A way to live a mission in the wider world.
To be able to see the God of love and justice at work in the tangle of today’s systems is God’s work in you.
Based on Matthew 16:13-20
A way to live a mission in the wider world based on Matthew 16:13-20, a reading from the Revised Common Lectionary for the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, 8/27/17.
Jesus asks the twelve who do they think he is. They answer that others say John the Baptist or one of the prophets. Jesus presses for what they themselves, say. Simon answers, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus blesses Simon and says God revealed this to Simon, not any other person. Jesus renames Simon as Peter. Peter is based on “petros” a work for “rock.” It is a nickname and has not appeared before in either Aramaic [Jesus’ languages] or Greek. Jesus goes on to say this rock, this confession of faith that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, will be the foundation of the church and Hell [Hades] will not prevail against it. [Note: the “rock” is not Peter; it is belief in Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God.] Jesus goes on to say that Peter has the power to lay down rules for living and power to forgive when the rules are broken. [This power is given to all the disciples as in Matthew 10:13-15, 18:18, and John 20:23.]
A theme: To believe that God was and is uniquely present in Jesus Christ is God’s own work in each believer.
