12th After Trinity: Pub and Church.

Acts 2: 32 - 39

God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord:

    “Sit at my right hand

35 until I make your enemies

    a footstool for your feet.”’

36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

Matthew 16: 13-19

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Introduction to service.

Why are you here?

Here in church today?

Answers given – 'to worship God', 'to ring the bell', 'to pray', 'nothing on the tele on a Sunday morning.'

Let me give you a bigger answer. Our Gospel reading reports a conversation between Jesus and his disciples in which Peter says to him, 'You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God,' and Jesus replies, '...on this rock I will build may church.' Then in our reading from Acts we encounter Peter again, this time after Pentecost, building the church by proclaiming the good news. Our reading from Acts is the fulfilment of our Gospel reading – we are here in church because of a conversation between a Carpenter turned itinerant preacher and a semi-literate fisherman, 2000 years ago.

Sermon.

In our reading from the Gospel of Matthew we heard an account of a conversation between Jesus and his disciples, a conversation that began by Jesus asking, ‘Who do people say I am?’

Everything Jesus said and did spoke of who he was; his wisdom, the miracles, the way he seemed to embody passages of the Old Testament, these all spoke of his divine nature, but mostly he was careful to let people work it out for themselves rather than tell them directly.

If you want people to learn it is better to let them work it out for themselves rather than just tell them, that way they take ownership of the knowledge and remember it.

Also, we are very familiar with the idea of Jesus as God the Son, but in first century Israel the idea was blasphemous, and may have gotten rocks thrown at your head if you said it out loud.

Jesus at first asks his disciples who other people say he is, and gets the reply, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’

These characters were all dead, so the answer is surprising, but people were searching for answers, none of their usual understandings seemed to apply. Was Jesus a great figure from Jewish history come back to life?

They were clearly grasping at straws, but how else could they explain Jesus?

Many people today regard Jesus as a ‘good man’ who spoke wise and beautiful words, and who met a tragic end. There are some who do not believe Jesus existed at all, but such a belief can only be sustained through complete ignorance of the facts, no serious historian would contest that Jesus lived, even if many would contest the events of his life, and most would contest the meaning of his life.

Jesus then asks the disciples, ‘But what about you? Who do you say I am?’

This question required of the disciples a personal statement of belief.

Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’

Not only was this answer blasphemous in the context of the religious framework of the disciples, it was conceptually difficult; the Church took three centuries to find all the right words to describe this, so God the Father helped Peter out.

As Jesus says, this was revealed by the Father.

Peter is saying two things, firstly that Jesus is the Christ - the Messiah, the long expected Saviour, and secondly, and here is gets cosmic, that Jesus is not only human but also divine.

Christians believe that if you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus.

Jesus is God’s great self-revelation; Jesus is the image of God.

As Saint Clement wrote, ‘Through Jesus we can look up to the highest heaven and see, as in a glass, the peerless perfection of the face of God.’

If you want to know what God is like, read the gospels, the four accounts of the life of Jesus contained in the New Testament.

That Jesus is divine is the foundational belief of the Church.

Indeed, Jesus says in response to Peter's creedal statement, ‘on this rock I will build my church.’

Jesus did not leave behind a book of writings, or an Empire built by force of arms, he left behind a group of ordinary people, the disciples, mostly fishermen, bound together by a belief in Jesus as the Son of God, and committed to living out the good news of his teachings. We heard Peter beginning this proclamation in our first reading.

This makes the Church central to Christ’s plan for his disciples and for the world, and central to what it means to be a Christian.

The Church today is still a group of ordinary people bound together by a belief in Jesus as the Son of God, and committed to living out the good news of his teachings.

You don’t have to go to Church to be a Christian, but if you don’t you are missing the point.

Church is a bit like the pub, a place to be with people, to be in a community.

You can sit at home and drink, but drinking is a social activity so if you are alone with your pint you are actually missing out.

A pub landlord listens to people's problems, organises community events based in and around a building, and serves alcohol to bring comfort to the distressed, whereas Vicars listen to people's problems, organise community events based in and around a building, and serve alcohol to bring comfort to the distressed.

Both venues hold sing songs, and are a place to make friends.

In truth other people can be hard work, both down the pub and in the church, but nothing in this world that is worth doing comes easily, it takes discipline and dedication.

Church is the place to practice loving so that out in the world you may be accomplished in the practice of love.

In Church we find communion with each other and with God, we get to know God through Jesus, and we get to know each other, but most of all, we learn about ourselves.

This is the most surprising thing that being a part of the Church brings – self-knowledge.

It is surprising because what is revealed in us as time goes by is the image of God.

The light of the perfect image of God seen in Jesus reveals the tarnished image of God in us.

We are all created in the image of God, created good, but we all let that image become obscured by the wrong we do.

Such is the love of God that He offers us forgiveness, and gives us His Holy Spirit to clean and restore us to our original beauty. As Peter said, “Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Our restoration is completed at the gates of heaven, were Peter awaits us with his keys.

In understanding who Jesus is, we find out who we really are, and what we can become.

Amen.