Here is my draft of my sermon for September 16 based on Mark 8:27-38.

I will be using Have you Filled a Bucket Today for the story.

Who are We?

Jeremy played the game of “Who am I?” almost every day, usually at supper time. He would adopt a posture that he thought was a clue to his identify, and he would ask his family, “Who am I?” And they would start guessing. If they guessed too quickly, he would be upset. If they couldn't guess, he would be really disappointed.

The disciples have been travelling for a while with Jesus, and he would tell stories that they just couldn't get. One day, he asks them, “Who do people say that I am?”

I imagine them looking carefully at each other, and looking carefully at Jesus, looking for clues to help guess what he wants for an answer. The scene is after John the Baptizer has been killed. Some of the people they know have suggested he is John, reincarnated. Some of the people they know speculate that Jesus is Elijah, returned somehow to lead them. These would be among the nicer answers. There would have been other potential answers that would not be very nice: lunatic, dreamer, or worse. What should they say? And so we have their answers: “Some say John the Baptizer. Some say Elijah.” Then Jesus asks them a tougher question, “Who do you say that I am?”

Peter's answer was, “You are the Anointed One, the Messiah.” Jesus went on, describing what was going to happen to him. What he said was too shocking for Peter who responded, “No, you can't do that!”

Jesus then strangely says, “Get lost, Satan.”

If we can accept that what Jesus expected to happen was a difficult fate for him to face, then we can hear his words as resisting the temptation to avoid what had to be. He then talks to the crowd describing what it meant to follow him. They would not have been eas;y words to hear.

In the centuries since his death, there have been many different answers offered for Who Jesus was and is. Today the answers range from a mythical person who was a blend of several people in the original community to a particularly charismatic teacher and preacher, and on to several versions of including our standard title, Son of God or God the Son. To some people like the Gnostics, he was the one who risked his life to save humanity from the God of the Hebrew scriptures. Related to the identity of Jesus is the understanding of God. In the Christian community today, and elsewhere, there are many different beliefs about God, from atheism through pantheism and panentheism to traditional Christian views and on to God as a physically human-like person who looks like a king, but has exceptional powers.

There was a time when people could just say the words that went with a particular understanding shared by most of the other people in a congregation, and that was enough. Now that society openly has different understandings about God and Jesus, and the implications of those understandings, saying some words is not enough. Words normally do not have the power to change our lives, push us to take risks, prod us into becoming uncomfortable for the sake of a greater good.

But our beliefs and visions do have power to shape our behaviour and inspire us to take risks.

As Christians, I invite you to consider the following beliefs about Jesus, and see how many you believe, and your confidence in those beliefs.

The largest consensus would be that the teachings of Jesus contain important insights into our humanity, into how we can live well in our own skins, and into how we can live better in community.

The next belief is that Jesus really was an individual more or less as described in the Gospels.

Next on our list is the virgin birth. An additional one for Roman Catholics and others is that Mary never had sex, and that Jesus did not have any brothers or sisters, even though Matthew in Chapter 12 mentions his mother and brothers. Along with the virgin birth are the two Christmas narratives in Matthew and Luke. What do I believe about the various parts of these narratives?

What do we believe about the various miracle stories and healings?

What do we believe about the Last Supper? What do we believe about Easter Sunday and the resurrection? Speaking of the resurrection, the Apostle's C;reed includes a line about believing in our resurrection, a bodily resurrection. Is this what each of us anticipates?

Finally, there is the story of the ascension>

Out of the Christian writings, we have the following beliefs:

Jesus is the only way to God or heaven or salvation.

Jesus is the Son of God.

Jesus is divine, part of God or all God.

Jesus is the Bread of Life and the Living Water.

Jesus died to pay the ransom for our sins to something or someone not God.

Jesus does or does not require us to give up everything for his sake.

And there are more parts to our Christian Story. What matters is what we believe, what we wonder about, and how does what we believe relate to our lives.

Here is a partial list of what I believe: Jesus was a real person with a special connection to God whose teachings provide the basic guidelines for my life. I don't know what happened in the resurrection, but I believe something happened that was shocking, yet inspiring for his followers. I believe that in some way I am not prepared to define, Jesus is still accessible to me. I believe his life models an approach to life that is helpful to fulfilling my humanness, and to living fully in community.

I was not politically inclined originally, but I have cared deeply about the natural world for over 50 years. I learned that it is very difficult to protect the environment without becoming political. After several years of political engagement, it became clear that one fundamental problem in politics is spiritual illness, a widespread sense of disconnection. Many people act out of a self-centeredness or ideological extremism that denies connections to other people and to the world. A fixation on wealth or self-indulgence is rampant in our world, and these are spiritual illnesses. Just as Jesus was very political operating out of a spiritual space, I try to be political operating out of a similar spiritual space.

He took measured risks, and I take usually measured risks. His focus was mostly on the marginalized, and my focus tends to be on the ones who tend to get left out.

Out of what I believe about Jesus and what I have learned about the world, I see myself as one of his agents, called to identify and open doors for change that advances the well-being of the poor and challenges the abuses of the powerful.

Your challenge is to clarify what you believe about Jesus and what that means for your participation in this congregation, and in the other parts of your life.

I have discovered that, while there may be painful costs to serving Jesus and following him, the resulting rewards exceed those costs, and I feel much better about who I am when I succeed in following and serving. It is those times when I drift or stumble into self-centred or fear or anger inspired actions that I don't like who I am.

Developing a clear belief about Jesus and how to relate to him brings the risk of being pulled into life-changing actions. The assurance I offer is that, as scary as it may be at times, the risks and costs are well worth taking and paying for the benefits that can result.

As we work out who we are as individuals, that will affect how we come to see ourselves as a congregation.

Some go with the familiar line in a hymn about being the hands and feet of Christ. That is, a congregation provides support and encouragement for its members as they serve in a variety of ways. One example is the Thrift Shop operated here.

Some see church as a place where their needs are met, a place to feel comfortable and secure.

Some see church as responsible for keeping the story of Jesus alive for coming generations.

All of them see worship as key to being supported and encouraged, comfortable and keeping the story going.

An example of how these people may see things differently is found in stained glass windows. To hands and feet people, stained glass windows are testimonies to the beauty and creativity we associate with God, beauty that blesses and inspires us. To the comfort people, stained glass windows add to their pride in the church building and add to the worship service. To the story people, stained glass windows are a beautiful visual way of telling part of the story.

So who are we at St. Matthew's? I hope we will be able to answer this question over the coming months.