Romans 12:1-8; Shhh!

Dont Tell Them Who I Am 8 27 17

Matthew 16:13-20
One of the things I learned in my years of research in El Salvador was about
Praxis. That is our word of the day! Praxis is the process by which a theory
becomes embodied. It is a model of how our thinking becomes part of who we
are a way that, in the context of our reading this morning, we communicate
with ourselves rather than our words, who Jesus is, and who we are.
Praxis is a cycle of reflection that moves from one action to new, thoughtful
action. It begins with an act. You assess the impact of that action, then analyze
the impact through reflection, then revise your thinking, and finally implement a
new action, and the cycle continues. I know its a lot for a Sunday morning in
August, right? Lets look at it this way
Jesus and his disciples went through Galilee and the surrounding area
teaching and healing. The disciples witnessed amazing things lepers were
healed, pharisees were silenced, and hungry people were fed miraculously with
only a few loaves of bread. That is the action. The impact of the action was that
the people who were affected by these actions praised God and followed Jesus.
The conversation Jesus had with his disciples in our reading today was about
analyzing/reflecting on this impact. He began by asking the disciples who do
others say I am? Then, who do you say I am? The key to this kind of reflection, is
that they were doing it together. The process of praxis is not a solitary one. It is a
community endeavor that moves the whole forward. The disciples ran ideas past
each other, incorporating their experience (what had they heard), their
understanding of scripture (some people say you are one of the prophets back
from the dead), and their thoughts about tradition (the Messiah is coming).

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 Peter, as a result of the actions of Jesus, seeing the impact of those actions,
and reflecting with his companions revised his thinking he said you are the
Messiah. You are the one weve been waiting for. With this new thinking comes
new action. Being a rather impulsive disciple (remember, Peter was the one who
jumped out of the boat in the middle of the sea of Galilee to meet Jesus walking
on the water), one can imagine he was ready to act on this new insight. The
process of praxis action, impact of the action, reflection and revised thinking
leads to renewed action and further reflection.
We do praxis around our current situations as well. Here at church we are
intentional about being a welcoming church. As a result of our actions of
welcoming, we observe the impact. Who is being welcomed? Who is staying?
Who is not staying? And we reflect on that impact as a group. As a result of that
praxis, we continually revise our thinking and actions. Through the years we have
claimed our identity as an Open and Affirming Church, a church that affirms all
people, regardless of sexual orientation, and gender identity and expression. We
act in new ways. But praxis does not stop there. We continue to assess the
impact of new actions, and find that we need to relfect on how our welcome may
still be limited how do we welcome people whose mobility is compromised?
What would a broader welcome look like? Does it look like coffee hour on the
first floor? An elevator? Chairs with arms? More space? The result of our
reflection brings new action and trying new strategies to expand our welcoming
identity. Our new action embodies who we are, and it embodies who we believe
Jeusus is one who welcomes and includes all people.

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 Jesus encouraged the disciples in a particular direction as a result of their
reflection together about his identity. Who do you say that I am? The Messiah
the anointed one weve been waiting for to liberate us from every kind of mental,
physical and spiritual bondage. Jesus named that proclamaion The Rock the
petra on which something bigger could be built. If you believe that I am the
Messiah, use that petra to build the church.
As an aside, another Greek translation for Rock is Petros, or Peter. It
describes a rock that one can hold. More often than not, this passage is
interpreted to mean that Jesus meant to establish the church on the rock of
Peter. It is used in the Roman Catholic tradition to establish the succession of
popes in leadership. The blessing of building the church on the rock of Peter then
proceeds to the next pope, Linus, then Anacletus, Clement and so forth. But as
we just noted, Jesus words were translated: on this petra (not Petros) I will build
my church. Petra is a mass of connected rock1 or a native rock/a boulder
emerging from the earth. This offers another way to interpret this conversation
with a more Protestant flavor. We might hear Jesus proclamation of building the
church as a church built on the masses built on petra - connected rock. I say this
is a Protestant interpretation because we tend toward focusing more on the
people of the church than the clergy. We emphasize the priesthood of all
believers, not just one leader.
Pauls letter to the church in Rome that Sheran read, is informed by this
concept of church. He explained to the Romans that they are all connected. No
part is unimportant No part is overly important. We are connected like a body,
like a mass of rocks, to create the church which is the body of Christ.

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http://biblehub.com/greek/4073.htm

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 Paul, too, was engaged in praxis. He took the actions of Jesus entire life,
his death and resurrection, and his appearance to Paul on the road to Damascus,
and assessed the impact on his own life. He was a convert. He changed his
thinking from someone who persecuted Christians, to being a leader of Christians
and a teacher of how to build the church on the petra. He incorporated the new
reflections and insights into himself, so that his faith was embodied. His identity
was not what he said to be true about Christ, but what he did about his belief.
I conclude that this is what Jesus meant when he said to the disciples, dont
tell anyone that I am the Messiah/ the Christ. Making that statement of faith
does not fully reflect who Christ is or who we are as followers of Christ. What we
do, the impact of our actions, our reflection on those actions and the new
thinking that comes out of that reflection are the praxis of embodying who Christ
is, and who Christ is to us. So when someone asks you, Who do you say that Jesus
is? Or what does it mean to you to be a Christian? Perhaps the best response is
let me tell you about my praxis.
Amen.

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Romans 12:1-8
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present
your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your
spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of Godwhat is
good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone
among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to
think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has
assigned.For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members
have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and
individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according
to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith;ministry, in ministering;
the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the
leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

Matthew 16:13-20
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.