WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:06.240 We are starting a new series, Lessons in Leadership. 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:13.439 And we're going to learn a little bit about what Jesus would teach us about power today. 00:00:13.679 --> 00:00:14.480 Power. 00:00:15.119 --> 00:00:21.679 So hearing the passage, probably uh many of you are quite familiar with this passage. 00:00:21.839 --> 00:00:25.199 It's something that uh we deal with in the church fairly often. 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:28.640 Jesus asking Peter, who do you say that I am? 00:00:29.039 --> 00:00:34.479 And we ask ourselves that very question, who do we say that Jesus is? 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:41.200 And maybe even more importantly, do our actions back up who we say that Jesus is? 00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:55.200 But today we're going to focus on the back half of that passage instead of the first half, especially that part about Peter getting the keys to the kingdom. 00:00:56.240 --> 00:00:58.640 The keys to the kingdom. 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:02.560 Do you remember the first time you were given the keys to the family car? 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:04.799 Got to take that first drive? 00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:07.359 How did it go? 00:01:08.879 --> 00:01:10.000 Yeah, it was fun. 00:01:10.319 --> 00:01:14.400 Yeah, you even get stuck somewhere, break it down or anything like that. 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:27.280 You remember when uh in in in uh in the work world where you finally got that that project that you were hoping to get and you finally got something you could sink your teeth into and it was all yours, you were in charge. 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:33.359 Remember that feeling of responsibility, your own your own baby to run? 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:37.120 Or or maybe having kids. 00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:52.480 Those moments when you have children, and all of a sudden it's the keys to at least this life that you need to raise and to grow, and the responsibility that came with that. 00:01:53.359 --> 00:02:03.599 So if you think about that amount of responsibility, I invite you now to think about the keys to the kingdom and what responsibility might be involved there. 00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:05.519 Is anybody intimidated? 00:02:06.159 --> 00:02:07.359 You probably ought to be. 00:02:07.439 --> 00:02:07.840 I don't know. 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:11.280 Me and Mark are, and I think Boyd, I think, as well. 00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:18.319 You know, intimidating, you know, that that's that that's power, right? 00:02:19.199 --> 00:02:21.280 Should I want that power? 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:22.879 Right? 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:26.400 Would I even really want to be in that position? 00:02:26.719 --> 00:02:28.560 I mean, what would that even look like? 00:02:28.639 --> 00:02:31.840 I I think I have a picture here of what it might look like for Peter. 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:33.039 Did that get up there? 00:02:33.280 --> 00:02:34.479 Yeah, there, see? 00:02:34.879 --> 00:02:36.400 Are you ready for that? 00:02:38.319 --> 00:02:47.919 You know, standing at the gates, keeping track of everybody, not just whether they belong or not, but why they belong or not. 00:02:48.879 --> 00:02:49.439 Right? 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:52.159 Anyway, I'm having a little bit of fun. 00:02:53.120 --> 00:03:02.960 It's in Exodus that we get a story that really talks about power and the different dynamics of power. 00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:09.039 And in particular, a story that's paired with this passage is one that's used here. 00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:11.919 That story talks to us about power. 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:16.240 And it's the story of Moses being born. 00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:26.240 Some of us will remember we went through Exodus last Lent, and so you might remember especially the story of Moses getting born. 00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:29.439 Just a quick summary again of that story. 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:33.759 We uh left Genesis with Joseph in a pretty high-level spot. 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:50.560 The Jews were given a neat place within the kingdom, but as Joseph died and life evolved, the Jews' role got kind of smaller and smaller, more indentured, more enslaved. 00:03:51.199 --> 00:03:59.759 And over time, Pharaoh, who was running the world at the time, started to get nervous about the Jews because they were the workers. 00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:08.000 And because they were working all the time, they were strong, they were hardy, they lived longer, they got sick less. 00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:11.680 And this made Pharaoh a little bit nervous. 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:19.519 So he does these orders to say all of the male babies are to be put in the river, basically killed, right? 00:04:19.680 --> 00:04:21.839 This is the order from Pharaoh. 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:31.279 And if you remember the story, that order gets subverted by a couple of Hebrew midwives, Shifra and Pua. 00:04:31.759 --> 00:04:38.319 I found a fun picture of them too, of some artwork that kind of get you into the story. 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:49.199 It is the story of Hebrew women grabbing on to some power of their own, basically letting the the Hebrew males survive. 00:04:49.279 --> 00:04:55.360 And when Pharaoh got upset, they just said, Well, the Hebrew women, they're just so vigorous. 00:04:55.680 --> 00:04:59.680 They have them before we can get there, is their story. 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:05.519 But amidst this, Moses is born, Moses of all the Old Testament fame. 00:05:05.680 --> 00:05:12.399 Uh, the story is that his mother hides him for three months so that he doesn't get killed. 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:17.839 But then they his mother finally puts him in a basket on the river as she was supposed to do. 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:19.759 He gets found by Pharaoh's daughter. 00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:28.879 Pharaoh's daughter decides that this is a Hebrew male that she would like to uh support and raise, and so she decides to pull him out. 00:05:29.040 --> 00:05:39.839 And then Miriam, Moses' sister, sees this happen and says, Hey, Pharaoh's daughter, I know somebody who could take care of that Hebrew baby for you. 00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:41.920 And the Pharaoh's daughter said, Great. 00:05:42.079 --> 00:05:47.519 And so Miriam brought Moses' mom in to raise Moses. 00:05:48.160 --> 00:05:50.240 So there's the story of Moses' birth. 00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:54.879 I hopefully you remember some of that as we went through it again last link. 00:05:55.199 --> 00:06:00.720 Uh, but let me break it up a little bit because the power dynamics are really interesting in this one. 00:06:00.959 --> 00:06:03.120 I mean, you start with Pharaoh, right? 00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:06.800 The ultimate power, Pharaoh. 00:06:07.279 --> 00:06:09.279 He's the king of everything. 00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:13.759 He's got so much power he can say, go kill all the Hebrew males. 00:06:14.560 --> 00:06:17.920 But the Jews have some power too, do they not? 00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:30.000 It's an ironic power, it's a subversive power, but it's this health that they have from being the working class, this strength, right? 00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:39.360 You know, if we don't think of it as power, consider that Pharaoh was nervous about them, nervous enough to have the males killed. 00:06:39.759 --> 00:06:43.199 And Shifra and Pua, they've got some power too, right? 00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:56.240 They're the ones that are there, supposedly making sure that this order gets carried out, but they being people of faith, decide not to do that, not to have these males killed. 00:06:56.639 --> 00:06:59.360 Again, a subversive power. 00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:05.600 Then Pharaoh's daughter, she's got some power too, right? 00:07:06.160 --> 00:07:21.040 She's the one who can pull a Hebrew male out of the river where he was supposed Moses was supposed to be sent to die, and she can pull that male out and be okay with it to almost defy her own father's orders. 00:07:21.199 --> 00:07:23.199 That's a certain power, too. 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:30.399 And then Miriam, Moses' sister, she's got some power. 00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:34.800 Her power is in this information that she knows. 00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:37.439 She knows whose baby that is. 00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:42.959 She knows that she can reconnect that baby with Moses' mom. 00:07:43.680 --> 00:07:48.800 So that power that comes from a certain amount of information. 00:07:49.279 --> 00:07:55.680 You know, you finish the story, and hopefully you're realizing, like I do, power it's complex. 00:07:57.120 --> 00:07:58.240 It's not simple. 00:07:58.399 --> 00:08:00.959 Power isn't just one thing. 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:07.600 Power comes in all different shapes and forms and moves in all kinds of different directions. 00:08:08.800 --> 00:08:16.240 We should remember there is one more ultimate power that is involved in this story. 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:27.839 We as people of faith would hold to this power, the godly power, the pres the power of God's presence throughout the whole story. 00:08:29.120 --> 00:08:36.399 God's being there and he's infiltrating all that's going on, he's integrating with all that is happening. 00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:46.799 And if we look at the story, we can see kind of what values God is trying to support, trying to bring to the surface. 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:59.600 We can hopefully agree that God is working towards a certain justice, that these males can't just be killed, that that isn't appropriate. 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:12.480 I'd like to think that God is in the support that people get for the faith and the trust that they have in God, mostly in Shifra and Puah. 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:13.840 Right? 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:25.360 That God is working through to affirm that faith that those midwives have, to affirm that they're doing the right thing, even when they go against the Pharaoh's orders. 00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:35.840 I think God's power, God's presence is there in the sense of a love for humanity. 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:46.639 That God steps in when something inhumane is happening and works with those who are trying to undermine that and end that. 00:09:46.799 --> 00:09:57.440 And then finally, I think there is a saving power that God is expressing here. 00:09:58.399 --> 00:10:09.759 God isn't just hanging around there, but God is actually saving people, saving Moses, hopefully saving others as we know the rest of the story. 00:10:10.080 --> 00:10:17.679 So God's presence, God's power, hopefully is really, really evident in that whole story. 00:10:18.159 --> 00:10:24.240 And in that spirit, I'll invite you to remember what Jesus asks Peter. 00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:27.759 Who do you say that I am? 00:10:29.840 --> 00:10:35.840 Another way to say it would be like, What what power do you see that I have to Peter? 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:43.279 And Peter answers with the exact right answer, evidently. 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:45.759 You are the Messiah. 00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:49.919 The Son of the Living God. 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:55.360 You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. 00:10:55.679 --> 00:10:59.840 This gets him the keys to the kingdom. 00:11:01.919 --> 00:11:09.679 Now we think because we're human beings and our brains work this way, we think, oh, Jesus is rewarding Peter. 00:11:10.399 --> 00:11:14.480 He's rewarding Peter because that he has figured it out. 00:11:14.720 --> 00:11:19.279 He got the right answer, and because he figured it out, he's going to get these keys. 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:29.200 But what if what if he's not getting the keys because of his belief? 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:37.440 But his belief and his understanding are the key. 00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:49.200 Jesus really is just acknowledging that Peter has figured out the key to the kingdom. 00:11:50.720 --> 00:11:58.559 That it has to do with understanding that Jesus is the Messiah, that there's a saving experience that's happening here. 00:11:58.799 --> 00:12:13.600 And he's acknowledging that Peter's figured out that Jesus has this connection to the divine, this connection to God, and that understanding is the key itself. 00:12:15.279 --> 00:12:26.159 The core of his belief is the rock, the understanding and faith that is going to build the church, or what the church is going to be built on. 00:12:26.480 --> 00:12:29.360 It's that understanding, it's that faith. 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:38.639 We read the story and we think, oh, power was bestowed on Peter. 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:49.039 But I wonder if more accurately it was acknowledged that it was in Peter, that he had opened himself to it. 00:12:49.120 --> 00:12:54.720 And the question then becomes for us, is the same true for us? 00:12:57.039 --> 00:13:05.679 Might we also get the keys to the kingdom when we figure out that faith, that understanding? 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:21.440 Our power might be coming from knowing Jesus' connection to God and how we are able to tap into it. 00:13:23.759 --> 00:13:31.840 Our power is in understanding how that belief is a life-saving belief. 00:13:35.120 --> 00:13:38.000 We have communion this morning. 00:13:38.879 --> 00:13:42.960 Communion which allows us some time for reflection. 00:13:43.519 --> 00:13:46.720 And here's what I'm going to invite you to be reflecting on. 00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:54.080 As you are hearing the words, the liturgy, let your mind go to this question. 00:13:54.320 --> 00:13:58.000 What does the word Messiah mean to you? 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:03.840 Messiah, often translated as Savior. 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:08.879 How is Jesus saving you? 00:14:11.600 --> 00:14:15.919 What is your particular understanding of how that happens? 00:14:17.759 --> 00:14:26.080 What is Jesus doing to shape you and to shape your life in a way that is life giving and life saving? 00:14:28.399 --> 00:14:32.639 As my invitation to you, an invitation that comes from Scripture.