and loved, where broken lives and hearts are mended, where there is forgiveness. It is here that faith is caught not taught.
The home also plays an important role in nurturing a child in the faith. Unless a parent sets the example for Christian living, there is hardly a thing the church can do for a child. There will be little growth in faith if you the parent just drop your children off at the door of the church. You the parents are the ones to whom they look. You are their role models. They need to know by your example and by your words that you believe in Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Conclusion
Faith is a gift. Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8--9: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God - not the result of works, so that no one may boast."
This gift we receive in baptism needs to be nurtured or it, like a seed that is not watered and given sunshine, will wither and die. The best way to nurture the faith is by our own lives and by our own witness to our children and those around us. Our works do not save us, but they can show that we are Christians seeking to live our life as disciples of Jesus Christ.
Perhaps you have heard the story of how Helen Keller came to learn about Jesus Christ. Helen's teacher, Ann Sullivan, invited the noted preacher, Phillips Brooks to talk to Helen. With Ann interpreting, the minister shared the gospel story. When Brooks finished, Helen Keller was beaming with pleasure. Through her teacher, Helen told the preacher that she had always known about God, but until now she didn't have a name for God.
Are you a Christian? Do you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? If so, there is a good chance your life will show it. Amen.
Are you a Christian? That may seem like an inappropriate question to ask you who attend church. But you see, not everyone who attends church is a Christian. People come to church for various reasons. Many come to worship God and to be renewed for the week ahead; some come because they are facing a difficult decision and are hoping for some insights. Others come because it is the thing to do, it is a good place to make friends and business contacts, or they come to keep a spouse happy. Still others come because they want their children to learn Christian values. And if you are a young person, perhaps you come because your parents make you. By making you come, they are fulfilling the promise they made the day you were baptized. There is a good chance that we all have mixed motives for coming to worship, and that is fine. We are glad that you are here, whatever your reason, and we pray that the Holy Spirit will touch your heart this day.
The question still stands: Are you a Christian? That is a personal question that no one else can answer for you, but perhaps these questions may help.
1. Do you pray daily?
2. Do you live by the Golden Rule?
3. Do you try to keep the Ten Commandments?
4. Do you attend worship every week?
5. Do you tithe ten percent of your income?
6. Do you serve on a committee or sing in the choir?
7. Do you do volunteer work in the community?
If you said, "Yes," to most of these questions, there is a good chance that you are a Christian but not for sure. Being a good person serving others does not make you a Christian. Whether or not you are a Christian depends upon how you answer the question, "Who is Jesus to you?" This is the ultimate question because how we answer it affects not only our present life - how we spend our time and money, how we respond to others - but also how we view ourselves and our future life.
The Bottom Line
The bottom line is who is this man called Jesus who was born to an unwed mother in a stable and placed in a manger, whose earthly father was a carpenter? Who is this man who healed the sick, sought out sinners, preached the kingdom of heaven, and proclaimed Good News to the poor? Who is he?
Listen to what some of his peers said about him: "Never has anyone spoken like this!" (John 7:46). "He taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes" (Matthew 7:29). "He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak" (Mark 7:37).
Yet many in Jesus' day who saw what he did and heard what he said, did not believe him to be more than a man. As we read in today's text, some thought that he was John the Baptist, who had come back to prepare the way for the Messiah, others thought he was one of the prophets who had returned - Elijah or Jeremiah. It was not unusual for people to believe that someone long dead, especially a great person, could appear again in the living flesh. In other words, the people were not sure who Jesus was, but they knew he was a great man.
There is just as much confusion today as there was in Jesus' day. Some will say he was a good man, a remarkable healer, a charismatic leader, a great teacher, a martyr, a model, a friend. He is all these things, but he must be more. Other great men are not remembered so long or have inspired so much art, music, and literature.
Nowadays it seems that people join a church more by location or by their friends or family than by their beliefs. For instance, recently a friend told me about a guest who had spent the night with her. She came late and left early the next morning, so they didn't have much time to visit. However, they talked long enough for my friend to find out the woman was a Latter Day Saint. She wanted to be sure to see the new LDS temple that had been built in Oakdale. My friend expressed surprise when she learned that the woman had become a Mormon. She thought that she was a member of the United Church of Christ as she had been when they had first met. Her guest told her that she had not only been a member of a UCC church, but also a Lutheran, and a Unitarian, and that now at age 55 she was a Mormon.
These religious bodies where she had belonged are all quite different from each other in their expectations of members and in their understanding of Jesus Christ. Yet this woman seemed comfortable in each one and now spoke enthusiastically about the Mormon religion. She was proud of the over 100 magnificent Morman temples built in the world and that the Mormons were the fastest growing church body with over ten million members. And she was proud that to belong, you are required to tithe. But when asked about what Mormons believe, she didn't really know and said she could get my friend some literature.
Now it is not so unusual for a person not to know what his/her church body believes. An article in the Metro Lutheran (August 2000) states that most Christians are confused about salvation. According to this article, the Mormons believe salvation is directly tied to a believer's good works in this life. Roman Catholics believe that God's grace and human behavior are both important for salvation, while Lutherans and all Protestant Christians teach that salvation is a pure gift from God, and that human behavior and good work cannot assure salvation. This understanding is based on the key argument set forth by Martin Luther in the sixteenth century that salvation is a free gift from God, and not dependent upon works. Yet a survey of 6,242 adults nationwide by The Barna Research Group showed that between fifty percent and sixty percent of Presbyterians, Lutherans, Episcopalians, and Methodists believed that a good person could earn his or her way to heaven.
Within the Christian Church there are people with many different beliefs about salvation, but whether they are Christian depends upon how they answer Jesus' question: "Who do you say that I am?" The answer to that question is more important than their theology, how they worship, and how they live their lives.
Today's Gospel is a turning point in the ministry of Jesus. It marks the end of his public ministry of traveling about from town to town, and it marks the beginning of the church. The beginning of the church is in the answer Peter gave to Jesus' question: "Who do you say that I am?" He said: "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Peter got it right. It was the answer Jesus wanted to hear. God had given Peter that understanding, for Jesus says: "Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven."
Peter's confession was an inspired and insightful declaration, and it was on this confession that Jesus is the Messiah, the Living Son of God that the church is established. On this rock, this confession, Jesus said he would build his church. This church will be so strong that nothing can prevail against it. And it is this confession that ties all Christian churches together. It is the center of the faith. It is the fulfillment of God's long--standing promise to send one who would begin the process of redeeming the world. This confession is the bottom line, the ultimate answer, or the heart of the matter. Nothing else matters because it is a declaration that Jesus Christ is the Savior and the Lord and Master of life. It is a confession that gives meaning to life. It calls forth personal commitment, loyalty, and compassion. It is a confession that inspires good works.
How Do We Come To Believe?
Each Sunday many Christian churches will confess their faith in the words of one of the creeds. When we say the Apostles' Creed, the most common of the creeds, we confess: "I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord." How do we make that confession more than a rote reciting of the creed? How do we help people come to the understanding that Jesus is more than just a great man? How do we help people come to the place whereby they confess that Jesus is the Messiah, the one who saves and calls them to a new way of life?
As long as I can remember there have been articles in magazines and newspapers addressing the best way to educate our children in the three R's and now the four R's - reading, 'riting, 'rithmetic, and respect. More recently the articles have been on the state standardized tests and what should be included in them.
It is more difficult to address the question of faith development than academic development. Churches do not have standardized tests, but some churches do have expectations as to what children should memorize at each age level. But memory work is not the answer. Nor is it enough to gain mastery over the historical facts connected with Jesus of Nazareth. The goal of Christian education is not to impart knowledge but to transform lives. Thus faith is not something you can teach. It is not a skill to be learned, but a life to be experienced.
A couple of years ago a conference on Leadership in the 21st Century was held at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. The presenters, Bill Easum and Tom Bandy, reminded participants over and over again that we are living in a post--Christian world and we need new creative strategies to reach people for Christ. One of these new ways is through technology. In the last forty years something big has happened, and that is the web. Five hundred years ago the major event was the invention of the printing press. For the last 500 years the question was: How well can you read? But now the question is: How well can you surf the net?
We are living in what has been called the Information Age. We have access to more information than we have ever had. Computers give us information at faster and faster rates. Anything we want to know is at our fingertips with just a couple of clicks. As the church, we need to make use of this technology to inform. Still it may not be the means of transforming lives unless we use it to share our own personal faith journey.
The core issue today in this post--Christian world is how to make disciples of Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. And we do that best by telling our own stories, why we are a Christian, and not a Buddhist or some other religion. How many of us can tell someone why we are a Christian, and how many of us have actually done it?
Faith development may be compared to the growth of a plant. The seed is planted in the ground and then sprouts. We become aware of the new life when a blade appears above the ground. And then with water and sunlight it grows, a bud appears, and then a beautiful flower. Or if it doesn't get enough sun and water, it will shrivel up and die. This is the story of faith.
The seed is planted in baptism when we receive our identity as a child of God. The blade of faith shoots forth as a person is nurtured in the Word of God by hearing the Bible stories, singing the songs of Jesus' love, and experiencing God's love through a teacher, a pastor, or other adult. The church of Jesus Christ is a place where we are accepted and loved, where broken lives and hearts are mended, where there is forgiveness. It is here that faith is caught not taught.
The home also plays an important role in nurturing a child in the faith. Unless a parent sets the example for Christian living, there is hardly a thing the church can do for a child. There will be little growth in faith if you the parent just drop your children off at the door of the church. You the parents are the ones to whom they look. You are their role models. They need to know by your example and by your words that you believe in Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Conclusion
Faith is a gift. Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8--9: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God - not the result of works, so that no one may boast."
This gift we receive in baptism needs to be nurtured or it, like a seed that is not watered and given sunshine, will wither and die. The best way to nurture the faith is by our own lives and by our own witness to our children and those around us. Our works do not save us, but they can show that we are Christians seeking to live our life as disciples of Jesus Christ.
Perhaps you have heard the story of how Helen Keller came to learn about Jesus Christ. Helen's teacher, Ann Sullivan, invited the noted preacher, Phillips Brooks to talk to Helen. With Ann interpreting, the minister shared the gospel story. When Brooks finished, Helen Keller was beaming with pleasure. Through her teacher, Helen told the preacher that she had always known about God, but until now she didn't have a name for God.
Are you a Christian? Do you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? If so, there is a good chance your life will show it. Amen.
