Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesare'a Philip'pi, he asked his disciples, "Who do men say that the Son of man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Eli'jah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.
The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost; Year A. Mt. 16:13-20; Proper 16 In the name of the + Father and the + Son and the + Holy Ghost, Amen There is an oft told story of a US naval vessel and an encounter that it had off the coast of Newfoundland. In the story the naval vessel saw on his horizon a light. Believing that it was another vessel, the ship radioed a message in hopes that it would be received. The message was simple: Please divert your course 15° to the south to avoid a collision! The answer that came back was this: Please divert your course 15° to the north to avoid a collision! The naval vessel replied: This is the captain of a US Navy ship, please divert your course 15° to the south! But the reply that came back was this: No sir, I strongly suggest that you divert your course! Not to be outdone, the US naval vessel replied: This is a US Navy aircraft carrier, accompanied by three cruisers, two frigates and five destroyers, we are a force of great size; I strongly suggest that you divert your course! The reply: This is the Cape Spear lighthouse…and I believe that it’s your call! I guess what’s really important here is that we know where we stand---and with whom, right? Perhaps if we see Jesus as a great lighthouse---which he is---and the naval vessels, which were unsure such as the disciples were---perhaps then we can better be prepared to answer the question of our Lord as He asks each and every one of us; ‘who do you say that I am?” These last several weeks, our Gospel has shown us the dramatic eye-witnessing of the miracles of the Master. We saw two loaves and five fish feed the 5000; we saw the Savior walking on the Sea of Galilee and we saw His great compassion as he opened his heart to the Canaanite woman and destroyed the barriers that separated the insider and the outsider! After witnessing all of those miraculous events, one would think that the answer to Jesus's question "But who do you say that I am" would be a no-brainer. But much like the game show contestant, caught unaware during a ‘lightning round,’ the Disciples fumbled for the very best answer that they could muster; only one was insightful enough to stand up and proclaim him the Christ. The reason they fumbled was because in the prophetic tradition, the Israelites had been waiting for the Messiah for hundreds and hundreds of years. Many pretenders had come before Jesus, and the question of His divinity was certainly one that was swirling around the countryside during His earthly ministry. The Israelites believed that the Messiah would be a great warrior King who would bring them salvation through the physical end of tyrannical earthly oppression---not a single one of the then living prophets could have ever imagined that the Messiah would begin freeing the world from the very bottom of each individual soul. But for each and every one of us---at some time in our growing spiritual lives---we must face the same questions as Jesus posed to the disciples. Not relying on the faith or history or the sainthood of the Apostles, we must come to know that just because we can recite the Nicene Creed or understand the ceremonial of the Mass that does not necessarily make us a Christian. We must come to know that in spite of our dedication to our buildings or church programs that we must search at the deepest level to really understand where we stand. And we must come to know that, in order for us to come to the conclusion, (that each and every one of us are Christians) we must reach deep within ourselves and search for the answer, because, it is at the very bottom of our soul, that there lays the compulsion to answer the question of our Lord---“who do you say I am!” It is not something that we can hide from---sooner or later we must all make that call---is He or isn’t He? It is a question that will never go away! For every one of us, the affirmation of Jesus as the Christ, within the context of ‘the question,’ “who do you say I am,” is a deeply personal and rewarding answer that cannot be thwarted or bound up. It is an answer that must continually be brought to a world that is desperately in need of the hope of salvation. It is an answer that will free all who are oppressed or bewildered---aimlessly wandering in a sea of confusion---living a life without hope. The fact that Jesus is indeed the Messiah---is the Christian message---it is a message that has withstood the tests of the ages. It is the message that was bantered around one night, when a 19th century essayist and his guests were chatting about Shakespeare over Madeira port and expensive cigars. "Supposing," one guest asked, "That Shakespeare was to stroll into our dining room at this moment." The essayist replied, "We would raise a glass of port to the great man." "Supposing," asked another, "If it were Jesus?" The essayist answered, "Then we would get down on our knees." Should that happen to us today…what might we do? Should we raise a toast to a ‘great man,’ or will we kneel in adoration to the Messiah? By choosing the latter, we will have acknowledged that indeed we have answered His question! In this we pray, In the name of the + Father and the + Son and the + Holy Ghost, Amen
(The Rev'd Fr.) Leonard L. Sorvillo, A.CSSS
