“Something Foolish”
Matthew 16:13-20
Before getting into the core of today’s sermon, I want to share an
amplified paraphrase of verses 18 and 19.
This paraphrase is based on a variety of translations and
commentaries. It also incorporates a
Reformed understanding of Peter’s role in the early church.
The
paraphrase of Jesus’ words to Peter: “Peter,
your name means a rock, and it is your destiny to be a rock. You are the first disciple to recognize me
for what I am, and therefore you are the first stone in the edifice of the
fellowship of those who are mine.
Against that fellowship the embattled powers of evil will no more
prevail than they will be able to hold me captive to death. And in the days to come, you must be the
steward who will unlock the doors of the Kingdom so that others may come in;
and you must be the wise administrator and guide who will solve the problems
and direct the work of the infant and growing fellowship.”
The man heretofore known as Simon, son of Jonah, was thus renamed Peter
by Jesus. And he would ultimately be a
pivotal figure in the early church, one who would serve it as a solidifying
force and rallying point. He would be
the first disciple to confront the risen Lord, the first disciple to preach the
Gospel. One commentator stated that it
was Peter's Pentecost sermon that was the key to the Kingdom. With it he began to open the Kingdom to
humanity. His authority to bind and
loosen was his authority to preach Christ’s Gospel and shepherd his sheep.
What
moved Jesus to change Simon’s name to Peter and then say those things about
him? It was nothing less that Peter’s
confession that Jesus was the Messiah – the Christ – the Son of the Living
God. Not John the Baptist. Not Elijah.
Not Jeremiah. Not any forerunner
of the Messiah but the very Messiah himself.
Peter got it. He understood
it. He knew, as a matter of spiritual
insight and divine grace, who Jesus really was.
And said so without any second thoughts or hesitation.
The
words Peter spoke are important. He was the
first person to give voice to the faith that every Christian must profess. Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is the one and only Lord and Savior of
us all. If we cannot honestly profess
that, then we cannot honestly follow Jesus.
But
where Peter spoke those words is almost as important as the words themselves:
Caesarea Philippi. This was Caesar’s
country. He was the earthly lord over
it. It even bore his name. One did not lightly proclaim the lordship of
another in this place. Caesar did not
take kindly to the notion that there was an authority higher and mightier than
he. There could only be one real king –
one ultimate emperor: Caesar.
More
than that the area had long been associated with the pagan gods of first the
Canaanites and then the Greeks. Baal had
been worshiped here. So too had
Pan. This was the territory of false and
bloody gods. Here the spirit of
antichrist was strong. This was a place
lorded over by the gods of this earth.
Peter’s
words that day weren’t just his very moving and personal testimony. They were a political and theological
challenge to all the powers and principalities of earth and beyond. It was as if he had planted a flag for Jesus
in that place, claiming it once and for all time for God the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. No emperor, no king, no
world leader could be placed ahead of Jesus.
They were his subjects not he theirs.
The idols of earth were rendered impotent. The dark and demonic forces of Satan were put
on notice. The Messiah had come. His Kingdom took precedence over all others.
That
was a gutsy thing Peter did that day.
Maybe impetuous - Peter was known for that. But still something that took a courage and
conviction that Peter, on his own, did not possess. A courage that came from a real and personal
relationship with Jesus, someone he knew, not someone he only knew about. It was, in the eyes of the world, a crazy and
foolish thing that Peter did. Leaps of
faith are always seen as such when viewed through the worldly eyes of logic,
pragmatism, and conventional wisdom. One
does not slap Caeasar’s face. Nor does
one risk the wrath of the powers and principalities.
But
Peter did, and in doing so modeled for us an audacious standard of faith. Peter was the first disciple to carry out an
act of true Christian witness as such witness is defined by Karl Barth. It was Barth who said, “A Christian witness is someone willing to do something foolish in a
world of serious purposes.” And no
purposes are more serious than those of Caesar and the gods of this world.
Caesar
may tolerate and even support a Christian faith that doesn’t interfere with his
plans and purposes. Caesar doesn’t like
it when people of faith stand in opposition to those plans and purposes. He wants the church to be, in the words of Carlyle
Marney, “the tamed hand of the
gentry.” Like the ancient kings of
Nor
do the gods of this earth. Those things,
institutions, and concepts that we all too easily worship and adore – those
things, institutions, and concepts to which we are often addicted – don’t
surrender to Jesus without a struggle.
Wealth, power, and fame enjoy wrapping us up in their golden
chains. Political and economic systems
demand that we place our trust in them instead of Jesus. Drugs, pornography, and alcohol want to
control us body and soul. The gods of
this world are many and seductive, not to mention jealous and vindictive.
In a
sense we all live in Caesarea Philippi.
Many and various false gods have claimed this fallen world as their
territory. If we let them, they will
claim our lives as their very own possession.
This is why we need to follow the example of Peter. “Who do
you say I am,” asks Jesus. “You are the Messiah – the Christ – the Son
of the Living God. Our only Lord. Our only Savior. The only legitimate recipient of our ultimate
love, loyalty, and worship.” Every
time we say that – every time we act it out – we plant the flag of God’s
Kingdom in whatever place we are. We say
yes to God and no to the powers and principalities that oppose him and his
will. We turn our backs on the false
gods of our culture and our world.
And
sometimes that’s dangerous. Those who
would have us go along in order to get along consider it foolish. To do so is to put ourselves on a collision
course with all those arbiters of serious purposes will flatten all who dare
get in their way. Just ask those early
Christians who died rather than renounce Christ. Or those who suffered intensely because they
sought to reclaim, reform, and cleanse the church for Christ from those who had
perverted and corrupted it. Or all those
millions in our own century who were crushed under the wheels of whatever
socialist state that demanded their ultimate allegiance. Hitler, Stalin, and Mao could not abide
taking second place to Jesus.
Ask
those ministers who found themselves unemployed and endangered because they
dared call racial injustice a sin, who found crosses burning in their front
yards when they dared stand up for the very justice and righteousness demanded
by God. Ask those whose faithfulness to
the Gospel brings them into bitter conflict with the political and economic
powers and principalities that promote evil and injustice in the guise of
patriotism, capitalism, or whatever other ism is handy at the moment. Ask those who are laughed at, scorned, and
even threatened because their beliefs lead them to challenge and undermine the
gross profitability of those involved in the big businesses that are abortion,
pornography, and the peddling of human flesh, some of whom sit in the high
seats of political, economic, and even ecclesiastical power.
The
list goes on and on. And always will as
long as Caesar demands that which belongs only to God and the powers and
principalities hunger to rule the world and everything in it. That’s why in every generation those who
follow Jesus must emulate the example of Peter and stand firm for the cause of
Christ. By word and deed we must profess
Jesus as the Messiah, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, even when the world
considers our acts of faith and wisdom to be sheer folly.
“Who do you say that I am,” asks Jesus.
There can only be one right answer.
Amen.