Transcript
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am? Please be seated.”
It seems like every year this passage comes up. Jesus asks the crowd, “Who do people say that I am?” And there are all kinds of answers. John the Baptist, Elijah, one of the prophets, maybe even Jeremiah, and then Jesus asks the much more important question, but who do you say that I am? And in the three gospels which this dialogue occurs, Peter answers, you are the Messiah. The first time I preached on this passage here, it was actually Mark’s version. And it was about two months after I started here, which was just over two years ago.
And I ask all of you, who do people say St. John’s Church is? And who do you say St. John’s Church is? I invited you all to tell me and show me who you are, who St. John’s Church is, and who you want St. John’s church to be be known as become be within the greater Episcopal church within Hampton City even in our own individual lives. It was based on these two questions that the vestri came up with our seven main visioning projects.
Increasing our accessibility so we can mean it when we say all are welcome. continuing to develop a strong Sunday school program focusing on our children and our faith formation. Developing a lay pastoral care program so everyone can feel the love of St. John’s Church. Offering more ways for the wider community to join us outside of our Sunday morning worship. Chronicling our oral history in order to preserve more of our living history. developing processes and procedures to create healthy structures for decision-making and communications and renewing our worship space so that our music worship and community life can flourish.
And it wasn’t just the vestry who came up with these. These came from all of you when you asked yourselves, who do people say St. John’s Church is? And who do we say St. John’s Church is? And if you look around, if you think of where we were two years ago when I first got here and where we are now, you’ll see these projects are already progressing.
You all are making these projects become more than just ideas. You all are making these become realities because of the gifts you have and the gifts you offer. And I don’t mean tangible gifts like birthday presents. Although yes, financial giving is very important to help St. John’s Church continue to grow into the church we are called to be. Also, it is the gifts you have for ministry that will continue to help St. John’s church grow. Not just in these seven areas of visioning, also in every area that you can imagine or dream or hope.
Just look at the passage we heard from Paul’s letter to the Romans that Billy Ray just read. Thank you. You might be a little bit more familiar with the language from First Corinthians where Paul goes into more detail about the parts of the body making up one body and the gifts of the spirit listing nine different gifts from wisdom and knowledge to even tongues and the interpretation of tongues. This passage from Romans was probably written after Paul’s first letter to Corenth. And this passage from Paul’s letter lists seven skills given as gifts and how they each are used. Prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhorting, giving, leading, and compassion. Of course, we could keep going, expanding the list to all the gifts we have. We could say things like administration, music, logistics, hospitality, technology, communications, maintenance, creativity, problem solving, and there are so many more to continue listing.
And so I ask you, what are your gifts? What is your function with the one within the one body that is St. John’s Church? A couple of weeks ago, I talked about what God is calling you to do to be. And I said, if you’re looking for a place to explore all that, here at St. John’s Church is a great place. A great place to explore all the gifts God has bestowed upon us. A great place to learn who you are called to be as a follower of Christ. a great place to explore which individual function you can offer in order for us to be the one body God wants us to be as St. John’s church.
When Jesus asked the disciples who do people say that the son of man is, he’s not necessarily asking for a profession of faith. Instead, he is asking for a vision, a dream, a hope, an image of who people want the Son of Man to be. And when Jesus asks the follow-up question, “But who do you say that I am?” He wants the personal side, too. Not just the institutional answer like the oldest continuously worshiping English language church on the continent.
He also wants answers like the place where my child begs me to go every week so she can see her Sunday school teacher. Or the place where I can go to get a hot meal served on real dishes without any questions asked. Or the place where I can sing my favorite hymns connecting me to generations who sing before them. or the place where I can bring my grief, my questions, my joy and know that someone there is waiting to pray with me or the place where I can come to the altar with people known and unknown to learn that we are all fed from the same table or even the place where I can use whatever gifts I have to make this community stronger for us and for the people who come after us. That’s the answer.
But how do we become the place we say we are? By each of us bringing to St. John’s church. All the gifts we have listed in Paul’s letter to the Romans, listed in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, even listed on our hearts by God. Because we become the place we say we are. We say we want to be by becoming together and becoming that place through gifts, through work, through authenticity, through self.
Jesus says, “But who do you say that I am?” Rather than answer with words though, let’s show everyone who we are. So we can show God, we can show everyone who God is, too. Because who we are isn’t just about us and our gifts. It’s also about God. about who God is, about what God does, and about how God lives in the world through us, our gifts, our work, our dreaming and hoping and imagining, and our dedication and commitment.
And then through all of that, we can become the rock, the cornerstone, the solid foundation upon which the St. John’s church we dream of can continue to grow. Amen.