Jesus and the Church: Week 6

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0:00 So we've been looking the last several weeks at the role of the church and life of Jesus. And part of the reason for doing that is because we've had this little church form out there for folks to be filling out and thinking about how we can be church together. And sometimes I feel like based on whether it's our past experience of church or the business of life, church can feel like a burden or one extra thing. And the goal for me as I look at the life of Jesus is that the church ought to be this

0:33 life-giving entity that gives us a place to fully be ourselves, that we serve and that serves us. So we've been looking at the role of the church and the life of Jesus. And if you remember, Jesus not spurning the practices but going through the right of circumcision and what that tells us about God and then learning from the rabbis and these child as the family is coming in big family groups up to the festival days and spending there

1:05 asking questions of the church leaders. Struck me that what it says about God that he would trust people to teach Jesus rather than just teaching them themselves. And then talked about what it means that Jesus goes through the waters of repentance and what that means for us, the potential in repentance to be redemptive rather than guilt-ridden and chain-based. And we talked about like this role of Jesus to announce his coming in the local church

1:40 when he goes there and reads, I have come to preach liberty to the captives, freedom to the poor, that he comes for a certain type of people. And then lastly, we talked about this thing where he picks fights almost with the Pharisees it seems like. Well, the Pharisees pick fights with him. In Jesus, what I normally had read is like Jesus antagonizing and being exacerbated by the Pharisees. Last week when we looked at that exchange around the Sabbath, it occurred to me that

2:12 maybe Jesus is exhibiting extreme patience on behalf or towards the church. Whereas like you have this great gift of the Sabbath and you're almost there. If you could practice the Sabbath in light of the first three commandments, then you would start to realize it is liberating and life-giving rather than inhibiting and constricting. And just as he aggravates them enough, putting back on their notions of Sabbath, he withdraws in this relationship of Jesus to the church in the first century is where he keeps trying

2:44 to call them into the fullest expression of who they're intended to be while fulfilling the requirements that they can't meet themselves. And this week I want to look at where things start to turn for Jesus and the church. It's a story that's recorded in several of the accounts of the Gospels, but the one that I want to look at is in Matthew chapter 17. If you want to look there with me, Matthew chapter 17.

3:19 Actually, Matthew chapter 16. 17 is a really cool story and it's another one of those I mentioned the week right after Christmas was a text when I was learning to preach with seminary was a text I got a lot the story of the circumcision of Jesus of Anna and Simeon because it's the message that no pastor wants to preach right after Christmas where he's preaching Christ and Eve and all this stuff. Then he gives the intern the day after Christmas.

3:50 Matthew chapter 17 I got all the time too because it was it's still a transfiguration. Sunday was a Sunday people didn't want to do for one reason or another. So I got that story a lot. So I love that story, but we're going to go right before that because if the story Matthew tells just before the mouth of transfiguration that really sets up all the story of the transfiguration but it gives us a glimpse at the role of the church how Jesus is starting to imagine what the church can be after his incarnation life death resurrection.

4:23 So in Matthew chapter 16 verse 13 is where I want to look. The rain sounds nice in here. It sounds nice now I used to give me I used to get jumpy when it rained even when I wasn't here Kevin because there was so many leaks I would think about what was getting wet but now we can just enjoy it. Matthew chapter 16 verse 13. Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples who do people

5:01 stay to the Son of Man and accessory Philippi if you remember several weeks ago we started thinking about Jesus moving around and I turned around so I can imagine the map with you and we're on the same place right. And so the Sea of Galilee is here the Dead Seas down here the Jordan River connects them Jerusalem here Nazareth here along the Sea of Galilee and around us where Jesus does much of his teaching right. He's on the north shore fishing village on the north shore where a lot of the disciples

5:31 come from Bethsaida is right there on the north side as well and Jesus spends a lot of time to sermon on the Mount he comes up on a little mountain on the side of the Sea of Galilee when he walks on water he actually walks on water on the Sea of Galilee. So that's where Philippi is north and east of the Sea of Galilee about as far north as he goes it's a Roman town that's not there anymore it's only ruins and there was a temple to the God Pan there it was it was not a particularly Israelite place though there was diaspora

6:07 there and Jesus so he's kind of out on the outskirts of where he's going to go is he's going out to Caesarea Philippi and I mentioned that because you can hear a degree of vulnerability in his question he's been viewing ministry for a while these twelve guys have been walking around with him for a while he's like bumped into the Pharisees he's fed some folks he's healed some folks he's preached and you can feel the vulnerabilities he kind of retreats a little bit up north out of the main area and he says hey guys what are people saying

6:42 about me it's like a weird thing to ask right I have a friend who does some like helps CEOs with like leadership strategy and stuff and I learned one of the first things he does is what she calls a 360 degree review or something have you ever heard that where they go around and they ask all the direct reports to the CEO anonymously what he's like or what she's

7:12 like you know and and so that they get all this anonymous feedback on what it's like to work with this person and then that's where they start their leadership training here's a full view of who people think you are right here's you have this conception of who you are in your head here's how you're coming off to the people around you and you can imagine that would be a really interesting experience if you asked my wife and my children who I was

7:42 what it was like to be with me or maybe the the people that I work with in different settings Jesus has these like 11 dudes who he's like he went out and found like these these 11 guys didn't find him he went out and picked him from behind the task collector's booth from off the fisherman's boat right like he went out and got these guys and they've been following him around for a period of time now and he's been doing work and he's been healing people that's really good and

8:15 he's been feeding people like that's really great like he's been doing good work but you can still hear a degree of vulnerability hey who are people saying that I am now when Jesus came into the district of Sesseria Philippi he asked his disciples who do people say that the son of man is last thing I'll say about this this this story must have made a real impression on these 11 because it is recorded in so many of the gospels it's stuck with them so like Matthew was probably

8:46 there when Jesus asked this question he was one of the 12 but like Mark wasn't but Mark has this story right now when Jesus came into the district of Sesseria Philippi he asked his disciples who do people say that the son of man is and they said some say John the Baptist and others say Elijah this would be one strain of thought that say when we read the prophets the Old Testament prophets the Jewish Bible it says that there is a prophet who will come before the Messiah comes before the

9:22 delivering king comes and if you remember John the Baptist is just a little bit ahead of Jesus but before John the Baptist there was no convincing prophet in Israel for 400 years they had this whole history of people who very clearly spoke with the word of God spoke for God to people and then for 400 years nobody was around some people might try and say something but it was clear it didn't carry the same authority so that when Jesus goes around and starts preaching everybody recognizes

9:54 there's authority in what this guy's saying he must be one of the one of the prophets to come John the Baptist reincarnated or Elijah reincarnated Elijah come back from heaven John the Baptist come out of the grave maybe not reincarnated but come out of the grave right so there is a strain of thought that says Jesus is the prophet that comes before the delivering king which is reasonable based on the situation and others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets and he said to them

10:28 but who do you say that I am and Simon Peter replied you are the Christ this is the Greek word Messiah right the liberating thing we've been waiting for the son of the living God and Jesus the answer to this answer is so interesting to me because Jesus seems a little surprised and excited and Peter answers correctly so part of me thinks Peter

11:02 awkwardness her correctly right but Jesus says oh man blessed are you Simon son of Jonah for flesh and blood is not revealed as to you put my father who's in heaven first the next thing to think about is that Peter almost always of the 12 is the one who goes first so when Jesus is getting ready when you read the story of him walking on water sounds almost like he's going to walk

11:34 right by him and he just doesn't want to deal with him for the night at night time he'll just meet him on the other side of the water and they see him coming and call out to him and they're like if it's you tell us to come out to you it says come on out so then Peter gets out and it's not necessarily we don't think because Peter has more faith than everyone else but when you read the story of Jesus carefully it sounds like Peter's probably the oldest there might have been a pattern in rabbis to have several disciples one of which was older than the rest and that one was ready to

12:05 take the next mantle so whenever you see when the disciples are asked a question or when Jesus asked them in the group and Peter's the one to answer it's because probably Peter is fulfilling this role the oldest one when they pay the temple tax Jesus and Peter pays the temple tax the other ones don't and so when Jesus is asking the disciples who the people say that I am and they respond to some of the answers most people think you're one of the prophets then Jesus says who do you think I am Peter answers for himself but not just for himself for the whole for the for the for the

12:38 team for the guys for the disciples you are the liberating king the son of the living god and Jesus goes blessed are you man and this is why he says because you didn't figure this out by yourself he says you didn't figure this out by yourself

13:08 flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my father in heaven Paul would let's look at it real quick there's a Paul the Apostle Paul is writing the letter to the church in 1 Corinthians right when he's talking about the role of the spirit in the life of the church in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 he says now concerning spiritual gifts brothers I do not want you to be uninformed you know that when you were pagans you were legislative I mute idols

13:40 however you were mad therefore I want to understand no one's speaking in the spirit of god ever says Jesus occurs and no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit Paul is saying what we know is that if you recognize Jesus is the Messiah and believe it if you say with conviction Jesus the Lord the Holy Spirit is working inside of you Jesus is so excited when he asks the disciples who do you say I am and they come up with the truth that people are not recognizing yet

14:17 because he says this thing is starting to work the spirit is beginning to bubble up in the church where people are connecting dots that take the will of gods who accomplish God has willed that people might see that Jesus is the delivering king so the sun comes down and incarnates in the flesh and the spirit comes along to empower the work of the word to accomplish the will of the Father in the hearts of his people Jesus is so excited when Peter answers for the 12

14:52 it says you are the delivering king because he realizes that together with the spirit the spirit and the word are accomplishing the will of the Father that humanity is finding their way to their liberator again Jesus says blessed are you Peter as a recipient of the work of the spirit and the sun together according to the will of the Father you see the true liberating king

15:33 now how does that what does that have to do with the church look at his next phrase and Jesus answered and blessed are you Simon bargeona for flesh and blood is not revealed this to you but my father who is in heaven and I tell you you are Peter this is like an interesting play on words which has gone awry a little bit I wish he wouldn't have gotten cute here I wish he would have just said it but but in the Greek the word Peter and the word rock are very similar and so Jesus says you're Peter I tell you what Peter on this rock is petros I will build my church

16:09 and the gates of hell will not prevail against it Jesus has said this thing that's happening right now in you this capacity to recognize that that this son of god raised by carpenters and Mary in Nazareth spurned by the leadership subjugated by Rome who will be crucified as a kind of a political outsider blessed are you Peter who recognized that this one is the liberating king

16:41 and the capacity to see that Jesus of Nazareth is the liberating king is the building block of a whole new experience of church Jesus says on this rock this rock of faith I will build my church Jesus says I'm doing something different for people in the world right

17:11 I'm liberating them away from sacrificial systems and rules into a church built on faith faith that God gives gifts that God liberates that God reigns with authority overall that God is king faith to believe that is the cornerstone of the church and it starts right there it's worth mentioning just for you all briefly as we

17:47 think about how we are the church then that we are the church not because we look right not because we behave correctly we are the church not because we are successors right some people identified the the rock as Peter and then the right authority structures constitute the right church we are not the church because we have the right authority structures we are the church

18:22 because we are built on this bedrock of faith that Jesus of Nazareth is the liberating king and the way we get to that is a free gift of the Holy Spirit you and I are church because God has given us the capacity to believe in fits and starts imperfectly though it is the capacity to believe that Jesus of Nazareth is our liberating king and the king of all kings for the rest of whatever this is how we are church it's why we are church

18:57 the work of being the church is not becoming something it's believing something the work of of of living as church is not doing something it's allowing something to be done to you allowing yourself to be killed and allowing yourself to receive that free gift of faith that says that says Jesus of Nazareth is the king liberated me from every bondage and governing my life for the rest

19:29 of whatever this is the cornerstone of what it means to be the church in Jesus in this exchange with Peter seems genuinely excited because it's a glimpse that it's working when every interaction with disciples before this it looks like they're never going to figure it out and so he says blessed are you Peter you didn't figure this out God the father gave it to you last I want to go with what he says next for flexion blood is not revealed to you but my father who is in heaven verse 18 and I tell you you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall

20:04 not prevail against it verse 19 I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven and whenever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you lose on earth will be loosed in heaven and then he strictly charges the disciples to tell no one who is with Christ this is kind of weird hard to figure out until you start to think about what God is being ready to do he says this cornerstone on this cornerstone that's that Jesus is the Christ confessed with faith

20:34 I will build my church and then he says I'm going to give you the keys so that whatever you set loose in the world will be loosed in reality spiritual and physical heaven and earth and whatever you hold back will not be loosed and it's because Peter is about to be given the capacity to announce into the world the reign of God and when you announce the reign of God into the world he's saying the Holy Spirit will go with it remember on the hill and

21:07 galley when he gets ready to ascend Jesus says all authority in heaven on earth has been given to me therefore I commissioned you now to go there is this transfer of authority that happens in the church where where Jesus says I'm setting something up I'm building it on the bedrock of faith but then I'm giving you the capacity to announce into the world the the word of God to set loose the capacity to believe he's saying when you say out loud the things of of of the reign of God when

21:40 you say you're not the thumb total of your worst choices but all of your mistakes can be forgiven when you announce to people your eternity is secure I'm telling you this world is not enough for you there is something more for you when you announce the truth of the faith in the same way that God works through the spoken words of Jesus he'll work through the spoken words of his church

22:10 so that Jesus is saying on this rock of faith you'll stand and then I'll give you the capacity to set loose in the world the spirit of God this is what the church does announce the like truths that creates faith I mean most basic Jesus of Nazareth is king but but that takes all forms because he is king forgiveness reigns

22:42 Eternities are secure joy and peace are available to people Jesus is setting up the the operating principle of the church in this in this exchange with Peter and he says built on the rock of faith I'll give you the capacity to open the church to people to release the spirit onto people that they might stand on this rock with you on this rock I will build my church and the church will have the capacity to set loose things that

23:16 are true and hold back things that are false that feels like a complex idea but what I what I want you to hear from it this morning is that God not only gives you faith but also gives you faith that's good he also gives you the capacity to give permission to others to believe

23:53 and it comes as you announce the things that you believe are true you're allowed to tell people their sins are forgiven and when you do it is significant and important you're allowed to tell people that the God of the universe made them on purpose not by accident and has set aside a future for them and when you do it's significant it carries weight this is the job of the church in the world the set loose the truth and bind up lies and you and I get to do it every day this is the beginning

24:30 you are Peter and on this rock I'll build this build my church I love that Jesus recreates the church so that for us it's not rules and obligations but life and opportunity and I hope that we can be people who find the right ways to release that spirit of God in the world take a good opportunity to build the church together let me pray hey Lord give us the capacity to be your church well this week with faith and forgiveness

25:07 or make us people who receive your free gift of faith and then standing on that faith announce your truth to the world around us in Jesus name we pray