Matthew 16:13-20
August 21, 2005
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco.
Believe it or not, there was a time in my life that I was deathly afraid to stand up in front of a group to speak. At my junior high school graduation, I was the valedictorian. In front of my classmates, teachers and parents, I felt my knees shaking and knocking against each other. I was very scare and nervous. It traumatized me to the point that I wonder why I am up here today!
When it comes to people’s phobias, the fear that people are most afraid about is public speaking. The majority of people fear that which I do for a living. They would rather sky-jump out of an airplane or climb Half-Dome in Yosemite or ride Thunder Mountain in Disneyland than stand in front of a group of people and give a speech.
For the most part, we have enough laypersons willing to lead worship and read the Scriptures on Sunday mornings. They may be not standing in line to do this, but when Melanie Low asks them on my behalf, people enjoy doing it. But if I would to ask them to share an answer to the question, “Who is Jesus to you?” they would freak out.
If I were to ask you, “Now next Sunday I want you to stand up here and give about a five-minute speech on a topic of your own choice spoken from the heart,” do you know how many people would want to do that? Not many of you would be standing in line for this opportunity. Now why is that?
Who Do People Say Jesus Is?
Before Matthew 16:13, Jesus has been patiently teaching his disciples about his way. He told them many parables to reveal to them the nature of his kingdom. He performed miracles of healing and feeding to reveal that his kingdom is for those who are suffering, lost, and hungry.
At Caesarea Philippi, Jesus turns to them and asks, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
Jesus may have said, “You rub elbows with people. You get out and about. Who do people say that I am?”
Immediately they all start shouting out answers. “Some say that you are John the Baptist.”
Another, “A lot of people say that you might be one of the prophets who have come back from the dead. They think you might be Elijah or Jeremiah.”
And on and on come the answers. They are like children in a classroom when the teacher asks, “When did Columbus discover America?” And the hands go up. “Who was the first President of the United States?” The hands go up. “Me, me, let me answer,” they say.
“Explain the Second Law of Thermodynamics and why it is under increasing scrutiny.” “I know it, I know it!” they scream.
But Jesus’ question wasn’t anything easy like that. Jesus got tough with the exam questions when he asked, “Who do you say that I am?”
The hands went down, and they began to stamp their feet, their knees are knocking against each other. Jesus may have said, “Speak up now; I don’t care what nine out of ten average Americans think. I want to hear what you think about me. I don’t care if others thought that I am John the Baptist who came back from being beheaded or one of the dead prophets from the past. I want to hear what you think about me.”
That’s a very different kind of question than what year Columbus discovered America or who was the first President of the United States. It’s not a question that can be answered with a date of the year or a name. The answer Jesus was looking for requires the disciples to stand up in front of their peer and talk about what is “the truth.” What is truth for you? And that’s different from explaining the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
Perpetual Tourists
There was a distinguished attorney who made his living standing up in front of juries and arguing cases. Many times there would be millions of dollars at stake in the verdict of the jury. This man would stand up and before the judge and jury with concerned people in the courtroom and argued cases like that.
He was also a wonderful supporter of his church so they made him chair of the stewardship committee. This means that, on the four Sundays in the fall when the church launched their stewardship canvass campaign, he would have to stand up (for just a couple of minutes) and talk about the Christian responsibility of stewardship. He would do this right before the offering is taken.
But this distinguished attorney who regularly stands in front of judges and juries arguing his cases as a part of his job, found it excruciatingly painful to stand up and just talk for a couple of minutes in front of the church! He begged to let someone else do this. And when he finally stood up, you could see his knees shaking, even if you were sitting all the way in the back of the sanctuary. His hands shook when he held his note cards.
In school we are train to name the 27 books of the New Testament and the 39 books in the Old. We can probably name the Ten Commandments or recite John 3:16 from memory. But when it comes to sharing what we believe, we are tongue-tied. We can win a whole lot of money for our clients in front of a judge but we don’t know the place of money in God’s kingdom and what we should do about it.
There is something called, “onlooker consciousness” which means perpetual detachment. We stand back, we watch the world go by, we abstract, objectify, detach, assuming the role of the perpetual tourist, just passing through, the onlooker, never actually deciding anything or staying long enough anywhere to make a difference.
In regards to our faith, we can become perpetual tourists. Most of us have been on vacation before. We arrive at our destination and enjoy the highlights and main attractions without ever thinking and wondering about the deeper issues that might be plaguing that particular city or its people. We are simply passing through—onlookers without any opinions or beliefs. Tourists don’t usually have beliefs about what they see; they just watch the attractions go by.
But in the church we sometimes, if we do our work right, sometimes turn to you and say, “But what do you believe?” Or what are you willing to bet your life on? What commitment will determine how you live and move and have your being? The church asks you to speak up and answer the question, “Who is Jesus?”
How Do We Believe
Sadly, and maybe providentially, we come up with answers to this question when we are facing life and death situations. A time when we unexpectedly face a death of a loved one and we ask, “I never thought much about the resurrection. Never need to, until now. Now everything hinges on what I believe to be true about the end.”
How about the most feared news that we dread from our doctor after reading the results of our tests and exams and before he/she says anything, says, “There are some new experimental drugs out there for this kind of cancer.” We are about to find out if we really believe what we hear Sunday after Sunday. We’re about to find out if we are really on board with what we call faith.
Last week at Youth Camp, we ask the youth to answer the question, “Who is God to you?” On three large plywood boards, we wrote and drew answers to this challenging question of faith. This was not one of those easy questions that we ask in Sunday school. It’s a question that elicits an answer that describes what you really believe who God is.
One of the steps that a candidate like our Assistant Pastor Lauren Ng will be doing as she prepares for ordination into the Christian Ministry is to answer this question: “Who Jesus is?” She can’t become a Minister of the Christian Gospel unless she is willing to bet her life on her answers. She will need to have a commitment to Jesus that will determine how she lives and moves and have her being. In front of a group of examining ministers, she will need to speak publicly to what she believes Jesus is.
Time to Speak Up
After the disciples rattled off some answers they heard from the crowds, he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” And at that point, none of the disciples can report what others were saying about Jesus. Now they have to come up with what is truth for them.
Peter must now search his own heart, evaluate what he has heard, what he has seen, and what his instincts have told him. This was not the time for a pat answer.
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” With that, Peter came up with the right answer and he was fully recognized and blessed by Jesus saying, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.”
The question for us today is the same one that Jesus asked his disciples, “But who do you say that I am?” Who cares what nine out of ten average Americans think? What do you believe?
I credit the remedy to my fear for public speaking to youth ministry. When I was growing up at the First Baptist Church in Boston, I was given many opportunities to answer this question, “Who is Jesus to me?” I wrote newsletter articles, led programs, served on church boards, and spoke at Youth Sunday. Every time I was given such opportunities to articulate what I believe, I came to claim such beliefs and faith as my own. This is the reason why Youth Camp and our year-round youth ministry are so important in our church. We ask the question, “Who is Jesus?” and expect an answer.
Sometimes we don’t know how to say it clearly. We pastors are sometimes the worse culprits creating an unreasonable expectation that there’s a certain way or orthodox way to sharing our faith and beliefs publicly. Jesus is not expecting a “seminary trained” answer from you.
It’s like this: There was a New York City plumber who wrote to the Bureau of Standards in Washington, saying that he found hydrochloric acid good for cleaning out clogged drains. The bureau wrote him: “The efficacy of hydrochloric acid is indisputable, but the corrosive residue is incompatible with metallic permanence.”
The plumber replied that he was glad the bureau agreed with him. The bureau tried again, saying, “We cannot assume responsibility for the production of toxic and noxious residue with hydrochloric acid, and suggest that you use an alternative procedure.”
The plumber again wrote that he was pleased the bureau agreed with him. Finally, the bureau wrote this to the plumber: “Don’t use hydrochloric acid. It eats the hell out of the pipes.”
God is not expecting us to share the truth of what we believe in flowery and theological verbiage. Sharing our faith with others require only simple words. It comes down to believing that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of the living God.
And if you are one who is not yet settled on your beliefs and recognize the intellectual humility of admitting that you don’t have a viewpoint or a position at this time, you are still holding a position of “I don’t know yet.” Or perhaps we don’t have the mind of Christ on this particular issue at this time.
Not to know everything, not to have settled all possible areas of questioning, but yet find the words, to locate oneself, to be in relationship with Christ who is the “way, the truth, and the life” is moving you to claim a faith position.
Jesus said to Peter because you have answered correctly publicly in front of the other disciples, I will build the church on this “rock.”
Although you may still have a fear for public speaking, you can begin building your life on Christ by your commitment to live and move and have your being in Christ. It’s time for you to answer the question, “Who is Jesus?”
Although Baptists don’t use creeds, we do have the church vision/mission statement that is printed on the back of your bulletin. May this be your first step to speak publicly about what you believe as we read this together in unison.
[FCBC Vision/Mission Statement]
Let us pray.
Gracious Lord God, help us to claim for ourselves a faith that we are able and willing to share with others. In so doing, we come to grow and deepen our faith with you. Grant us courage to not be afraid for you welcome everyone and hear all words and thoughts that come from our hearts. Dear God, we want to believe in Jesus Christ so receive us into your kingdom. In the name of Christ we pray. Amen.