THE Question to Answer
- davidwperk
- Nov 17, 2023
- 6 min read
Devotional Reflection, Friday, November 17, 2023
Proper 27, the week of the twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Key phrases for reflection from today’s reading:
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ . . . . 15He (Peter) said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ 16Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’
You will find the full text of today’s Gospel reading at the end of this reflection.
Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 992)
AM Psalm 88; PM Psalm 91, 92
1 Macc. 1:41-63; Rev. 19:11-16; Matt. 16:13-20
Today we celebrate the Feast of Hugh of Lincoln. (See below.)
David's Reflections
Who is Jesus to you? To me? That seems like THE question of faith that has exercised the church since the beginning. The Nicene Creed arose in the fourth century in an effort to unite two major factions who had different answers to that question.
How would you answer that question? It actually has been asked of me by others, and I have recurrently asked it of myself. In today's Gospel, Jesus asked his companions who others were saying that he was and then he asked for their own verdict. "Who do YOU say that I am?" (Capital letters are mine for emphasis.)
First, I would affirm the Nicene Creed’s section about Jesus. Beyond that, my response earlier in life, “Jesus is Lord,” has evolved to, "Jesus is friend." He has befriended me and loved me with a persistence and profoundness that keeps transforming me, not unlike the transforming touch of the accepting love of a dear friend. And, he embodies to me the presence of God. In the words of the late Bishop John A. T. Robinson, Anglican New Testament scholar, Jesus is the human face of God.+ If we want to know how God relates to us, we find the answer in Jesus. (Obviously, so much more could be said: Jesus is God’s Son, Savior, Lord, Shepherd, brother.)
Jesus came from God and brought God into the finite experience of human existence. In Jesus God experienced what being human was all about. Jesus was God’s Son enfleshed in a human life, so fully enfleshed that Jesus was fully human and not lifted above the ordinary day-to-day experience of human limitations. (See John 1:1-14; Hebrews 1:1-4; 2::10-18; 4:12-16.)
Incarnate friend--that gets to the core of my experience of Jesus, even if it leaves so much unsaid. Jesus lived so fully and so well. Also, his innocent, sacrificial death and his rising from the dead have brought forgiveness and deliverance into our experience. No one else has won the right to claim our ultimate loyalty, to endear us in such a way that we actually want to follow him.
I am fortunate to have a few of those "fly across the country" friends, people who will drop what they are doing and come to me in crisis. And, I feel blessed to feel that way about my closest friends. It helps me to frame my loyalty to Jesus in a similar way. If I can sell out for my closest friends out of devotion and thankfulness, I can sell out for Jesus, too.
This well known prayer of Thomas Merton expresses so well the resolve and the uncertainties of a faith commitment. ”My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may known nothing about it. therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”*
That prayer becomes my own quite often.
+John A. T. Robinson, The Human Face of God (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1973).
*Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude (Boston: Shambahala, 1983), p. 89.
Collect of the Day, Proper 27, the twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost
O God, whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life: Grant that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves as he is pure; that, when he comes again
with power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom; where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. BCP, 236.
Today we celebrate the Feast of Hugh of Lincoln, bishop.protector of the oppressed (died 16 Nov 1200 CE).
Collect of the Feast of Hugh of Lincoln
Holy God, who endowed your servant Hugh of Lincoln with wise and cheerful boldness, and taught him to commend the discipline of holy life to kings and princes: Grant that we also, rejoicing in the Good News of your mercy, and fearing nothing but the loss of you, may be bold to speak the truth in love, in the name of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
A Collect for Fridays
Lord Jesus Christ, by your death you took away the sting of death: Grant to us your servants so to follow in faith where you have led the way, that we may at length fall asleep peacefully in you and wake up in your likeness; for your tender mercies' sake. Amen. (BCP, 123)
In the Order of Worship for Evening
Almighty, everlasting God, let our prayer in your sight be as incense, the lifting up of our hands as the evening sacrifice. Give us grace to behold you, present in your Word and Sacraments, and to recognize you in the lives of those around us. Stir up in us the flame of that love which burned in the heart of your Son as he bore his passion, and let it burn in us to eternal life and to the ages of ages. Amen. (BCP, 113)
A Collect for Mission
O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 280)
Daily Office Gospel, Matthew 16:13-20
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ 14And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ 15He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ 16Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ Or the Christa 17And 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. 18And 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. 19I 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.’ 20Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
Daily Offices in The Book of Common Prayer
Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, The Book of Common Prayer
Noonday Prayer, page 103, Book of Common Prayer
Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p 109, Book of Common Prayer
Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer
Compline (Night Prayer), page 127, Book of Common Prayer
Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer
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