​The Message
 
For those of you who have not been able to join us through Lent, we have wandering with Peter on this Lenten journey.
​
We have watched as Jesus called Peter to be a disciple by climbing into Peter’s fishing boat and taking it out on the water so he could teach the people on shore.

We watched as, after a long night of fishing without success, Jesus tells Peter and his crew to go back out, and with heavy hearts, they try again.
 
Then, we watched as Peter’s crew hauled in nets overflowing in abundance of fish. Through this experience, we saw Peter drop his livelihood and begin his discipleship with Jesus.
 
Next, we journeyed with Peter as he tried to step out of the boat and onto the water and walk toward Jesus.
 
Through a tremendous leap of faith, Peter took a risk and stepped out of the boat, and began to sink.
 
But we also saw Peter try something daring in order to demonstrate his faith in Jesus, knowing that even if he failed, Jesus would extend his hand to him.
 
We’ve wandered with Peter as he’s confronted his biases about what a Messiah might say and do.
 
We’ve seen him ask so many questions, we’ve seen him doubt Jesus, and we’ve seen him deny Jesus.
 
Peter is the rock on which the church is built.
 
But he’s also imperfect and flawed – anxious and unsure, questioning and doubting.
 
And today – on Easter Sunday – we might expect that, after denying Christ, Peter would cower in shame.
 
We might expect him to run away and leave this wild journey with Jesus behind him.
 
Instead, when he hears the news that the tomb is empty from this group of women, he doesn’t dismiss them like the other disciples do.
 
He gets up and he runs to the tomb.
 
When he peers into the empty tomb and he sees the linen cloth, he is filled with awe.
 
I wonder if, as he ran to the tomb, he was feeling disbelief, or hope?
 
Was he wondering if it was truly possible that Jesus rose from the dead?
 
Peter had denied Christ three times. He was not there when Jesus died.
 
So when a group of women come to the disciples telling them the tomb is empty, the others don’t respond with simple disbelief – they outright dismiss the women.
 
While translations will render their reaction as “an idle tale,” “foolish talk,” or “nonsense,” the real meaning of the Greek word is “garbage.” The women announce Jesus’ promises fulfilled and the response—from the ones who were closest to Jesus— is, “yeah, well, that’s a bunch of rubbish.”
 
There is so much truth and honesty in this reaction. 
 
After all, the good news frequently seems too good to be true.
 
If the tomb is empty, if Jesus has been raised from the dead, then life as we’ve known and expected it is no longer.
 
The world has been turned upside down (Acts 17:6).
 
And if the world has been turned upside down, how do we even know how to live?
 
If the disciples thought the resurrection was a pile of trash, what are people going to think when we confess belief in the resurrection?
 
“Could it really be true?” is the question I think Peter asked himself, and with hope on his heels, he ran to the tomb to see for himself.
 
Peter goes home wondering and it’s in that wondering that the meaning of the resurrection lies.
 
The resurrection only makes sense when we remain amazed, marveling and wondering at the love of God that reversed death itself.
 
We are not asked to explain the resurrection, offer proof for the resurrection, or make a case for the resurrection.
 
Instead, like Peter, we live in wonder—for how belief in the God of resurrection truly can change the world, making it a more beautiful place. 
 
A place where asking questions, remaining awed, and maintaining a sense of wonder are important and healthy ways of being in the world. Amen.
 
Let us pray:
 
God of new beginnings, On that first Easter morning, the disciples struggled to hear the good news. Doubt clouded their minds. Negativity took root and hope vanished with a simple shake of their heads. Thank you for helping us to hear differently this morning. Thank you for opening our ears that we might hear the sound of Alleluias ringing through our hearts.
 
Thank you for opening our minds so that the mystery and joy of Easter might feel within reach. Thank you for opening our hearts so that we might believe the unbelievable. And, thank you for helping us move closer to you today and every day. Amen.
 
Portions of this sermon reference materials from A Sanctified Art LLC | sanctifiedart.org. Used with permission.

​Young at Heart Message
 
This morning, I’m going to put your eyes and your memories to work!
 
As you can see, I have a large box here.
 
In a moment, I am going to do a few things to this box, and I want you all to watch what I do VERY carefully.
 
Remember as much as you possibly can about what I do.
 
When I’m finished, there will be a test!
 
Your job is to remember in as much detail exactly what I do so that you could tell me afterwards as best you can what happened.
 
I will need three volunteers, one from each section of the church, to tell me everything they can remember about what happens.
 
Are you ready?
 
OK, pay close attention, starting NOW!
 
[Pastor goes to one side of the box and draws a face with a smile, and then goes to the other side of the box and draws a face with a frown. The right side cannot see what’s being drawn on the left side, and the left side cannot see what’s being drawn on the right side. The middle of the room may or may not be able to see both sides.]
 
All right, any volunteers from the left section want to tell me everything they can remember about what they saw?
 
[This section of the room will see the picture with the frown.]
 
How about the right section next?
 
[This section of the room will see the picture with the smile.]
 
And finally, someone from the middle section, tell me what you saw in the best detail you can.
 
[This part of the room will see a mixture, so it depends on who responds.]
 
[The purpose of this exercise is to demonstrate that sometimes, just seeing something from a different perspective can lead someone to recall what happened differently.]
 
Hmmm, it seems each of you saw and remembered what I did a bit differently!
Of course we know that human memory is not overly reliable…
 
That’s why eyewitness testimonies are so fallible!
 
This demonstration gives us a launching point to talk about today’s scripture and the events of Jesus’ triumphant ride into Jerusalem.
 
Let’s dive in!
 
The Message
 
The scripture verses we read today were from the Gospel of John.
 
This particular Gospel relays the events of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem a bit differently than the Synoptic Gospels do.
 
I’d like to take a few minutes to compare some key parts of the different Gospels as they relate to this passage, and then talk about these differences a bit.

​It’s almost as though we are hearing four slightly different versions of this story, each version from a person who saw or remembered only portions of the story.
 
This actually happens frequently in the Gospel stories that are repeated in two or more of the Gospels.
 
Either the authors really did have different viewpoints of the situations, or they were focused on portraying different elements of the story for the listener or reader.
 
It’s likely some of both, but based on the priorities of the different writers of the Gospels in other stories, it makes perfect sense that each would be more focused on their own perspective of what is most important to share.
 
Misunderstanding is a big theme in the Gospel of John.
 
We (the readers today AND those witnessing these events in the moment) are not supposed to understand that God came to dwell with us in the flesh of a human body – not fully anyway.
 
Also, at this point in the story, it is difficult to grasp what Jesus’ kingship is all about.
 
John wrestles with this when he says “at first, Jesus’ disciples did not understand. But after he had been given his glory, they remembered all this.”
 
In other words, John is foreshadowing for us how the disciples are going to respond in the end to the events that unfolded.
 
But, it makes sense that they would not understand fully at this point, and we can appreciate John for pointing this out and reminding us that the full process of crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection must be completed before the disciples can fully understand.
 
We have seen throughout our journey with Peter this Lenten season that the culmination of Jesus’ ministry with his death and resurrection is the climax of the story – and the true turning point for the disciples, and especially for Peter.
 
We will watch this journey unfold in the week ahead, but for now, we can rest in this passage from John that reminds us that even now, the disciples are still not fully understanding.
 
And, as we take this journey together, we can wonder together how the disciples, and especially Peter, felt in these moments.
 
How is Peter participating in this parade? What is he thinking about Jesus and the people cheering for him?
 
Is he confused, once again, by Jesus’ actions? Is he wondering why Jesus is doing this, when he could instead choose to flee and save himself?
 
Is he wondering yet how many of these people would turn on Jesus as he approaches his death? Is he wondering if he will be one of those who denies Jesus – out of fear, or external pressures?
 
We don’t know – the scripture doesn’t tell us the answers to these questions.
 
But, if we have learned nothing else from Peter throughout Lent, we have learned that he asked questions, and we have become more comfortable with our own desire to ask questions like these, as well.
 
As we wave our palms today, we can wonder if we would be among the crowd cheering today, and also among those calling for Jesus’ condemnation on Good Friday.
 
We cannot possibly know the answer to that question – it’s difficult to truly put ourselves in the shoes of someone who walked the earth over two thousand years ago.
 
And yet, we can still wonder.
 
As we approach Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, we can do the hard work of asking ourselves if we would succumb to the fear and pressures of the crowd.
 
Would we stand up for Christ, or would we fold from the pressure and a desire to save our own skin?
 
These are important questions, not because we are meant to feel guilty or ashamed of how we might respond, but because it is an opportunity for self-evaluation and self-reflection.
 
Like Peter, we are not perfect Christ-followers all the time.
 
And yet, Jesus tells us over and over again that he loves and forgives us.
 
He tells us in words and parables, but most importantly, he tells us through his actions.
 
Listen carefully during Holy Week – listen to the scriptures and stories that bring us to Good Friday and then to the resurrection on Easter morning.
 
Christ is offering us grace, mercy, and forgiveness in all that he does for us, and for this, we choose to rejoice and follow him. Amen.
 
Let us pray:
 
God of grace, your Word is like a song. It is the melody that we long to sing, the refrain that we pray will get stuck in our heads. So as we contemplate todays message, we pray that you would allow us to sink into this song. Allow us to hear the truth in between the words. Allow the cries of the crowd’s “hosannas” to feel like our own. With open hearts and open ears we pray, Amen.

Young at Heart Message

When I was a kid – maybe 10 or 12 years old - I lived on a cul-de-sac where there were three other houses besides mine.

There was another family with two girls who were similar ages as me and my sister – the older girl was a year older than me, and the younger girl was in my sister’s grade.
​
Behind my house was a line of trees, and behind that line of trees was a subdivision.
 
Directly beyond those trees was another house where a girl lived who was also a year older than me.
 
There were not a lot of kids my age who lived near enough to our house for me to get there quickly or easily.
 
So often, the other kids I would play with were the two girls who were a year older than me, my sister, and the girl who was my sister’s age.
 
The problem with this arrangement was that the two older girls would often bully me.
 
I was a year younger than they were, so we didn’t “hang out” with the same group of friends at school.
 
My sister and the younger girl were typically relieved from the bullying because they were young enough to be in a totally different school than me and the two older girls.
 
So, I was often the one who was bullied in this “friendship.” And by “friendship,” I really mean a strange relationship which ebbed and flowed, and most often I was only “friends” with the two older girls when they needed or wanted something from me.
 
Otherwise, we weren’t friends so much as I was the one who got picked on or bullied.
 
I don’t recall what exactly they did to me one day, but I’d had enough.
 
I didn’t know how to make my situation better, so I decided to write a letter to the girl who was the worst bully and put it in her mailbox.
 
The letter, however, wasn’t supposed to be from me, per se.
 
Instead, I wrote it as though I was one of the more popular girls in their grade, and as such, I was going to bully them if they didn’t stop bullying other people.
 
It was, at best, a useless threat. Of course it was only intended to scare them into stopping their bullying and be nice to me.
 
And of course, it didn’t work.
 
The mother of one of the girls reached out to my mother and told her about the letter.
 
My mom, then, asked me about it. I wasn’t good at lying, especially to my parents, so I began to cry and explain why I did it.
 
My mom understood that I felt bullied, but she also said I needed to apologize to the girl I sent the letter to.
 
This felt really unfair – after all, she had been bullying me!
 
Nonetheless, we arranged an afternoon after school to go over to her house so I could apologize.
 
I was mortified, I have to admit. I was also full of guilt and shame.
 
So, we walked into the girl’s house, and I mustered up the courage to apologize for sending the note.
 
After my apology, the girl just said “OK!” and that was the end of it.
 
She said nothing else. She didn’t forgive me. She didn’t blame me or yell at me. Just “OK!” and all was well.
 
It was awkward, and puzzling at the same time.
 
In hindsight, I think she probably felt just as guilty and ashamed as I did. Her mom probably talked to her about bullying as well, and she probably wanted it to be over just as much as I did.
 
But, neither of us really received closure or forgiveness. And, while I did have reason to apologize, it felt unfair that she had reason to apologize as well, but didn’t.
 
She had been the one who was so mean to me that I felt like I had no other options!
 
And yet, the incident and my apology taught us both an important lesson, I think, about how to treat others and about how to resolve conflict.
 
I suspect that neither of us realized the lesson we were learning at the time, though.
 
I can tell you that I kept the letter and I put it in a spot in my bedroom with a big note on it that said:
 
Don’t do this again!
 
This situation may seem silly as I look back on it today, but through these lessons we learn as young people, we somehow manage to move into adulthood with some skills for handling situations like this again if needed.
 
And, we also learn lessons about forgiveness and bringing about a sense of wholeness.
 
I didn’t receive forgiveness from this girl – not really. And she didn’t receive forgiveness from me.
 
So how do these lessons and the lesson we heard in today’s Gospel message help us better understand forgiveness?
 
How do these stories help us better understand how we learn and grow as people?
 
The Message
 
As I was researching for today’s sermon, I read an interview with Chanequa Walker-Barnes, a womanist theologian and clinical psychologist who is also Professor of Practical Theology and Pastoral Care at Columbia Theological Seminary.
 
I wish it made sense to read the entire interview because she has so much of value to say about forgiveness.
 
She offers the following definition of forgiveness as part of the interview:
 
She talks about forgiveness as “an internal process that is directed outwardly. It’s directed toward another person, and it is the process of letting go of the hostility that we have toward a person that we perceive as having wronged us.”
 
She goes on to say, “People often think forgiveness has to be contingent upon something the wrongdoer does — they have to repent, we have to reconcile, we have to restore the relationship, and they have to change…
 
“…That keeps our emotional process held hostage to another person’s issues. Forgiveness is a way of taking our power back and saying, ‘I have my own feeling that needs to be done.’ Part of that [feeling] is my image of the other person, which is separate from the wrongdoer’s process. That’s even separate from the relationship. One thing understanding forgiveness as an internal process does is empower us to take control of that process.”
 
In other words, when we think of forgiveness as only being possible if the other person does something to warrant our forgiveness, we may never find ourselves able to forgive.
 
But, if we re-imagine forgiveness as an internal process, it becomes a process that we have control over, whether the other person acknowledges their wrongdoing or not.
 
And, it allows us to move beyond the outdated notion of “forgive and forget,” because often, forgetting harm that was done is not possible.
 
There are some people in our lives who will never admit they’ve hurt us.
 
Hurt is defined by the person who feels hurt, so it is possible for us to feel hurt by something and for the person who hurt us to either not realize, or not care, that they hurt us.
 
People can also be fully aware that they have hurt us, but be too damaged or unwilling to admit they’ve hurt us to ever be able to apologize or admit to wrongdoing.
 
Hurt can also go both ways, like in the case of my example from when I was a kid.
 
I was incredibly hurt and feeling quite bullied.
 
And yet, the neighbour girl was probably hurt by my actions, too. And, frankly, I intended to hurt her because she had hurt me.
 
So, forgiveness can be complicated.
 
This is why Jesus’s answer to Peter’s question, “How many times should I forgive someone who does something wrong to me? Is seven times enough?” is not predictable – it’s infinite.
 
In the translation we read today, Jesus says “not just 7 times, but 77 times!”
 
In other translations, it appears as “70 times 7.”
 
In other words, Jesus’s math is infinite.
 
Forgiveness needs to be an internal process which works to heal our own hearts.
 
This is true whether we are the one who was wronged and is trying to forgive someone else, or if we are the one who hurt someone and are seeking forgiveness.
 
Jesus isn’t telling Peter that forgiveness is easy. If anything, he’s telling Peter that it can be incredibly difficult!
 
And yet, we are called to seek forgiveness and to forgive.
 
And, we can rest assured in our own grace and forgiveness in Christ.
 
This is not to say that we should live our lives however we’d like, hurting people for the sake of hurting them!
 
It is also not the case that we should not seek restoration and forgiveness.
 
But regardless of how successful we are at asking forgiveness for our trespasses, and forgiving those who trespass against us, we are forgiven through Christ nonetheless.
 
Grace abounds through Christ, even as we continue to seek understanding, forgiveness, and love for ourselves and for others.
 
According to Dr. Terrence Lester, “Forgiveness is a boundless wellspring of grace. Repair is vital, both within ourselves and in our relationships with others…
 
“…These stories encourage us to embrace the transformative power of forgiveness and work toward reconciliation and healing.
 
They inspire us to open ourselves to the expansive grace of God.
 
By doing so, we can create a world where forgiveness mends what is broken, and where the beauty of repair shines through, illuminating our shared humanity.”
 
Amen.
 
Let us pray:
 
God of Grace, today we ask you to teach us how to forgive. We’ve learned today that forgiveness can be a difficult and deeply personal process. Teach us ways to offer forgiveness to others, even if they have not asked for it, in order to heal our own hearts. Likewise, teach us to forgive ourselves and recognize when we may need to ask for forgiveness from others. Help us to recognize that forgiveness can take time, on either end.
 
Teach us how to become whole again, to work toward restoration of our souls, and help us remember that we receive Your grace even if we struggle with forgiveness, either for ourselves or for others.
 
All of this we pray today in your name. Amen.

​The Message
 
When I was running my dog daycare, one thing was always inevitable.
As soon as I would start thinking to myself, “wow, things have been running really smoothly lately,” or, “maybe I do actually know what I am doing,” something bad or challenging would happen, or something would come up that I had no idea how to handle.
Every single time.
 
I could never get too big of an ego, because as soon as I would start to feel pretty confident, God would humble me in one way or another.
 
It was like whiplash, or a horrible roller coaster ride that never ended.
 
It feels like we’ve been on a roller coaster ride with Peter, too.
 
Today’s scripture came directly on the heels of last week’s scripture.
 
Last week, we heard Jesus ask his disciples, “who do you say that I am?” And his disciples first tell him who other people say he is – John the Baptist, Elijah, or Jeremiah, perhaps.
 
Jesus asks again, ”who do you say that I am,” and Peter answers him that he’s the Messiah.
 
Jesus changes his name from Simon to Peter, and then tells him he’s the rock on which the church was built and gives him the keys to the kingdom.
 
Now this week, we hear, quite literally in the very next line, this story in which Jesus tells his disciples what was going to happen to him – that he will suffer terribly, he will be killed, and he will rise again three days later.
 
Then, Peter takes Jesus aside and tells him to stop talking like that.
 
In Peter’s worldview and what he understands of the Messiah, God would not allow this to happen to the Messiah.
 
So Jesus rebukes him, calls him Satan, and tells him to get away from him.
 
What?!
 
What just happened??
 
It’s like a rollercoaster ride and we just got whiplash! How does Peter go from being the rock on which Christ’s church will be built, to Satan in a matter of a few sentences?
 
Well, what do we tend to do when our world unravels and our beliefs are tested?
 
Often, we tend to cling to what we know.
 
We’ve discussed in past weeks that Peter and the other disciples understand the concept of the Messiah from the worldview they have always known – that of the Jewish belief in the coming Messiah.
 
Jesus telling them that he’s going to suffer, be killed, and rise again, is completely outside of their scope of understanding of what the Messiah should be and do.
 
So, as Jesus foretells his death and resurrection, Peter protests. Peter is fixed upon the way he thinks things should go and he resists the pain of what is to come.
 
At the same time, Jesus is fixed upon his calling, and he therefore calls Peter out.
 
For all of us, there comes a time (or maybe several times) when our faith is tested and we have to face difficult and inconvenient truths.
 
In these times, we may desire to take the easier path – the path with less pain or less difficulty or fewer obstacles in the way.
 
In these moments, we may want to cling to the easier, more simplistic answers.
 
But, what if instead of choosing the easier path, we welcomed complexity?
 
What if we were able to stay fixed upon our convictions while also opening our minds to expanding our perspective or our worldview?
 
This is essentially what is happening to Peter.
 
His worldview and his concept of the Messiah still has not caught up to where Jesus actually is.
 
He is essentially experiencing cognitive dissonance which occurs when a person holds two related but contradictory thoughts.
 
Peter just declared that Jesus is the Messiah, but he still believes that the Messiah should look and act in certain ways.
 
So when he sees and hears Jesus talk about things he doesn’t yet believe a Messiah should have to face, he doesn’t know how to handle it.
 
And Jesus is faced with the difficult knowledge of his own pain, suffering, death, and resurrection.
 
He’s not in a position to have anyone question this knowledge, because even though he knows it’s coming and accepts his fate, he doesn’t need anyone causing him to question his call to his mission.
 
Between last week’s scripture and this week’s, we see tremendous growth on Peter’s part.
 
He is faced with significant challenges to his worldview.
 
We can probably relate to this – there are people we might encounter in the world, or situations we might encounter that do not fit our expectations or our worldview at all.
 
When this happens, we may initially feel like Peter. We may be resistant to the newness of the concepts or the idea that there are people in the world who are very different than us.
 
In those moments, we might be like Peter.
 
We might want to pull the person aside and say “hey, what are you doing? This isn’t right and I don’t approve.”
 
We might want to fight learning about new concepts because it’s outside the scope of understanding we have always known.
 
But Peter shows us that when we encounter something that is outside of our scope of understanding, it is possible to adjust our understanding to include the new concept or person or idea.
 
Jesus’ response in this passage may not feel very loving toward Peter. But I would argue that Jesus feels comfortable enough to respond this way because he loves and trusts Peter completely.
 
Jesus trusts Peter enough to know that he is still struggling to understand concepts that had previously been foreign to him – or at least vastly different than what Peter was taught and what he has always known.
 
And he trusts him enough to rebuke him because he has such high expectations for him as the rock on which the church will be built.
 
Jesus trusts that Peter will be able to confront his worldview, be open to the complexity of the dissonance, and work on expanding his perception and understanding.
 
And because he trusts him and loves him so deeply, he gives him the space to do this.
 
Peter has an opportunity to learn from this, and to learn from Jesus.
 
It reminds me of Morgan Freeman talking about how God answers prayers in the movie Evan Almighty.
 
He says, “If someone prays for patience, do you think God gives them patience? Or does He give them the opportunity to be patient? If they prayed for courage, does God give them courage, or does he give them opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for their family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?”
 
Jesus was giving Peter an opportunity to choose to open his mind and expand his conception of what a Messiah should be.
 
Just like each time I experienced whiplash when I was running my daycare, and I would just start to feel like I knew what I was doing, God would give me opportunities to learn even more.
 
It often felt to me like God was just really trying to take me down a peg – or 10.
 
But, each challenge was a chance for me to grow as a business owner, a dog trainer, and as a person.
 
And, I would argue that each of these challenges set me up to become a better pastor, too, because they often helped me learn how to work better with people, and how to expand my worldview and step outside of my comfort zone.
 
So what can we learn from Peter, once again, today?
 
We experience challenges to our worldviews just like Peter did. And, we don’t always handle those challenges with grace, much like Peter’s initial reaction.
 
And yet, despite the fact that God knows we will stumble sometimes – we will question and wonder and feel uncertain, and we might even pull God aside and say “what are you doing? This is too much for me.”
 
And through all of it, God will not stop loving us.
 
God might give us opportunities to grow and expand our worldviews, but it is done out of love.
 
Even if in the moment it might feel to us like it’s too much, or like we are being tested, or maybe even that God has given up on us.
 
But through all of that, God remains steadfast in his love for us, and today’s lesson is a beautiful reminder of that love. Amen.
 
Let us pray:
 
Listening God, If we could attach ourselves to you, we would. We would scribble your scripture onto our tender hearts. We would weave your good news into the fiber of our being. We would bind ourselves to you, but instead, we wander. Instead of attaching ourselves to you, we find ourselves swept up in the business of the day. Like a seesaw of faithfulness, we move back and forth, up and down, constantly trying to find you in the midst of it all.
 
So thank you for speaking clearly to us now. Thank you for quieting the distractions long enough for us to affix ourselves to your good news. We are listening. We are hungry. We are hopeful. Amen.

​Young at Heart Message
 
We are going to begin today’s message a bit differently than normal.
 
One of the reasons I enjoy using Sanctified Art as a resource is because they provide art that is unique to each week’s theme.
 
So, today, I would like us to look at and think about the art that goes with today’s scripture and theme.
 
As we look at the art, I would like to provide some of the information about the piece that the artist provided in their statement about the image.
 
Then, I’d like for us to think about how this image might relate to today’s message.
 
So, let’s start by simply taking a few silent moments to look at the piece of art and take it all in.
 
What meaning might we find in this piece of art?
How does it relate to today’s scripture?

​The artist states: 
 
“In this image, I wanted to create a kaleidoscope of perception, imaging the ways Jesus is perceived in the context of this passage, like light broken down into a myriad of shapes and colors.”
 
Let’s look a little closer at each of the elements the artist chose to depict.
 
In the gold rays of light Jesus’ form is obscured by the metallic shine of God’s glory.

​In the gray and earth-tone rays he is seen in monochrome.
 
Each of the earth-tone rays holds a pattern on Jesus’ clothing which represents a misunderstanding of who Jesus is.

​Starting in the monochrome slice on the left, honey, locusts, and baptismal waters misidentify him as John the Baptist.

​Within the next ray to the right, ravens, an empty chair, rain, and fires from the heavens misidentify him as Elijah.

​On the right, scales of justice and plants being uprooted and planted misidentify him as Jeremiah.

​Through the middle of the image, there is a ray of light where the image comes into full color that holds this moment of clarity where Jesus and Peter truly see one another.

​In this ray, Peter’s clothing holds symbols of his new identity: a rock upon which the church will be built and keys to the kingdom.

​Jesus’ clothing holds imagery—an oil jar and the light of the sun—representing the way Peter sees him as the Messiah and Son of the living God.

​Did you see all of that imagery when you first looked at the full piece of art?
 
I definitely didn’t. But I can appreciate the explanation and now, when I look at the full image, I can see deeper meaning, especially as it relates to today’s scripture.
 
Let’s look one more time at the whole image and take a moment to piece the entire thing together before we move into the next part of the message.

​The Message
 
What does all of this mean for us today? What is this story about Peter teaching us?
 
We don’t really know from today’s scripture if this was a moment of clarity for Peter, if he was just regurgitating the answer he thought Jesus wanted to hear, or if he was trying to convince himself that dropping everything and following this man was worth it, but we generally consider this passage to be a breakthrough for Peter.
 
He does still falter a bit as we get closer to Jesus’ betrayal, but this passage is definitely a turning point and a significant event in Peter’s life (and in Jesus’ ministry).
 
Jesus fully sees Peter as more than Simon - fisherman and son of Jonah. He renames him Peter, the blessed foundation through which his ministry would take root and continue to grow.
 
Jesus sees Peter through the eyes of God.
 
And, Peter sees Jesus as more than a teacher and companion.
 
He sees through the veil of confusion concerning Jesus’ identity. He doesn’t see him as the reincarnation of a former prophet, or another contemporary baptizer pointing the way.
 
He names Jesus as the “anointed one,” the one his people have so desperately longed for. Peter proclaims Jesus as Messiah and Son of the living God.
 
This mutual realization that both Jesus and Peter have in this passage, and the significance of the renaming of Peter and properly identifying Jesus as the Messiah is incredibly important.
 
We must remember that the Jews conceptualized the idea of the Messiah differently than the ways that Jesus actually personified the Messiah.
Jesus was not what they expected, so they spend most of his ministry resetting their expectations and questioning a lot of what Jesus does.
 
The fact that Jesus asks Peter who he is, and Peter’s response identifying him as the Messiah is significant because Jesus has been misidentified several times previously as another prophet.
 
When Jesus first asks the disciples who they say he is, they respond with what other people have been saying about him – that he’s John the Baptist, or Elijah, or Jeremiah.
 
But Jesus presses them and challenges them to think for themselves.
 
In doing so, he prompts Peter to identify him properly and clear up any confusion.
 
Then, Jesus renames Peter.
 
The idea of naming and identification carries tremendous meaning, both for us today and for Peter then.
 
Peter is honored by being told he will be the rock on which the church is built.
 
The change of his name here is a reminder that names are important, they carry meaning, and changing names can carry tremendous weight for people – both today and in the time of Jesus.
 
People change names for reasons that are important and significant to them. The fact that Peter chose to go by his new name demonstrates how honored he felt that Jesus chose that name for him.
 
There are several characters in the Bible whose names are changed.
 
Each time, once the name has been changed, other characters in the texts immediately begin using the new name.
 
It demonstrates that even in the ancient world, naming and properly identifying people carries significant weight. It is important, even to Jesus, and to the rest of us as well, to be properly identified.
 
It is part of who we are, and helps us to create meaning in our lives and relationships with others.
 
Peter was not only honored, but also humbled by being renamed and being told that he was the rock on which Christ’s church would be built.
 
He also demonstrates the grace that Jesus offers to all of us.
 
Peter wasn’t perfect, we know that.
 
Jesus sought out Peter, Jesus rescued him, and now Jesus offers him grace and space to recognize him as the Messiah even as he questioned him previously.
 
Jesus also knew Peter would deny him again in the future.
And still Jesus honored him with his new name, the trust to be the rock on which the church would be built, and the key to Christ’s kingdom.
 
This imperfect disciple who questions and wonders, and who carries throughout the Gospels a Wandering Heart is still honored and loved and trusted by Christ.
 
And the Good News we receive through this passage is that if Christ can love this imperfect man this much, he can and does love us, too.
 
Christ names us, identifies us, seeks us, rescues us, and welcomes us to join him on the mountaintop. All we need to do is accept his invitation. Amen.
 
Let us pray:
 
Holy God, For generations people have bowed their heads, have prayed the Psalms, have asked for your presence in their lives. For generations people have whispered, “May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable and pleasing to you, O God.” For generations we have gathered here, we have quieted our minds, we have prayed to feel your presence in our midst.
 
So, just like the generations before us, we turn our hearts to You. Still our busy minds so that we might truly comprehend what you have said to us today. With joy and hope we pray, Amen.