Pop Quiz -08/23/2020
Call to worship:
L: Who do we say that Jesus is?
P: Jesus is the Christ of God.
L: Christ summons us to act in ways that displease the crowd.
P: Our action sometimes belies our confession.
L: Christ calls us to take up our cross and follow him.
P: Our action sometimes belies our confession.
L: Yet Christ does not forsake us, even though we abandon him.
A: O Lord, let us, this day, pursue you as you pursue us, until what we say about you in worship and what people see in us at work become one.
Opening Hymn: Stand up, Stand up for Jesus #514
1. Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross;
lift high his royal banner, it must not suffer loss.
From victory unto victory his army shall he lead,
till every foe is vanquished, and Christ is Lord indeed.
2. Stand up, stand up for Jesus, the trumpet call obey;
forth to the mighty conflict, in this his glorious day.
Ye that are brave now serve him against unnumbered foes;
let courage rise with danger, and strength to strength oppose.
3. Stand up, stand up for Jesus,stand in his strength alone;
the arm of flesh will fail you, ye dare not trust your own.
Put on the gospel armor, each piece put on with prayer;
where duty calls or danger, be never wanting there.
4. Stand up, stand up for Jesus, the strife will not be long;
this day the noise of battle, the next the victor's song.
To those who vanquish evil a crown of life shall be;
they with the King of Glory shall reign eternally.
Opening Prayer:
O Lord of the universe, we tremble at the thought of the distance between you and us. Yet you create us in your own image, so that we cannot fulfill our purpose in life until we first discover your purpose for us. We pray that you will make us aware of your design for our lives. Let us, from this moment forth, worship and work to give it more perfect shape.
Epistle Reading: Romans 12: 1-8
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.
3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. 6 We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; 7 ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; 8 the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.
Hymn: Soldiers of Christ Arise #513
1. Soldiers of Christ, arise, and put your armor on,
strong in the strength which God supplies thru his eternal Son;
strong in the Lord of Hosts, and in his mighty power,
who in the strength of Jesus trusts is more than conqueror.
2. Stand then in his great might, with all his strength endued,
but take to arm you for the fight the panoply of God;
that having all things done, and all your conflicts passed,
ye may o'ercome thru Christ alone and stand entire at last.
3. Pray without ceasing, pray, (your Captain gives the word)
his summons cheerfully obey and call upon the Lord;
to God your every want in instant prayer display,
pray always, pray and never faint, pray, without ceasing pray.
4. From strength to strength go on, wrestle and fight and pray,
tread all the powers of darkness down and win the well-fought day.
Still let the Spirit cry in all his soldiers, "Come!"
till Christ the Lord descends from high and takes the conquerors home.
Prayer of Dedication:
O great and gracious Creator, your ways are indeed inscrutable and your judgements unsearchable. And your patience defies all understanding. Were we in your place, patience would soon yield to impatience. We would overrule the wills of your rebellious children and turn them into servants of our will. We would set this world straight in short order. But we are aware, dear Lord, that this is not what you want. Rather you would have us impart your will for the world in order to impart grace and mercy along with your everlasting love. Let us work with you in this mission field to glorify Father God. Amen.
Gospel Reading: Matthew 16: 13-20
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
Sermon Title: Pop quiz (video link)
Remember that horrifying feeling of when you got to school thinking that it was going to be like any other day and suddenly, the teacher stands up in front of the class and says, “Pop quiz!” Sweat starts to bead on your forehead and your hands can’t seem to hold your pencil anymore and you’re trying to figure what she is going to quiz you on and if you have studied it at all. And even when you find out that the test is something that you know, you panic a little just trying to find it in the right context of your brain.
I can only imagine what was going through the disciple’s heads when Jesus wanted to know who the people thought he was. It was one thing to follow him and see all the great things that he was doing and I believe that they knew he was incredibly special. But they also heard all the comments from the people; the ones who believed and the ones who scoffed at the idea of Jesus being the Son of God. In many respects, it was just too much for anybody to get their head around. The thing that they had been hoping for and praying for and waiting for hundreds of years and even generations was right there in front of them, but they were too scared to believe in it. Before Jesus Christ had come, there had been others who proclaimed that they were sent by God and time and doubt had destroyed them. What if this guy was just like those others, a false prophet who meant to lead them astray.
When Jesus asked the disciples who people thought he was, they told him that the people thought he was one of the many prophets who had come and gone before; special, but not necessarily the Christ, the Messiah. And then Jesus asked his friends who they thought he was. And remember, they were not in a safe place where no one could see or hear them. They were in the middle of Caesarea Philippi and based on the answer they gave him; if overheard, might land them in jail or worse. And Peter was the first and only to speak up, “You are the Messiah, the Son of God.” He may have said what most of them were thinking, but the others just stood there, probably drawing pictures in the dust with their feet. It wasn’t only Peter who had seen Jesus perform miracles like walking on the water and feeding over fifteen thousand people with two fish and a handful of barley bread. They had all seen this and yet, they were living in the world and they knew that standing next to Jesus, both in proximity and in allegiance, was a dangerous thing.
Once this declaration had been made, however, Jesus went on to praise Simon Peter by calling him Peter (which means rock) and telling them all that on this “rock” (Peter), his church will be built. And not even the gates of Hades will prevail against this church. And keep in mind here, that when Jesus says the word church, he is actually referring to the entire community; the way that the church was supposed to be set up.
And then Jesus addressed all of the disciples and told them that whatever they bind or loose on earth will also be bound or loosed in heaven. This phrasing refers to the interpretation of Jesus’ teachings. The entire community of believers have been given the task of letting people know about the lessons and the love of Jesus the Christ, in an appropriate way, of course.
And then Jesus seemingly does a 180 degree turn and tells the disciples not to say anything about him being the Messiah. I mean, talk about a cliff hanger. But he wants them to remain silent until they have all of the information. Jesus knows that there is more to come and that he can only feed this knowledge to them a little bit at a time so that they do not become overwhelmed by it all. There is also a timing tool that Jesus is implementing here to make sure that when the chips fall, and they will, the disciples will not only know what they are supposed to do, but they will also have the courage and the competence to proceed with the mission.
So fast forward to the world that we live in today. We know what people say about Jesus Christ and there is much of it that is not very complimentary. The next question from Jesus is the important one and the one that he really wants to know the answer to.
“Who do you say that I am?”
Closing Hymn: Wonderful Words of Life #600
1. Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life;
let me more of their beauty see, wonderful words of life;
words of life and beauty teach me faith and duty.
Refrain:
Beautiful words, wonderful words,
wonderful words of life.
Beautiful words, wonderful words,
wonderful words of life.
2. Christ, the blessed one, gives to all wonderful words of life;
sinner, list to the loving call, wonderful words of life;
all so freely given, wooing us to heaven.
(Refrain)
3. Sweetly echo the gospel call, wonderful words of life;
offer pardon and peace to all, wonderful words of life;
Jesus, only Savior, sanctify forever.
(Refrain)