Polling Questions

Homily for the Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
Sometimes, homilies are more about asking questions than they are about giving answers. So I’ll give you this warning up front – today is one of those times. Today’s homily has more questions than it does answers. And I encourage you to use the silence that follows the homily to think about how you would answer these questions.

In some ways, Jesus would make a good political advisor. For one, he knows the value of opinion polls. Really, that’s what he is about in today’s gospel – polling the disciples, who in turn have polled a wider population on who they think the Son of Man is. So the disciples report that, in the latest poll, 32% think Jesus is John the Baptist; 13% say that he is Elijah; 10% say Jeremiah; another 18% say that he is one of the other prophets; and 27% are undecided. And, of course, there’s a margin of error in this particular poll of +/- 4%. But when Jesus takes the same poll among his disciples, asking their personal opinions, there is only one answer, given by Peter as the spokesperson of the group: Peter says, without hesitation, I am 100% sure that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. At least among his disciples, Jesus has a pretty high approval rating.

But from here, there’s another question that is implied. The gospels weren’t written for the benefit of the disciples; they knew Jesus personally, they lived through the events that are recorded on the written page. The gospels were written for us, for those blessed ones who have not seen and yet believe. Some of the people say that Jesus is a prophet, and Peter says that Jesus is the Son of God, but what about you – what do you think? There are plenty of opinions in our own time about who Jesus is – from being just a nice guy to a highly motivational speaker; from a prophet mighty in word and deed to a person who lived 2000 years ago but means nothing today. And in the end, do the polls matter? Does it matter what other people think? Either Jesus is God, or he is not; it’s not a matter of opinion. It’s a matter of faith, and it’s a matter of shaping your life on how you answer that question.

There are serious repercussions for acknowledging Jesus as God. If that is what we say, if that is what we believe, then it should make a difference in our lives. And so I ask you today – Who do you say that Jesus is? If you can honestly say, with Peter, that Jesus is the Son of God, then how is your life changed by that statement? And if you cannot say that Jesus is the Son of God, then what could convince you that he is?