12th Sunday after Pentecost

August 23, 2020

“Look to the Rock”

Isaiah 51:1-6; Romans 12:1-8; Matthew 16:13-20

16:13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"

16:14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

16:15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"

16:16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."

16:17 And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.

16:18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.

16:19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

16:20 Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Message

The prophet Isaiah cries:  “Look to the Rock!”  God’s promises are rock solid and even though God’s people find themselves in exile in that foreign land of Babylon – God will make Israel’s wilderness like Eden – her desert like the garden of the Lord. 

“Lift up your eyes.  Look to the rock – God’s deliverance will never be ended.”

In ancient Israel – ZION – the hill on which Jerusalem is built is ‘The Rock.’  Zion is where God reveals Godself and will gather all peoples.

The Rock is an image and symbol – not of a static God – but rather the rock solid faithfulness of God who no matter what the circumstances will not abandon God’s people.

Isaiah brands this image on the hearts of God’s people who were currently living in despair and exile.

Rocks, mountains are extremely significant for the ancients.  In the Gospel reading Jesus takes his disciples to Caesarea Philippi – a rock.  Caesarea Philippi had been recently re-named by Herod’s son, Phillip after Tiberius and himself – prior that it was named in honor of Caesar Augustus with a Temple built there in his honor.

Caesarea Philippi is a located amidst large cliffs at the foot of Mt. Hermon in Northern Israel where there is also a waterfall dedicated to the Greek god – Pan.  Pan was a god of shepherds and flocks, of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music.

So Jesus takes his disciples to a place of power – a Rock – dedicated to the Caesar and Philip – powerful rulers of that day.  Jesus inquires of his identity as a rock where the shepherd god – Pan is honored.

On this rock dedicated to Roman power and a Greek divinity Jesus takes a stand.  Here his identity is revealed.  He is proclaimed as Caesar and Messiah in bold contrast to that region named after Caesar and dedicated to the divine Pan.

God’s people must have looked at the cliffs – the rock and Caesarea Philippi with disdain – it reminded them of their oppression and the power of the harsh and punitive rule of Rome.

Here Jesus reveals a new rock - counter rock – a rock which the power of death itself will not prevail against.  God’s church will be built on that rock – the rock solid promises made in Jesus the Christ.

“Look to the Rock.”

We may be weary – the church is weary – tired.  We are living through a time of great upheaval and a time of tremendous change.  As individuals as a church we can become confused and weary.

We can be tempted to simply hold on and circle the wagons and in fear close ourselves off from the changes around us.

But today’s Scripture calls us to ‘Look to the Rock.’  That Rock is not only Peter’s confession of Jesus – but Jesus himself.  Jesus is a rock in a weary land.

And here in this text we get introduced to the word ‘church’ – used 115 times in the New Testament.  Ekklesia – the New Testament Greek word for church means –‘those called out’ or the ‘called out ones.’ 

So church is not a building but an assembly of people ‘called out’ for a mission or purpose.  In the New Testament context ‘church’ is not a hierarchy of Bishops and Cardinals and a Pope, nor is it a series of franchised congregations under the auspices of a denomination. 

No! Rather the church is a community of faith called out to follow Jesus.  ‘Church’ is an ‘assembly’ of Christ confessors who follow the Way.

The early communities of faith that followed Jesus were known as ‘people of the Way.’  Lives devoted to the Way of the living Christ were the heartbeat of those communities.  The Church lost its ‘Way’ when it became a sanctioned institution of the State way back during the time of Constantine. 

The history of the Church is a checkered history of losing its ‘Way’ than finding it – of taking its eyes off the Rock.

Yet, the monastic movement - the establishment of ‘Orders’ of monk and nuns – kept sight of the Rock - became the underground Church. 

Monks and nuns challenged the institutional hierarchy to devote its life to the Way of Christ rather than demanding doctrinal uniformity and amassing wealth and power.

All too often the Church has lost sight of ‘the Rock’ or looked to other ‘rocks’ on which to build the Church.

We are heirs to both stories – the Church as an institution and as a confessional movement devoted to following Christ.  As a movement that confesses Christ the Church is called out to be a ‘servant Church of the Way.’

The Church of the 21^st Century is going to look a lot different than the Church of the 20^th Century.  We are in a time of great transition of both decline and renewal. 

Trained Church Developer and Spring Grad, Alex Raabe, from Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago states:

“The Church is not dying --it is changing.  People understand that—it speaks of peoples’ experiences and the experiences of grace.  Christianity believes in resurrection.”

[Source: LSTC – Epistle – Summer 2014, page 13]

We are moving from ‘How Much?’ and ‘How Many?’ churches concerned with statistics and power to smaller churches alive to the Spirit of the risen Christ moving beyond its walls in service to others.

St. Paul in the second reading for today takes us ever more deeply into what it means to be the Church.  He calls us the body of Christ.  We are to be constantly transformed by the renewal of our minds.  We are to embody the compassion and hope of the living Christ.

‘Living sacrifices’ – What does a ‘living sacrifice’ look like?  Paul spells it out –it looks like a body – working together.  Each member of the body having different gifts to share that enhances the health of the whole body.

The body of Christ needs to keep it eyes focused on the Rock.  When we are not focused on the Rock- other distractions can take over the church – who has control and who does not?  Why are we changing this or that?  Weariness and worry can paralyze the body of Christ.

We end up majoring in the minors and missing the mission – our call to be a servant church.

Look to the Rock – look to Jesus – focused on Christ we can stay on track with God’s mission.

Anne Weems – writer – author – Presbyterian by faith reminds us that in the midst of transitions, and change, and weariness it is still about Jesus:

It’s Still About Jesus

No matter how we dilute the word of God,

It’s about Jesus.

No matter how we cover the dangerous Truth of the Gospel,

It’s about Jesus.

No matter how we pretty up the story,

It’s about Jesus.

No matter how many times we go to our national assemblies and vote,

It’s about Jesus.

No matter how many times we distract ourselves with meetings, and church work

and good ole Stewardship Campaigns,

It’s still about Jesus.

Jesus, the Lamb of God,

Jesus, the Light of the world,

Jesus, the Bread of Life,

Jesus, the Prince of Peace,

Jesus, the One chosen to bring good news to the poor;

Jesus, the one sent to proclaim liberty to the captives

          and set free the oppressed.

(Source:  From Advent’s Alleluia to Easter Morning Light, page 148)

…people of God:  Look to the Rock!

Amen