Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:13-16)
Jesus’ question really gets to the heart of our theme this month, “Listening to the life of Jesus”. How we answer this question also reveals how we listen to Jesus; it digs into our underlying assumptions about who Jesus is and that, in turn, shapes how we listen to his life and words.
Who do you listen to? Who do you believe? Those may seem like silly questions to be asking, but let me ask another question: Who are you?
Our first answer to that question might be to describe what we do and where we’re from. For example, my name is Andy Wade, I’m the Director of Mustard Seed Associates. I’m a father, husband, I live in Oregon, and I’m also an ordained pastor with the Mennonite Church. But that doesn’t really tell you who I am. Who am I, really?
Who I believe Jesus really is has everything to do with who I believe I am. If Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, then who I am is quite different than if Jesus was just another man. If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead then who I am is also very different from who I am if he did.
Resurrection is at the heart of who we are as believers in Jesus. Paul says it most clearly in First Corinthians when he confronts some who say there is no resurrection:
For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. (1 Cor. 15:16-22)
Resurrection is about transformation. It is about the power of God to heal our brokenness, heal our relationships, and give us the courage and ability to walk as Jesus walked in the world. It is about the power of God to demolish hate with love, and through the Church, to bring healing, hope, and salvation, in the fullness of that word, to the world. Resurrection shapes us into the kind of people God intends us to be.
In his second letter to the Corinthian Church Paul says it this way:
Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat. Jesus included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own. Because of this we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons!
Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you. (2 Cor 5:14-20 The Message)
Those are powerful words. How do we evaluate or judge others? So often it’s by what they have, how they look, or who they know. Then we go on to measure ourselves in a similar fashion, making insignificant things important and important things insignificant. When we view Christ in this way it’s much easier to also view ourselves this way… and vise versa. But the reality is that, in Christ, everything has changed and we are God’s ambassadors of that change!
But we don’t always live like we really believe it. We struggle with doubts, we confess Jesus as Lord but then believe God could never use someone like me. We believe Jesus is raised from the dead but see ourselves through worldly eyes and never quite receive the transforming power of Jesus’ resurrection for our own lives.
We sense the Holy Spirit urging us to bring the love of Christ into the pain of a friend’s broken relationship but we fear rejection. We know the refugee crisis is huge but feel too insignificant and fearful get personally involved. We donate to the homeless shelter but don’t know the names of those living on our streets and have not taken time to hear their stories. In fear we lock the doors of our hearts. I cannot do it. I’m not good enough, not trained enough, not gifted enough, not strong enough.
Then we hear Jesus asking, “But who do you say that I am?”
In John 20:19 we read:
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.
Here were the disciples, the core of Jesus’ followers, sitting in fear behind locked doors. Peter and John have seen the empty tomb and the grave clothes. Mary has seen the resurrected Jesus and reported it to the disciples. Two of the disciples have walked with Jesus on the road to Emmaus and reported his resurrection to the rest. But they sit behind locked doors in fear.
Text: Christine Sine, Photo: Andy Wade
Luke tells us that when Jesus first appeared to them behind those locked doors they thought he was a ghost. Jesus asked them, “Why are you so troubled and why are these doubts arising in your hearts?” Here they were, Jesus’ chosen leaders for his Church, confused, frightened, doubting, and fearful.
Jesus had already died and had already been raised to life again. But they did not yet understand in their minds or their hearts the significance of what had happened. Peter was there, the same Peter who confessed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. “Who do you say that I am now Peter?” “Who are you now?”
“Who am I? I am a confused follower of this Jesus who died and some say is now alive. I am a disciple of Jesus but I live now in fear behind locked doors. I am a fisherman and I’m not sure what to do. Maybe I will just go back to fishing. I had thought that he was the Messiah but now I don’t even know who I am!”
It is one thing to answer with our minds Jesus’ question, “Who do you say that I am”. It is quite another to answer that question with both our minds and our hearts, a combination that empowers us to action. The confused and fearful disciples soon began to understand.
- If Jesus is Lord, then I am not just a simple fisherman.
- If Jesus is Lord, then I am not a sinful tax collector.
- If Jesus is Lord, then I am not an unclean woman cast out by society.
- If Jesus is Lord, then I am no longer doubting Thomas, but Thomas who was first to confess Jesus as God!
In Christ they overcame their fears. In the power of the Holy Spirit they went on to build God’s church. If Jesus is the Son of God, God who walked among us, was crucified and raised to life, then I am a new creation!
So who do you say that Jesus is? If you say “The Messiah, the Son of the Living God”, If you say, “My Lord and my Savior”, then who does that make you? You are a child of the Living God. You are redeemed by God for the purposes of His Kingdom. You are an Ambassador of reconciliation. You are chosen, equipped, and sent in the power of the Holy Spirit to proclaim, and live, the ministry of healing and reconciliation to a broken and confused world.
So those things God has been calling you to do – you know what I’m talking about – those things you know Jesus is speaking to your heart to do and to say. Those things you’ve been putting off or ignoring because you don’t think you’re good enough, trained enough, spiritual enough, or courageous enough to do. What will you do now? Who do you say that Jesus is? If he is Lord and Savior, then “All things are possible for those who believe.”
“Who do you say that I am?” How will you answer that question this week? It might just change your life.
This post was reworked from a sermon I preached at Grace Mennonite Church in Hong Kong in 2006.
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More Posts by Andy
Lectio Tierra. My ears perked up as Pat spoke these words. I know Lectio Divina, but what was this Lectio Tierra he spoke of? In his introduction to “Celtic Spirituality and the Land” at our Celtic Prayer Retreat last weekend, Pat Loughery introduced us to this idea. Basically it’s taking the practice of Lectio Divina, the divine reading of Scripture, and applying it to your encounter with nature.
The Celts knew Jesus as the Word of God. They also saw scripture as the little (in size) book testifying to God and nature as the big book revealing who God is. It was perfectly natural for them to go into nature and learn of God. This makes some folks nervous, and several years ago I would have been nervous as well. But actually we should take comfort in the words of Paul to the church in Rome:
“For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made.” Romans 1:19-20
We often get caught up in the rebellion mentioned later in this passage, “worshiping the creation rather than the Creator”, which is a significant warning to us about knowing the difference between the two. Unfortunately many of us have over-reacted in fear and forgotten that God fashioned creation to give testimony to who God is. This truth becomes evident as we re-read scripture, especially the Psalms and the parables of Jesus.
With that out of the way, here’s a very simplified outline of how Lectio Divina works:
- Reading the passage through slowly and deliberately several times, listening for God’s voice in the written word.
- Meditating on what you’ve read. Taking time to really hear the words and thinking about what God might be saying to you specifically, right now, in the reading. What word or phrase stands out to you?
- Praying. Having a deep and personal conversation with God about what you’re hearing and experiencing in the passage.
- Contemplating, or resting in the truths you have heard and how they apply in your life.
So what might it look like to enter into Lectio Tierra? I actually wasn’t too surprised that I had been practicing this all along in my garden, on mushroom hunting trips, and out camping.
Reading – Heading out into God’s very good creation, I read the environment around me. How is God present? What might God be using to catch my eye and draw me closer? As I did this exercise at the retreat I noticed a tall stinging nettle. (There are a lot of them there). This nettle was tall and green, but two of the leaves just below the top were black and shriveled. Was there a message here I was supposed to hear? I stopped, looked, listened. It felt like I was trying to force a revelation into being. Then my eyes focused behind the nettles. I had been at the site for almost a week and walked by this tree nearly a hundred times and never noticed. This time it stood out as if to invite me into its story.
A tall, beautiful alder stretched its branches into the heavens. But what first attracted my attention was this ridiculously long and deep scar extending over 15 feet up the side of the trunk. What was its story and how might it be speaking to me? (Or if you’re more comfortable, how might God be speaking to me through this tree)?
Meditating – There is a story in this tree. I have no idea how the scar was made. I’m guessing there was once a large branch there that, either through wind, weight, or another tree crashing down upon it, was violently ripped from the trunk. While I didn’t know the details of that story, another reality was setting in.
This was a serious wound; there was nothing superficial about this. Just shy of the core of the tree, this wound had to have caused great trauma to the tree. Toward the top of this gaping whole I could easily see where layer upon layer of healing had taken place. But even with this severe trauma, the tree continued to grow, its remaining branches joined by new branches to reach toward the heavens. In fact, if you were to come upon this tree and only look upward, past the damaged parts, you’d likely think it was just like all the other healthy trees in the area: rich, strong, full of life.
Praying – I’ll admit up front, the meditation and praying portions seemed to overlap or, more accurately, lead me in a time of cycling from meditating to praying to meditating and back again. Jesus, what are you saying to me through this tree? What lessons, or cautions, do you have for me? There were some obvious ones, but what eventually came together as a whole was how much I am like this tree… we are like this tree.
We all are wounded. For some, the wounds don’t go very deep and almost seem inconsequential. Others of us have deep and painful wounds. Healing doesn’t happen all at once, it takes time. There were layers of healing on this tree. How it survived I don’t know, but it did. It not only survived, it thrived! Somehow it kept growing. It not only grew, it flourished! In my life I often want to rush past the wounds and on to healing and flourishing. But the journey of healing shapes both who we are and how we respond to others.
And this gash. So deep and so long! The wound didn’t just disappear when the tree began to move beyond healing and on to new growth. Oh, how I long to cover up my wounds! We have entire industries created around making the broken and damaged appear unblemished, but what if that is not the way of God? What if, like this tree with its wound in full display, our lives are meant to be transparent? How might we live differently if we knew others saw our brokenness and we saw theirs?
Reflecting back on scripture I’m reminded just how wounded, how broken, the heroes within its pages are. Can we say, “Be more like Peter or Paul”, without also remembering their failures? For that matter, what about Abraham, Moses, and King David? No, like this tree their wounds are out there. But also like this tree they found healing and learned to grow, to thrive.
Contemplation – Resting with these insights, these lessons from a tree, I begin to move into a sense of peace. I can breathe more easily not fearing that someone will come by and rip off the veil hiding my scars. I can embrace my scars. I can seek forgiveness and reconciliation where necessary and receive healing, love, and grace from God and those around me. I do not have to be someone I’m not. Whether through bad choices or bad circumstances, what has happened has happened. There is a wound. What I do now is up to me. I choose the way of shalom, and I can rest.
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Tom and I are currently on vacation on Mayne Island British Columbia. One of my favourite activities is wandering the beach looking for rocks, shells sea glass and other things of interest.
This week as I wandered I photographed a leaf that had just fallen from the tree. I picked up sea glass that had lain there for 10 to 50 years. I passed by the rusted structures left by miners who stopped here on their way to the goldfields. I crunched through the midden, an accumulation of hundreds of years of discards from seafood feasts the first nations’ people had held here. I examined the rocks, many of which had been carried to this beach thousands of years ago by the glaciers.
I feel as though this beach contains the history of the world and as I wander am very aware of my own insignificance and transient existence. I am also aware however of the eternal presence of God infused in every rock that created it and expressed in every person who has enjoyed its beauty. The one constant of all time and all places is the eternal presence and love of God, indwelling, surrounding and enlivening everything. All we need to do is take notice.
by Mtende Mughogho —
It is our delight to welcome Mtende Mughogho to the Godspace writing community. She was born and currenlty lives in South Africa. I love this beautiful poem she has written inspired by the song Good Good Father by Chris Tomlin. We look forward to sharing more of her poetry with you.
One of my favourite songs from our recent Celtic retreat begins Christ has walked this path, the path that we are on. As I listened again to this beautiful song over the week I found myself thinking about the many ways in which Christ walks with me on this path through life;
Christ walks before me
Christ is the guide who shows me how to live. His life is the guiding star for all that I should commit my life to – justice, healing, compassion, generosity, inclusivity. These are some of the characteristics of the life Christ lived that I want to model in my own life
Christ stands behind me
When I am vulnerable and uncertain Christ is there nudging me on, encouraging me and holding me up. He protects me from my shortcomings and the things that so easily push me off track. He guards me from attacks of self centredness, ignorance and doubt.
Christ walks beside me
Christ is my friend. This is something that the Celtic saints knew very well. There’s was not an emperor Christ but a companion. They would often talk to Christ as if he walked beside them in an intimate and companionable relationship
Christ stands beneath me.
Christ is the foundation on which we stand. Our knowledge of who he is and what he has done is the bedrock of our faith, the principles that prevent us stumbling and going astray.
What is your response.
It is always both comforting and strengthening for me to think about the characteristics of Christ that are central to my faith and I like to return to these on a regular basis. Listen to the video below. Think about your own walk with Christ and the characteristics of your faith that strengthen and uphold you. Write these down. How can you continue to develop them?
What is the image that comes to your mind when you think of the face of Jesus?
I love to explore images of Jesus from different cultures. I find that looking at Jesus from a Chinese, African or Latin American perspective often reveals new aspects of who Jesus is to me. If you are looking for a great array of images of Christ from different cultures I heartily recommend Matt Stone’s blog Glocal Christianity
Supper at Emmaus – He Qi http://www.heqigallery.com/
Some of my favourites images come from the art of Chinese artist He Qi. He Qi first encountered Jesus while painting a replica of Madonna during the political unrest of Maos time. In the daytime he painted Chairman Mao and at night he painted Raphaels Madonna, allowing her peaceful eyes to touch his heart. Since then he draws only scenes from the Bible and seeks to incorporate Christian art into his Chinese culture, changing the image of Christianity from a foreign art to a familiar sight. As the first man to get his PhD in religious images after the communist regime fell, He Qi has studied in China and in America. Currently one of the most popular artists in Asia, He Qi’s amazing use of bright colors and stories tell of a Truth that could change the east.
I also love the art painted by a Cameroonian organization called Jesus Mafa. In 1973, Christian communities in Cameroon (Africa) longed for a visual representation of their Jesus. As a group, they staged important scenes of Jesus life which were then painted by a French artist, captivating the African spirit. Their colorful representations have been sold around the world and continue to touch people of all nationalities, showing a mix of the simplicity and profound spirituality with which Jesus changed lives.
Overseas Ministries Study Center used to host artists from around the world for a year long artist in residency programme. I love to browse through their art gallery to remind myself of the diversity of the ways we see Jesus.
There is another interesting set of images of the faces of Jesus on the Rejesus website.
David Hayward has recently created a wonderful set of portraits of Christ. I particularly love his RefuJesus
Contemplated the image of Jesus resulted in one of my first prayers – the one at the top of this post. It also resulted in the video below which I know I have posted before, and it old and needs to be updated but it still inspires me and I hope will do the same for you.
When you think of Jesus what image comes to your mind? How has that changed over the years? What helps you to create a more realistic image of who Jesus was and is?
“There’s an urgent question under discussion among church leaders in Britain: Will those in the millennial generation (aged 18-35) affiliate with the Church? Research suggests that if immediate creative action isn’t taken, a growing number of churches will be unlikely to have a future among the next generation as we race into the 2020s.
First, the good news. God is at work not only through people of faith, but also through people of compassion who are bringing welcome change to our world in what some are calling an ‘innovation revolution’. In the last ten years there has been a veritable explosion of new forms of social entrepreneurship and community empowerment that are bringing remarkable change to the lives of our most vulnerable neighbours, both locally and globally.
And this good news gets better! Much of this new, change-making celebration is being led by young social innovators in the UK and countries all over the planet from Generation Y (those born between 1981 and 1997) and Generation Z (those born between 1998 and 2014).
Since generations Y and Z are the first digital generations, they’re far more aware of the daunting new social, economic and environmental challenges facing our neighbours across the globe. Most importantly, a surprising number of young people want to create innovative ways to solve these international problems.
For example, Alice Boyle is the founder of East London’s Luminary Bakery. By employing disadvantaged women, this social enterprise is building a brighter future not only for these women, but for their families. Alice and her team teach women how to produce professional baked goods and develop other skills. Their aim is to ‘break the generational cycles of abuse, prostitution, criminal activity and poverty, which currently hold these women back from reaching their potential.
The traditional model of doing social and charitable good when you have reached a certain level of economic wealth, namely later in life, is no longer viable,’ observes Claritta Peters, a student involved in the social enterprise movement in the UK. ‘This generation wants their entire lives to make a difference; 31 not just to contribute a share of their discretionary resources as they prosper.’
I suspect that God might be using these young people, largely outside the traditional structures of the Church, to remind followers of Jesus that we are called to be people of compassion, creativity and action. God is challenging us to move beyond token handouts and instead to create innovative new ways to help those in need become self-reliant.”
Tom & Christine Sine
Tom Sine is co-founder of Mustard Seed Associates and blogs over at New Changemakers. His latest book is Live Like You Give a Damn: Join the Changemaking Celebration
Tom Sine, “Does the Future Have a Church?
Christianity Magazine UK, August 2016
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