Sermon preached at St. Alban's, Spirit Lake, on August 24, 2008
(Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Year A, BCP Lectionary)
by the Rev. Carl D. Mann

Texts:   Isaiah 51:1-6
Psalm 138
Romans 11:33-36
Matthew 16:13-20

When I was growing up in the Church it was traditional for children to receive Holy Communion only after they were confirmed, somewhere around the age of twelve. The idea was, that at that age, after instruction, they would understand the importance, the significance, the utter mystery of the Blessed Sacrament of which they were partaking. So it was with great resistance that Jane and I succumbed to the pressure to allow our children to receive at an early age.

Now sometime after our daughter’s third birthday, she was standing at the altar rail during the distribution, following and listening intently to every move and every word of the priest as he came closer to her. When he arrived before her, he dropped to one knee in order to be at her eye level, retrieved a wafer from the ciborium, and held it before her unwavering vision, and said, “Erin, this is the Body of Christ, the Bread of Heaven.” And in a firm voice that rolled back down the aisle, she replied, “I KNOW DAT FADDER!” Now I ask you, how could she have possibly known with such certainty and from where did she gain such insight?

And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood did not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of death shall not prevail against it.”

Now you’ve just got to love Peter! He’s probably my most favorite apostle other than Thomas, and for the same reason: they always blurt out what ever pops into their heads, even if they don’t understand what they’re saying. They are very normal people just like you and me.

But Peter’s confession is not another one of his brash comments. Just like there isn‘t any way that we can imagine how a three year old, or anyone else for that matter, can “understand” the depth of the mystery of the Real Presence, and yet still “know” in that child-like innocence, that what is taking place is of the greatest magnitude, so it is with Peter in today’s Gospel.

Jesus has just asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” What the news on the street? What are the local wags saying down at the coffee klatch? Or if you remember Jesus Christ Superstar, “What’s the buzz, tell me what’s happenin’?”

The answers vary between John the Baptist and several ancient prophets but Jesus isn’t really interested in these answers because he knows that the Pharisees and the Sadducees are hostile to him. And he knows that the crowds are only superficially following him, looking for a political Messiah at best or just curious to witness a miracle or two. The important question is when he asks, “But who do you say that I am?”

Now scripture doesn’t say that there was a period of uncomfortable silence with the disciples looking around nervously at each other waiting for someone to answer, and it doesn’t even say that when Peter replied, there was hesitation in his voice but it’s not too hard for us to imagine either of these possibilities.

What scripture does say is that Peter stated, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And the Oxford Study Bible footnotes say Peter asserted that Jesus is the Messiah, which suggests boldness, assurance, and confidence.

Now some would say this is just another example of Peter’s brusque, earthy manner of saying what was on his mind. Others would say it was this assertive manner by which Peter became the leader of the early Church. And our Roman brethren use this passage to undergird their claim for the papacy.

But I’m not here to argue for or against the leadership qualities or of the hierarchical supremacy of Peter. I don’t believe that’s the only issue at stake here. I do believe, as Jesus does, that this assertiveness did not come from ‘flesh and blood;’ from Peter or any other human being, but rather from God, the Father, who is in heaven! And I also believe that this assertiveness is akin to the same boldness that occurs later, to Peter and to all of the disciples, when the Holy Spirit descends upon them on the day of Pentecost after the Resurrection of Jesus as described in the Acts of the Apostles. Peter’s ability to confess to Jesus that day in Caesarea Philippi was not something innate but rather a gift from God, received by the power of the Holy Spirit.

And I think Jesus is reinforcing this revelation with his reply. As you may recall, Jesus is making a play on words when he calls Simon, ‘Peter,” for in Greek, the word petra is rock and Petros is Peter. So Jesus is actually saying, “I tell you, you are a rock, and on this rock I will build my Church.”

Now again, I don’t deny that this sentence establishes Peter as the leader of the Apostles and the future Church. But I do think Jesus is making a much larger play on words than meets the eye.

In the passage from Isaiah today, the prophet tells those who are seeking salvation that they need to look no further than God and his creative power. “Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug.” On the one hand, when I read this verse, I think of the Commendation in the burial office where we are reminded of “the rock from which you were hewn” with the words, “We are mortal, formed of the earth, and unto earth shall we return. For so Thou didst ordain when thou created me, saying, ‘Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.’”

You see, we are created from the dirt, the very substance of creation. We are people of the earth. No matter how urbane and civilized we think we are, our roots are literally from the soil, and when we die, our bodies return to their roots.

On the other hand, when I read this verse, I am confronted with whom the Rock really is. Throughout the Bible, God is referred to as a rock. But elsewhere in the Bible we are told that we are made in His image. So if we are to look to the rock from which we were hewn, and to the quarry from which we were dug, and we are created in the image and likeness of God, then in truth, we need to look no further than God for our salvation because we really are chips off the old block!

So, when Jesus is calling Simon a rock, he is reminding Peter of the source of his very existence, and consequently of his dependence upon God, the Father, and Creator of all things. And by acknowledging the truth of which Peter spoke, and the source from whence it came, Jesus is equating himself with God in the presence of his disciples. And it’s upon this rock, Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God that the Church will continue to be built, and of which the powers of death shall not prevail.

And of this truth there is no doubt. Again, Isaiah is speaking of the Messiah when he says, “He will become a sanctuary, and a stone of offense, and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel.” “Behold, I am laying in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation.”

So imagine, if you will, Simon Peter as an old man in Rome, very near his own crucifixion, literally following Jesus to the Cross. He is writing to Christians in Asia, offering hope and encouragement as they face persecution. Perhaps he was remembering that day, long ago in Caesarea Philippi as he echoes Isaiah by saying, “To you therefore who believe, he is precious, but for those who do not believe, ‘The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner; a stone that will make men stumble, a rock that will make them fall;’ for they stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.”

You see, Simon Peter, the rock; the leader of the Church, knows that of which he is speaking. He knows the Rock from which he was hewn. He knows the Rock from whom his salvation comes. And he knows the Rock from whence he draws the strength to be able to stand tall and be bold in the face of adversity. He knows all three are gifts from God, as are all things in creation. And he knows it to be true just as that little girl standing at the altar rail knows that Jesus Christ is really present in that thin wafer of bread. Gloria Patri