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Lay Speaker Tori Dickens presents:

WHO DO YOU THINK I AM?

Who do you think I am? It doesn't seem like too hard of a question. I ask my kids that question all the time. I loved the sounds of a good thunderstorm back when Nicholas and Katie were little. I am sure we will get there with Jacob, too. But the sounds were wonderful, especially the ones that hit near bed time when the sky was a dark. You would have the sounds of the whooshing wind, the tap tap tap from the tree branches that would hit the window, then the sound of the thunder followed quickly by the flash and crack of the lightening followed by that quick pitter patter of little feet running to find me. And I would assure them that it was only a thunder storm and they were perfectly safe. “How do you know?” One would ask. And I would answer, “Who am I?” “Mommy.” And they knew that they were safe. I don't know what they thought I could do, blow the storm away with my SuperMom wind blast, or throw a force field around the house with my ring of power, but they knew that I was Mommy, and I would keep them safe. Of course time passes, and my children grew up. Last year, my kids got off the bus one day, and the first one got to me and I asked the normal questions, how was school, did you do anything interesting, what did you learn and then I stopped and asked, who got into trouble today. That child said no one. Next child makes it to me, I looked at the child in question and said “You want to tell me about it?” Jaws dropped, “how did you know?” and I answered “Who am I?” “Mmmmommm.” I don't know how I knew. But the tone of the voice tells you that the answer is one that has been ingrained into them. It isn't like when they were young and I promised that the storm wouldn't hurt them. Back then they answered it because they believed it. They knew who I was. Now they know what answer they are expected to give. Back then the answer would get them a hug or the right to curl up next to me until the thunder and lightening passed, but now, the tone of voice they use with it doesn't even keep them for getting grounded for whatever infraction it was that day. They know I not Super Mom, capable of holding off storms with a single hand, they know there are no super powers, I'm just the person who controls the dinner and allowance. If I hadn't told you one story was from when they were little and one from last year, you could have guessed from the answers, a child's “mommy” or a preteens “mmmommm.”

And Jesus asked, Who do you think I am? Simon knew the answer. Simon met Jesus because he and his brother Andrew were followers of John the Baptist. Andrew heard John refer to Jesus as the Lamb of God and of course went to share the news with his brother? Is this why Simon knew who Jesus was?

Who do you think I am? Simon knew the answer. Simon's mother-in- law was sick with a very high fever. Jesus came in, rebuked the fever and the Mother in Law was cured. So cured that she hopped right up and immediately started serving them. Is this why Simon knew who Jesus was?

Who do you think I am? Simon knew the answer. He walked on water to Jesus, and then Jesus helped him when his faith faltered out on the water and got him safely back into the boat. Is this why Simon knew who Jesus was?

Who do you think I am? Simon knew the answer. He was there when the masses were fed, twice. He saw all the left overs from the five loaves of bread and two fish, and then saw how many ate from the seven loaves and few small fish. How many people did he see healed, or brought back to life? How many stories did he listen to? Is this why Simon knew the answer?

No, these are not the reasons. No man taught Simon the answer to this question. This wasn't something he overheard on the street, it was no multiple choice question. Simon knew the answer because God had given it to him. And because he knew the answer, accept what God had whispered in his ear, placed in his heart, or filled into a dream, Simon became Peter. Accounts have him being names the Greek Petros or the Aramaic Cephas. Before this these were not names. These are words for rocks. And while now we see the name Peter all over the place and we might know a Rocky or two, back then it was unheard of. The name itself brings such strength to mind. Would Peter gone on to do the work he did if his name was still Simon?
Shakespeare may have said “What is in a name?” But we know that a name can mean so much more. My momma did not name me Tori, she has always called me that, even when I was in trouble she would haul out a TORI ANNE, instead of the Anne-Victoria that she named me. But while she wanted me to be a Tori, a little more fun and a lot more different, she named me the proper Anne Victoria because she felt no one would ever respect a Tori as president, because a name says so much. Or she could have gone with her first choice and named me Anne Mafawny and called me Fawn. When I think of a Fawn I think sweet, delicate and fragile, and while sweet I can do, delicate and fragile sure don't fit me. Honestly if she had gone with her first choice I don't think I would be anywhere near the person I am now.
As for Simon, it means listening. I think he proved that his name suited him very well. He listened. God told him who Jesus was and he listened to that and knew the answer to the question “Who do you think I am?” And when he listened to what God said and answered the Question, “You are the Christ, the son of the living God,” his answer defined who he himself was. When Simon was the listener, he became the Rock that the church was built on. He was the holder of the keys to Heaven.
It wasn't enough to answer Jesus's question with the right answer. I remember back in school that we had a lot of those tests that we called Memorization and Regurgitation. Those were easy, you memorize the details, ace the test and two days later you don't remember a word of any of it. You would get the right answer, but it wouldn't have earned Simon the Keys to Heaven. If he had answered the question with different words, “You are the Messiah” or “You are the one we were foretold of.” Would that have given him the same results? I think so. Jesus could have gone up to one of the Pharisee's and asked the same question “who do you think I am?” The pharisee could have been a smart mouth and said what he heard the people whispering “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” And his answer would not have gotten him a new name, it would have probably earned him the anger of the disciples and the prayers of Jesus that he would actually learn to believe what he said, but that would be about it. I don't believe that it was the actual words to the answer that mattered, but the conviction behind the words.
But if we read a little farther, we see that he loses his conviction a bit. In Matthew 16:21 Jesus tells his followers that he must die, and he told them how it he would be made suffer by the elders, priests and teachers then killed and raised again on the third day. Peter responded “God save you from those things Lord! Those things will never happen to you.”
By losing his conviction in what he was listening to, he earns a completely different name from Jesus. Jesus responds to him “Go away from me Satan.”
Who do you think I am? The belief we put behind our answer makes such a difference. You can be a rock, or you can be Satan. I like that Simon Peter doesn't always stay on his nice rock solid path. If the holder of the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven can make mistakes, like losing faith in Jesus' word, or as Rocky spoke of a couple weeks ago, getting afraid while walking on water, or even as we know, denying knowing Jesus three times in the night between Jesus' arrest and dawn. If Simon Peter can make those kind of mistakes, that is where I can draw my conviction in my answer to the Question.
Who do you think I am? You are my Savior, the one who died to forgive my sins that I have made and will, despite my best efforts, continue to make. Maybe my words aren't the same as the ones Peter used, but the conviction is there.
Who do you think I am? I know the answer.