Clay in the Hands

This past Sunday we started a new series on Sunday mornings as a follow up to something I asked our folks to start wrestling with a few weeks ago.  In Matthew 16 we have an account of Jesus taking his disciples to an out of the way area with an other-worldly atmosphere to get them to begin to think on a bigger scale. Once there he asked them two questions – the first leading into the second.

His first question was “who do others say that I am?”  The responses of his apprentices varied as they tried to brainstorm all those things people had said about him to that point.  But then he asked a second question that cut to the very bedrock level of the movement.  His question: “Who do you say that I am?”  That question must have rung in their ears.  No one wanted to respond – or at least no one wanted to be first.  How interesting would it have been to be an observer to see the faces of the disciples as they thought through how they should respond – to see the body language as they wrestled with this question!

Of course the bold one, Peter, jumped out there and offered his thoughts.  His response?  “You are the Christ, the son of the living God.”  This statement of conviction is one of the most concise and meaningful statements of faith in scripture.  And then Jesus went on to say that on that statement – that unwavering conviction – the church will be built.  What an affirmation!

Today, 2000 years later, the question still rings in our ears as being foundational for us as well.  We can build all kinds of churches and develop all kinds of ministries.  We can spend our time and energy doing all kinds of wonderful things.  But the foundational question still remains – who is Jesus to you?

Wrestle with that today.  All else loses meaning if we don’t have this question answered for ourselves.

Don’t rest until you do.

Blessings on your today!