Do you declare Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Saviour? “Come down the aisle, give your heart to Jesus today.” My best friend in high school was a Baptist. During those years she often invited me to go with her family to their church revivals – I loved the fried chicken and biscuits! I was used to a tradition Episcopal service. I still remember being amazed at the very loud, long, and pulpit-pounding sermons from the Baptist preachers. The thought of hell, fire and brimstone scared me to death, but it was the altar call - the invitation to come down front and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior that scared me the most. It wasn’t that I didn’t love Jesus and accept him… But did I have to do this? I was full of teenage self-consciousness and Anglican anxiety. I would sink down in the pew - my heart would pound and I would break out in a most unladylike sweat. My prayer was that the preacher wouldn’t look at me or expect a response from me.
Peter was the first person to answer the altar call. Jesus has been preaching and teaching his disciples, feeding multitudes and doing miraculous healings. He asks what people are saying about him. And finds that most people say he must be one of the great prophets. It is a good guess…but not good enough for Jesus, so he pushes his disciples…But who do you say that I am? My last days with you are here … Make a decision – come on down…For God’s sake and your sake…once and for all look at me and see me for who I am. Peter took the plunge. You are the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the living God. Peter’s radical words changed the world.
The reading that you just heard about Peter and his confession at Caesarea Philippi has played a most significant role in the formation of the Church. Two great traditions, the Roman Catholic and the Protestant, point to Peter as the rock upon which the church is founded. But this is where there is a parting of the ways - a rift that still exists. The Roman Catholic Church points to the person of Peter and the authority given to him by Jesus. Peter is given the keys to the kingdom of heaven and Jesus says the judgments that he delivers and the pronouncements he makes will be upheld in heaven. Peter is the controller of the household of God. Catholic authorities maintain that these enduring promises are true for Peter’s successors - the Popes. So for those of you who may have wondered how a pope can issue statements about doctrine that are considered to be infallible, the Roman Church points to Peter and this passage.
On the other hand, the Protestant tradition agrees that Peter is the unique person on whom the church is built, and they don’t argue about Peter’s authority, but Protestants say it is Peter’s confession of faith that Jesus is the Christ that forms the building blocks of the church. Faith gives Peter the keys to the kingdom.
What kind of conversion experience… can transform a fisherman from the shores of Galilee… to one who becomes the Rock on which the Christian Church is built. The clue is in our Scripture passage. But it is easy to overlook. Right after Peter calls Jesus Son of the Living God, Jesus says, Blessed are you Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood have not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. Peter isn’t a genius who has suddenly discovered for himself that Jesus is the Christ. God has revealed this to him. Peter has become a channel of God’s grace and revelation.
Two things had to happen. Peter had to be vulnerable and God had to do the revealing. It is like lightning in a summer thunderstorm - a flash pierces the cloud and arcs down to earth while a similar flash rises from the earth to meet it. God and the human soul reach out to each other. And there is a flash of revelation. Peter’s profession of faith transformed him into one who could make a difference in the world. In spite of his human weaknesses and blunders, Christ was able to use him to build a church…a church strong enough to withstand the gates of Hell. Our Father in heaven has revealed to us who Jesus is through his life, death, and resurrection. We celebrate that revelation every Christmas….every Easter and every Sunday of the year.
“Jesus asked, “Who do you say that I am?” It was a big question…the most important question in world. He is asking the question of us. Thursday afternoon I went to Salem with other clergy to hear Bishop Powell’s report on the Lambeth Conference. He told about a bishop from the Solomon Islands who sat for days just listening to all the debates and not saying much. Toward the end of the conference he stood to speak. “I came from my impoverished province hoping to find some hope for my people. All you do is talk about sex.”
It is all too true. As Bishop Powell told his stories I thought about all the reports I read every week from all Christian denominations debating issues about sexuality, gender, and the abuse of power. The bishop from the Solomon Islands came looking for hope and collegiality – new ideas to help his people….. Do you think it is possible that we are asking too many of the wrong questions? Would better questions be, “Who is Lord of my life?” “How can I help people the way Jesus did?” “What can I do to preserve and protect this beautiful world we have been given?”
Peter teaches us that the demands of being vulnerable and saying, “Yes, I believe you are the Christ” are costly, because like Peter, we are never the same again. When we faithfully speak and act as people who follow Jesus, we open ourselves up to being channels of grace. Do you believe that we can make a difference? Can we find the courage to answer Jesus’ question…who do you say that I am? Do you believe that Jesus makes you and each one of us a channel of grace for others?
Do you know the story of a young Baptist missionary who was sent from his church to do mission work in the streets of Calcutta, India? I imagine he answered the altar call in his church. He was full of enthusiasm and the love of God and the desire to share the good news of Jesus Christ. He happened to be assigned to a hospital run by the sisters in Mother Theresa’s order. The hospital only took in those who were dying in the streets to give them comfort and shelter.
After a week of working among the emaciated, disease ridden people the young missionary sat with a woman who was close to death. He cleaned the maggots out of the sores on her body, he moistened her lips with water and held her hand until she closed her eyes and died. One of the sisters came by to check on him and full of distress he said, “Sister, look at all of these people, look at this woman, she’s dead, and I never had the chance to tell her about Jesus. I have always been taught that unless you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you won’t be saved.” “Don’t worry, my son,” the nun replied, “She will know Jesus when she gets to heaven because she knew you.” Amen