Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
Sunday, August 21, 2011
GOSPEL: Matthew 16:13-20
13Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17And 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. 18And 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. 19I 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.” 20Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
13Ἐλθὼν δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἰς τὰ μέρη Καισαρείας τῆς Φιλίππου ἠρώτα τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ λέγων, Τίνα λέγουσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι εἶναι τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου; 14οἱ δὲ εἶπαν, Οἱ μὲν Ἰωάννην τὸν βαπτιστήν, ἄλλοι δὲ Ἠλίαν, ἕτεροι δὲ Ἰερεμίαν ἢ ἕνα τῶν προφητῶν. 15λέγει αὐτοῖς, Ὑμεῖς δὲ τίνα με λέγετε εἶναι; 16ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ Σίμων Πέτρος εἶπεν, Σὺ εἶ ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος. 17ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτῷ, Μακάριος εἶ, Σίμων Βαριωνᾶ, ὅτι σὰρξ καὶ αἷμα οὐκ ἀπεκάλυψέν σοι ἀλλ’ ὁ πατήρ μου ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. 18κἀγὼ δέ σοι λέγω ὅτι σὺ εἶ Πέτρος, καὶ ἐπὶ ταύτῃ τῇ πέτρᾳ οἰκοδομήσω μου τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ πύλαι ἅ|δου οὐ κατισχύσουσιν αὐτῆς. 19δώσω σοι τὰς κλεῖδας τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν, καὶ ὃ ἐὰν δήσῃς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἔσται δεδεμένον ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, καὶ ὃ ἐὰν λύσῃς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἔσται λελυμένον ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. 20τότε διεστείλατο τοῖς μαθηταῖς ἵνα μηδενὶ εἴπωσιν ὅτι αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ Χριστός.
“Banias”
+ In nomine Domini. Amen.
As with all things in arid regions of the world, it’s all about water.
One day in the Summer of 2007 when our small inter-faith group journeyed to Israel, we made our way along the northern part of the Sea of Galilee to the Golan Heights. We visited the bunker where the Syrian troops had been dislodged by Israeli forces on the last day of the Six Day War (June 10, 1967). While we were there we met part of the present day Israeli Defense Force who were gathering that day on this ridge … because it is there that the incoming men and women of the IDF Armored Division take their vow of allegiance.
We looked from that ridge of the Golan Heights down to the valley below … rich, green, fertile with crops … the Hula Valley, Israel’s richest agricultural area. It is fed by the Banyas river which flows through this valley and into the Jordan River, the lifeblood of the Holy Lands.
Leaving the Golan Heights our mini-van and driver and guide took us to the Banias itself. It is an archaeological site by the ancient city of Caesarea Philippi, at the foot of Mount Hermon. Banias is the Hebrew way (בניאס ) of pronouncing the Greek word Πανειάς .When you are there, you are looking at the headwaters of the Jordan River, in distant past a giant spring gushed from a cave set in the limestone bedrock … today it only seeps from the bedrock below. But it is a beautiful place, and you can walk from the parking lot along the stream that flows from the Banias back to a cave set in the side of the mountain.
When you get there you come to that ancient place … the cave with surrounding ancient shrine, temple, courtyards, grotto … you have arrived at the ritual place dedicated to a Greek deity … the goat-footed god of victory in battle, isolated rural areas, music, goat herds, hunting, herding, and sexual and spiritual possession … the god Pan … the god of everything, worshiped by the Romans … thus the Panias … pronounced in Hebrew Banias.
***
It is here that Jesus and his disciples came one day according to the portion of Matthew’s Gospel that we read just a few moments ago. Sitting on the limestone rocks, taking refreshment from the stream, and shelter from the sun in the shade of the trees alongside the water … amid the many others who came regularly to that place for water, for worship, maybe just for a family picnic (as people were doing in 2007 for the Banias is a nature preserve in modern time) … the place sprinkled with more than a few Roman soldiers in Jesus’ time … making their ritual sacrifices to Pan or, more likely, taking their leave time just hanging out in the coolness (I can’t imagine it was much fun being a Roman Soldier wearing loincloth, socks, leg wrappings, trousers, tunic (linen in summer, wool in winter), belt, leather apron, helmet, the manica (arm protector), cloak, and of course sandals in the summer, boots in the winter. And that’s without the shield, sword, spear and whatever else the Centurion told you to carry that day …).
So, at the foot of Mount Hermon, by the spring gushing from the limestone cave, near the pagan shrine of Pan, sitting alongside the refreshing stream, Jesus asks his friends,
“Let’s talk about the Son of Man. Who do people say that is?”
The answers come from the disciples.
Andrew, drinking from his hand which he has just placed into the stream to cup some water, and slurping a bit says, “That’s easy, teacher, some say he’s John the Baptizer.”
Thaddeus muttered, “Well, Elijah at least, not John.”
Everyone knew that before the Messiah could come, Elijah the Prophet had to appear first … and John the Baptist sure looked, and dressed and acted like Elijah.
“No,” said James, son of Alphaeus, “Jeremiah … some folks think he’s Jeremiah.”
Two other disciples sitting on a fallen log and playing tic-tac-toe in the sand offered aloud, “Or one of the other Prophets.”
The group concurred, “Sure some prophet, at least.”
And then Jesus went for it. “How about you? Who do you think I am?”
Peter (the rock, Πέτρος) stood up and made his famous reply, his confession of faith, his statement of belief in this man, this Jesus, this Teacher, this Χριστὸς .
***
Later on that same trip I was standing near the High Altar in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Below me — tradition says — are the bones of the one who answered Jesus that day at the Banias Spring. Above me around the giant dome are the words, in Latin, of the Teacher’s response:
“Tu es Petrus et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam mean et tibi dabo claves regni caelorum.”
It’s all a play on words, both in the Greek of Matthew’s Gospel Πέτρος and πέτρᾳ and in the Roman Latin of the Church that sprang forth from that statement … Petrus Rock (the name) and Petram Rock (the strength).
In the Banias … that oasis, that place symbolic of new life and fertility … there it is that Jesus is proclaimed the Christos, the anointed one, the anticipated one, the watched and waited for one, the presence of God for love and peace in the middle of a Roman Occupation … offering up the strength of faith not in the armament of deadly force, but in the armor of faith that springs up, like living water from a cave at the foot of a holy mountain … faith that enables peace to flow down like waters.
***
Leaping ahead from 1st Century Israel and from 17th Century Italy … and from the Golan Heights and Rome to Orlando, FL … I found myself on Wednesday of last week sitting in the visitors section of the ELCA Churchwide Assembly.
I was thinking about the Gospel for today, and making some mental notes about this and that around the reading from Matthew, wondering if I had anything much to say about this question and answer period of Jesus and his followers at the Banias Spring. I was thinking about how the Church confesses Jesus as the Christos today, how we speak in his name, how we follow him.
***
The discussion on the floor at the moment was about a Memorial that had risen from many synods of our Church to the Assembly itself. I think the Memorials Committee had decided to refer the whole thing to more discussion and thinking and studying … which is a way of saying, “We really don’t want to talk about this!”
Lutherans Concerned/North America – the group to which we belong as a Reconciling in Christ congregation of the ELCA … Lutherans Concerned, officially recognized by the ELCA, had been working to change that and to bring the matter to a vote on the floor of the Assembly.
The Memorial was about anti-bullying. I want to read two of the speeches given by the four young people who rose to speak in favor of this Memorial. (13% of the ELCA Assembly were young people, under 30).
***
Speaking FOR the recommendation: David Bukowy, Jr, New England Synod
“Bullying is a big part of people’s lives today. I once was a victim of bullying. I can remember 5th grade year as if it were yesterday. “Big Nose”… and “Crooked Mouth”… were two names I had been called as a child for many years -- both stemming from things I couldn’t control: my big nose from my dad, or, as I call it, the Polish gene, and my lip which had an underdeveloped muscle which caused it to slant to one side. It was mid-winter, and I was on safety patrol. While I was walking back in from my post, passed by me was one of two bullies I received these names from. From behind me I heard my name, so as I turned to see who called, my jaw was met with an ice ball. I was admitted to the hospital for a broken jaw, told to see a psychiatrist, and told by the school system to be home-schooled for the remainder of the 5th grade, for my “safety.” I share this story to enlighten you on what one case of name calling can lead to. It is crucial that we, as a church, take a stance to fight against bullying, to not only say you are welcome, but you are also safe.”
FOR Travis VanHorn, Oregon Synod
“While education is an essential part of growing up, school can be an intimidating place, full of pressures from both the classroom and students in it. If you are different, you are an outcast. I followed the crowd, trying to remain just like everyone else. Hoping that no one would suspect I was anything but normal. However, I knew I was different. I had known for some time that I felt an attraction towards the same-sex. An ultimate red flag in schools was to be gay. The most common expressions were “that’s so gay” and “no homo,” as well as refusing to go within a ten-foot radius of anyone what was known or suspected to be gay. I felt that the only way I would be able to carry out a normal life, would be to to hide my feelings. However, I had been taught by the church to stand up for myself, my beliefs, and to welcome diversity as an essential part of any community. And on those principles, I made the decision to come out when I was 16. I was shut out by many friends, and the people that talked to me only did so to call me things… not really appropriate to say in front of this assembly, and for a time I became depressed and suicidal. I remember feeling like there was nowhere to turn, and I don’t want any other youth to have to feel that way, regardless of whether it be because of their sexuality, ethnic background, gender and gender identity, disabilities, social class, or any other unique attributes. Youth and people of all ages need to know that their ELCA church will work to end bullying, harassment and related violence whenever and wherever it occurs. I ask you to join me in supporting this memorial.”
The question was called…
VOTE 870-85 to call the question (end debate)
Main Motion before the house
VOTE 932-23 adopted A1, the anti-bullying motion
There it was … and is. A name calling that is anti-bullying … speaking in such a way that the voice of Christ speaks through his followers … a voice that proclaims love, peace, hope … not retribution, vengeance, wrath … a voice that announces the Gospel, the Good News, that wherever and whenever someone (some government, some people …) begin to bully … those who love God and love neighbor will rise to speak against it.
The little rectangle of a pin that was attached to my VISITORS NAME HANGING DEVICE has the rainbow flag printed upon it and over that the words ‘PROUD TO BE ELCA.” I am. It is a new Church, and a renewed Church … where Mission and Ministry are the words of the day. The Mission is love, and the Ministry is the embrace of Christ.
Deo Gratias (+)
The Rev. Benjamin Larzelere III
Pastor, Christ Lutheran Church
Santa Fe, NM
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