Proper 16 2014

Proper 16, 2014

“Who do people say that I am?” Obviously, this is a loaded question, and definitely one with a number of answers… But, I think we can safely assume that Jesus doesn’t ask because he needs an ego boost, or because he’s somehow confused.

After all, a voice from heaven already affirmed who Jesus is at his baptism by John. And, in his interactions with the Pharisees and Scribes, we could say that (if nothing else) he has a healthy sense of self.

The point is that Jesus knows who he is, because God knows who he is… He is the Incarnation of the Living God; he and the Father are One; and this Oneness is his identity.

What’s interesting about this question, then, that Jesus asks, is that it almost has an echo of Moses asking God, at the burning bush, whom he should say sent him. God responds by saying, “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” However, the proper Name that God gives is (at best) translated as “I Shall Be As I Shall Be” or the more familiar “I AM.” God tells Moses to say that “I AM” sent him.

The tricky thing is, that the Hebrew is very irregular in this Name, and so it’s not completely clear how it should be translated. What’s more, because Hebrew doesn’t have vowels, and Ancient Hebrew probably sounded different from Modern Hebrew—it’s possible that we don’t even know how to properly pronounce the Name of God.

  

What we do know, however, is that the Name of God infers Completeness, Oneness and Fullness of Being. So, in other words, God’s Name is Complete and Whole Being…”I AM.”

As I said, it’s my impression, then, that some of this is resonating in the background of today’s Gospel Reading. Jesus is completely aware of who he is—and who he is happens to be the Incarnation of the One who is Fullness of Being.

Yet, for all of that going for him, Jesus doesn’t self-apply this identity. For one, he doesn’t need to—but, more importantly, who he is had to be revealed and affirmed in the hearts of his disciples. So, then, and only then, having realized who Jesus is, they would be able to learn who they, themselves were.

Perhaps this was what Jesus was getting at when he gave Simon the new name Peter; and said he would build his Church upon this stone. But, this promise would require Peter learning to see who he truly was—the person God knew him to be. And if the Acts of the Apostles and Church Tradition are accurate; the process of uncovering who Peter really was proved to take a lifetime, and was perhaps not that terribly easy, besides…all the same, it happened. It happened, because in trying to fully grasp who Jesus is and who God is; Peter began to be transformed from the inside out.

  

And while, as I’ve said this isn’t an easy process, this is the very work we find ourselves challenged to do. We’re called in Baptism to be changed, and regenerated, so that we can approach our lives with a whole different set of lenses. We’re asked to resist evil, and repent when we make mistakes. We’re called to share the hope of the Gospel. We’re challenged to serve Christ in all people, work for justice and peace, and respect the dignity of every human being…

All of these are behaviors which are contrary in many ways to how our world tempts us to live—but, at the same time, these are absolutely essential to the work of living more fully into who we are. They challenge us to try to discern God’s Presence in all things, and to rely on the grace of Jesus when we miss it. And who we are, first and foremost, are children of God. In effect, at every Baptism, then, we are, in a way, asking God to remind us of this—we basically ask God to tell us who God says we are.

But, then, inevitably, we have to ask ourselves; is who God knows me to be (in other words who I really am) enough for me? It might seem like an easy answer when we’re not faced with all of the many things in life that try their hardest to muddy that identity. I’m of course, talking about ambition, selfishness, deceit, hatred, injustice—and all of those other things that have sought to mar the Imago Dei; the Image of God in each of us.

  

And for some, these kinds of things might be enough put them on the defensive—some may even begin to believe that those virtues that we hold sacred in our Baptismal Rite are somehow overly idealistic, and can’t possibly matter in such a big dark world.

Perhaps, when we take a good hard look at the world; when we watch the news, or even just take a good hard look at ourselves and our own hearts…maybe we would agree.

But, then there is Jesus. Jesus, of course, taught us to do and be these things. Love your neighbor; love your enemies—and foremost, love God; because it will be in loving that we will show ourselves to be his disciples, and it’s in loving that we fulfil all of the Law and the Prophets… And as I’ve said before, Jesus doesn’t require these things because he enjoys giving us impossible tasks, but because he truly believes that humanity is capable of all of it. Talk about having faith.

Now, this is not to diminish the hurts or suffering of people in the world—instead, it reaffirms my hope and belief that there are people who can make a difference for the suffering and the hurt in the world. There are people, myself included, who can affect the world around us (even in just the smallest ways), so that little by little, we create even greater change. And, if more people are willing to become part of that work; before long we begin to see even greater change on even greater levels.

  

Jesus says that the Kingdom of God is like the mustard seed, which is very tiny. Yet, when it takes root, it can grow so that it can even become a home for birds to make their nests. And in the same way, if the Kingdom of God takes root in our hearts—if we allow it to grow, and foster our faith, our hope and our compassion; we have the potential to become part of an ever greater work of transformation in our world.

But, even this starts with the question: who do we say that Jesus is? And in pondering that question in our hearts with honesty, I believe who we truly are—the self that God knows—can become ever more fully revealed. So that like Simon Peter, we can become part of the foundations of Christ’s holy Church, and, what’s more, take our part in helping others to know themselves as God knows them—as beloved Children of God.