10:30 Family Service for The Twentieth Sunday After Trinity
“ will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Summary
Who are you? Well, it all depends who’s asking. If you are at a big family gathering the answer may be, I am so and so’s niece, nephew, brother, daughter; if you are at work, it might be I am the manager, CEO, assistant; if you’re playing football it might be I’m the midfielder or the forward. When people ask us who we are they are often really asking is what do we do. But we are more than the sum of what we do, much more. We may be parents, children, neighbours, friends, colleagues, bosses but the central core of identity is not about what we do, it is about who we are. In our gospel, Matthew 16:13-20, Jesus asks his disciples who they think he is, because whoever he is they are this too. At our baptism we are anointed with oil, a reminder of our family resemblance to Christ, our brother; like Christ we are anointed to lead, to love and to serve. More importantly, we are anointed as children of God, made in God’s image, chosen, beloved. Whatever else you are, this is the core of your identity: you are a beloved child of God.
READING
Matthew 16:13-20
Jesus asked his disciples,
“Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’ Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
