And the Gates of Hell Shall Not Prevail

And the Gates of Hell Shall Not Prevail

NO 8/24/08 MW

Call to the Holy Land

Here is where going to the Holy Land and walking where Jesus and the Disciples walked makes a real difference in understanding the Bible. You may not know that our church is sponsoring a Holy Land trip led by Dr. Charles Page and Keith, March 1st through the 13th next year. I would like for every member of our church to make this trip as we trace the path of the Exodus on up to the spot we're hearing about in the Gospel this morning. This is truly a trip for gaining some of the sights and hearing possible meanings that you just can't get without being there.

Dr. Page will be here at New Oregon in September to teach us a series on archeology and the Bible. I hope you will make plans to be with us for his presentations.

Caesarea Philippi

No doubt, Matthew identified where they were for good reason. Jesus and the Disciples were standing on a huge rock at the door believed to be the gate to hell. (You bulletin front.) They were standing at a place identified as where evil spirits could come and go in and out of hell. Jesus stood at the very door to hell with his Disciples.

Who Am I

Here at the gate to hell, Jesus is taking stock. No doubt, there were many times when Jesus may have asked the question, “Who am I?” Here, however, the question takes on new depth because from this point on Jesus will be facing directly toward Jerusalem and the cross.

We need to ask the same question, “Who am I?” When we ask the question, we need to take care to avoid putting ourselves down – a mistaken form of humility. Indeed, God doesn't create worthless folks even though there are times when one might feel such. We need to allow the question, “Who am I” to lead into a most important question, “Who's am I?”

Who Do People Say I Am?

Jesus takes the next step by asking who others say he is. John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or other prophets are some of the their perceptions. All of these are important people in the life of Israelites. All are good persons – pillars of the church. They are good answers but they are not accurate answers.

We too need to ask who people today see Jesus as being. Who is Jesus? Who is Jesus today?

Political E-mails

I frequently receive political e-mails concerning religious ideation of presidential candidates. It seems obvious to me that those sending the e-mails have an agenda concerning which candidate they desire me to vote for or against and so the attached videos or messages are always showing a particular candidate in a bad light – at least from the senders perspective. Lately, one big issue has to do with religious perspective.

It appears that a significant number of people in our country believe that Jesus is somehow supposed to run our country. People insist that our country should be run biblically but they don't want people like me to be the ones who say what the Bible says. They want only their perspective of Jesus and the Bible to be the one used.

Just like in the days Jesus walked this earth, there are many different perspectives of Jesus. These may be good perspectives even though they are inaccurate. None of us, in my opinion, has or will ever have a definitive view of our Lord. He will forever be someone different or beyond what we can capture.

Who Do You Say I Am?

Now, Jesus comes to a question that, as Rev. Bill Gandy stated in our Clergy Cluster meeting this week, that we all should ask every day, “Who do you say I am?” Jesus has asked his most intimate friends to tell him who they believe him to be. For some reason, I think that Peter did not immediately answer Jesus but looked around at his cohorts and then blurted out, “You are the Messiah!”

Chaplaincy Training

In some of my education to become a United Methodist minister and then a hospital chaplain, it was necessary to spend months asking these very questions. During my first clinical course, there were five peers and two supervisors. At the end of the quarter, each had to evaluate one another and oneself.

To this day, I can clearly recall how difficult it was to evaluate each of my peers. To be honest with each about what I had observed during the quarter. Even when I understood that my observation could be helpful to the other person, I had seen something they could not see themselves, I was afraid I might hurt their feelings. It was difficult to evaluate myself and look at my strengths and weaknesses. Actually, it was more difficult to claim strengths than weaknesses. When it came to evaluating the supervisors there was a sense of dread because we had had such a difficult time all quarter. Finally, as I looked at the senior supervisor I could not hold my feelings and observations back any longer and I blurted out, “You are the personification of the Devil himself.” I was still certified for the quarter. I think this is similar to how Peter felt.

That Didn't Come From You Peter

To make the case a little stronger that Peter was speaking more powerfully than he was capable, Jesus told him that his response did not come from him but from God.

So often, we think that we have to understand and have the answers before we can be effective taking God to the world. Surely, this scene dispels any such notion. That which is God's does not belong to us and cannot come from us but is provided through us to the world. Our roll has three parts: 1) put ourselves in those places where people need to know God, 2) Open our mouths with the intention of speaking of God, and 3) celebrate that God speaks through us – that is, hold those who have just heard God, through us, in love.

Jesus Tells the Disciples Who They Are

Now we come to the place where Jesus evaluates the original Disciples and his Disciples of today – Jesus makes it clear that they belong to him and that they will be his church. Folks, if you have ever worried about there not being a body of Christ in the world, just grab that thought and throw it as far away as you can. Oh, we keep saying that if we could only get prayer back in our schools and if we could just get lawmakers nationally and locally to pass the proper laws then we would not have to worry. Why, I want to phooey all of that this day. Clearly, lawmakers cannot keep people married, families together, sexual morality or faith in Jesus Christ by passing laws. We have laws against stealing but people steal, we have laws against cheating but people cheat, we have laws against murder but people murder – we have thousands of laws in an attempt to build safe relationships but people don't follow them. We have more people in prison than any other nation on the face of the earth and still we keep killing, cheating and living violent lives. There is nothing our legislative bodies can do to keep the church going and we need to take that to heart.

There is nothing the legislative bodies can do to kill the church either – ask the rulers of Rome or Russia. You see, Jesus and the disciples stood on this huge rock right in the door to hell, in the city of sin, and Jesus said, “Here on this rock, with you rocks (Disciples) I will build my church and not even the gates of hell will prevail.” Do you hear Jesus? Do you hear the one who asked how his character was perceived and they all learned he is the Messiah, the Son of God. No amount of sin or evil will keep the church, the Body of Christ, from prevailing!

Conclusion

Oh, believe me, I believe the church can change forms. I believe if we are not working with God then God will find those who will. If we reach that point that we become exclusive then God will make changes just as he did with the Israelites. We are not greater than God's redeeming purposes for this world. Indeed, our way is not The Way. Jesus' Way speaks to The Way of God and we are called to work with Jesus – like Peter.

If the original Disciples are our example, and I believe they are, then we do not have to understand and we do not have to know what to say. We can be confused and we can question the Lord all we need to question him. We can bumble through life picking the grain even on the Sabbath and eat without washing our hands. We can fail in life. We can fall short of loving our neighbor as ourselves. We can do all the human things that humans do but that will not stop God's redeeming this world.

This story is about God and about the man who followed God perfectly and those around him. They give us the story for today. Often, perhaps most often, what is provided me is a surprise.

Each of us has skills that God has provided. Those skills, or talents or spiritual gifts, change as God needs them to change. However, to be given our gifts and not use them delights only the evil powers of this world. To know what they are we have to ask: Who am I? Who Do Other People Say I Am? Who Do You, Jesus, Say That I Am? In addition, Who Do I Say You Are? If we don't ask these questions then we will never fully experience the authority Jesus gave those with him at the time. We will never have the opportunity to know the love of God as Jesus and the Disciples knew it.

We can jump right into the middle of “not knowing” and God will provide for us as God provided for Peter and we go from there. Moreover, we will be the church that will prevail even when standing at the Gate to Hell and surrounded by the sins of the world. Amen.