Proper 16 / Ordinary Time 21 / Pentecost 12
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VIII, Cycle A
Theme For The Day
Peter's confession of Christ as Messiah is the rock on which the church is built.
Old Testament Lesson
Exodus 1:8--2:10
Shiphrah And Puah Save The Israelite Boys, And Moses' Mother Saves Him
This week begins a ten-week series of readings -- nine from Exodus and a final one from Deuteronomy -- that recount the story of Moses. "Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph" (v. 8). Those chilling words presage a change in fortunes for the Israelite people, who -- in the generations since Joseph -- have been transformed from free people into slaves. Alarmed at the growing population of the Israelite slaves, the Pharaoh commands two Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, to smother all the boy-children they deliver. In a sly act of civil disobedience, they quietly resolve not to do so. When the Pharaoh calls them to account, they claim their services have not been required because the Hebrew women are so strong that they give birth on their own without relying on midwives (v. 19). The exasperated Pharaoh commands that all the Israelite boy-children be cast into the Nile. Shortly after Pharaoh's order, an Israelite woman gives birth to a son, Moses, and hides him at home for three months before devising a new hiding-place: a basket waterproofed with pitch, floating in the reeds at the river's edge (v. 3). As her daughter performs sentry-duty from a distance, Pharaoh's daughter and her handmaidens come down to the river to bathe, discover the baby, and decide to adopt him (v. 6). After providentially hiring Moses' own mother (not knowing who she is) to nurse the child until the time of his weaning, Pharaoh's daughter takes Moses into the royal household (v. 10). The name, Moses -- bestowed on the child by Pharaoh's daughter -- means, "I drew him out of the water." This story illustrates the remarkable lengths to which God will go to preserve the covenant.
New Testament Lesson
Romans 12:1-8
Unity In The One Body
Having finished his lengthy argument about the salvation of the Jews, Paul moves on to exhort believers to holy living and Christian unity. Commitment to Jesus Christ, he teaches, is total: "present your bodies as a living sacrifice," and "be transformed by the renewing of your minds" (verses 1-2). Every part of human existence must be illumined and transformed by the presence of Christ. In verses 3-8, Paul exhorts his readers to humility in their common life. Remember, he tells them, that just as each member of the human body has a particular function, each of you has your own role to fill in the common life of the community. He then lists a number of spiritual gifts: prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation, generosity, leadership, compassion. There are rich possibilities for word-studies here. Although each of these gifts has leadership dimensions, Paul is clearly not setting up a hierarchy of offices. His conception of church order is far more fluid, being governed by the Holy Spirit, who spontaneously distributes such gifts and empowers believers to deploy them in service to the community.
The Gospel
Matthew 16:13-20
"Who Do You Say That I Am?"
Matthew's version of Peter's confession at Caesarea Philippi is more elaborate than either Mark's (8:27-30) or Luke's (9:18-20). The same basic elements are there: Jesus asking who the disciples say he is, then zeroing in on Peter to ask who he, personally, says Jesus is and to which Peter replies, "The Messiah." It is a significant watershed moment. To that account, Matthew adds some additional material. First, Jesus tells Peter he is blessed for having made this confession. Then he declares, "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church" (v. 18). To Peter the Lord is giving "the keys of the kingdom of heaven," along with the power "to bind and to loose" -- in other words, the power to forgive sins in his name (v. 19). Jesus concludes by ordering the disciples to tell no one who he is. On these two verses (18 and 19) -- found only here, in Matthew -- are built the Roman Catholic doctrine of Petrine supremacy. There is significant debate as to whether these words can be attributed to Jesus, or whether they reflect the latter-day viewpoint of the Matthean church. Except for two occurrences in a single verse, Matthew 18:17 -- concerning instructions for handling disputes between Christians, a passage that the lectionary presents two weeks from now -- this is the only instance, in all four gospels, of Jesus using the word ekklesia, or "church." For such a pivotal word to be completely omitted from three out of four gospels (and to be so rare in the one that does include it), is more than a mere scholarly curiosity. It likely indicates that Jesus was not, in fact, consciously seeking to establish a church -- and that the occurrences of ekklesia in Matthew are a later interpolation. Homiletically speaking, Jesus' pointed question to Peter is one that ought to be posed to each individual Christian. There comes a time, in our spiritual lives, when we must all cease our questioning and take a stand. Who do we say that he is? Jesus is looking to us for an answer. What will we say?
Preaching Possibilities
"You are Peter," says Jesus to Simon, "and on this rock I will build my church." Jesus, you remember, knows something about building -- for he was a carpenter.
Early on in Matthew's gospel, Jesus tells a parable about two other carpenters. One built upon the rock, the other upon the sand. "The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against" the house built on the sand. It collapsed: "and great was its fall!" (Matthew 7:27).
Build a house on rock, and the outcome will be different. Jesus says to Simon, "You are the rock." If a structure is built upon you, Simon, even "the gates of Hades will not prevail against it."
I think it was George Bernard Shaw who remarked that the church is built on a pun -- and he's right. The word-play doesn't come through in English, but in Greek it's crystal-clear: "Petros," or Peter, is virtually identical to "petra," or rock. Our English words "petrified" and "petroleum" come from the same root. Probably the closest equivalent in English would be to call Peter "Rocky."
So what is it, exactly, about this Galilean fisherman that leads Jesus to place such confidence in him? At first glance, there seems to be little to separate Simon from the other disciples. Like them, he comes from humble circumstances. He's one of several fishermen to whom Jesus says one day, "Leave your nets and follow me." And they do.
For many months now, Simon has walked with Jesus along the dusty footpaths of Judea and Galilee. He's slept on the hard ground beside him, eaten the same food he's eaten, and run the same risks he's run. But then, so have all the others! Simon's no different from them. There is that one story about Jesus walking on the water -- remember how, in that story, it's Simon who's courageous (or foolhardy) enough to try it himself. But that's the only episode, in Matthew's gospel until now, that might set him apart from his fellows.
It's the only episode, that is, until this one we read today. Jesus calls Simon "Rock" because of the way he's just answered one simple question: "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" Jesus asks.
"John the Baptist," some of the disciples reply -- speaking the name of that fiery prophet from the wilderness, who was beheaded by Herod. Others say, "Elijah," that imposing Old Testament wonderworker -- who, they say, did not die as other people die, but was taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire. Still others answer, "Jeremiah" -- that stern and solemn prophet of the exile, who denounced Israel's sins and pleaded with the people to return to the Lord.
Jesus will accept not one of these comparisons. He turns to his disciples and confronts them with a very personal question: "But who do you say that I am?"
It is then that something mysterious, something indefinable, stirs within the stout heart of the fisherman. In a flash of insight, Simon realizes just who it is standing before him asking this question. "You are the Messiah," he says in awe and wonder, "the Son of the living God."
It is after he speaks these words that Jesus says, "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church." Forever after, he will be known as Simon Peter, or simply, Peter. He stands in a noble line of Bible characters who receive new names after undergoing transforming experiences. Abram becomes Abraham and Sarai becomes Sarah, after making covenant with God; Jacob becomes Israel, after wrestling an angel. As for Simon, he becomes Peter, after recognizing Jesus as the Son of God.
Stop a person on the street, at random, and ask him or her, "Show me the foundation of the church," and you might get one of several answers. Some literal-minded individuals might point to the actual foundation of the building: the bricks and mortar on which it stands. Others might hum quietly to themselves that old Sunday school song, "The church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is not a resting-place, the church is a people" -- then they would point out the gathering of Christians who comprise the church-as-organization.
There's an element of truth in each of these answers. Neither one's wrong, on the face of it. But neither one contains the whole truth, either.
Jesus seems to be saying, here at Caesarea Philippi, that Peter is the foundation of the church. Now, that answer would certainly make the Roman Catholics -- and a lot of the high-church Episcopalians, too -- rather happy. They have built their entire church government on the claim that Peter was the first Bishop of Rome, and that he ordained those who would choose his successors. It's a grand, old ecclesiastical family tree with the roots of that stout tree firmly entwined around a rock -- around Peter, whom Jesus himself placed at the foundation.
The question is, did Jesus mean to say that the church is built on Peter himself -- on Peter, the man? Or did he mean something different?
It's unlikely that Jesus meant to build a church upon a human being: Peter or anyone else. Just a few verses after these, Matthew relates how Jesus foretells his own death and resurrection. The Lord predicts how "he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering... and be killed, and on the third day be raised" (Matthew 16:21).
These are hard words: painful to speak, and painful to hear. When Peter, the Rock, hears them, he rebukes Jesus -- chastises him, even, in no uncertain terms. (The word "rebuke" is the same one Jesus uses, elsewhere, as he rebukes demons.) Jesus says to Peter, in response, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block...."
Now, if Jesus truly intended that his church be built upon a person, this is a very strange thing to say. Taken at face value, they might even suggest that Jesus is revoking what he said earlier about Peter being the rock on which he would build his church. "Stumbling block" is more like it.
Later on, this man Peter will seesaw back and forth in his personal faith between the height of devotion and the depth of selfishness. At times, he will seem to have it all together: as when he catches sight of Jesus, bathed in brilliant light, on the Mount of Transfiguration. Then, moments later, he will suggest that he, James, and John build shelters for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah -- completely missing the point that this is a spiritual vision they're receiving.
When events finally do catch up with them all, and Jesus' life is in serious danger, Peter vows undying faithfulness, pledging, "I will never desert you" -- then he turns right around and denies his Lord three times. At the cross of Calvary, the women courageously keep vigil, but Peter the Rock is nowhere to be found.
No, it is not upon Peter, the person, that the church of Jesus Christ is based. The church is based, rather, upon Peter's confession. When Jesus queries, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter responds, "You are the Messiah!"
For that one brief moment in time, he gets it. Jesus says of his disciple's spontaneous confession, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven."
Everything we do in the church is built upon that confession -- not upon Simon Peter the man, but upon the faith-experience he knew. That same faith-experience is available to us today. All we need do is to open our hearts to Jesus Christ, affirming that he is Lord and Savior.
At times, Peter will live by his confession faithfully; at other times he will not. Yet, always and everywhere, there will be someone in the Christian community to speak it: someone to stand with Jesus, even at the cross, even in the coliseum, even in the concentration camp. "Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you," Jesus commends Peter, "but my Father in heaven." Blessed are you, Peter, that you have received this revelation!
Prayer For The Day
God of all truth,
we live in a world of change and flux,
of certainties that no longer seem so certain,
of principles once widely honored
that naysayers now ridicule
as belonging to an earlier time.
We know otherwise.
We know there are some things that stand inviolate,
as a solid rock set in a turbulent watercourse.
Help us to hold fast to the teachings of your church,
wisdom that stands the test of time. Amen.
To Illustrate
Visitors to St. Peter's Cathedral, in Rome, can descend a set of winding stairs, leading down into the crypt underneath that massive building. Directly beneath the crossing of that huge, cruciform cathedral -- the place where the upright and the crosspiece of the floor-plan meet -- they can look upon the foundations of an even earlier church. Beneath those foundations, there is a grave -- a grave that archaeologists have dated, beyond a doubt, to the first century AD. Very likely, it is the grave of Peter himself: the Rock, upon which that famous church is literally built.
***
Lots of people become disenchanted with the church. The church is an institution both human and divine. At its very best, it displays Jesus Christ; at its very worst, it is the place where pettiness and hypocrisy seem pleased to dwell.
No less a theologian than the great Karl Barth has remarked that, living in the church we are like birds held captive in a cage. Always we find ourselves banging up against the bars, seeking to soar free of the church's human limitations.
The church surely does have its problems: always has, always will. The church fails -- often -- to live out the full measure of faithfulness. Yet, somewhere, deep down... somewhere, beneath the lowest level of the foundation... somewhere, in the cool and fertile darkness, there is rock. The foundation on which the church is truly built is the experience of a living Lord.
***
Those who visit St. Andrews, Scotland, may walk along a pathway that runs along the North Sea, beside the ruins of the medieval cathedral. As the pathway nears the edge of the cliff, they come upon the ruins of a little church, "St. Mary's Without-the-Walls." The word "without" means "outside" -- indicating that this little church is located outside the old city walls. Strangely enough, the more familiar meaning of "without" also applies, in this case, for this church's remaining walls are no higher than one or two feet tall.
This humble church is, in fact, the oldest one in that very ancient city, the former ecclesiastical capital of Scotland. Most of its stones have long since been carted off to take their place in more modern buildings. All that remains of the building, now, is the cross-shaped outline of its foundation-stones.
The other distinguishing feature of this ruined church is the foundation of the altar. In the middle of the topmost portion of the cruciform outline sits a huge slab of stone, probably five feet long by three feet wide, sunk deep into the earth. The altar that once was built upon it is long-gone, but the foundation remains.
How appropriate that the remains of this ruined church form the outline of a cross! How appropriate, as well, that within that outline is a stone slab -- a rock -- upon which the sacrament of the Lord's Supper has been celebrated more times than anyone could calculate!
***
Rock shows [us] something that transcends the precariousness of [our] humanity: an absolute mode of being. Its strength, its motionlessness, its size, and its strange outlines are none of them human; they indicate the presence of something that fascinates, terrifies, attracts, and threatens, all at once. In its grandeur, its hardness, its shape, and its colour, [we] are faced with a reality and a force that belong to some world other than the profane world of which [we are ourselves] a part.
-- Mircea Eliade, Patterns in Comparative Religion
***
How happy is the little Stone
That rambles in the Road alone,
And doesn't care about Careers
And Exigencies never fears --
Whose Coat of elemental Brown
A passing Universe put on,
And independent as the Sun
Associates or glows alone,
Fulfilling absolute Decree
In casual simplicity
-- Emily Dickinson
***
Jesus' use of the word "rock" as a title of respect may seem, at first, a strange choice. For most of us, rocks do not rank high on our list of things of value. Remember, though, that Jesus is a Jew. His ancestors were desert wanderers: shepherds, hunters, gatherers of wild berries, and edible plants. They lived a hand-to-mouth existence, dependent on the goodness of the earth to sustain them.
Sometimes the earth was not good. Sometimes the desert sun waxed hot and unrelenting. In such times, a large rock provided welcome shade. Sometimes there were wild animals, or other enemies round about; a rock could be a point of defense. Sometimes there was flash-flooding: a terrifying, rushing torrent of muddy water that threatened to carry away shepherd and sheep alike. Then, a rock provided firm footing and a place to wait out the natural disaster. Sometimes a traveler was lost in the wilderness. The only landmark, then, might well be a rock: either a natural formation or the type of stone set upright in the ground by a traveler who had passed that way before -- a little shrine to the God who comes to shepherds in the gloom of darkest night and reminds them all will be well.
Peter's confession of Christ as Messiah is the rock on which the church is built.
Old Testament Lesson
Exodus 1:8--2:10
Shiphrah And Puah Save The Israelite Boys, And Moses' Mother Saves Him
This week begins a ten-week series of readings -- nine from Exodus and a final one from Deuteronomy -- that recount the story of Moses. "Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph" (v. 8). Those chilling words presage a change in fortunes for the Israelite people, who -- in the generations since Joseph -- have been transformed from free people into slaves. Alarmed at the growing population of the Israelite slaves, the Pharaoh commands two Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, to smother all the boy-children they deliver. In a sly act of civil disobedience, they quietly resolve not to do so. When the Pharaoh calls them to account, they claim their services have not been required because the Hebrew women are so strong that they give birth on their own without relying on midwives (v. 19). The exasperated Pharaoh commands that all the Israelite boy-children be cast into the Nile. Shortly after Pharaoh's order, an Israelite woman gives birth to a son, Moses, and hides him at home for three months before devising a new hiding-place: a basket waterproofed with pitch, floating in the reeds at the river's edge (v. 3). As her daughter performs sentry-duty from a distance, Pharaoh's daughter and her handmaidens come down to the river to bathe, discover the baby, and decide to adopt him (v. 6). After providentially hiring Moses' own mother (not knowing who she is) to nurse the child until the time of his weaning, Pharaoh's daughter takes Moses into the royal household (v. 10). The name, Moses -- bestowed on the child by Pharaoh's daughter -- means, "I drew him out of the water." This story illustrates the remarkable lengths to which God will go to preserve the covenant.
New Testament Lesson
Romans 12:1-8
Unity In The One Body
Having finished his lengthy argument about the salvation of the Jews, Paul moves on to exhort believers to holy living and Christian unity. Commitment to Jesus Christ, he teaches, is total: "present your bodies as a living sacrifice," and "be transformed by the renewing of your minds" (verses 1-2). Every part of human existence must be illumined and transformed by the presence of Christ. In verses 3-8, Paul exhorts his readers to humility in their common life. Remember, he tells them, that just as each member of the human body has a particular function, each of you has your own role to fill in the common life of the community. He then lists a number of spiritual gifts: prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation, generosity, leadership, compassion. There are rich possibilities for word-studies here. Although each of these gifts has leadership dimensions, Paul is clearly not setting up a hierarchy of offices. His conception of church order is far more fluid, being governed by the Holy Spirit, who spontaneously distributes such gifts and empowers believers to deploy them in service to the community.
The Gospel
Matthew 16:13-20
"Who Do You Say That I Am?"
Matthew's version of Peter's confession at Caesarea Philippi is more elaborate than either Mark's (8:27-30) or Luke's (9:18-20). The same basic elements are there: Jesus asking who the disciples say he is, then zeroing in on Peter to ask who he, personally, says Jesus is and to which Peter replies, "The Messiah." It is a significant watershed moment. To that account, Matthew adds some additional material. First, Jesus tells Peter he is blessed for having made this confession. Then he declares, "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church" (v. 18). To Peter the Lord is giving "the keys of the kingdom of heaven," along with the power "to bind and to loose" -- in other words, the power to forgive sins in his name (v. 19). Jesus concludes by ordering the disciples to tell no one who he is. On these two verses (18 and 19) -- found only here, in Matthew -- are built the Roman Catholic doctrine of Petrine supremacy. There is significant debate as to whether these words can be attributed to Jesus, or whether they reflect the latter-day viewpoint of the Matthean church. Except for two occurrences in a single verse, Matthew 18:17 -- concerning instructions for handling disputes between Christians, a passage that the lectionary presents two weeks from now -- this is the only instance, in all four gospels, of Jesus using the word ekklesia, or "church." For such a pivotal word to be completely omitted from three out of four gospels (and to be so rare in the one that does include it), is more than a mere scholarly curiosity. It likely indicates that Jesus was not, in fact, consciously seeking to establish a church -- and that the occurrences of ekklesia in Matthew are a later interpolation. Homiletically speaking, Jesus' pointed question to Peter is one that ought to be posed to each individual Christian. There comes a time, in our spiritual lives, when we must all cease our questioning and take a stand. Who do we say that he is? Jesus is looking to us for an answer. What will we say?
Preaching Possibilities
"You are Peter," says Jesus to Simon, "and on this rock I will build my church." Jesus, you remember, knows something about building -- for he was a carpenter.
Early on in Matthew's gospel, Jesus tells a parable about two other carpenters. One built upon the rock, the other upon the sand. "The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against" the house built on the sand. It collapsed: "and great was its fall!" (Matthew 7:27).
Build a house on rock, and the outcome will be different. Jesus says to Simon, "You are the rock." If a structure is built upon you, Simon, even "the gates of Hades will not prevail against it."
I think it was George Bernard Shaw who remarked that the church is built on a pun -- and he's right. The word-play doesn't come through in English, but in Greek it's crystal-clear: "Petros," or Peter, is virtually identical to "petra," or rock. Our English words "petrified" and "petroleum" come from the same root. Probably the closest equivalent in English would be to call Peter "Rocky."
So what is it, exactly, about this Galilean fisherman that leads Jesus to place such confidence in him? At first glance, there seems to be little to separate Simon from the other disciples. Like them, he comes from humble circumstances. He's one of several fishermen to whom Jesus says one day, "Leave your nets and follow me." And they do.
For many months now, Simon has walked with Jesus along the dusty footpaths of Judea and Galilee. He's slept on the hard ground beside him, eaten the same food he's eaten, and run the same risks he's run. But then, so have all the others! Simon's no different from them. There is that one story about Jesus walking on the water -- remember how, in that story, it's Simon who's courageous (or foolhardy) enough to try it himself. But that's the only episode, in Matthew's gospel until now, that might set him apart from his fellows.
It's the only episode, that is, until this one we read today. Jesus calls Simon "Rock" because of the way he's just answered one simple question: "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" Jesus asks.
"John the Baptist," some of the disciples reply -- speaking the name of that fiery prophet from the wilderness, who was beheaded by Herod. Others say, "Elijah," that imposing Old Testament wonderworker -- who, they say, did not die as other people die, but was taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire. Still others answer, "Jeremiah" -- that stern and solemn prophet of the exile, who denounced Israel's sins and pleaded with the people to return to the Lord.
Jesus will accept not one of these comparisons. He turns to his disciples and confronts them with a very personal question: "But who do you say that I am?"
It is then that something mysterious, something indefinable, stirs within the stout heart of the fisherman. In a flash of insight, Simon realizes just who it is standing before him asking this question. "You are the Messiah," he says in awe and wonder, "the Son of the living God."
It is after he speaks these words that Jesus says, "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church." Forever after, he will be known as Simon Peter, or simply, Peter. He stands in a noble line of Bible characters who receive new names after undergoing transforming experiences. Abram becomes Abraham and Sarai becomes Sarah, after making covenant with God; Jacob becomes Israel, after wrestling an angel. As for Simon, he becomes Peter, after recognizing Jesus as the Son of God.
Stop a person on the street, at random, and ask him or her, "Show me the foundation of the church," and you might get one of several answers. Some literal-minded individuals might point to the actual foundation of the building: the bricks and mortar on which it stands. Others might hum quietly to themselves that old Sunday school song, "The church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is not a resting-place, the church is a people" -- then they would point out the gathering of Christians who comprise the church-as-organization.
There's an element of truth in each of these answers. Neither one's wrong, on the face of it. But neither one contains the whole truth, either.
Jesus seems to be saying, here at Caesarea Philippi, that Peter is the foundation of the church. Now, that answer would certainly make the Roman Catholics -- and a lot of the high-church Episcopalians, too -- rather happy. They have built their entire church government on the claim that Peter was the first Bishop of Rome, and that he ordained those who would choose his successors. It's a grand, old ecclesiastical family tree with the roots of that stout tree firmly entwined around a rock -- around Peter, whom Jesus himself placed at the foundation.
The question is, did Jesus mean to say that the church is built on Peter himself -- on Peter, the man? Or did he mean something different?
It's unlikely that Jesus meant to build a church upon a human being: Peter or anyone else. Just a few verses after these, Matthew relates how Jesus foretells his own death and resurrection. The Lord predicts how "he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering... and be killed, and on the third day be raised" (Matthew 16:21).
These are hard words: painful to speak, and painful to hear. When Peter, the Rock, hears them, he rebukes Jesus -- chastises him, even, in no uncertain terms. (The word "rebuke" is the same one Jesus uses, elsewhere, as he rebukes demons.) Jesus says to Peter, in response, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block...."
Now, if Jesus truly intended that his church be built upon a person, this is a very strange thing to say. Taken at face value, they might even suggest that Jesus is revoking what he said earlier about Peter being the rock on which he would build his church. "Stumbling block" is more like it.
Later on, this man Peter will seesaw back and forth in his personal faith between the height of devotion and the depth of selfishness. At times, he will seem to have it all together: as when he catches sight of Jesus, bathed in brilliant light, on the Mount of Transfiguration. Then, moments later, he will suggest that he, James, and John build shelters for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah -- completely missing the point that this is a spiritual vision they're receiving.
When events finally do catch up with them all, and Jesus' life is in serious danger, Peter vows undying faithfulness, pledging, "I will never desert you" -- then he turns right around and denies his Lord three times. At the cross of Calvary, the women courageously keep vigil, but Peter the Rock is nowhere to be found.
No, it is not upon Peter, the person, that the church of Jesus Christ is based. The church is based, rather, upon Peter's confession. When Jesus queries, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter responds, "You are the Messiah!"
For that one brief moment in time, he gets it. Jesus says of his disciple's spontaneous confession, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven."
Everything we do in the church is built upon that confession -- not upon Simon Peter the man, but upon the faith-experience he knew. That same faith-experience is available to us today. All we need do is to open our hearts to Jesus Christ, affirming that he is Lord and Savior.
At times, Peter will live by his confession faithfully; at other times he will not. Yet, always and everywhere, there will be someone in the Christian community to speak it: someone to stand with Jesus, even at the cross, even in the coliseum, even in the concentration camp. "Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you," Jesus commends Peter, "but my Father in heaven." Blessed are you, Peter, that you have received this revelation!
Prayer For The Day
God of all truth,
we live in a world of change and flux,
of certainties that no longer seem so certain,
of principles once widely honored
that naysayers now ridicule
as belonging to an earlier time.
We know otherwise.
We know there are some things that stand inviolate,
as a solid rock set in a turbulent watercourse.
Help us to hold fast to the teachings of your church,
wisdom that stands the test of time. Amen.
To Illustrate
Visitors to St. Peter's Cathedral, in Rome, can descend a set of winding stairs, leading down into the crypt underneath that massive building. Directly beneath the crossing of that huge, cruciform cathedral -- the place where the upright and the crosspiece of the floor-plan meet -- they can look upon the foundations of an even earlier church. Beneath those foundations, there is a grave -- a grave that archaeologists have dated, beyond a doubt, to the first century AD. Very likely, it is the grave of Peter himself: the Rock, upon which that famous church is literally built.
***
Lots of people become disenchanted with the church. The church is an institution both human and divine. At its very best, it displays Jesus Christ; at its very worst, it is the place where pettiness and hypocrisy seem pleased to dwell.
No less a theologian than the great Karl Barth has remarked that, living in the church we are like birds held captive in a cage. Always we find ourselves banging up against the bars, seeking to soar free of the church's human limitations.
The church surely does have its problems: always has, always will. The church fails -- often -- to live out the full measure of faithfulness. Yet, somewhere, deep down... somewhere, beneath the lowest level of the foundation... somewhere, in the cool and fertile darkness, there is rock. The foundation on which the church is truly built is the experience of a living Lord.
***
Those who visit St. Andrews, Scotland, may walk along a pathway that runs along the North Sea, beside the ruins of the medieval cathedral. As the pathway nears the edge of the cliff, they come upon the ruins of a little church, "St. Mary's Without-the-Walls." The word "without" means "outside" -- indicating that this little church is located outside the old city walls. Strangely enough, the more familiar meaning of "without" also applies, in this case, for this church's remaining walls are no higher than one or two feet tall.
This humble church is, in fact, the oldest one in that very ancient city, the former ecclesiastical capital of Scotland. Most of its stones have long since been carted off to take their place in more modern buildings. All that remains of the building, now, is the cross-shaped outline of its foundation-stones.
The other distinguishing feature of this ruined church is the foundation of the altar. In the middle of the topmost portion of the cruciform outline sits a huge slab of stone, probably five feet long by three feet wide, sunk deep into the earth. The altar that once was built upon it is long-gone, but the foundation remains.
How appropriate that the remains of this ruined church form the outline of a cross! How appropriate, as well, that within that outline is a stone slab -- a rock -- upon which the sacrament of the Lord's Supper has been celebrated more times than anyone could calculate!
***
Rock shows [us] something that transcends the precariousness of [our] humanity: an absolute mode of being. Its strength, its motionlessness, its size, and its strange outlines are none of them human; they indicate the presence of something that fascinates, terrifies, attracts, and threatens, all at once. In its grandeur, its hardness, its shape, and its colour, [we] are faced with a reality and a force that belong to some world other than the profane world of which [we are ourselves] a part.
-- Mircea Eliade, Patterns in Comparative Religion
***
How happy is the little Stone
That rambles in the Road alone,
And doesn't care about Careers
And Exigencies never fears --
Whose Coat of elemental Brown
A passing Universe put on,
And independent as the Sun
Associates or glows alone,
Fulfilling absolute Decree
In casual simplicity
-- Emily Dickinson
***
Jesus' use of the word "rock" as a title of respect may seem, at first, a strange choice. For most of us, rocks do not rank high on our list of things of value. Remember, though, that Jesus is a Jew. His ancestors were desert wanderers: shepherds, hunters, gatherers of wild berries, and edible plants. They lived a hand-to-mouth existence, dependent on the goodness of the earth to sustain them.
Sometimes the earth was not good. Sometimes the desert sun waxed hot and unrelenting. In such times, a large rock provided welcome shade. Sometimes there were wild animals, or other enemies round about; a rock could be a point of defense. Sometimes there was flash-flooding: a terrifying, rushing torrent of muddy water that threatened to carry away shepherd and sheep alike. Then, a rock provided firm footing and a place to wait out the natural disaster. Sometimes a traveler was lost in the wilderness. The only landmark, then, might well be a rock: either a natural formation or the type of stone set upright in the ground by a traveler who had passed that way before -- a little shrine to the God who comes to shepherds in the gloom of darkest night and reminds them all will be well.
