Song ”I shall not want”
Song “Psalm 23”
Song “In the beginning”
Song “Christ be in my waking”
Song “God with us”
Song ”Lead kindly light”
Opening Responses
The world belongs to God
The earth and all its people
How good and lovely it is
To live together in unity
Love and faith come together
Justice and peace join hands
Song “See what a morning”
Let us in silence remember our faults and failings
Christ have mercy on us, and deliver us from our sins and may we amend our lives
Amen.
The Lords Prayer in our own language
Song “Psalm 139”
Reading Matthew 16v13-20
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”17 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. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter,[a] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[b] will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[c] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[d] loosed in heaven.”20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
Song “Come thou fount”
Reflection I
s your special place in Gods kingdom however humble?
I met a man on a bus. He had loads of bags and I fell into the seat by him. He apologised for the bags. I said believe me bags are not a problem!
He laughed and we got talking. He was a doctor from Iraq. In 2003 he fled to Sweden. He had to establish his medical credentials and get his wife out of Bagdad. He now works every day God sends in a hospital in Stockholm to support his young family. He loves Stockholm and feels safe there. He was visiting an aunt in Birmingham. He loves Birmingham too and cities. He was horrified by recent events in Iraq but because of the trauma he has been through he cannot watch the news. He is an Iraqi, a doctor, a husband, an Arab, a Muslim, a dad, a niece, a man who has been through horrendous trauma.
This was his identity. The story in Matthew is about identity.
Peter's confession of Jesus as the Christ is a turning point in the gospels and in Matthew.
The story in Matthew is set in Banais on the Israel Lebanese border or Caesarea Philippi as it was calledthen, rebuilt by Herod Philip and renamed as Caesarea. It is beautiful spot with fallen statues to Greek gods.
Jesus has moved away from the crowds to teach his disciples to the district of Caesarea Philippi, at the base of Mount Hermon and some 50 kilometers North of Galilee, a Gentile town. Jesus has moved from Jewish to Gentile territory.
As they were walking, Jesus was reversing the normal practice of disciples asking rabbis questions, "Who do people say that I am?"
Neither the crowds, nor the religious authorities, had come to recognize Jesus as the messiah. Herod Antipas, thought he was John the Baptist risen from the dead. Many saw him as an Elijah figure, the promised prophet who precedes the Messiah (the one crying in the wilderness). Others saw him as a Jeremiah figure, a prophet of doom, while others saw him as a a common or garden prophet but not the Jewish messiah. It was a devalued assessment of Jesus' person.
"But what about you?" he says to them, "You're the Christ" said Peter, the anointed one, the messiah-because he had caught a glimpse of this reality. The Christ is the messiah, the anointed one, the coming one, as promised in the Old Testament, "Son of the living God", the living one. It separates God from the other dead gods; Jesus pushes the disciples to voice their own understanding of who he was. Peter's confession probably expresses what all the disciples thought, that Jesus was the messiah, sent by God to save Israel.
Jesus replied that Peter is the favoured one, son of Jonah, in Aramaic bar-Jona. This is the only reference to Peter's full name. Possibly a shortened version of Johanan. The name is from the Akkadian word which means "terrorist", so Matthew is alluding to Peter's Zealot background. Peter's understanding is still limited. He had not yet grasped the significance of a suffering messiah.
You are Peter, petra/rock, usually a large stone. Elsewhere Jesus is the rock, but here Peter is the rock and Jesus is the builder and upon Peters confession of faith, Jesus will build his future church. In the Old Testament "the gates of Hades" refers to death (Job.17:16, Isa.38:10). Hades is the underworld or death. Jesus is saying that the church will stand against the powers of darkness.
Bind is a Jewishtechnical term meaning forbid (loose = permit) hinder or restrict from entering the kingdom of heaven, exclude from membership. Jesus says that the teachers of the law hindered those who were seeking to enter the kingdom because of their false teaching and their nitpicking rules.
Through the power of the key, Peter, and consequently, all believers, can bind or loose. Wrongly the church has historically concentrated this in a priestly or authoritative role. The one who holds the keys has the power to open the gates of the kingdom, or to close them, give permission for people to enter the kingdom, or exclude people from it.
But Jesus wants this secret kept and keeps a low profile with regard his messianic credentials to dampen popular political messianic aspirations, for those "with eyes to see". He warned the disciples that they should not mention this to anyone. There’s a time for secrets and a time for exposure. This is Kairos time. Gods time. Gods timing
Peter is given the keys to the kingdom as a servant is given the keys to the house. The servant is the manager of God's house, having authority over his house. The giving of keys means the bestowing of authority, of power and control. Keys are symbolic of who can go in and who can go out of a house.
So binding means forbid, hinder, restrict, put in fetters binding of Satan, demonic powers
Loosing means permit, acquit, releasing people from the bondage of evil and forgiving sins
The church that Jesus tells Peter he is about to build, is a community gathered around the teachings of the Messiah, Jesus. It is not a building or an institution!
As we go back into buildings remember they are not the church. We are. The community of people gathered around Jesus.
Are we binding or loosing? Are we recognising who we are? Do we value peoples’ identity? And their calling? We should. What is your identity and your calling? Stay faithful to it. Amen
“Spirit of the Living God”
Our Prayers
We pray for people and situations we are concerned about including people having to go back into lockdown, the fatalism of young people, the desperate people crossing the sea in dinghies, continuing deaths from Covid 19, the ongoing unrest in Belarus, Hong Kong and Syria and other places, the rise of fascism, the government, the Rohinga Muslims, Muslims being persecuted in China, protection for key workers and adequate PPE, protection for Black and Asian people, for people on low or no incomes, for those with underlying health conditions and those over 60, care for those who are alone and those suffering with depression, protection for asylum seekers and refugees and ensuring that food is reaching the vulnerable and global warming.
May we not fail you. Amen
Song “Holy, Holy, Holy”
ou passing on the keys of Gods house to?
The blessing of God be upon you
On those you love and those you meet
This day and forevermore. Amen
(C) With thanks to the Iona Community adapted
五旬節12 2020
歌曲“我不要”
https://youtu.be/YgqDY1whzoc
歌曲“詩篇23”
https://youtu.be/OoojA0cLPWY
歌曲“一開始”
https://youtu.be/Grz3Hxw9GWU
歌曲“基督在我醒來”
https://youtu.be/X4emGI1gHPA
歌曲“上帝與我們同在”
https://youtu.be/udJjT-LMnIs
歌曲“鉛友善的光”
https://youtu.be/7g2xe7RlD9k
開幕回應
世界屬於上帝
地球及其所有人
多麼可愛
團結在一起
愛與信仰融為一體
正義與和平攜手
歌曲“看看早晨如何”
https://youtu.be/6xM-fpXayUg
讓我們默默地記住我們的缺點和失敗
基督憐憫我們，拯救我們脫離罪孽，願我們改變自己的生命
阿們
上議院的禱告用我們自己的語言
歌曲“詩篇139”
https://youtu.be/dIWMXiT8yrs
閱讀馬太福音16v13-20
歌曲“來吧”
https://youtu.be/EYrTqBioaZ4
反思是您在眾神王國中的特別之處，但謙卑？
我在公共汽車上遇到一個男人。他有很多書包，我坐在他的座位上。他為袋子道歉。我說相信我的書包不是問題！
他笑了，我們開始交談。他是伊拉克的一名醫生。 2003年，他逃到瑞典。他必須建立自己的醫學證明，並將妻子帶離巴格達。現在，他每天都在上帝派遣在斯德哥爾摩的一家醫院中工作，以支持他的年輕家庭。他熱愛斯德哥爾摩，並且在那兒感到安全。他正在伯明翰拜訪一位姨媽。他也愛伯明翰和城市。最近伊拉克發生的事件使他感到震驚，但由於受到的創傷，他無法看新聞。他是伊拉克人，醫生，丈夫，阿拉伯人，穆斯林，父親，侄女和遭受可怕創傷的男人。
這是他的身份。馬修的故事是關於身份的。
彼得承認耶穌是基督，這是福音和馬太福音的轉折點。
馬修的故事是在以色列黎巴嫩邊界的Banais或當時的凱撒利亞腓立比（Caesarea Philippi）中設定的，由希律·菲利普（Herod Philip）重建並更名為凱撒利亞。這是向希臘眾神傾倒雕像的美麗景點。
耶穌已經從人群中移開，去教他的門徒們去凱撒利亞·菲利比凱撒（Caesarea Philippi）地區，該地區位於赫爾蒙山（Mount Hermon）基地，外邦小鎮加利利以北約50公里。耶穌已經從猶太人移居到外邦領地。
當他們走路時，耶穌扭轉了門徒們向拉比提問的正常習慣：“人們說我是誰？”
群眾和宗教當局都沒有認識到耶穌是救世主。希律王安提帕斯，以為他是從死裡復活的施洗約翰。許多人將他視為以利亞的人物，是在彌賽亞之前（在曠野中哭泣的人）應許的先知。其他人則把他看作是厄運的先知耶利米，而其他人則把他看作是普通的或花園的先知，而不是猶太的彌賽亞。這是對耶穌本人的貶值。
“那你呢？”他對他們說：“你是基督”，受膏的彼得，彌賽亞說，因為他瞥見了這個現實。基督是彌賽亞，受膏的那一位，即將來臨的一位，正如舊約中所說的“永生神的兒子”，是永生的一位。它使上帝與其他死神分開。耶穌推動門徒表達自己對他是誰的理解。彼得的認罪可能表達了所有門徒的思想，即耶穌是救世主，是上帝為拯救以色列而派遣的。
耶穌回答說，彼得是約拿的兒子，約拿在亞拉美巴約拿城。這是對Peter全名的唯一參考。可能是Johanan的縮寫。這個名字來自於阿卡德語，意為“恐怖分子”，因此馬修暗示了彼得的狂熱分子的背景。彼得的理解仍然有限。他尚未意識到遭受苦難的救世主的重要性。
您是彼得，彼得拉/岩石，通常是一塊大石頭。在別的地方，耶穌是磐石，但在這裡彼得是磐石，而耶穌是建造者。在彼得承認信仰之後，耶穌將建造他未來的教會。在舊約中，“冥王之門”指的是死亡（約伯記17:16，賽38:10）。冥王是黑社會或死亡。耶穌說教會將反對黑暗的力量。
綁定是猶太人的技術術語，意為禁止（寬鬆=允許）阻礙或限制進入天堂，被排除在會員資格之外。耶穌說，律法的老師由於他們的錯誤教導和挑剔的規則而阻礙了那些尋求進入王國的人。
通過鑰匙的力量，彼得以及所有信徒可以束縛或放鬆。教會在歷史上錯誤地將其集中在祭司或權威的角色上。持有鑰匙的人有權打開或關閉王國的大門，允許人們進入王國或將人們排除在王國之外。
但是耶穌希望保留這個秘密，並保持低調，以他的彌賽亞資格來挫敗大眾
