Gracious God, how good it is to be here together on this September morning.  How blessed we are to be able to turn to you.  Strengthen us, deepen our faith and empower us to be your ambassadors in the world this week.  Startle us now with your love, open your word to our hearts and our hearts to your word.  In the spirit of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

Let us listen again to the text of the morning.  Saint Mark writes,  “Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi and on the way he asked his disciples, ‘who do people say that I am?’  and they answered him, ‘John the Baptist,’ and others ‘Elijah,’ and still others, ‘one of the prophets.’  He asked then, ‘But who do you say that I am?’  Peter answered him, ‘You are the Messiah, the Christ.’  Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi…”

Again today we find Jesus on then move.  Have you notices that in the gospels - most especially in Mark’s gospel - Jesus always seems to be on the move?  You learn much about people (and sometimes about yourself) when you travel with them.  Nothing like a week of rain with folks in a cottage at the Cape or a cabin in the woods to bring out the best, or the worst, in family and friends.  So it was with Jesus and his traveling companions.  They knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses, hopes, dreams and fears.

In this morning’s gospel, Jesus and his friends are headed north from Galilee to Caesarea Philippi.  Their destination was the village of Penea, later called Caersarea Philippi.  When it became the domain of Herod Philip, he named it Caesarea Philippi, after you know whom.  A beautiful place at the foothills of Mt. Hermon, with its three peaks, 9,000 feet high.  Snow 75% of the year, with its melting snow and heavy rains creating a river that eventually formed the Sea of Galilee.  It was a playground for the rich.  They had their summer homes there.  Don’t ask me at coffee why Jesus took his disciples there.  I don’t know.  But he did!  Maybe a holiday, a mini-vacation, a long get-away weekend at the local motel six, where they always keep the light on for you.  I don’t know.

It was there he asked his disciples: “Who do people say that I am?  What do you hear?  What are folks saying in the market place and the local coffee shop?”  And they answered:  “Some say you are John the Baptist, others say Elijah, still others say you are one of the prophets, some say Jeremiah.”  Then Jesus looked those disciples squarely in the eye and asked:  “But who do you say that I am?”  Peter replies:  “You are the Messiah, the Christ.”

“Who do you say that I am?”, Jesus asks.  Wow!  That’s a tough question, isn’t it?  Easy to say what others are saying, but, what do you say?  What do you believe?  What are you willing to stake your life on?

You are invited to journey with Jesus.  It is an invitation to discipleship.  The challenging part about becoming a follower and friend of Jesus is you have to say something yourself.  It is called professing your faith.  It is known as witnessing.  Sharing your thoughts.  Some find this so very difficult.  They say, why I never discuss religion with my friends, once in a while, politics, but seldom religion.  That’s a private matter.  Others say, “I believe silence is golden.”  Or, “I learn more by listening than I do by talking.”  Who are we kidding?  As Fred Craddock points out in his exegeses on this verse, “You see, oftentimes you don’t even know what you believe until you hear yourself say it.”  And it is not enough to say you believe in God.  As we have seen, people do terrible things in the name of God, hating and killing in the name of God.  As someone wrote on the wall on a building after 9/11 “God, save us from those who say they are your friend.”

We believe in a God revealed in Jesus.  You want to know what God looks like, then look at Jesus.  In Jesus you see the face of God.  In Jesus God shows you God’s heart and hand, the purpose and the plan of God.  In Jesus, you see, God is a God of love and compassion and forgiveness:  To follow Jesus is to be a person of love, compassion and forgiveness.

I have a confession.  Even though you know the saying - “confession is good for the soul, but not for the reputation” - I don’t fully understand the divinity of Jesus.  Over the years, I have read a great deal about it and people talk to me about it.  I conclude that they really don’t know much about it either.  But, I do know this - I do know this:

I also know this.  Your confession and my confession of faith in Jesus as the Lord of our life is the starting place, it is the rock, the very foundation of your life.

Can you picture this?  Can you imagine this?  Jesus asking you this morning, who do you say that I am?  What would your answer be?  How would you respond?

Folks say that those of us in the United Church of Christ either believe very little, or, worse, do not know what we believe.  Folks say United Church of Christ, UCC, really means Unitarians considering Christ.  Folks say that in the United Church of Christ we have six commandments and four suggestions.  Don’t let them kid you.  We are a biblically-based church.  Our roots go deeply into the rich soil of the biblical path.  The Statement of Faith of the United Church of Christ, read earlier in this service, expresses eloquently the theological stance of the United Church of Christ.  It is, however, not a creed.  A creed is often used as a test of faith, something you have to accept before you can become a member.  Many of you come from a creedal church.  In our tradition the statement of faith is not a test, but a testimony.
In the United Church of Christ there is a commitment to what is known as “responsible freedom.”  As individual members we are free to believe and act in accordance with our understanding of God’s will for our lives, but always in the context of a loving covenental relationship with God and with each other.  What is your testimony?  How will you answer the question of Jesus, “Who do you say that I am?”  While you are coming to grips with the question, struggling to answer the question, how will you share your growing faith?

Jesus was not interested in his followers getting it all straight - having an advance degree in theological studies.  No, Jesus sent his disciples out into the world to witness God’s love and grace, God’s saving deeds in history.  Each of us is called by God in Christ to be the good news, to embody the good news and to share the good news of God’s gracious love.  It is called “Word and Deed Evangelism”.
Evangelism is a word which causes many to be uncomfortable.  United Church of Christ folk shy away from evangelism.  I think there are at least three reasons.

First, because of the image of so many television evangelists.  People feel, “If that is what evangelism is all about, no thanks.”  Second, because of what is known as “buttonhole evangelism: - stopping people at the supermarket and asking, “Are you saved?”  The third is the image of an evangelist as a “Debater or as an arguer.”

One came to my study one day in my former parish.  He knew I was a United Church of Christ pastor, so he just assumed I needed to be saved.  He began asking questions.  That is always the strategy.  And always it is this question, “Do you believe the Bible is the Word of God.?”  Well, yes I do.  I take the Bible seriously, but not literally.  Then he asks, “Do you know what it says in II Chronicles 14?”  Two confessions in the same sermon.  I had no idea what it says in II Chronicles 14.  Now he has me feeling like a dummy.  He tells you what it says.  Then immediately follows with other texts.  Soon you are overwhelmed with scripture, for you don’t know any of these obscure passages.  That is evangelism by debate.

Consider this as a definition of evangelism.  It is my favorite.  Evangelism is one starving person, telling another starving person where he or she found bread.  It is saying that in my church, in my life of faith, I have found something which is important and meaningful for me.  Won’t you come with me some Sunday and see if it will become meaningful and important for you?  Come and see what I have found.  No arguing, no shouting, no heavy theology, no coercion, no throwing of scripture, like one of those knife throwers in the carnival, pinning a person against the wall.  Just a sharing of the good news.  Just come and see.  Just a word of invitation.  We recommend books, films, the Symphony, about plays, even autos to our friends.  Why not tell them about Jesus Christ and your church?

The ministry of invitation.  All studies show the most common reason a person visits a church on a Sunday morning for the first time is because of a personal invitation.  “I’m going to church.  Can I pick you up?”  “I’m going to church.  Please meet me there so we can sit together, and I can introduce you to some friends.”  Studies also reveal that the average United Church of Christ person invites someone to worship once every 15 years.  I suspect some of you are about due.

The ministry of invitation.  If not you, then who, if not now, then when?  Look around you these days of early fall, in your office, in your neighborhood, in your extended family, in your circle of friends.  Do you see a face, hear a name?  What a glorious opportunity - the ministry of invitation.

Sharing the good news of the gospel.  Sharing where you found bread.  The gospel of God’s gracious love, the gospel which gives shape and purpose to life, making us other directed, rather than self centered, the gospel of peace which reconciles broken relationships and builds community, the gospel of justice which advocates for the poor and marginalized.  This is good news, so how can you keep from sharing it?  Jesus asks his followers and friends today “Who do you say that I am?”  And your response is?

The apostle Paul says it so clearly.  “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself.”  So you are ambassadors for Christ God making God’s appeal through you and to God be the glory in the spirit of Jesus Christ, let all the people say   Amen and Amen

1.  End Note:  The first part of this sermon was drawn on Fred Craddock’s exposition of this text.