Who do you think you are?
Who do you think you are?
Gospel reading Matthew 16:13-20
Revelation of the Person of the King
Mark 8:27–30; Luke 9:18–21
13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
Revelation of the Church
18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
20 Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.
Sermon by Rev Brian McConkey
The TV series “who do you think you are?” asks people to discover their past, and generally they find it a helpful process. People also discovering their genealogies also find that it helps them.
Todays Gospel reading asks us;
Who do we think we are?
Jesus asks the question of the disciples of who people think he is and we have various answers;
“Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
Peter says “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus then refers to Peter as a son, being the son of Jonah and many of us are proud to be sons and daughters to our parents. Peter was also a fisherman and it is good to feel proud of our professions and these can add to our identity. Jesus also says that Peter will be one of the founders of His church, “on this rock” and Peter did go on to lead the church through many difficult times as one of its first leaders.
Christian newspapers and secular newspaper have been ripe with a news story about a young lady Vickie Beeching.
She is a Christian, a great singer, a worship leader and a great leader for many and she went through the pain of coming out and explaining she had feelings for other women and she tried to deal with her sexuality in various ways. She says;
“What Jesus taught was a radical message of welcome and inclusion and love,” said the 35-year-old Anglican “I feel certain God loves me just the way I am, and I have a huge sense of calling to communicate that to young people.”
Vickie Beeching is a beautiful lady, a wonderful singer, and a gift to the church and she was also applauded for being open about who she is. We also have to be open about who we are but above all we should realise we are all Christians who share the love of Jesus Christ. Despite all our differences we are made one in Jesus Christ.
At Christ Church we are welcoming about all who come into the church and welcome all up to communion as this is the Lord’s table.
Who are you called to be?
