Stop Short!

Last week, a parishioner came into my office to talk about preaching. One or two Sundays a month, he's been leading Morning Prayer at a local assisted living facility, and he wanted to discuss the challenges of preaching a "go out and take the good news of Jesus to the world" sermon to a bunch of wheelchair-bound residents in their 80s and 90s. I admitted that I didn't have the answer and encouraged him to trust his instincts. But, in that conversation, he asked me to shed some light on this Sunday's gospel lesson (Matthew 16:13-20). When I asked him what the lesson was about, he told me it was Peter's confession that Jesus is the Messiah.

Immediately, I launched into a preacherly lecture on Peter's confession and how, despite acknowledging Jesus as God's anointed one, Peter and the disciples still didn't understand what that really meant. I mentioned the first passion prediction, Peter's incredulous reaction, and Jesus' stern "get behind me, Satan" rebuke. He let me go on for a while and then gently interrupted me and said, "That's not part of this lesson. This gospel lesson stops short of the passion prediction."

I gave him a puzzled look. "Wait...what?" I asked. "You mean the lectionary gives us Peter's confession but leaves out the passion prediction and the 'get behind me, Satan,' part?" He nodded and told me that that part came next week. Willing but not wanting to believe him, I got up and pulled up the lectionary readings on my computer and just sat there staring at the screen. "You're right...of course," I said with a crestfallen countenance. "Hmmm..." I wondered out loud. "That's not going to be easy. I'm going to have to rethink that."

When I hear Peter's confession of Jesus as the Messiah, I immediately think, "What sort of Messiah did he have in mind?" In this moment, which is split for us across two Sundays, we witness a beautiful folding-together of theological traditions. Up to this point, Jesus has shown us who he really is through his miracles. They tell us that he is God's Son. Then, Peter puts it all together and identifies him as the Messiah. Finally, Jesus builds upon that prediction and expands it, showing that his messianic identity will lead him to the cross. But we don't go that far. This week, we stop short. Like proofing some dough but never baking it or giving a great halftime speech but never playing the second half, this gospel lesson shows us the first half of the messianic revelation without disclosing the second half. Unless you want to step on the toes of next week's preacher, that makes this Sunday's sermon a little more difficult.

If we can't focus on Jesus' own messianic understanding, what will we say? I'm drawn to the difference between what the people say and what the disciples say. What is it about Jesus that leads people to think he's another John the Baptist or Elijah or Jeremiah? What does that mean? Why is it wrong? Why is Peter's identification true in ways that the other guesses are not? I'm also interested in the rock on which the church is built, the rock that not even the gates of Hades will prevail against. What does that mean in this time and place? How is the church--the ekklesia--the unfailing hope for the world? Maybe there's something to be said about the messianic secret, but that seems to lead into next Sunday's lesson, and I'm not sure I could touch on it without getting into a passion prediction. There's Romans 12 and the balance between exercising one's God-given gifts and maintaining the humility of knowing that you're just another piece of the puzzle. There's Exodus 1 (Track 1) and the story of Moses put into a basket. Surely in the 21st century there's still something to say about ethnic cleansing and jealousy over difference becoming fuel for a genocide.

With the eclipse on Monday, this feels like a short week, so I ask for your prayers and I offer you mine. Whether preparing to preach or preparing to listen, may God open our ears and hearts and minds and mouths to receive and proclaim the gospel.