This is an adapted form of the sermon I preached this morning, the 24th Sunday in Ordinary TIme. The gospel reading was Mark 8:27-38.

“Give me five minutes with a person’s checkbook, and I will tell you where their heart is.” That quote is attributed to the Rev. Billy Graham. “Give me five minutes with a person’s checkbook, and I will tell you where their heart is.” It’s an interesting idea: if you want to see what’s really important to a person, look at how they spend their money.

So I thought I’d put that to the test today. I have procured the bank statements and credit card bills of five people up here today. Don’t worry about how I got them.

• Here we go. Okay, this first person has spent an awful lot of money at veterinary clinics, and there’s a donation to the ASPCA, another donation to a local animal shelter. I think this person is an animal lover.
• Let’s look at the next one. What do we have here? A big credit card charge to a cruise line, and a lot of charges to airlines. I see a bunch of little purchases at places all over the world. I think this person feels travel is very important.
• Next one. There are five payments to eBay for hummel figurines. And one of those payments is really, really high. I think this person is a collector. Must find hummels very meaningful.
• Next one. Oh, umm. Wait, is that really? Can you really spend that much at… Oh. Er, you know what? We’re just going to skip this one.
• Alright. Last one. This person has spent a decent amount of money at the grocery store, and the pharmacy, and on rent, and on utility bills, and it looks like that’s about it. There’s really nothing left after those payments. I think this person is living hand to mouth. It’s hard to tell what’s important to them, because everything they have is spent on what they need – nothing left over. Huh.

So, of course, these are just blank pieces of paper. I don’t have anybody’s bank statements or credit card bills up here. But I think there’s some truth to this. The way we spend our money tells a story about us. It may not be our whole story, but I think it’s an important piece. When we tell someone else with our words what’s important to us, that’s not always the whole story. The things we tell ourselves about what’s important to us is not always the whole story. Sometimes looking at something like our spending can help us understand ourselves better.

So maybe you might want to try this exercise with your own bank statement, your own credit card bill, sometime. See what story your money is telling about you, and see if that inspires you to make any changes to that story.

But I don’t want to talk just about money today. I want to talk about what Jesus asked the disciples in today’s gospel story, because I think he’s asking us the same question. He asked this: “Who do you say that I am?” I think that’s an interesting way to frame the question. Not, “Who do you think I am?” or “Who do you believe I am?” But, “Who do you say that I am?”

And as we just explored together, sometimes our words don’t tell the whole story. I think it’s more than that? I think perhaps we say who Jesus is not only with our words, but also with our actions. With our attitudes. With how we spend our money and our time. I think we say who Jesus is with our fears, and how we respond to them. With our faith, and how we live it.

When Jesus asked the question of his disciples, Peter gave a good answer – he used the right words. He said, “You’re the Messiah.” But then he showed just a few minutes later that he didn’t understand what that meant, when he scolded Jesus for talking about his death. Peter knew the right words, but at that point in his life, he didn’t live out their meaning. But reading the gospels and the book of Acts, we can see that Peter grew into a much deeper, richer understanding and faith in who Jesus is. There is always a chance to gro.

So I encourage you to ask yourself, “Who are you saying that Jesus is, by the way you live your life?” Does your life say that Jesus is someone worth trusting? Does your life say that Jesus is someone who forgives you? Does your life say that Jesus is someone who cares for other people? Someone who calls you to care for other people? Does your life say that Jesus is stronger than the power of death? Stronger than anything?

So, who are you saying that Jesus is, by your life? I’m not going to tell you that, but I invite you to consider that. Here are a few ways to do that. You could look at how you spend your time, or how you spend your money. You could look at what your attitudes are toward others. You could look at what frightens you, and how you deal with those fears. You could even, and this is the really scary one, you could even ask other people what they see in your words and your actions. All those things might help you discern what you really say about Jesus in your life, and perhaps you’d see an opportunity for growth there.

But while I won’t talk about what each of you individually is saying about Jesus, I will say what, in my view, the congregation of Prince of Peace is saying about Jesus through our congregational life together. Who do we say that Jesus is?

This is what I see.

• I see a group of people gathered here, today and each Sunday. As well as some online, participating that way. Through that, we are saying that Jesus is someone worthy of praise, and worthy of worship. Someone worthy of listening to.
• I see the way you welcome people here. Through your attitudes and actions toward visitors, we are saying that Jesus is someone who welcomes people, who invites others in, who wants others to join in this worship, no matter who you are, how you dress, what you look like.
• I see the way you treat one another. It’s not perfect. We say the wrong thing sometimes. We hurt each other sometimes. But I see forgiveness.  I have seen people strive to heal and move past the hurts to continue to nurture relationships. We are saying that Jesus is someone who can, and does, heal relationships. And we are saying that Jesus is someone who calls and uses flawed and imperfect people.
• I have seen the decision that our leaders here made about October 27, the decision to cancel our own worship service to gather and celebrate with Christ Lutheran Church on their 250^th anniversary. We are saying something humble, saying that our comfort and the status quo are less important than celebrating with a neighbor. We are saying that Jesus can be found not just here, but in other places as well.
• And I see the way you give and share so generously. We are saying, loudly and clearly for all the community to hear, that Jesus is someone who cares deeply about the hungry. That Jesus is someone who cares about foster families. That Jesus cares about soldiers. That Jesus cares about animals. That Jesus cares about the children in our community.
• And we are saying that Jesus is someone who works through the small acts of a small group of people. That Jesus can take our small acts and our small donations, and turn them into miracles.

“Who do you say that I am?” Jesus asks us. As a community, we are saying some amazing things about Jesus. Who do you say that Jesus is?

Photo by Marc Kleen on Unsplash