Who Could This Be?, The Rev. David R. Williams, Pentecost XIV--Year A--August 21, 2005

“So, what is going on? How am I doing? What are people saying?”

Jesus asks for feedback from his closest friends. “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

Unrevealed secrets, mystery undisclosed, hidden meanings seemed to be traits of Jesus’ relationship with his disciples. The disciples are not sure about Jesus. And Jesus is not sure about the disciples.

These followers of Jesus seek a key for understanding the nature of their friend and of their God. Every now and then Jesus turns to his friends with challenging questions, using parables, stories, and life experiences. Jesus probes to find out just how much his friends know. Sometimes he asks about himself. “What are people saying?”

Jesus’ questions are not new. Consider the introduction to the story of Moses. We heard the story read this morning. Who are these people – these Egyptians and Hebrew foreigners from another land?

We know how the foreigners came to Egypt – through the family of Joseph. The pharaoh of Egypt welcomed Joseph’s family with open arms. So, what has happened now many decades later? A new Pharaoh resides; generations have passed. Joseph’s family of Hebrews has exploded in numbers – far more now than native Egyptians. Joseph’s family has become a slave nation to Pharaoh.

Who are these people? What is their concern about the Hebrews and their growing population?

Why does Pharaoh become so anxious that he sends a decree to eliminate all male babies?

Most important of all who are the women in the story – all willing to break Pharaoh’s law. Midwives – Shiprah and Puah; Miriam, older sister of one baby, the mother of that baby and the daughter of Pharaoh. Who are they? Who do people say they are? Who do we say these women are?

And what of that poignant moment – the young giggly daughter of pharaoh, idly playing with her friends on the banks of the Nile River, and she sees a basket floating in the water. A whimper comes from the basket.

The young woman sees that the baby inside is a Hebrew boy. She knows her father’s decree is to destroy all Hebrew male babies.

Consider the moment.

Who is this woman? Standing on the bank of the river, she contemplates life and death. The decision she makes will determine the future of peoples, religions, civilizations, histories. Perhaps something far more than human whim is present in this moment by the Nile.

Who is she? Who do we say she is? Could she foreshadow the one we know as Mary, the mother of Jesus in later history?

All of these women break the rules. Who are they? Who do we say they are? What keys might we have to understand their deep love for life – a sustained, a cherished life?

Another time, another set of circumstances, geographically the same area of world. A nation of Jews – the nation Israel – has grieved deeply this past week as people of the same family have moved each other away from what has been considered their “home”. The settlers on Gaza strip have moved away, either forcefully or peacefully, but not happily.

Who are these people – these people of the Zionist interpretation of lands given by God? As these Jews settled – they, the more powerful, more wealthy, became surrounded by an exploding population of Palestinians. Over the years the Palestinian population has grown by leaps and bounds.

What irony. Several centuries before the reverse was true. The Jews overwhelmed and threatened the Arab Egyptians by shear numbers. Today the Arab Palestinians threaten the Jewish nation with their numbers.

Who are these people – these Palestinians; these Jews of Israel? Who do we say they are – these neighbors, living tragedy after tragedy with chronic division, violence and death? Both claim historic and religious roots in the same holy city of Jerusalem.

What might be the key for better understanding, better relations from these God loving; God-fearing people?

“Who do people say I am?” Jesus says. “More important, who do you say I am?” Reveal the secret from your own heart?

“You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God,” Peter speaks from his heart, providing the seed, the rock for what you and I call the Christian Church. A secret is revealed; a key is turned; a new institution is born.

Jesus’ question, “Who do you say that I am?” endures, however. Nicholas Kristof, columnist for the New York Times said in an article last spring, “On Easter, more Anglicans will attend church in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda – each – than Anglicans and Episcopalians together will attend service in Britain, Canada and the United States combined.

“Who do you say that I am?” Jesus asks.

“More Roman Catholics will celebrate Easter Mass in the Philippines than in any European Country,” Kristof says.

“The largest church in the world is in South Korea. And more Christians will probably attend Easter services in China than in all of Europe together.”

“In short, for the first time since it began two millenniums ago, Christianity is no longer Western.”

“Where faith is easy, it is fading; where it’s a challenge it thrives…”

Who are those courageous women in Egypt as baby Moses is pushed in a basket onto the Nile River? Who do we say they are?

Who is the young unmarried maiden answering the angel’s shocking news about her impending pregnancy – “here am I. My soul magnifies the Lord?” Who is she? Who do we say she is?

Who are the people of the God – all the people of God: Palestinians, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, and Atheists? Who do we say we are?

What might be the key for understanding better?

An old Cherokee elder tells his grandson about a battle going on inside all people.

“My son, the battle is between two wolves. One wolf is Evil. IT is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other wolf is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, and compassion.

The grandson thinks about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?”

The grandfather simply replies, “the one you feed.”

“You Jesus, are the long awaited anointed one, the Messiah, the Son of the living God,” Peter blurts out from the depths of his soul.

And the key turns, ever more, as we, our children and our children’s children stand in faith with Peter, opening our hearts to the loving challenges and glorious mystery of God. A mystery, hopefully feeding the wolf of love and not the wolf of evil.

Amen.