Proper 16A
August 23, 2026
St. Dunstan’s
The Rev. Patricia Templeton
Today we heard the story of a defining moment in Jesus’ ministry.
He and his disciples are walking on a dusty road north of Palestine. Jesus has been busy in recent days, healing the sick, feeding thousands, teaching and debating with religious leaders.
He is aware that word of him is spreading rapidly throughout that part of the world.
So he asks his disciples, “What do you hear people saying about me?”
The disciples are happy to report some of the things they have heard.
“Some people say you are John the Baptist, returned from the grave.
“Others are saying that you are the reincarnation of the great prophet Elijah, who was whisked straight into heaven to be with God.
“I heard someone say you might be the great prophet Jeremiah come back to life.”
People of Jesus’ generation expected that the long-awaited Messiah would appear soon. But before the Messiah’s appearance, they believed, others would come to announce the impending arrival of the divine, and prepare the way for that coming.
The disciples were hearing the rumblings of people who thought that maybe Jesus was one of those forerunners, someone who had come to prepare the way for the Messiah.
Jesus next has a harder question for the disciples.
“Ok, that’s what everyone else is saying. But who do you say that I am?”
Peter, always the most impetuous and brash of the bunch, bursts in before anyone else.
“You are the Messiah, the son of the living God,” he says. Other translations say, “You are the Christ.”
Nowadays we use the word “Christ” as if it were Jesus’ second name. But Christ is not Jesus’ name, it’s his vocation, his title, his identity. Christ is another word for Messiah, the anointed one, the savior and liberator sent by God to redeem the world.
Peter’s recognition of Jesus is a great moment — a defining moment in Christian history.
But it was just a moment.
Jesus’ true identity has been revealed. But even Peter will soon forget his moment of divine inspiration. Even Peter will deny knowing that Jesus is the Messiah, will deny knowing that he even knows this man.
And so the question, “Who do you say that I am?” must be asked again and again.
It’s a question that must be asked of every Christian in every generation. It is a question that must be continually asked of the Church, because how the Church answers this question determines what kind of church we are.
Who do we say that Jesus is? The answer to that question is foundational to us and to the church.
But today I’d like to answer that question by turning it around. If we believe that Jesus is the Messiah, then when do we say we are? What is our identify?
What difference does believing in Jesus make in our lives? How does it affect what we say and do? If people who know nothing about Jesus know that we are his followers, what would they learn about Jesus from our words and actions?
Of course there are a variety of answers to those questions. Different people and different churches answer them very differently. Sometimes I hear or read what others who identify as Christians say or do in the name of their faith and it seems to me to be antithetical to the teachings of Jesus.
We live in a time when institutions we thought were rock solid are suddenly shaky, even our democracy itself.
To paraphrase one of our founding fathers, Thomas Paine, “These are the times that try our souls.”
Psychiatrist Heinz Kohut called such periods a time for “reshuffling souls.”
Times like these can raise deep questions about our identities and our character.
But it is precisely in such times that we must ask “Who do we say we are?” through the lens of our faith in Jesus.
Who are we? Who are we called to be? As individuals and as a church? How do our words and actions reflect on Jesus?
Much of what is being done these days by people who profess to follow Jesus probably makes Jesus cringe.
Throughout the gospels Jesus makes it clear what he expects of his followers. To feed the hungry. Care for the sick. Welcome immigrants. Clothe and house the poor.
Those are pretty clear instructions.
Yet too often those in power who insist that this is a Christian nation do just the opposite. Cut SNAP benefits to the poor at a time when grocery prices are skyrocketing. Make health care unaffordable for millions of Americans. Snatch immigrants off the streets and throw them in prisons with appalling conditions, and refuse to allow anyone to visit them.
Cut aid to those who hunger and are sick in the world’s poorest nations, resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths. The list could go on and on.
That these things are happening is awful.
That they are being perpetrated by so-called Christian nationalists who claim to follow Jesus is sickening.
Christians who are sickened by these perversions of Jesus’ teachings are speaking out.
“Christian Nationalism is the fake piety of displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms while passing laws that grind the poor into dust, abandon the sick to their suffering, and turn away the hungry at the door.
“It clothes itself in the name of Jesus while spitting on his gospel. It is not of Christ. It is anti-Christ,” said Texas politician James Talarico.
This summer the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA, the mainline branch of that denomination, voted 459-25 to approve a statement titled “Standing Against White Christian Nationalism,” declaring it to be a theological error incompatible with Jesus’ teachings.
The Episcopal Church has not produced such a statement (yet), but our baptismal covenant makes it clear what the duties of a follower of Jesus should be.
In it we promise to be faithful in worship and prayer, studying scripture and the teachings of the church. We promise to repent when we stray from what God would have us do.
Those things — worship, prayer, study, confession — are the foundations of our life in faith. They prepare us to do the next steps — to work for justice and peace, and to respect the dignity of every human being.
That is what we want people to see when they look at us. That is the Jesus we want to reflect to the world.
Our goal is to bring us all closer to the kingdom of God.
Through worship and study we know that Jesus did those things. That he was less concerned about individual purity and piety than he was about seeking out those on the margins, those who society shunned, and telling them that they are beloved by God, worthy of being treated with respect and justice.
We know that he did not hesitate to criticize governments or religious leaders who failed to care for those on the margins.
When we are at our best as a church and as individuals that’s what we do.
That is why we have spent so much time and money sponsoring refugees from Syria and Myanmar, and Cameroon.
That is why for years we opened our doors four weeks a year to be home for those who had no place to lay their heads.
That is why in the midst of the pandemic we raised thousands of dollars that eliminated $6.2 millions in medical debt for our neighbors.
That is why we support our local food pantry with both money and groceries.
That is why we have banners in front of the church proclaiming that Black Lives Matter; that our gay, lesbian, and trans neighbors are welcome here; that we love our neighbors, even those who do not think or pray as we do.
All of these actions say who we believe Jesus is, and who we strive to be as his followers.
But lest we get too smug about our faith, we need to remember that these are also times to ask when and how have we fallen short of what our faith demands.
Who do we exclude, even if unintentionally? What barriers have we erected? Who is suffering because of how we live? Who is being overlooked or left behind?
Sometimes we do not know the answer to those questions. Sometimes we prefer not to know. But they are part of our identity too. That is why confession and atonement are essential parts of our faith.
Who do we say that we are? Who do others say that we are?
In this time when our souls are being tried and reshuffled, these questions are invitations to go deep and examine who we really are, and who we can become if we truly believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah.
Amen.