WEBVTT 00:00:43.280 --> 00:00:45.759 God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:48.240 Please be seated. 00:00:48.479 --> 00:00:49.439 That was sad. 00:00:52.960 --> 00:00:56.000 It's like you didn't know what you were supposed to say. 00:00:57.039 --> 00:00:57.439 Amen. 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:00.000 Wake up. 00:01:01.600 --> 00:01:11.120 So whenever you're reading scripture, whenever anybody reads scripture, at least I think, one of the most important things you can do is pay attention to the details. 00:01:11.840 --> 00:01:19.519 Oftentimes we've heard these stories over and over and over and over again all of our lives, and the details tend to slip away. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:34.319 So when I was reading this week's gospel reading, it stood out to me that the author of the Gospel of Matthew wanted to make darn sure that we knew this story happened where? 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:39.680 The district of Caesarea Philippi. 00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:47.680 Which didn't actually go into the city, but he was somewhere on the outskirts of the city of Caesarea Philippi. 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:50.400 So I said, Well, I don't know much about Caesarea Philippi. 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:52.560 Let me go and do some research. 00:02:08.719 --> 00:02:14.240 So it's something that Israel and Syria have been fighting over for a generation now. 00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:20.159 And it was probably fought over as far back as the city was founded. 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:23.520 There's been a city there a really long time. 00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:46.639 And during the Hellenistic period of Jewish history, so after Alexander the Great conquered the world and Greek culture and language spread all over the Mediterranean, all of that made its way into Judah and Israel, and the Jews embraced Greek, Greek philosophy, Greek thought, Greek language, Greek culture. 00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:55.360 During the Hellenistic period, the period where the Jews were embracing all things Greek, a great city was built there. 00:02:56.319 --> 00:03:00.960 And they discovered a little grotto. 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:08.639 Because this city, Caesarea Philippi, sits on the river, and at the head of the river is a cave. 00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:14.800 And from that cave comes a spring that feeds the river Penaeus or Balais. 00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:18.319 And that river goes all the way down to the river Jordan. 00:03:19.360 --> 00:03:33.199 Well, the Greeks or the Greek-influenced Jews, it's hard to tell at this point in history, decided this little grotto at the head of the river next to the city of Caesarea Philippi is where the Greek god Pan was born. 00:03:34.719 --> 00:03:37.680 And so a shrine was built to Pan. 00:03:38.960 --> 00:03:49.439 And over time, more shrines were built around that shrine to people associated with Pan, like Hermes and Echo, and all of these Greek characters that you well know. 00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:56.960 And later in history, Herod the Great was given this city by Caesar Augustus. 00:03:57.360 --> 00:04:10.479 And because he was so grateful for the gift of the city to his kingdom, he built a temple to the god Augustus in the city of Caesarea Philippi. 00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:16.560 Now, this city had become a pretty cosmopolitan place with people from all over. 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:27.120 And by the time of Jesus, there are at least twelve temples to gods who are not the god of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the city of Caesarea Philippi. 00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:35.120 That's not to mention the grotto of Pan and the dozen or so Nietzgos that go along with the Grotto of Pan. 00:04:35.600 --> 00:04:43.600 So they're passing by a city which is technically part of the country of the Jews, but is filled with temples to non-Jewish gods. 00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:51.680 And Jesus turns to his disciples and says, Who do people say that the Son of Man is? 00:04:54.319 --> 00:05:06.319 I think that's an important point, that he's going past this city full of the gods of the nations, and wants to know what people are saying on the street. 00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:14.560 And his disciples say, well, some say you're John the Baptist, which would have been quite a feat since John and Jesus lived at the same time. 00:05:14.720 --> 00:05:18.800 But some say Elijah or Jeremiah or one of the other prophets. 00:05:20.879 --> 00:05:22.319 And Jesus says, okay. 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:27.040 But who do you say that I am? 00:05:29.199 --> 00:05:33.519 Now I want you to know that the you in this sentence is plural. 00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:38.480 Jesus is talking to his entire group of disciples who are traveling along with him. 00:05:38.639 --> 00:05:42.720 He doesn't just look at Peter and say, You, you, who do you say that I am? 00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:42.959 No. 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:47.040 He looks at all of them and says, Who do you say that I am? 00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:55.439 And when I picture this story in my mind, next dead silence, just like that. 00:05:56.079 --> 00:05:58.720 Just like when I ask you a question, you all go, oh. 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:05.360 You can kind of picture Jesus' disciples going, hmm. 00:06:07.120 --> 00:06:09.199 I don't want to say the wrong thing. 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:12.639 And then Peter speaks up. 00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:19.600 Peter says, You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. 00:06:20.879 --> 00:06:23.199 The only thing Peter ever got right. 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:29.439 And Jesus points out and says, Blessed are you, Peter, son of Jonah. 00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:31.439 Simon, son of Jonah. 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:36.319 For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father in heaven. 00:06:36.399 --> 00:06:41.920 He basically says, Yeah, the only reason you got this right is because some supernatural inspiration. 00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:47.680 And he says to him, You are Petrus. 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:53.360 You are Peter, we turned it into a name. 00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:56.959 But what he says to him is, You are rock. 00:06:58.399 --> 00:07:02.959 And on this rock, I will build my church. 00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:10.480 Now, centuries of questions about what exactly that means, and we could spend the rest of the day here debating that. 00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:22.720 But it seems to me, given Peter's just naturally inspired declaration of the Messiahhood of Christ, that is exactly what Jesus is saying he will build his church upon. 00:07:23.279 --> 00:07:25.199 The faith of Peter. 00:07:25.839 --> 00:07:33.680 The ability to say, you are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, period, and then go, did I say that? 00:07:37.120 --> 00:07:39.040 Now, what does this mean? 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:44.560 There was an author in the 90s. 00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:46.560 His name was Peter Bloch. 00:07:46.639 --> 00:07:47.920 Some of you have probably heard of him. 00:07:48.079 --> 00:07:49.920 He wrote some business-like books. 00:07:50.079 --> 00:07:55.920 He was in those later years into community organizing, and he wrote a bunch of books about that. 00:07:56.319 --> 00:07:59.680 And one of his later books was just called Community. 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:09.759 And in it, he said this a powerful question is the kind of question that once you answer it, turns you into an actor. 00:08:11.120 --> 00:08:16.240 Having answered it, you no longer have the luxury of being a spectator. 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:24.720 Having answered the question, you no longer have the luxury of being a spectator. 00:08:25.680 --> 00:08:30.560 This is probably the most powerful question that Jesus asks in all of the Gospels. 00:08:30.720 --> 00:08:35.440 He looks at his disciples and he says, Who do you say that I am? 00:08:36.960 --> 00:08:41.919 And Peter answers, and because of this, the whole rest of his life is changed. 00:08:42.080 --> 00:08:47.120 Sure, Peter had walked away from his nets and his boats, and he had followed Jesus. 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:52.960 But what did he really decide about up until that moment? 00:08:54.080 --> 00:08:58.240 Because what does tradition tell us happened to Peter? 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:03.919 He became the head of the church in the city of Rome. 00:09:04.240 --> 00:09:07.120 He ran the community of Christians there. 00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:08.960 And then what happened? 00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:14.720 Yeah, he was martyred by being crucified upside down. 00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:21.679 That's not the kind of thing you can accept in your life without having a serious reason to say yes. 00:09:24.159 --> 00:09:36.159 See, Jesus seems to be asking this question in the region of Caesarea Philippi to be able to get them to think, what does who I am, who God the Father is, what does that mean for how you will live your lives? 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:41.039 You could easily go to any one of these other gods. 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:46.320 In fact, the Jews have been doing it for generations and generations and generations. 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:48.080 Just read the Hebrew Bible. 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:56.000 But if you decide to stay, Jesus says, what's it gonna mean for your life? 00:09:57.440 --> 00:10:03.440 One of my favorite lines in the prayer book is from the general thanksgiving. 00:10:03.919 --> 00:10:07.519 Anybody who's ever prayed morning or evening prayer knows this prayer. 00:10:08.159 --> 00:10:19.440 In the end of the prayer, it says, it asks God to allow us to honor Him not only with our lips, but in our lives by giving up ourselves to your service. 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:23.360 That's what answering this question means. 00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:28.720 It means that you can no longer stand back and say, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do. 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:37.840 But for us to say, you are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, means from that moment forward your life has to be completely different. 00:10:38.639 --> 00:10:46.720 It means living every single day of our lives, every moment of our lives as disciples of Jesus. 00:10:48.320 --> 00:10:54.720 Not when it's convenient, not when it's comfortable, not when it's easy. 00:10:55.279 --> 00:10:57.200 Every single moment. 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:05.200 Not between 10:30 and 11:30 on Sunday morning, but every single moment. 00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:19.679 This powerful question of Jesus isn't just for Peter, it isn't just for his disciples who were gathered around him on the road outside of Caesarea Philippi sometime in the first century. 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:24.879 This question from Jesus is from for every single one of us. 00:11:25.600 --> 00:11:34.080 Every morning when we open our eyes and put our feet on the floor, we have to answer this question and decide what will today.