Bible Text: Jeremiah 29:4-7; Matthew 16:13-20 | Pastor: Pastor Jason Bryant |             The year was 1983, I was 12 and playing baseball on my middle school team. It was the opening game of a new season and I was ready. I’d spent a couple weeks that summer at Clemson’s baseball camp and was probably playing the best baseball I ever would. It’s funny how, like Al Bundy almost, I remember this one day perfectly and can tell it to you in such detail. I dug into the batter’s box and shot a steely eyed glare at my arch-nemesis Roge Purgason. Roge and I played youth sports with and against each other growing up. Roge went on to play football for Carolina but, even by this age, he was a big guy and a talented athlete.

            Rog also had one of the fastest fastballs I’d ever seen and sometimes it was scary because he wasn’t always what you’d call a “control” pitcher and he was really, really tall.

            But there I was, ready. After a couple of pitches in the dirt, it was a 2-0 count and I was ready. Roge wound up, threw the ball. Crack. I hit my first and only over-the-fence home run in youth baseball. Pow. It felt so awesome rounding the bases and hearing my teammates cheer. There, with the sun on my face turning third and heading home, it felt literally, like I was on top of the world.

            It may not have been baseball, or even sports, but we all know what that feels like. Acing a test or getting a promotion or hearing a special girl say yes to going out on your first date, there are just moments in life that are sweet and sublime and sparkle with the excitement of endless possibility.

            Last week, we began a quick, two-part series on a particular question asked by Jesus to his disciples and apostles in the Gospel of Matthew. No worries if you weren’t here. We looked at how Peter responded to Jesus’ inquiry as to “who he is. Peter, as we know, hails Jesus as the Christ, the son of the living God. Jesus clearly is happy with the answer telling Peter he’s right.   Hear now, the Word of our Lord from the 16th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew:

            Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”  And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock[b] I will build my church, and the gates of hell[c] shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed[d] in heaven.

            I can only imagine how elated Peter must’ve been hearing Jesus share such lofty words about him. I mean, to be called “blessed” by Jesus? That must feel like a million bucks, right? It must’ve been like he’d hit a home run off Roge Purgason, right?

            Well, it does! And the great news is that, like Peter, you too can “hear” this same declaration. Hailing Jesus as the Christ, that is Messiah, that is Savior, Son of God is something we can all do every single day. In doing so, it’s been my experience that you do feel blessed. There is a strength and resiliency which comes from having a relationship with Jesus. I mean, look at Peter, right?