Who Do You Say I Am? Seeing Beyond Labels

Devotional

Day 1: Through Fractured Lenses – Seeing Partially, Labeling Hastily

A movie replays the same event through multiple witnesses’ eyes, each perspective true yet incomplete. Like those characters, we reduce people to fragments – a teacher’s critique, a stranger’s assumption, a single failure. Labels stick like gum under desks: “troublemaker,” “unworthy,” “too political.” Yet the backpack blessing reminds us – no observer holds the full story of a soul still becoming. What we call “rebellion” might be survival. What we dismiss as “lazy” could be exhaustion from carrying invisible weights. [23:34]

“Don’t judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.” (Matthew 7:1-2, NLT)

Reflection: What label have you worn that never fit your whole story? How might someone’s difficult behavior be a fragment you’re misreading as their entire book?

Day 2: “You Are the Messiah” – Confession Beyond Rehearsed Answers

Peter’s declaration wasn’t theory – it grew from fish-smelling nights watching Jesus touch lepers and eat with outcasts. Messiah meant liberation, yet Peter still expected swords, not crosses. Our creeds risk becoming clichés unless tested by actual lepers – the inconvenient neighbor, the “unlovable” relative. To call Christ “Savior” while withholding grace from His image-bearers unravels the confession. Faith isn’t a voter’s guide but a life that answers, daily, “Who do YOU say I am?” through hands that serve. [24:54]

“But what about you?” Jesus asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:15-16, NLT)

Reflection: Where does your lived response to Jesus clash with your verbal confession? What “leper” in your life tests whether you mean “Messiah”?

Day 3: Purple Congregations in Black-and-White Worlds

Labels calcify: “evangelical” means bigotry, “progressive” means godlessness. Yet this church bleeds purple – red passion and blue contemplation mixing into something richer. Unity isn’t uniformity; it’s soup kitchens staffed by conservatives and liberals passing ladles. When the world demands ideological purity, the cross stands as a rebuttal: the Zealot and tax collector both transformed. Our witness isn’t in being right but in being reconcilers – a community where labels drown in baptismal waters. [33:47]

“There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28, NLT)

Reflection: What label have you assigned to a “them” that Christ’s blood washes into “us”? Who might surprise you if seen beyond political/theological categories?

Day 4: Backpacks and Bandaids – Carrying Others’ Stories

The fifth grader in ISS wasn’t “disruptive” but drowning – trauma his teachers mistook for defiance. Backpacks hold more than books: silent prayers, parentless mornings, the ache to be known. We bless them not as magic shields but as reminders: every child is a mosaic of brokenness and beauty. To teach is to say, “I see your pieces, and still…” To parent is to whisper, “Their labels don’t define you” over locker slams. We’re all suspension-room kids needing someone to ask, “What happened?” not “What’s wrong with you?” [41:17]

“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Don’t judge by his appearance or height… The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’” (1 Samuel 16:7, NLT)

Reflection: Whose behavior have you judged as character instead of pain? When did someone’s curiosity about your “why” soften a label’s sting?

Day 5: Stained Glass Vantage Points – What Our Lives Frame

Visitors don’t read mission statements; they read your face when the music falters. They notice who gets visited in hospitals and who gets gossiped about in parking lots. Our lives are viewfinders through which neighbors glimpse Jesus – blurry or clear. A “purple church” isn’t measured by statements but by whether Republicans drive Democrats to chemo. The world knows our Christ through our collisions with imperfection: do we snap at bulletin mistakes or laugh? Grace isn’t a doctrine but the space between “You messed up” and “Let’s try again.” [38:01]

“In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” (Matthew 5:16, NLT)

Reflection: What snapshot of Jesus would a stranger develop from observing your last conflict? How might your “good deeds” better align with the Messiah you proclaim?

Sermon Summary

The question of Jesus begins with vantage point. The movie image of *Vantage Point* shows that the same event can be true from several angles, yet no one angle carries the whole picture. The image says something important about people too, because family, friends, teachers, coworkers, and strangers may each see something real, but none of them see the whole story.

Jesus’ first question, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” brings out the public vantage points. The answers name John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets, and those answers recognize something important in Jesus. Jesus’ second question, “But who do you say that I am?” makes it personal for the ones who have walked with him, watched him heal, heard him teach, and seen him welcome the people others pushed away.

Peter’s answer, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God,” sees something true, even if Peter does not yet understand all that Messiah will mean. Peter’s vantage point is real, but it is still incomplete. The same truth applies to every person who is still learning, still growing, and still becoming.

The blessing of the backpacks carries that truth into the school year. A teacher may see one part of a child, a friend may see another, and someone may notice a struggle before seeing the whole person. Someone else’s vantage point is not “the book story” of a child, an adult, or anyone else. One opinion, one mistake, one difficult day, or one old label should not become the definition of a life.

The other side of the question matters too. The life of the church gives people a vantage point from which they learn something about Jesus. If the church says Jesus is compassionate, people should experience compassion. If the church says everyone is welcome, people should experience welcome.

The purple congregation image matters because red and blue can come together without everyone seeing everything the same way. Open and affirming, wise, Camino Rising, food, clothing, care for the sick, and care for the community all become part of the story people can tell. Peter’s life shows that saying Jesus is Messiah is one thing, and living like Jesus is Messiah is another. The label placed on another person can wound deeply, especially when children begin to live into what others keep calling them. Every vantage point reveals something, and no vantage point reveals everything.

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Key Takeaways

1. Vantage points are never whole stories A person may see something true and still not see enough. The angle someone has on another life is shaped by history, assumptions, wounds, and the moment in which that person is looking. Wisdom listens without surrendering the whole self to one limited view. [25:41]
2. Peter’s confession still needed formation Peter says the right words when he names Jesus as Messiah, but that answer will take a lifetime to understand. Confession is not only accuracy of speech, but a life slowly brought under the meaning of what has been confessed. Faith becomes dangerous when it says “Jesus” while refusing the shape of Jesus’ welcome, grace, and mercy. [37:01]
3. Labels can become burdensome scripts A label does not merely describe a person from the outside, especially when it is repeated by people with authority. A child, a congregation, or an adult can begin to carry another person’s narrow judgment like it is destiny. Careful love refuses to make one hard season, one mistake, or one struggle into the whole name of a person. [42:23]
4. Welcome must become visible A community’s claims about Jesus become believable or unbelievable in the way people are treated. If compassion is only a word on the wall, then people learn a thin version of Christ. If welcome becomes concrete through care, food, clothing, listening, and room for difference, then the life of the community gives a truer vantage point on Jesus.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[22:08] - Peter Names Jesus as Messiah
[23:13] - The Vantage Point Image
[24:10] - Jesus Asks What People Say
[24:54] - Jesus Makes the Question Personal
[25:28] - Peter Sees Truly but Incompletely
[26:23] - Backpacks and New School Labels
[27:22] - Adults Carry Old Labels Too
[28:12] - What Story Do Lives Tell
[30:31] - Assumptions About a Congregation
[33:27] - A Purple Congregation
[34:35] - Welcome, ONA, and Wise Identity
[37:01] - Saying Jesus and Living Jesus
[40:16] - The Harm of Giving Up on Kids
[42:51] - No Vantage Point Reveals Everything

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Matthew 16:13-16
“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ ‘Well,’ they replied, ‘some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.’ Then he asked them, ‘But who do you say I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’” [22:08]

Matthew 16:23
“Jesus turned to Peter and said, ‘Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.’”

1 John 3:18
“Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.”

Observation questions

In Matthew 16:13-16, what different answers do people give about who Jesus is, and how is Peter’s answer different from the others? [24:21]
What are some of the different “vantage points” named in connection with how people see one another, such as family, friends, teachers, or people meeting someone on a hard day? [24:06]
What are some concrete actions that help people see compassion and welcome rather than just hear words about them? [34:18]
What examples show how labels can stick to a person, especially a child, and begin to shape the story told about that person? [42:23]

Interpretation questions

Jesus first asks what other people are saying, and then asks the disciples what they themselves say. Why does that second question carry a deeper weight for people who have walked with him, listened to him, and watched how he treated others? [24:45]
Peter names Jesus as Messiah, yet Matthew 16:23 shows that Peter still sees only partly. What does that suggest about the difference between saying something true about Jesus and understanding what that truth means for a whole life? [37:01]
Matthew 16:23 says Peter is seeing from a human point of view, not God’s. How might a limited human vantage point lead people to misread Jesus, misread other people, or misread themselves?
1 John 3:18 says love must be shown by actions. How do visible acts of welcome, care, food, clothing, and compassion help make a community’s words about Jesus believable? [34:35]

Application questions

When has one opinion, one mistake, or one hard season started to feel like the definition of who a person is? How has that shaped the way that person sees himself or herself, and what would it look like to resist that label? [27:04]
Many adults still carry words spoken over them years ago. Is there an old label or judgment that still echoes in someone’s life today? What would it look like to place that limited vantage point in its proper place? [27:35]
Jesus asks, “But who do you say that I am?” If someone answered that question by watching a person’s daily life this week, what story would they be most likely to tell about the Jesus that person follows? [40:00]
If Jesus welcomes people others push away, where might a person’s own welcome need to become more visible right now—at home, at school, at work, or in church? [37:31]
Labels can become burdensome scripts, especially for children and teenagers. How can someone speak about a child, student, or struggling person in a way that is truthful but does not trap them inside one narrow story? [42:36]
A community may say it is compassionate and welcoming, but people learn the truth by how they are treated. What are some simple, practical ways a small group can make compassion and welcome more concrete in the coming weeks? [34:29]
Red and blue can make purple without everybody seeing everything the same way. Where does someone need more patience with differences right now, while still staying committed to love, grace, and the way of Jesus? [33:27]

Sermon Clips

38s

#LiveWhatYouBelieve

“See, Peter will spend the rest of his life learning how to live to that answer of Jesus being the Messiah. Because saying Jesus is one thing, living us when we believe it is another. We have so many people right now, not just in our country but in general, who say they believe in God or they believe in Jesus, yet their actions speak contrary to that. If we see Jesus welcoming people, perhaps our lives should be more welcoming.”

66s

#OwnYourStory

“And this applies to the adults only because the kids know all about them. And, yes, of course, adults, we need that reminder here. Some of us are still hearing things somebody said about us years ago. Sometimes we have allowed one person's limited view to become the way we see ourselves, but their vantage point was never the whole story. At the same time, our faith cannot simply be common. It does not matter what anybody thinks about me because the way we live gives other people a vantage point from which they understand, and perhaps even something about Jesus we say we follow. So maybe the question is, what story our lives are giving people to tell?”

37s

#WhoDoYouSayJesusIs

“That brings us to Jesus' question, who do you, who do people say that the Son of Man is? But the Sabbaths answered John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, one of the prophets. People recognize something important in Jesus, that they are interpreting him from where they stand. Then Jesus changes the question, but who do you say that I am? Now it is personal.”

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Christ Church UCC Des Plaines This sermon · AI assistant

What story do our lives tell about Jesus?

How should Christians respond to partial perspectives?

How do labels limit a person's whole story?