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Does It Matter?

Grace and peace to you from God our Creator, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who abides in which of us. Amen

Back on August 9, Jill and I celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary. As I am sure it is with most of you, when we celebrate our anniversary it is always a good time to remember back how things used to be. It truly was a carefree time for us. It was just the two of us and we had no big responsibilities. We didn’t have much money, but life was good. About a year and a half after we were married, we decided it was time to begin our family. What we didn’t fully realize at the time was that as soon as you start having children, your life truly changes. To be honest, I don’t think that I realized how much our lives would have to change until I was driving home from the hospital for the first time with Jill and our oldest child, D.J,, who was only two days old. I was actually so scared thinking about the changes that we had to make and how hard it was going to be to be responsible for a child that no sooner did we walk in the door of our rental house than I said to Jill, “Why don’t we go visit your mom and dad!” I really didn’t want to deal with the changes that I was about to experience in my life, but I had no choice.

In our Gospel text today, we have reached a point where Jesus wants to know if his closest followers have any idea of what is about to happen in their lives. They have been with him for quite some time now. They have seen him heal the sick and feed thousands of people with virtually nothing. They have witnessed him stand up to the religious authorities with no fear and he has taught them about the Kingdom of heaven. Everything he has taught them has pointed to a different way of living and now he wants to know if they are getting it and so, he asks them, "Who do you say that I am?" It is a critical question for all of us. Can you answer this question? Who do you say Jesus is? (encourage responses)

Yes, Jesus is the Messiah, and for those of us who proclaim this, it ought to make a difference in how we live our lives. But you know, this question that Jesus asks was not only important because it brought to light who he really was, and is, but it also important to realize that he asked the question of his disciples in Caesara-Phillipi. This is empire territory. In the midst of the politics of the day, war, violence, extreme poverty, ... Peter proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah. And like Peter, in the midst of war, poverty, violence in our streets and in our schools, hatred within our own government, we, too, proclaim Jesus as our Lord. In the midst of the violence of Ferguson these past two weeks, we cannot forget who our Lord is and what that means for our lives. If we proclaim Jesus as our Lord, then seeking peace, finding ways to change the racial divisions in Ferguson, the poverty, the crime, ... is our call as individuals and as a church. Yes, who we claim Jesus is in this world should affect how we live our lives and what we do with our lives in this world.

In a world filled with prejudice, racism, hatred amongst various faith traditions, and so much more, when we proclaim Jesus as our Messiah, we ought then look at our own lives to see if we are living as Jesus calls his followers to live. As those who proclaim Jesus as our Lord, we ought to ask ourselves, are we willing to walk with the poor, not take advantage of them or ignore their suffering. Are we willing to better understand the needs of those who live in the slums of our cities and communities and try to find ways to help them change the injustices they experience every day? As those who proclaim Christ as our savior, are we willing to give up our power and our wealth, so that others might share in them? It is easy to say with our lips, I am a Christian. It is easy to say, Jesus is my savior, but it is so hard to live as one who believes what we say.

Jesus called his church into existence to continue his work, the work his Father had given him. On the faith of Peter, Jesus built his church, whose mission is to bring good news to the poor, to free the oppressed, to stand up for the widow, that is for those who do not have the power to speak for themselves and, yet, so often the church, that is the very people who proclaim Christ as our savior, prefer to follow the ways of the world and ignores those in need. So often the church is more interested in condemning those in need and accusing them of creating there own problems instead of finding ways to bring about God’s Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. As Peter found out, proclaiming Jesus as our Messiah means we are challenged to change how we live.

Does proclaiming Jesus as our savior really matter? Should proclaiming Jesus as our Messiah cause us to live differently? Absolutely it should! As Christians we should be horrified that such conflict exists in Ferguson. As believers, our call isn’t to find ways to punish, Darren Wilson, the police officer who shot Michael Brown, nor is it to accuse Michael Brown of being a thug. No, our call is to recognize that racism and classism exist and acknowledge that those things are dividing us as a people. The call of the church is to walk with young men like Chris Webber, a college student in Ferguson who just this past week said, “A year from now, I would like to see empowerment. I would like to see uplift, I would like to see consciousness [of the racism and injustices in this community].”

The question we are all challenged to ask ourselves today is are we living the way our Savior lived? Are we walking with the marginalized and seeking to help them? Are we standing up for the poor and the oppressed and challenging our leaders, both religious and secular, to focus on justice and not greed and power? Are we living differently from the world, because we are Christian?

On the faith of Peter, Jesus said his church would grow and to those who would proclaim him as their messiah, Jesus gave the keys to God’s kingdom. We, the church have been given the power to loose and to bind. We have been given the power to free and to liberate. So, the question is, are we freeing the oppressed? Are we liberating those who are bound by the world or are we part of the world that binds others into destructive lives. We have the power to bind and to free. It is up to us. Impossible you say. Well, I would argue that in every thoughtful gesture, in every supportive word, in every prophetic denunciation of injustice, in every pantry pack given away, we can bring about change. In everything we say and do, we can prove that proclaiming Jesus as our Savior matters in how we live. Our "power" as followers Christ, God's real power, comes not in the spectacular exhibits of strength, but in the quiet acts of love and kindness that can REALLY change the world. Acts like forgiveness, tolerance, and accompaniment. These are how the followers of Christ are called to act.

So does proclaiming Jesus as our Lord make a difference in how we live our lives and how we can/will change the world? That is our challenge. Amen

Tags: Sermons