The Big Question

Ask the priests of Pan to throw your offering to the gods in there; perhaps it will be accepted, or if not, it may be spit out again at the spring that gushes out from the foot of the cliff.

Maybe you didn't say the prayers rightly; or maybe Pan is laughing at you.

This god Pan is capricious and unpredictable, a god of wooded glens and impromptu seductions.

It would be good if he could be placated, soothed, and satisfied.

Then maybe things will go well with you.

It is a place of strange and mysterious power, an ancient place.

At that time it was known as Caesarea Phillipi, so named for Caesar and Philip, the son of Herod, the local ruler; a Roman style town with Greek roots, and much older remnants.

It is known today as Banias, recalling that ancient connection with the god Pan.

The disciples must have felt uncomfortable as they approached this place with Jesus.

They are familiar with things down near the Sea of Galilee:

the sea, the cliffs, the rolling hills, the oppressive heat and humidity, the vegetation that browns to a crisp in the relentless sun.

But as they walk the 40 miles or so from Capernaum to Caesarea Phillipi, things change.

They rise from below sea-level to 1000 feet above sea level, the air is cooler, the vegetation greener, the sources of the Jordan River rushing from here and there.

Actual forests looms dark to the sides.

And the mountain, great Mt Hermon, rises mysterious and huge in front of them, snow-capped for nearly all the year.

They must have sensed the power of the mountain;

they must have heard about the beliefs of residents for millennia concerning the power of the gods in that place.

they must have seen the gleaming temples of the Roman city.

The power of nature, the power of ancient beliefs, the power of Rome all gathered in that place.

As Jesus has been walking this 40 miles, we might guess that the disciples become more and more agitated.

“What is Jesus doing now?

This is a strange and foreign place.

Is the Lord God known here at all?

We're spooked by it all!”

And then at the proper moment, Jesus turns and asked them two of the most important questions in all of scripture.

The first asks for information.

“Who do people say that I am?”

Down in the comfortable surroundings of Capernaum, it might have been a little easier to answer: “Some say this and some say that....”

But it all sounds a bit tentative up here where they are surrounded with all of these alien powers.

And then comes the central question,
“But who do you say that I am?”

The setting makes it all the more wonderful that Peter is able to blurt out the truth: “You are the Christ, the Messiah.”

Near the foot of this huge mountain which some might worship,

near the supposed connection with the powers of the underworld,

near the gleaming Roman imperial town,

Jesus reveals more of the nature of his life and work so that Peter brings it to voice, even though he doesn't understand much of the implications of what he says.

“You are the Messiah, God's beloved.”

What a gift of nascent faith was given to him to be able to recognize the truth with so many other claims of sovereignty all around them!

Everything in the Gospel has been building to this point, to these questions, to this most pointed question of all: “Who do you say that I am?”

On the way to Caesarea Phillippi Jesus had healed a blind man, the blind man who began to see, to understand.

It is a sign of the in-breaking rule and kingdom of God when the blind begin to see, and this is even better because it is not only physical healing but also spiritual sight.

Next Peter speaks the words of faith, even as the other disciples are also wrestling with what it all means.

After the resurrection, finally it becomes more clear to them all, and they are ready to let others know what they have come to understand.

Still later, Paul is blinded on the road to Damascus, and after God gets his attention, leads him to physical and spiritual sight.

[Ironically, it is possible that this might have taken place not far from Caesarea Phillippi!]

Both Peter and Paul have to answer the big question, and their lives are forever different thereby.

But of course, it is not only these two super apostles who face the question from Jesus, but each one of us as well.

Walk the streets of downtown Williamsport and sense the power.

The great piles of stone and brick, the banking buildings and others. Some worship there.

And also we see the gleaming government buildings, federal, state and local, each demanding allegiance and extracting taxes.

Some worship that power.

Just in case one forgets about its power, we have a river as our near neighbor. Our dike might fail sometime as have others.

Some worship Mother Nature in all its guises.

So right here on our corner, in the context of all of these other powers, Jesus asks again, every day, “Who do you say that I am?”

It is not a classroom exercise, but rather a question that intends to take hold of every corner of our lives.

Some will want to run away from the question and try to avoid it.

But the question will be right here, waiting for when the person gets back from whatever far country.

The answering of the question begins with the period of preparation for baptism.

Candidates soon come to realize that answering the question turns one's life inside out.

Life is not about “me” and what I want;

rather it is about the Father's love for the Lord Jesus, and how that love extends to include our lives within it.

That is a profoundly different way of looking at life.

It changes all of our priorities,

it changes all of the ways we operate.

“Who do you say that I am?” is not only a Sunday morning question; it is the question that matters every day of our lives.

“You are the Messiah, different than the kind we thought we wanted who was mostly a political leader.

Rather, you are the Messiah

...who is the Son who does the will of the Father, [Mark 14:36]

...who is the teacher who points to knowledge that is life-giving to others,

[Mark 10:17-23]

...who is the Savior who pulls us through death to new life [Romans 6],

...who is the banquet host who washes feet [John 13],

...and who invites us into a life that reflects the saving actions of Christ, for the benefit of a hurting and angry world.”

He never said it would be easy, comfortable, or profitable in the usual human measurements.

It will mean death in the drowning waters of Baptism, and new life in the beginning of what we trust will grow into the full company of heaven.

It will involve words that are backed up by deeds that match them, enfleshed words, lived-out words.

Our answer to Jesus' question “You are the Messiah” needs to be backed

...by your participation in worship that encourages someone else to do the same,

... by your time in study that guides and directs your other activities,

...by your care for a neighbor in need,

...by the ways in which you use your money,

...by your conversation with a friend in which you share what has brought you understanding of the purpose and center of life.

Each time that the big question is posed to us, may we not run away from it

but strive to answer it forthrightly

not only with words but also with life. Amen.

Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.