Readings
for Proper 16A:
Isaiah 51:1-6; Psalm 138; Romans 11:33-36; Matthew 16:13-20
August 21, 2005
The Rev. Mary B. Blessingt
St. Jude the Apostle Episcopal Church, Cupertino,
CA
Don’t you just love Peter? Impetuous Peter! Recently we heard how he jumped out of a boat to walk on water to meet Jesus. And now, Peter is the first to proclaim: Jesus is the Messiah—the anointed One, the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Today I want to make 3 points regarding this story of Peter’s response to Jesus’ question:
1. Peter is a Vision-Bearer:
A Vision-Bearer is someone who gets a powerful insight. He “knows” with all his being that this is true, long before there is concrete evidence. In fact, concrete evidence may never be manifest precisely the way the Vision Bearer imagines. Yet the Vision Bearer continues to “see”, to know, and to articulate this Vision. A Vision Bearer holds the vision out for others to see, in hopes that others will catch the Vision. The more people who catch the Vision, the more likely it will become a reality.
In this case, Peter sees without doubt: Jesus is Messiah. He understands “Messiah” in the classical Hebrew tradition: “the anointed King of the House of David who would come and deliver Israel from its enemies and establish a world empire characterized by peace and justice” (Anchor Bible Dict., p. 255).
Jesus commends Peter, affirming the truth of his vision. Jesus states that Peter knows this not because a person, “flesh and blood”, has revealed it to him, but because the “Father in heaven” revealed it to him. The power of the Vision lies in its source—it is God’s Vision, therefore it endures for all time. Jesus’ affirmation encourages Peter to bear this vision, to hold this vision in his heart-but to keep quiet, until the time is right.
2. Peter’s Vision is the foundation of the Christian Church.
The proclamation “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God,” is the “rock”, the cornerstone, that sets the foundation for the church. It is Peter’s VISION, not Peter himself, which is the “rock” upon which the church is built. Peter held on to this vision all through Jesus ministry, at his death, and after the resurrection. In the end, Jesus released Peter and the apostles with new instructions: now you can tell all, and you are to” make disciples of all nations.” Suddenly there is an urgency to tell. Peter is now free to proclaim his vision of Jesus—to shout from Mountain Tops, if he liked. Now Peter can’t stop talking about it. He had to tell people in synagogues, along the streets, in front of the Temple in Jerusalem, in the market place—where ever he went, Peter proclaims this Vision of Jesus as the one who brings peace and justice.
3. The Episcopal Church must share Peter’s VISION, and take “vision bearing” seriously, if it is to remain a viable denomination in Christendom.
September 1995, half way through the so-called “Decade of Evangelism” Anglican Christians from nations all over the world gathered in North Carolina to exchange stories of “evangelism”. They came to encourage one another in efforts as VISION BEARERS. Delegates from 54 different countries met to listen, learn, pray and dream about the evangelistic mission of the Anglican Communion.
[Global Conference for Dynamic Evangelism Beyond the Year 2000—G-CODE 2000]
Out of that conference came Vision Bearers, a little book of essays describing the “tapestry” of evangelistic efforts of Anglicans all over the world. The conference noted that evangelism happens in many ways: from the blurting out with joy because of the love someone has for Christ, like “being in love”; to the living presence of Christ in the life of someone who says no words, but offers acts of loving service, such as feeding the hungry; to the one-on-one witnessing of Christ’s healing power; to open-air preaching of a highly gifted evangelist; to the intimate sharing of one’s spiritual journey in a supportive small group; to planting a new church with all the challenges of knocking on doors, inviting people and buying and building a church; to the every Sunday morning fabulous worship and radical welcome of those who make their way to our existing churches. Vision Bearers was written to encourage ALL OF US to grab on to a VISION of what we think might be a way for OUR LIVES to get motivated to “make disciples” for Christ.
10% of any congregation is filled with people with the gift of evangelism. But they need visioning, planning, and intentional goals. Sadly, Vision Bearers notes, there is a lack of a sense of URGENCY in American Episcopal churches. In spite of obvious decline, people do not feel urgent about the need to “Make Disciples”. Chinese Bishop Yong Ping Chung said, “ Making disciples is a command to be obeyed, not just an issue to be discussed at conferences.” [p.67]
Increasingly, in the midst of a noisy, violent world, I feel an urgency to proclaim Peter’s vision of Jesus as the Christ, the anointed one who brings peace and justice. This week a 90 year old Christian Brother, Roger Shutz, Taize founder, was stabbed to death by a crazed woman. He was presiding over a prayer service with 2500 youth in attendance at the time. And, I was shocked to read in the San Francisco Chronicle about a young man from my Aunt’s home town in Texas who eagerly signed up to go to Iraq because he wanted to “go kill some Iraqis”. He had no sense that choosing to kill others might be bad, not just for victims of war, but for him as well. One hour after calling his dad to wish him a Happy Father’s Day, he himself was killed. This editorial was written to reveal a continued alarm, a sense of urgency some of us have. Regardless of your political persuasion, whether you think it is right to be in this war or not, the editorial claimed, we have a systemic problem. We are creating a generation of increasingly violent youth, who do not value life, not even their own. [Maybe my similar story here.]
So, like Peter, some of us are urgent. We want to blurt out from Mountain Tops: this Jesus we love is the Christ, the anointed Son of God. To live as Christ lived frees us from our burdens and brings peace and justice to the world. We hold a vision of Christ as the peacemaker. We want to reach those who do not already place their values in Christ to see this, to get to know him, to fall in love with him, to follow him, to have their lives transformed.
Do the people of St. Jude’s want to become irrelevant to a world urgent about seeking ways to change the tide of increasing violence, greed and selfishness? What can we do? First we need to pray, strategize and plan.
To get started, let us remember whatever we do, it is God’s mission, not our personal achievement, that brings people into relationship with Christ. We can be Vision Bearers, but it is God’s mission, not ours. As we introduce people to Christ through our lives, either explicitly or implicitly, we have a chance to share our vision. Our challenge is to seep ourselves in prayer, to plan and organize our strategy with intention, and always keep open to new possibilities. We must allow ourselves to be led by God, not our own egos.
One vision some of us have is to create an Episcopal preschool. We have a strong Sunday program for those who make the choice to worship with us. To offer a week day program would allow us to reach young children of our community and their families, to share Christ’s values of peace, justice, consideration of all persons. A few of us who envision this possibility have prayed and worked hard to consider logistics, cost, viability, space usage, the demographic need for such a school and much more. Lots more must be done to prayerfully, carefully include ideas from the whole parish, to see if this truly is the will of God. If this vision is “of God,” then the fundamental vision of “having a school” will come to fruition. Your participation in this “visioning” is vital to the success or failure of a possible mission opportunity for St. Jude’s, one which may make the difference between “making disciples” or not.
O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
AMEN
| Updated 8/22/05 |
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