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"Reformation, Saints and Second"
Today’s a busy day on our church calendar - All Saints Day – a time to honor our own special saints at Second; Reformation Sunday – the 490th anniversary of Martin Luther’s nailing his 95 Theses to the church door in Germany signaling the birth of the Protestant church; and, it is Stewardship Sunday – a time of commitment to Second. Reformation, All Saints and stewardship, a nice triple header of opportunities to raise up our thanksgiving for all that the church is. Today we are able simultaneously to look to our recent and distant past for inspiration as well as to look to our present and future with hope. This is truly a good day to count the blessings of past and present as we build toward our future.
Yet, personally and collectively, it would be naive to say that this day is altogether a happy day. I know that in the context of today’s thanksgiving for our reformed heritage, the sacrifice and wisdom of those who have gone before and our plans and commitment to the present and future, we are also feeling a real sense of loss. We have received the news that Pastor Holly has heard God’s call to another church. And, the time hasn’t been distant at all from our saying good-bye to Harry and not too distant from our good-byes to Erin and David. These are losses; and, I would be less than honest if I failed to name them as losses, both to you and me personally as well as to us collectively as a church. So, here we are, Reformation, Saints and Second. Yet, I believe that God is using the convergence of these times in the calendar today to force us to focus our perspective in the midst of the recent news, in the midst of this time of change and transition. Yes, individuals are important to us, and we both celebrate and grieve those who have had to leave us, for whatever reason. The timing is never right to loose a loved one; yet, we trust that the timing is God’s timing. We are reminded in the passage that has been used to guide our Stewardship campaign this year, that we are now, have always been and will always be in God’s careful hands – even when we don’t fully understand what this means or how it will play out. That passage is from Deuteronomy and reads: NIV Deuteronomy 7:9: Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love him and keep his commandments. Individuals are important; and, we give thanks for each individual who has, who is and who will be a part of the church - for their sacrifices, for their service and for their love. We give thanks for all the saints – from Martin Luther to Holly Fuqua to each and every one of those whose names were read curing the Memorial Moment. We give thanks and say, halleluiah. We say "halleluiah" for each and every person who comes through the doors of this church affirming that each individual is important in our eyes and, most importantly, each and every one is important in God’s eyes. At the same time, we know that the lens with which we view each person’s importance is a very special lens. Jesus defined that lens for us from the very beginning of the church, which brings us to today’s second reading, from the gospel according to Matthew. This passage takes us back as far as we can go in celebrating the church’s history to the time Jesus first talks about the church. Let’s look, verse by verse, at the part of that passage beginning where Jesus turns to the disciples and asks them to say, in their own words, who he is: 15 . . . "But who do you say that I am?" 16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." 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." Jesus asks the pivotal, basic question that had to be answered at the beginning of the church, has been answered throughout its history, needs to be answered now and must always be answered by the church. Jesus asks simply, "’Who do you say that I am?’" Simon Peter answers Jesus question to all the disciples and confesses that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the living God. And then Jesus blesses Simon Peter. But, note, Jesus blesses Simon Peter, not for his own merit, not because of his "flesh and blood," as the verse puts it. Jesus blesses Simon Peter for receiving God’s revelation that enables him to give the answer. After the blessing, Jesus announces in the next verse, "’18 And I tell you, you are Peter [petros being the Greek word for rock], and on this rock I will build my church.’" Peter, the individual, is that all-important first rock, yet clearly Jesus is the builder. Jesus uses Peter, really the most unlikely and less accomplished of the disciples, to be the beginning of Jesus’ church, which Jesus goes on to promise will prevail against "the gates of Hades," or in other words, the church that will endure until the end of time. Peter, the rock, the beginning of the church, is an important individual. And, yet, Jesus isn’t done with Peter in the passage. In the last verse we read today, Jesus seems to give Peter even more special significance when Jesus says to him, 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." The keys of the kingdom, the power to loose and bind, these are terms that are a bit foreign to our vocabulary and a bit misleading if we take them at face value. To clarify, Jesus isn’t giving Peter the authority to say who gets into heaven and who doesn’t. The concepts of keys and loosing and binding are from the rabbinic tradition of Jesus’ time and indicate, not the power of judgment, but the authority to teach what is permitted and not permitted. And, by way of further clarification, it’s also important to note that four chapters later in Matthew, Jesus gives this same authority to the rest of the disciples; and, in the same breath, also promises to them (and to us) that when, not just one special one, but when two or more are gathered in his name he would be among them (Matthew 18:18, 20). Peter is, no doubt, an important individual in the history of the church. Yet, as we look back to our heritage, both recent and long ago, we know that Jesus didn’t stop the church with this one person, Peter, the rock. Jesus has used one individual after another to build his church and will continue to do so until the end of time not only here at Second, but in the church we’ve grown to love in Malawi and, in fact, in the church in places all over the world. And, it is Jesus who remains the builder; and, it is his question that is the focal point, yesterday, today and tomorrow for the church whenever and wherever it is. And, Jesus continues to ask, "But who do you say I am?" I know that right now, we have other questions; and, these questions are natural: We may be asking for instance, "When are we going to have a new senior pastor, a new associate pastor for youth, a permanent minister or director of Christian education? When are we going to settle down and get back to "normal?" These and other questions like them are natural questions, important questions. And, you can be assured that these are questions that many people are working hard and prayerfully to answer. These question, however, are only in the background to the ultimate question that Second Church has answered in days gone by, and God willing, will continue to answer in these days and in the days to come. We answer the truly pivotal question, as did the first disciples; and, we say that Jesus is the Messiah, that he is the Son of the Living God. We answer, not because that is what others say, but because that is what we know, at least collectively until we each can each know it individually. Second’s answer - our body, mind and heart answer - is, Jesus, you are the Son of the living God, the God in whom we live and move and have our being. Jesus, you are the Son of the living God, the God in whom alone our restless hearts will find their rest. Our answer is, Jesus, you are the Son of the Living God, whom we now know as more than the God of Moses who would say only, "I am what I am" or "I will be what I will be." We now know that you are Jesus, the very revelation of the great "I am" as the good shepherd, the vine, the way and truth and life. Jesus is the very revelation of the God who loves the world and whose way for the world is his love. Especially today as we look to our past, present and future, the first and truly important thing for the church is the answer that the church is the organic, living body of the Son of the Living God. Jesus’ church, even with its blemishes and scars, is the living profession of the God who seeks to bind us together in love, the God who needs each of us, all of us, to move toward the day when the whole world will be bound together in that love. This is the church, past, present and future. And, this is what we proclaim about the church every time we celebrate those who have gone before, every time we await those who will come ahead. This is what we proclaim about the church every time we join together and accept from the table of the Lord’s Supper its gifts of bread and wine. Jesus isn’t asking us when we'll have this new staff person or that new staff person or this program or that program. Jesus isn’t even asking us what we expect to get out of being a part of his church. Jesus is now and has always been asking us to answer the pivotal, the basic question, "Who do you say I am?" And, then, as he asked those first disciples, Jesus is asking us to live out our answer together in all we are, all we do and all we say. Jesus asks us to be his church here, now, in this place. Jesus asks us to let him use us, one individual, one block at a time, to build his church in history. Now, to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, be all glory now and forever more. Amen. |
Darla
Blatnik