AS CHILDREN WE USED TO SAY “STICK & STONES MIGHT BREAK MY BONES BUT WORDS WILL NEVER HURT ME.” That just not true! Words have transformative power.
In his book The Miracle of Water New York Times best-selling author Masaru Emoto, experiments with exposing water to different words and then photographing the water at a microscopic level. When water was exposed to positive words like, “thank you,” the water formed beautifully balanced crystals while when exposed to words like “stupid”, the crystals were deformed and broken.
Emoto concluded, “The energy (or vibration created by the sound) of words is reflected in the formation of crystals, and depending on the words, the crystals are either beautiful or unsightly…Since our bodies consist of 70% water, we can infer from the crystals that the water within us contains the energy of words.”
THE WORDS THAT CREATED THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CRYSTAL WERE LOVE AND GRATITUDE! NOW IF WORDS HAVE THE POWER TO TRANSFORM WATER - THEN NAMING HAS THE POWER TO CREATE OR DESTROY A LIFE.
Who Is Jesus to You? By the time we get to Mark 8, Jesus’ public ministry is in full swing. He’s heading toward Jerusalem where He knows suffering, the cross and death await Him. Jesus, who some self-identities as “the Son of Man” or who some Biblical scholars identify the human one is interested in how others view him. So, he asks those who should know him best- his closest followers, “Who do people say the son of man is?”
Now when Jesus asks this question, Jesus is not having an identity crisis or a case of temporary amnesia. In response to Jesus’ question, in Mark 8:29 Peter utters what some have called Faith’s Famous Four Words… “You are the Christ!” In contrast to Matthew’s account of this Faith’s Famous 4 Words Mark 8:29b Page 2 of 4 exchange where this revelation is defining moment, for Peter, in Mark’s Gospel the words, “You are the Christ!”
Now this becomes a defining moment in Jesus’ ministry! A defining is “a moment in time that defines something, such as a person’s success or failure, achievement or demise, or talent; a point at which the essential nature or character of a person is revealed or identified.”
Have you ever had a defining moment in your life? In this moment, who is Jesus to you. NOW PETER RIGHTLY NAMES JESUS BUT WRONGLY INTERPRETS WHAT IT MEANS! Watch What You Label People!
For Peter and most Jews of his day Messiah or Christos referred to a militaristic, political figure. The Messiah would overthrow the oppressive occupying Roman regime, establish a new Davidic kingdom and usher in the kingdom of God. The Messiah’s role was to restore the collective honor of Israel. But Jesus’ mission, ministry and message did not align with this understanding.
When Jesus who once again self-identifies as “the son of man” not Messiah and shares with his closest followers he will have to suffer, Peter calls Jesus over to the side. Peter says, “Wait a minute – hold on here Jesus if you are the Messiah you aren’t going to suffer. Peter has confessional crisis. On one hand he names Jesus correctly but then wants to limit Jesus to his understanding of Messiah.
Unfortunately, this happens way too often we label people. Labels like woman, gay, black, white, child are front-loaded with limitations and expectations. When you set limits on someone you set limits on God’s creation. And when you set limits on God’s creation you ultimately set limits on yourself.
Jesus is saying, I am not going to be limited by my enemy. Faith’s Famous 4 Words Mark 8:29b Page 3 of 4 In this era of political correctness, we each need to pay close attention to how people self-identify. In rebuking Peter, Jesus is giving us permission to bring our authentic selves to the defining moments of life. Like Peter you and I can be used as one commentator writes, “a mouthpiece for Satan.”
In the epistle, James reminds us, “with the tongue we bless the Lord and Father, and we curse those who are made in the likeness of God.” In defining moments, our words can restrict or release others power. In defining moments, our words can diminish or develop someone’s life. In defining moments, our words can limit or liberate a community.
It's Not What They Call You, It’s What You Answer To Not only do our individual lives have defining moments but our life together has defining moments. Holy Trinity Loop is in a defining moment right now. As your Call Committee complies and creates your Ministry Site Profile you are defining who you are to the world. And indeed, as you reach out to ministry partners, prepare demographic data, and survey the congregation you, like Jesus are asking the question, “Who do people say Holy Trinity is?”
There is an inherent vulnerability that accompanies that question. Are we who we think we are? Does anyone beyond those who worship here even care? Integrity to the Gospel demands that we ask that tough question. “Who do people say Holy Trinity is?”
The Good News today is that Jesus redefines the role of the Messiah. In doing this Jesus rebukes Peter for it is demonic to limit or caste any person to your understanding of who you think they are. This is the same demonic spirit that questions Jesus’ identity in the wilderness saying, “If you are the Son of God…”. “YOU MAY NOT CONTROL ALL THE EVENTS THAT HAPPEN TO YOU, BUT YOU CAN DECIDE NOT TO BE REDUCED BY THEM.”
Growing up my community told me repeatedly, IT’S NOT WHAT PEOPLE CALL YOU BUT WHAT YOU ANSWER TO THAT COUNTS! In the Hebrew scripture there are at least 17 distinct names for God. There are at least 198 names and titles for Jesus. Today we can be grateful because God responds to each of these names. The Good news today is that we may not know God’s name. We may not know what name to call on. THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT GOD KNOWS EACH OF US BY NOT ONLY NAME BUT BY NEED.