08/23/2026
Please join us today, Sunday, August 23, 2026 at 10 AM service pacific time. YouTube live at:
https://youtube.com/live/aYd-oVP4lE0?feature=share
An excerpt from my sermon:
Proper 16, Sunday, August 23, 2026
Exodus 1:8-2:10, Psalm 124, Romans 12:1-8
Matthew 16:13-20
Who Do You Say that I am?
Has anyone ever asked you the question: “Who do you or the people say that he or she is?” Or have you ever asked anyone that question?
Many times, I was asked who I am and how did I get my name Oakes. I would always respond, I am Leonard Oakes, the son of Teresa Barantes and Benedicto Oakes Sr whose father was adopted by an American Missionary Nurse named Beatrice Oakes from Boston Massachusetts who was stationed in the cradle of the Episcopal Church in the Philippines in the 1900’s. I am an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church, A home health and a hospice nurse who loves to sing and play guitar and gongs. Then I asked, why? Who do people say that I am? Someone said, “you are one of a compassionate heart, diligent in working, generous giver and cheerful.”
But that question was far to compare to that question Jesus asked his disciples about what they think he is and what the people perceived him to be.
It sure sounds like Jesus is putting his disciples to the test in this Gospel story.
….. Is he someone you have been told is fully God and fully human, but doesn’t seem very real to you, or part of your human experience? Jesus is asking for your response, not what you think you should say, not what has been handed down to you, but what your heart and soul and mind tell you.
For this question is not about doctrine, but about relationship. Is Jesus truly the Son of the living God, for you? Is he the one who shows you what our loving God is like, is he your friend, your brother, the Savior who brings you life, and health and wholeness? Is he the living, incarnate presence of God who dwells in you, and transforms you into a glorious new creation?
…. Who do you say that I am, asks Jesus of the Church? Is he someone we make over in our own image, who confirms to our own comfortable way of life and hopefully doesn’t require too much of us? Is he someone that we can manipulate in our own image and liking to despise others? Or is he truly the Son of the Living God, who longs to enter the deepest part of our lives, who calls us to surrender all that we are to his grace, and let his love, his mercy, and compassion make us a new people with hearts of flesh and blood, instead of stone?
Friends, if we give our hearts and lives to the Living Christ, we will know abundant love that is beyond what we can imagine. The Church will truly be the salt of the earth, the light reflecting Jesus Christ as the light of the world. It will be an agent of transformation, a herald of justice and peace, rather than a mere human institution.
It will truly be a beloved community, where all are welcomed, all have a home, all have an honored, important place in the body of Christ.
So, may we go into the world proclaiming that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. And that we, who are many, are one body of Christ, truly gifted with generosity, diligence, compassion and Cheerful!
Amen? Amen! May God bless you.
Sunday Service for 8/23/26
