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Sermon for Proper 19-BSeptember 17, 2006St. Luke’s ChurchThe Rev. Eric M. Williams
“But who do you say that I am?”
American religion merely appears to be uniform due to the nature of surveys on the topic….In fact, under the surface American religion is startlingly complex and diverse. Americans may agree that God exists. They do not agree about what God is like, what God wants for the world, or how God feels about politics. Most Americans pray. They differ widely on to whom they pray, what they pray about, and whether or not they say grace. A vast majority of Americans are Christians, but attitudes amongst those Christians regarding the salvation of others, the role of religion in government, the reality of the paranormal, and their consumption of media are surprisingly diverse.[1]
As I reflected on this report, I was powerfully struck by Jesus’ question: “Who do you say that I am?” There are many possible responses and a lot riding on the answer. Lots of people had been trying to figure Jesus out. Clearly he was a prophet, maybe even a great prophet. Could he be the reincarnation of Elijah, or maybe John the Baptist come to take revenge on Herod? Peter is like the excited school kid who knows the right answer. “Ooh, ooh, call on me.” “You are the Messiah!” Peter is right, of course, but he is also dead wrong. Messiah is the answer, but what kind of Messiah? All of Jesus’ followers, even Peter had a very definite idea of what the Messiah was. Messiah for them meant another Judas Maccabeus, a military leader who would bring victory back to the Jews and end the Roman oppression. Peter and the others thought they had it made. The new Messiah was here and they were in on the ground floor. They were friends of the soon to be ruler of the world. Wealth, power, they would have it all. But Messiah meant something else entirely to Jesus. He saw the path leading to the cross, the way of suffering, shame, and death. And this was too much for Peter, too much of a let down from his dreams of glory. He rebuked Jesus and was rebuked in turn. You see, while there are many answers to Jesus’ question, some are better than others. And if our beliefs are defective, then so will be our actions. Look at the so-called Islamo-fascists or, for that matter, the fanatics in any religion. These are not people who have no faith. These are people with the wrong faith. They believe that God orders their actions, approves of their actions, blesses and rewards their actions. Their acts of hatred and violence spring directly from their belief in a God of hatred and violence. In this they make two fundamental mistakes. One is a distorted and perverted view of God. The other is to arrogantly claim to speak and act in God’s name when they carry out their judgments on other human beings. It is one thing to criticize American foreign policy and quite another to fly airplanes into buildings. It is one thing to oppose abortion and quite another to assassinate doctors. It is no wonder that people increasingly see religion as a problem, not a solution to the world’s problems. It is because too often our limited or distorted view of God leads to tragic consequences. So we come back to Jesus’ question: “Who do you say that I am?” The interesting thing about the Baylor University study is that all four images of God are Biblical. You can find evidence to support all four beliefs. And in fact as I look out on this congregation, all four are represented here today. That is why Jesus is so adamant that Peter get it right. My way, he says, is not the way of violence and hatred, but the way of service to others, the way of self-sacrifice, the way of love—even toward enemies. Victory does not come by military might, but by faithfulness to God. What we believe in the end will be tested by how we have lived. Has our belief led us to be more compassionate or more judgmental, more generous or more angry, more loving or more hateful? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can respond to Eric Williams at stluke@madbbs.com. Read the Baylor University Study at: http://www.baylor.edu/isreligion
[1] Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion - American Piety in the 21st Century – September 2006, p. 4. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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