Sermons & Other Words

To understand more fully the Gospel we have just heard we need to read the verses before in which Jesus asks his disciples ‘”Who do people say that I am?”’ He goes on ‘”But who do you say that I am?”’ and Peter replies “You are the Messiah.”

Peter and the other disciples have journeyed with Jesus.
He called them and they followed.

And when they followed they saw healings.
They heard teaching with depth and authenticity.
They witnessed thousands fed with five loaves of bread and a couple of fish.
They saw him walk on water.
They saw a girl restored to life.

Jesus asks ‘“who do you say that I am?”’ And Peter replies ‘“You are the Messiah.”’

That’s the backdrop to the scene described in today’s Gospel when Jesus unpacks what it means to affirm him as Messiah.

He speaks first of the journey, of how before him lies ‘great suffering’, rejection and death.
Peter cannot quite believe it.

And yet Jesus is clearsighted, painfully describing his companion as Satan and then going on to say more about what following him will look like for them.

He talks of taking up of the cross. Of losing life to save it. Challenging stuff that follows the question ‘”but who do you say that I am?”’

Of course, we are all on a journey with the question too and maybe we never quite feel able to answer as Peter does. Yet it is the question.

Who do you think you are? We are a people immersed in story

‘Who do you think you are?’ asks a television programme that explores some celebrity stories. From Judge Rinder to Ian McKellen. Mary Berry to Julie Walters.

What often makes the programme memorable is how relevant and helpful it is for people to learn how something of their ancestors’ story lives on in them. Of how they shared similar interests and motivations – knowing about them helps them know more about themselves.

As the youngest of six children I didn’t know my Mum’s parents at all. And though I knew my Dad’s indeed Nanny came to live with us for a time they were aged and not so interested in a youngster.

So, most of my sense of those who went before me comes in the form of the memories of others. Of hearing their recollections about what they were like, what they did and so on.

For example, there’s the entertaining Uncle. The not so nice Great Grandfather. The deaf Aunt with a lovely smile. I’m sure you all have similar stories to tell.

And to return to that beginning and the question ‘Who do you think you are?’

Why are we here? What’s the point of life? These big questions have been around since our beginnings and we all ask them at some point in our life.

Whether it’s the child becoming an adult, or the adult confronted by the cruelty of life as they grieve a loved one – why are we here is a question that persists.

In the ancient world the Greek culture was one in which these kinds of philosophical questions were discussed.

Learned men (as they were then) gathered at the Areopagus in Athens to engage in dialogue and it is where we find Paul in our reading from the Acts of the Apostles.

I imagine him to have listened to the different discussions learning about the different strands of Greek culture and belief. And yet he is there not just to listen but to speak and so is asked ‘May we know what this new teaching is you are presenting.’

Paul’s speech begins by identifying their devotion to the search for meaning. He directs them to consider an altar he has seen dedicated to an unknown God declaring that ‘what therefore you worship as unknown. This I proclaim to you.’ At the end some scoff but some want to know more.