It had been a lovely evening, a wonderful second date. The movie had been a bit of a chick flick, but had enough humor to keep them both laughing. The pizza was tasty and she had even tried a slice from his shrimp side. The walk through the cool autumn air had been refreshing; they strolled hand in hand. Like with their first date, they had talked about almost every subject imaginable and their chatter had been nonstop. Then she brought everything to a halt. Innocently she had said, “I know you are Presbyterian, I’m unchurched, so tell me about Jesus.” After a thirty second pause he replied, “I don’t know what to say.”
Why is it so easy for us to talk about some things, yet next to impossible to talk about others? You can get a grandmother to talk for hours about the accomplishments of her grandchildren; ask her to tell you about Jesus Christ and suddenly her lips are sealed. Ask a company CEO to explain the intricacies of the most recent merger and he will talk nonstop; ask him to tell you how he came to believe that Jesus is Lord and you get silence. Take the most gifted lawyer who is fearless before a judge and ask her to speak in church for five minutes about what she believes and she is filled with lip-sealing panic.
Most families have an unspoken rule; they don’t talk about religion or politics. Why? The politics side I understand. In this day and age, you better check a person’s bumper stickers before you tell a Trump joke. This religion thing is much harder to explain, especially for those of us who claim to be Christians. It is particularly hard to comprehend the shyness when we consider Jesus’ last words to his disciples according to Matthew,
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
How can we fulfill the great commission if we are not even willing to talk about what we believe?
Long ago, during an event Matthew portrayed as the watershed moment of his gospel, a profound public statement was made. At Caesarea Philippi Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” Immediately the hands shot up and they began blurting out answers, “John the Baptist, Moses, Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” On and on they went giving the stock answers like eager children in a classroom.
Then Jesus turned up the heat, “But who do you say that I am?” You can almost see the panic on disciple’s faces, looking at one another shrugging their shoulders and saying, “What do want us to say.”
Things change when the questions become personal. Speak up. I don’t care what 9 out of 10 Americans think I want to know what you think. Then the impulsive one, good old Simon came to the rescue. His hand shot up and waved back and forth, “Call on me, call on me, I know the answer, oo – oo -oo” Finally, unable to contain himself any longer he just blurted it out, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” There must have been an audible sigh of relief from Jesus, “Well, at least one of you has been paying attention!”
Jesus went on to give him the name Cephas, Peter, meaning rock. Jesus pointed out that in this confession the foundation of our faith is set, the very structure upon which his church is built. The rock is not only the substance of Peter’s words, but the very act of confessing them. In a sense, Peter’s confession was a sign that the words of Jesus were actually getting through to his followers; they were beginning to internalize his teachings. They were no long just followers; they were becoming real disciples, his students.
By including this story in his gospel, Matthew has revealed a powerful truth about the nature of the church and the Christian faith. Faith is a very public matter. Think about this, when and where do the acts of Baptism, Affirmation of Faith and Confirmation take place? They take place in the midst of public worship. In fact, our Directory of Worship prohibits private baptismal services. When a baptism takes place apart from a worship service, members and leaders of the congregation should be present to ensure that it is seen as an extension of public worship. Before others we make our public confession, “Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior.” It is not a private matter. There are even times we reaffirm that faith in public by sharing a great confession of the church, usually the Apostle’s Creed.
Yes, in this story Matthew is telling us something very crucial about the nature of the church and its faith. Faith is something to be shared. As Jesus reminded his disciples in his Sermon on the Mount, one does not light a lamp and place it under a basket, you display it on a lamp stand.
This summer, the church embarked on a journey, the Kind Haven journey. As a unique and positive way of celebrating the nation’s 250th anniversary, most of us made pledges to spend the summer doing kind things for others. In fact, many of you have been wearing shirts or posting signs on your lawns affirming that promise. What if someone approached you and asked you why you were wearing that shirt or posting that sign? What would you say? Oh, I know the standard answer, our church has this be kind campaign going on for the summer. However, could you share the reason behind it all, share who Jesus was and is and why we would want to be kind in his name, why we would want to spread his love? What do you believe and why do you believe it? What does it mean so say, “Jesus is Lord?” Do you really believe it? Why are you really wearing that shirt; speak up, I can’t hear you.
A young father said after the tragic death of his beloved daughter, “I never thought much about the resurrection. I never needed to, until now. Now everything hinges on what I believe to be true about the end.” Speak up! Who cares what 9 out of 10 Americans think; what do you think?
Will Willimon, former Dean of the Chapel at Duke University writes about a time a good friend came to him one night and said, “Let’s go for a drive.” Having no idea what was going on he got his hat and coat and followed the friend to his car. They drove a bit and then pulled over. There was some idle chit-chat. Then the friend said to Willimon, “You know all those sermons you preach, all those ideas you spout off about from Sunday to Sunday.”
“Yep,” replied Willimon.
“Well,” the friend began, “we’re just about to find out if I believe all that stuff or not. We’re about to find out if I am really on board with this faith or not.”
Willimon, asked, “Are you trying to tell me something?
“I’ve just found out that I’ve got cancer,” the friend said flatly. “They think they found it early. They want to do some more tests, then treatments. But I know it’s not just the cancer and the tests. This is my day for a religious exam. We’re about to find out what my faith is made of.”
The man was right. Such times are in and of themselves are examinations of our faith, tests of our seriousness concerning our personal theology. They are occasions for us to speak up and not only say, but to live what we believe.
I have worn many hats in my life. One of them has been to serve as the president of Rotary Clubs three times. I have noticed that it seems to be easier for service club members, who also happen to be church members, to talk about Rotary than to talk about their faith. It is interesting, Rotary encourages its members to create an “elevator speech” to talk about its work, something you can share in the time it takes one to ride an elevator. What if each of us had an elevator speech about our faith to share when someone asks us about Jesus or our church? Perhaps we are caught off guard when we are asked about our faith because we have never really thought about it. What would you say if someone asked you to talk about Jesus?
We may not have all the answers to life’s greatest questions and we may not even have all the fancy theological words to say what we believe. However, we still have a personal way to locate ourselves in life. It is our relationship with God established through Jesus Christ. “Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior.” That belief is the bedrock of our faith. Let us not be shy in declaring it. Let us speak up so others may hear! Let us live out our faith for others to see!