Isaiah 51:1-6
Psalm 138
Romans 11:33-36
Matthew 16:13-20
I have two beautiful daughters, Alison who's 26 and Megan who's 25. What else can a father say about his daughters? Alison lives in Minneapolis with her husband Chris. They were married in May 2000. Megan lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, Mark, and she is expecting a baby this coming November. They were married in the fall of 2001.
My wife, Gina and I, have been married 29 years and to some of you out there we're just "youngsters." In fact, we celebrated our anniversary this past August 4th.
We became "empty nesters" in the true sense of the word in the last year. You know what they say about "empty nesters." This period in one's life will either cement a marriage - solidify a marriage more closely - or it will break it.
Fortunately for us, it has been the latter. Gina is my best friend and vice versa. We have come to know and learn things about one another that we either didn't know before or we were too busy with the girls to discover.
I am discovering new qualities, characteristics and skills/talents that I didn't even realize Gina had going for her. It's almost like discovering a new person hidden within the one I thought I knew so well. You probably have had the same experiences with your spouse and perhaps even with your adult children as you come to know and appreciate them as adults.
In today's Gospel, Jesus asks his disciples - "who do people say the Son of Man is?
They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets."
And then Jesus asks Peter - "Who do you say that I am? Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the son of the living God." Jesus says to us, as he said to Peter, "Blessed are you… for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father in heaven."
And who do we say Jesus is especially since we are spiritual "empty nesters" without him?
How well do we know our Jesus and the journey we are on with him?
"Christianity itself was first known as "the way." Jesus himself said: "I am the way, the truth and the light." He is our road map by which we are guided through the maze of life. He is the journey and the journey's end. He is the one who rescues us from our inability to move forward, who snatches us out of the jaws of the tiger, the tiger of our despair as we face all the ways open before us and as we are so frozen by moral and spiritual bankruptcy that we are unable to choose which way to go. In mythological terms, Christ undoes the work of "the fall," he tears down the signs of "No Way, No Exit" that hover over human existence." *
Jesus is the source of all masculine power, he is also the fountain of all feminine allure. He is the wellspring of everything that has ever romanced your heart - the beauty of a flower, the stirring capacity of music, the richness of a fine wine, the powerful strength of a waterfall.
The incompleteness that we seek to relieve in the embrace of our earthly love(s) is never totally healed. The union doesn't last regardless what the pop artists and poets may say. Morning comes and we have to get out of bed and do "our thing" - once more incomplete. But imagine having our incompleteness healed forever, to drink deeply out of the fount of which we have only had a sip and to dive into that ocean in which we have only waded. This is to know Jesus in his completeness. We need to ask him to help us know him more intimately.
Gina and I will continue to grow and learn more and more about each other in the years ahead., God willing. We'll do this through conversation, honesty with one another and genuine caring for each other's welfare.
I think we can only come to know Jesus better through daily prayer and conversation with him. I think too we will be able to say who he is when we recognize him in ourselves, when we recognize him in our neighbors, when we see his image in our enemies and when we see him in those less fortunate that ourselves, the poor, the destitute, the homeless and the lonely!
I think we will come to love him more when he becomes our true hero! He's run on before us and he's made it! His life assures us that running to fulfillment can be done but only through a passionate desire for the joy set before us.
That joy is the promise of eternal live and if Jesus asks us "who, do you say I am?" We can answer with certainty - You are the Christ, the son of the living God and it is in you that I live and move and have my being.
For you are with me. You are within me. You are behind me. You are before me. You are beside me and I just can't wait to rest in your loving arms.
How much effort do you think we are willing to make to know and love Jesus as our true hero and Savior?
I hope it's a lot - AMEN.
* Ideas taken from Alan Jones, Journey Into Christ.