Who Are You?

Joe Kutter preaching

July 15, 2007

Who are you?  First Baptist Church of Topeka, who are you? Who are we?  The sign out front says that this is a “place of love and hope” and I believe that is true. We are a people of love and hope and those attributes are central to our being. Say, “Love and Hope.” Let’s think for a minute about who we are.

We can start with the scripture that we read this morning. According to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus and his closest disciples have found a place to pray privately.  Jesus asks the disciples, “who do people say that I am?” and they answer him and then he asks, “Who do you say that I am?”  And Simon said, “You are the Messiah of God” or “You are the Christ of God.” Christ is the Greek word for the Hebrew word Messiah. In English, “You are the Anointed One of God.”

Who are we, First Baptist Church of Topeka?  We are a body of people who have heard Jesus’ question, “Who do you say that I am?” and each one of us has answered “You are the Anointed One of God.”  We are a congregation of people who share Peter’s confession, “You are the Christ.”

Sometimes, we say something that is related but a little different. More likely, we said, “I have accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior.” In this church, every member has personally accepted the salvation that comes to us from God by faith in Jesus Christ. And each one of us has declared that Jesus is the Lord of life.

Are there different ways to interpret those words? Yes. Are there different ways to embody those words in every day life? Absolutely. Sometimes we disagree and debate. But our common affirmation is this: Jesus is the Anointed One. Jesus is the Savior. Jesus is Lord. Every person for himself or for herself must make that fundamental decision and offer that fundamental confession.

After Peter said, “You are the Christ”, Jesus told his disciples that he would have to suffer and die. Then he said something like this: Any person who would come after me must take up his cross daily and follow me.

Who are we, First Baptist Church?  We are the people who say, “I have decided to follow Jesus.” We are people who have chosen to be disciples of Jesus Christ, his students, his followers, his disciples.  That simply means that we have decided to learn the lessons that he teaches and we have decided to shape our lives according to his instruction.

Who are we, First Baptist Church?  We are a body of believers and disciples. . We are a body, the body of Christ. Each person has distinctive contributions to make to the body and each person is dependent upon the body for spiritual health. We are linked together as fingers are attached to the hand and the hand is a part of the arm and the body.

Who are we, First Baptist Church? We are a people of the book! Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God and we know Jesus through the Bible. The old Baptists would often say it this way, “The Bible is a sufficient rule for faith and practice.”

In every generation, a group comes along that believes that we need an official interpretation so that people will more likely be able to understand the meaning of the Bible. And people like me have said, No, every interpretation is a human interpretation created in a specific place and time and the Bible must be allowed to stand on its own merits. In other words, we have the Bible and that is enough and we have adopted no creeds or official interpretation. This means that we have accepted the inevitability of never-ending discussion and debate and disagreement and we have chosen to live with that tension. Our core belief is that Jesus is the Ultimate revelation of God and the Bible is the written witness and that is enough. The Bible, with a focus on Jesus is our book and that is enough.

If the Bible is the primary written witness, we are a people who depend on The Holy Spirit for our interpretation. We are a people of prayer who seek God’s guidance in all things because we believe that God is with us and attempting to open the pages of Holy Scripture to our understanding so that we may be faithful and effective believing disciples of Jesus Christ. We are a people of the book and a people of the Spirit.

Who are we, First Baptist Church?  We are believers in Jesus Christ. We are his disciples and The Bible is our source of faith and practice. The Spirit is our daily companion and counselor.  Thirdly, in matters of faith, we encourage maximum freedom and maximum responsibility. Let me say it again for emphasis. We encourage maximum freedom and maximum responsibility in matters of faith.

The old Baptists used two phrases, which I believe they coined. One phrase was “soul competency” and its partner was “soul freedom.” Soul competence” means that God created every person in this world with the ability to personally respond to God in Jesus Christ, to personally follow Jesus Christ, to become a disciple of Jesus Christ and to be personally accountable to Jesus Christ. While we all need one another and we all rely on one another, at the end of the day, each of us has been given the ability to say “yes” or “no” to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Finally, because God has given you the ability, nobody else can say it for you. You say yes or no for yourself because you are competent before God.

The second phrase is similar to the first, “soul freedom.” Because God has given that ability to you, nobody under any circumstances may be granted the ability to take that decision from you. You must be free to choose for God or against. God gave you the freedom to walk with him…or not.

That freedom gives you full responsibility for your part of your relationship with God. If you are free, then you are responsible and you cannot shift responsibility off onto somebody or something else. By virtue of your competency and freedom, you stand responsible and accountable to God.

At First Baptist, we encourage you to accept both the freedom and the responsibility that God is giving to you. You are free to explore the scriptures. You are free to agree and disagree with your pastors and those in your church. You are free to sing, “wherever he leads, I’ll go.” You are free to respond to whatever call God may call out to you.

Who are you First Baptist? We are a people who seek to follow Christ in both mission and worship. Mission:  Jesus instructed us to make disciples of all nations. We take that seriously. We want to be in the business of bringing men and women to Jesus and encouraging them to say, Jesus Christ is the Lord of my life. He is my savior.

We have also heard Jesus say that when we feed the hungry and shelter the homeless and attend the needy, we are doing it to Jesus himself. So, next Saturday, 31 of our members will go to Nicaragua to attend to the needs of the neediest of God’s needy people. It’s all about being disciples. And how will they go? They will travel and work on the dollars that you have contributed. They will go as your emissaries and the emissaries of Christ himself.

That is why we participate in Doorstep and Heartland Shares. That is why we built the Habitat house a few years ago. We did it because the Holy Spirit speaking through the words of scripture led us to believe that Jesus wants us to do that kind of thing. It’s a part of the mission. It’s all about believing in Jesus and following Jesus.

And we are a church that worships. We gather every week to enter into God’s presence with prayer and scripture and music and preaching.   Worship has been such an important part of our lives that we have invested mightily in doing it well. Through the years, we have offered the best music to God that we could possibly offer. We have built this grand house as a place of worship. We have invested money in pastors and time in  preparation.

We have understood that different people enter into God’s presence through different doors. So we have created options. At 8:30, it’s rather simple. At  9:45 we have a Connexion service, worship in a more contemporary style. At 11 O’clock, we open up the organ and during most of the year, we bring out the choirs, all to give our worship to God.

Who are we, First Baptist Church of Topeka?  We are a people of worship and mission. Why? Because, each one of us has freely chosen to follow Jesus. 

I hope that you have made the free decision to follow Jesus. I hope that you have invited him to shape your life. I pray that you know the blessings of his salvation.