21st August - Revd. Jo Jones

Trinity 9: Matthew 16:13-20; Exodus 1:8 - 2:10

God of Abraham and Moses, God of Peter, your inexhaustible love reaches across history to us here and now. Open our hearts to hear your word to us, that we, like they, may grow in faith and trust in you. in Jesus’ name. Amen.what

‘It’s not what you know, but who you know’. We usually say that when we feel someone’s success is not to with their own merit, but because they have pulled strings or been favoured by people with influence. ‘It’s not what you know, but who you know’. But I think this phrase lies at the heart of today’s gospel as a defining characteristic of our Christian faith.

Peter and the other disciples knew a lot about Jesus, as did the crowds they met, the Pharisees, Saducees, the Jewish and Roman authorities. They believed certain things about him – a healer, a trouble-maker, a rabbi, a good man, a rebel – and as the disciples tell Jesus – many believed he was a great prophet.

But Jesus presses Peter harder – who do you say I am? And the Holy Spirit and Peter’s openness allow him to reveal that Jesus is the Messiah the Christ. Jesus in turn has a revelation for Peter – you are Peter the rock, the foundation of my new community of followers, the church.

It isn’t enough to know about Jesus – as Christians we need to be in relationship with him – it’s who you know rather than what you know. Our defining characteristic as Christians is not our creeds and systems, our morality and ethics – it’s that we know Jesus. Believing is a call to know Jesus through practising our faith as disciples – through prayer and worship and reading the scriptures.

It is through his being with Jesus in communion with him, companionship and sharing with him, that Peter is able to see who he is and say so for the benefit of the disciples then and now.

Peter is qualified to be the leader of the church on that basis alone – the quality of his relationship with Jesus Christ.

It’s interesting to look at Peter and the Church in the light of Abraham and Israel. Peter’s faith is a key part in the building of the church, just as Abraham’s was in the founding of Israel. Both of them have weaknesses and difficulties, but their faith and relationship with God is such that both of and are responsible for the building of a new community which becomes the focus of God’s activity in history.  So they both receive a new name which describes their key role in the formation of the people of God. Abram becomes Abraham – father of a multitude – Simon becomes Peter – the rock on whom the church is built. Peter is given the responsibility and authority for teaching the good news. Knowing Jesus is what sustains and nourishes us so that all that is harmful and wrong cannot overcome the work of God’s Spirit. Knowledge of Jesus opens the gates of heaven and gives us the key to our lives – our ultimate purpose, our direction, our centre and focus.  Peter recognises that Jesus is the key to the whole of God’s relationship with what he has made. Being in Jesus’ presence is what has transformed Peter sufficiently to enable him to recognise God at work and to join in with him! That’s what Jesus means when he says flesh and blood has not revealed this to you - just as Paul in his letter to the Romans urges renewal of the mind through being open to the Holy Spirit – that what helps us more and more to see God at work and to discern his will for us.

When I was training for ministry I had a lot of learning about Jesus to do – and I really enjoyed and valued that theological learning, and I still find that I connect deeply with God through my intellect. But knowing about Jesus in this way can’t be the whole picture – I have to know him through a heart turned towards him in prayer, seeing myself though his loving eyes, knowing him through being still and quiet in his presence, where an exchange of love is possible. Paying attention, as Peter did, to Jesus and being loved by him – that is where the heart can respond. Perhaps during your prayers this week you might like to pause for a bit and recall the first time when you were able to answer the question – who do you say I am – with the words you are the Messiah, the Christ – recollect the wonder of it, the incredible realisation that Jesus was not just an important teacher but the living God. We need to let the wonder of it and the challenging implications of this revelation dawn afresh in our hearts daily.

We are called to love Jesus with mind, body and soul – all parts of ourselves are offered – our whole lives a living sacrifice. And this will, as Jesus shows Peter in the next part of the gospel story, involve suffering as well as joy. It means giving up our treasured desires for the sake of others, allowing Jesus to unsettle and disturb us, challenge us and move us on – and our transformation depends on our knowing Jesus, for the deeper our relationship with him, the more we are aware of our need of him, of our need for conversion and renewal. Recognising him as Lord and Christ is the key, but it is, like Peter discovers, a first step along the road of a transformed and transforming life. Aramaic – the language which Jesus and his disciples spoke from birth – is verb-centred – there’s an emphasis on doing words rather than abstract concepts - discipleship it is not the call to sit around discussing the most appropriate way to serve the poor but a call to feed the hungry and clothe the naked; it is not the route to security, even though we are held safe in God’s hands; it is not the route to a quiet life, even though God gives us the peace that the world cannot give; it is not the road to riches, even though we are abundantly blessed. It is the road to humble self-giving, obedience and faithfulness in the face of difficulty, suffering and doubt.

Peter has walked this road as a pioneer and founder of the Christian community. We are inheritors of that same faith which Peter lived and taught. So this fisherman who sometimes blundered and blustered but who knew Jesus and finally understood his mission to the whole world, this Peter can be our companion as we too travel the road, and our inspiration as builders of God’s church here and now.