The Choice of a Lifetime
Matthew 16:13-25
September 25, 2022
Emmanuel Baptist Church; Rev. Kathy Donley
Note: A recording of the worship service in which this sermon was preached may be found here: https://youtu.be/1c2zWMxyquo
About ten years ago, on September 4, 2012, a baby boy was born. When he was three months old, on a Sunday morning in December, his Moms stood in this sanctuary with many of us and together we said that we would do our best to nurture him in faith. Of course, that baby boy was Judah. And so across the last decade, Judah has developed relationships with a lot of the people at Emmanuel and he has explored most of the nooks and crannies of this building. He has been to Sunday School and worship and campfires and Easter Egg hunts and summer picnics and church retreats at Pathfinder. Today, he stands as one of us, professing Jesus as his Lord.
As we did ten years ago, we come together with a mood that is both joyful and serious. We hear Judah’s profession of faith, we witness his baptism, and we celebrate. Any one who knows Judah knows that he is curious and compassionate. We know that he is “all in” on what he gives his heart to and so we are not especially surprised that he has chosen to follow Jesus in baptism. We rejoice in that decision. But our celebration is also solemn, because in choosing this path, Judah has taken on something serious, something important, something that might come with a cost.
Judah and I met together several times last spring. We talked about a whole lot of stuff. Some of it you might call religious. Some of it you probably wouldn’t. But it was the stuff of our lives at the time which means it was holy. We talked about different stories in the Bible and this passage from Matthew became very important in our conversation.
“Who do you say that I am?” That was the question Jesus asked of his disciples. It is a question about identity and relationship and loyalty.
Matthew has been laying out the story of Jesus’ identity. We might remember that Matthew’s gospel begins with a complex genealogy which includes Abraham and David, with exile and deliverance, with flawed kings and extraordinarily faithful women. We might remember that at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, he went out to be baptized by John the Baptist and the voice from heaven identified him as the Beloved One with whom God was well pleased. “For Matthew, identity is not just about who you are, but who is around you, who is accompanying you, who has come before you.”[1]
Judah has chosen to identify himself with Jesus, to be baptized into a death and resurrection like Jesus. Judah’s identity is also shaped by who is around him and who has come before. He is baptized into a community of those who keep company with Jesus. Judah’s baptism happened today, in part, because of the baptisms he witnessed in recent years, including his cousin’s and the baptism of Bill Mordhorst in this sanctuary just last year. We promised ten years ago to nurture Judah’s faith and today, we are reminded of that promise.
As we bear witness to Judah’s confession of faith, we may remember our own baptisms. We may recall our own early desire that the way of Jesus would always take first place in our lives. It may be that some of that earnest zeal has dimmed with time or circumstances. Just as our faith shaped Judah’s, so his can shape ours, calling us back to the path.
It's the choice of a lifetime, but it’s one we keep making over and over again in different ways, under different circumstances. It’s the decision that the young adult Peter made one day when he dropped his fishing nets and followed Jesus. He was living into that decision when he made this bold proclamation and also that time when he tried to walk on the water, but had to be rescued by Jesus. He was living it out when he followed Jesus from a distance after his arrest and also when he got scared in the courtyard and pretended not to know him after all. Being baptized is not going to make you perfect, Judah. Or me. It doesn’t work that way for anyone. But what we see over and over again, is that God blesses and keeps us even when we mess up or doubt or get scared, and we learn to keep trusting and keep following for our whole lives.
“Who do you say that I am?” It is a serious question of allegiance for Jesus’ disciples and for us.
Matthew tells us that this conversation happens in Caesarea Phillipi. The location matters. Caesarea Phillipi was named for two people – Tiberius Caesar who was the Emperor of Rome in Jesus’ time and Philip who was the son of Herod the Great. So the place names means something like the City of Caesar and his loyal servant Phillip. It is the seat of power, combining the political might of Rome and the city of the local ruler who reports to Rome. It carries the significance of a place like Washington DC now.
This is the place were Jesus asks “who do you say that I am?”
This is the place where Peter responds “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”
Against this backdrop of earthly power and status, Jesus asks “who am I to you?” He’s asking his disciples why they are following him. He’s asking what kind of power they think he has.
Peter says that he has the power of God, which is greater than any earthly power, and Jesus says that he is right. But before anyone can start feeling smug or triumphant, Jesus says “if you want to follow me, you have to carry a cross.”
At that time, there was absolutely nothing religious about a cross. It had no connection with God. In Jesus’ day, the cross was an instrument of torture and pain and death. It was Rome’s version of the electric chair of the strap-covered gurney sitting by the lethal injection machine. It was a means of execution and a device intended to bring fear and intimidation.
That is certainly not what we want to talk about today. Not on this day of celebration. Not in front of a 10-year-old boy and other young people whom we have promised to nurture and protect. It wasn’t what Peter and the other grown-ups around Jesus wanted to talk about either. “God forbid,” Peter said. “That should never happen to you.”
But Jesus sternly told Peter to be quiet. He said that to follow him was to “believe more deeply in the life-giving power of God than in the death-dealing power of fear.”[2] To carry the cross is to follow a way which stands against the power of empire, against all the isms. It is to challenge the ways that society structures power. It means washing feet, giving your stuff away, praying for your enemies, being the first to say I’m sorry. It often means stepping out of safety in the shadows to stand in a long line of God’s faithful servants who were willing to stake their lives for the sake of God’s mission in the world.
I was nine years old when I first said I wanted to follow Jesus. I didn’t know what bearing my cross meant then, and I still really don’t, because I have been spared much. But I heard God’s call on my life and I understood enough to take that first step. Just as many of you have done. Just as Judah has done.
I keep remembering the conversation that Judah and I had about this passage. It was back in March. We talked about John the Baptist who was executed by Herod Antipas. Side note – Herod Antipas is the half-brother of Philip for whom Caesarea Phillipi is named. So the power of death and fear raises its head again.
Anyway, it was when Judah and I were talking about the death of John the Baptist that Judah said, “how come when you follow Jesus, it leads you to the path of execution?”
Good question. Young people understand so much more than we give them credit for.
And then I asked Judah one. I asked “If Jesus were standing right in front of you and he said ‘Judah, who do you say that I am?’ What would your answer be?’
Judah said, “You are the Holy One, the Human One, the Living God, the True One.”
That’s a strong answer, but Judah wasn’t done. He went on “You’re the one we know we’re safe with, the one we trust.”
Most sophisticated theologians can’t be that succinct. If you follow Jesus, it can lead you to the path of execution, but somehow, at the exact same time, Jesus is also the one we know we’re safe with, the one we trust.
Jesus said if you want to live a life that means something, let me show you the way. Take up something great. Yes, it might be heavy, but with my strength you can carry it. Follow me, and I will lead you into something real and rich and demanding and beautiful. It’s the choice of a lifetime.
Thanks be to God.
[1] Eric Barreto, https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-21/commentary-on-matthew-1613-20-5
[2] Rev. Shannon Kershner, The Cross and the Way https://www.fourthchurch.org/sermons/2018/091618.html