What about “spiritual but not religious”? — Sermon

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. 

Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment. Matthew 16:13–20

 

What about "spiritual but not religious"?

Last week, we saw that the kind of church Jesus wants is one that welcomes every single person, no matter their background, no matter how close or far from God they are. Baked into that is the fact that everyone’s journey of faith is unique.

We know this by looking around the room. Some of us grew up further from God, and Jesus brought us close. Others of us grew up in a family that never missed a Sunday, but we spent some time journeying around before he brought us back again. Still others might feel like our journey has been all over the place our whole lives.

We also know this by looking around at the people we know who are not in the room today. There’s a trend going on in our country over the past few decades: people are leaving the faith they grew up in and are setting out on their own. Quoting from the survey: “Among those born in 1990 or later who go to church less than once a year, 47-48% say that they are absolutely or fairly certain of God’s existence.” So many people in Gen Z and a little before who are absolutely certain or fairly certain that God exists essentially do not attend church.

But you probably didn’t need stats to know this. I’m sure every one of us knows someone, friend or family, who believes in God but isn’t so sure that Christianity confesses (proclaims) him correctly. In other words, people are on a faith journey and they don’t see Christianity as a helpful guide. They, for reasons unique to each person, would rather have the freedom of discerning who God is on their own.

And, for the Christians here today, when we think about what we confess and believe, this crosses our minds sometimes, doesn’t it? That so many people believe in God but not necessarily in the God of the Christian Bible, and we look over there and wonder if the grass is greener? We see the freedoms that they have because they’ve unbound themselves from organized religion, and we wonder if they’re right and we’re wrong?

Today, Jesus gives us unflinching confidence to confess him to be God. He gives us the confidence to realize that wherever our spiritual journey has taken us in the past, it ends with him. He reminds us that all journeys end, and he shows us how wonderful it is to end yours standing on the Rock.

Jesus has been leading his disciples for some time, and now he brings them to Caesarea Philippi, a place where people held all kinds of different spiritual beliefs. There, Jesus decides it is time to ask two questions that matter for everyone, no matter where you are on your journey of faith or where you think you might want that journey to go.

In the midst of all of the different spiritual ideas surrounding the disciples, Jesus first asked, Who do people say the Son of Man is? (Son of Man is a term Jesus commonly used to refer to himself.) And the disciples respond, Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.

Which is a huge compliment! It showed that people recognized Jesus was sent from God, like these prophets. It showed that people probably thought Jesus boldly opposed evil and sinfulness, like John the Baptist. Or that they thought he did wonderful miracles with God’s power, like Elijah. Or that he was able to face great adversity, like Jeremiah. But Jesus wasn’t satisfied with those compliments.

Because he asked a second question: But what about you? Who do you say I am? Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Simon Peter doesn’t just say that Jesus is a prophet sent from God, he says that he is the most important person to ever come from God: the Messiah. The one who would bring salvation to the world. And in fact, he doesn’t stop there. At some point over the last while, as he heard Jesus teach and watched him perform miracles, he had become convinced that Jesus was actually the Son of God. He was divine himself.

And we’ll unpack Jesus’ response in a moment, but first let’s pause and put ourselves in the disciples’ shoes. What if Jesus asked you those questions? Would you be able to answer the first one, do you know what your friends think about who Jesus is? It’s an important thing to find out, and not as difficult a conversation as you might think. In my experience, people are almost always willing to give their thoughts on this question, and it always opens up an interesting conversation. Think of someone you know who you could ask this question, not so that you can tune them out and then slam dunk your opinion on them the second they finish talking, but so that you can truly listen, and ask follow-up questions, and really seek to understand your friend’s understanding of Jesus.

Sometimes I think we fear to ask this question and have this conversation because we’re not confident we can handle their response. We feel like they might be in the spiritual-but-not-religious camp, and we know that our job is to go tell others about Jesus, but sometimes we think that telling others about Jesus = winning arguments about Jesus. And we think, “Well, I don’t really have a silver bullet in my arsenal that will show them they’re wrong and I’m right.” And maybe we even think, “What if they have a silver bullet that will disprove me and leave me less confident in what I believe.”

But that’s not the way to think about it. Instead, Jesus wants us to be like the disciples, to know what other people are saying about him. And so our focus should be understanding them, trying to find out where they are in their journey of faith.

We know this because of how Jesus responds to Peter’s confident confession. Jesus says, Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. People are all on a unique journey of faith. People all have something in them that tells them there’s something greater. But we don’t come to the truth about by searching around enough. We don’t come to the truth about God by leaving organized religion behind and going off on our own personal journey. And so, we can’t bring anyone to know this true by faith through arguing with them on our own either. How did Simon Peter come to be so confident that Jesus is his God and his Savior? It was revealed to him by God as he spent time with Jesus.

That statistic shows that many think there is God and want to find him, but for whatever reason have not considered that God has already made himself findable. And so they go off on their own to look for God, when God has already come to them in Jesus. God deeply desires a relationship with all of his people, so he revealed himself to all people in an easily accessible resource: his Word. Just like Simon Peter spent time with Jesus and God revealed the truth about himself to him, anyone can spend time with Jesus, can visit a church, can read his Word, and God promises to reveal himself to them too.

And Jesus goes on to show why it is so valuable to not just be on a journey to discover God, but to actually know him: And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. Jesus says, because God has revealed this truth to you and you are confident in who he is, you are as solid as a rock. There is nothing this world can throw at you that can move you. In fact, Jesus goes straight for our greatest enemy, the gates of Hades. This isn’t talking about hell, it was a metaphor back then for death. Jesus is saying that when you spend time with him and come to know who he is not even death can move you. If even death can’t move you, there is nothing in this life that could ever happen to you that can change the fact that you are loved and saved by Jesus. When he reveals to you that he is your God, you know that no matter how tired your legs are from the journey, no matter how weak your faith may feel, you know that he can keep you standing firm. And because he is your Savior, you know that he wants to!

It might be tempting to join with those who seem to be enjoying the freedom of looking for God on their own outside of the church, outside of his Word. But when life’s challenges come at someone who has gone it alone, well, they’re alone. If we decide we want to form our own opinions about who God is and what he is like, they will be just that—our own opinions. And they can only stand as much or as little as they align with the truth.

Instead, look at the gift Jesus gives us. We stand on solid ground. We stand on the reality that Jesus is not just the Messiah who wants to save us; he is also God who is able to do so. And Jesus is not just God who could save us if he feels like it; he is also the Messiah whose whole purpose in coming to earth was to save you.

That’s a truth to stand on. That’s a rock that will not move. That’s a rock that is so strong, Jesus is building his church on it. He is coming to people who are all over the place on their journey and showing them the incomparable blessing of standing on the rock. He is building a church that will never falter or fall, and he is building people that even the iron gates of death cannot hold back. When winds and waves, firestorms and earthquakes come at you, you will not be moved. When disappointments and betrayals, loss and uncertainty threaten you, you know that your God is still your God and your Savior is still the one who couldn’t imagine a heaven without you.

So don’t be afraid to ask your friend that question: who do you say Jesus is? because though they currently may be on a journey, searching for answers in themselves, Jesus wants them to spend time with him so he can reveal to them who is his. And when they ask you, Who do you say Jesus is? you can answer with confidence, because there is no better place to live your life than standing on the Rock. There is no better way to go through life and enjoy all its blessings than waking up every day knowing this: Jesus, you are the Son of God and my Savior.