“Who do you say that I am?”
the Holy One asks,
each and every day
as so many claim his name.
This is not an academic exercise.
“Who do you say that I am?”
We have the four gospels.
We have the Spirit still speaking among us.
We have saints and martyrs and prophets
–yes, even now.
“Who do you say that I am?”
The Human One
calls us to be human
as we commit ourselves to walk His path,
taking up our crosses
the burden of love
the lifting up of hope
the “re-membering” of his Body
by our commitment to each other,
stranger or friend,
patron or supplicant.
“Who do you say that I am?”
Have we shrunk Him down
for our comfort and convenience,
so that we won’t be called to change that much
beyond our comfort zone?
Do we flinch from the full answer—
And the call to lay down our life
(forgetting He promised us a better one
in its place)?
Because who we say HE is
is also who we say we are
if we are to bear his name in truth.
“Who do you say that I am?”
The gate, the way, the truth, the life?
Then so must we be.
The Rev. Leslie Scoopmire is a retired teacher and a priest in the Diocese of Missouri. She is rector of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Ellisville, MO. She posts prayers and sermons at her blog Abiding In Hope, and collects spiritual writings and images at Poems, Psalms, and Prayers.