Simon Peter replied, \u201cYou are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.\u201d And Jesus answered him, \u201cBlessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father, in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These verses are among the three most studied, debated, and disputed verses in the New Testament. Historically, they have been central to issues of authority in the church, especially of the authority of the episcopacy and of the Bishop of Rome. But as important as this hardy perennial of a theological conundrum is, it isn\u2019t the issue that seems the most important to talk about today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, let\u2019s consider what this story says about Peter, and about us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It all begins when Peter becomes the first person to make the great Christian Confession of faith. He names Jesus as the Messiah, the hope of Israel, the son of the one who created heaven and earth. Before Peter sees this, the Gospels say that the demons knew who Jesus was and God knew who Jesus was. Now, Jesus is beginning to be known by people\u2014and something new is happening, something new is being built\u2014by the will of God, and by the power of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Notice the very first thing that happens\u2014Simon is given a new name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And \u201cPeter\u201d really is a new name\u2014there is absolutely no record of anyone using Petros, the Greek word that means \u201crock,\u201d or \u201cCephas,\u201d the same word in Aramaic, as a proper name before this event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, in spite of movies to the contrary, Peter really was Rocky I, the first person to have that name. Remember that names and naming were very important in the Hebrew mind\u2014a name was the summary of the existence of the thing named. To change a person\u2019s name\u2014as God changed Abram\u2019s name to Abraham, and Jacob\u2019s name to Israel\u2014was to alter fundamentally that person\u2019s identity, relationships, and mission. To give a person his or her name was, in some way, to shape their destiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It still works that way: to confess Jesus as the Christ is to be changed, it is to be given, by him, a new name\u2014it is to be given identity and mission in relationship to Jesus. That was acted out visibly with Peter\u2014it continues to be true among us. The service of Baptism in our Prayer Book is probably the finest such service the church has used for 1,500 years. But there is one part of the old service, the service in the 1928 Prayer Book, that seems even more appropriate. That was where, immediately before the Baptism itself, the sponsors were asked to \u201cname this child.\u201d (Remember that? [BCP, 1928, p. 279]) This made great and wonderful good sense. When it comes to our true identity, the name of every Christian, like Peter\u2019s name, is given in Baptism as a response to the gift of faith. That\u2019s why our first name is also called our \u201cChristian name.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And part of our name, part of the identity we receive from the Lord, is the same as Peter\u2019s. He is Rocky I, the first rock of the edifice the Lord (not Peter, but the Lord) is building. That structure is the church. Peter is the first stone of a building, the first called for the new Israel, the first named for a great task. Upon him and the other Apostles, upon their faith and upon their person, Christ builds his church. And so the Lord continues to build it. We are, in this respect, like movie sequels. You are Rocky 5 billion, or whatever\u2014same director, same plot, larger cast. We continue to be called to be who Peter was called to be. Through us, and by us, Christ continues to build his church. Through us, Christ continues to be present to his world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This church that the Lord began with Peter, and that we are a part of, is a holy and a sacred thing. It is not merely or mainly a voluntary association of like-minded people; it is not primarily or at its heart a human institution. It is instead a divine mystery, a holy thing, much greater than we can see or imagine\u2014stronger even than death itself, vast in space and time. It is built of stones, or rocks; and these stones are laid one atop the other. They touch, so the building is a single structure that continues through space and time. That continuity is a continuity of Christ\u2019s presence, a continuity of faith, a continuity of tradition and doctrine, and a continuity of persons\u2014each connected to those who went before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That continuity is important. We call it \u201cApostolicity.\u201d It is one of the four marks of the church\u2014in the Nicene Creed we say that the church is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. This continuity of doctrine, faith, and persons is the apostolic part. The Apostolic Succession of our bishops\u2014the fact that our bishops are part of a virtually unbroken line beginning with Peter and the others\u2014is one important part of this Apostolicity\u2014it is one important way we are connected to the Apostles and the early church. But Apostolicity also means that the rocks are laid one on top of the other. Each new name, each new rock, builds on something unbroken and continuous. Jesus says to each of us, you are Peter, you are Rocky, Rocky 5 billion\u2014or whatever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fr. Herbert O\u2019Driscoll uses a wonderful image for this. His idea is to look at all of the last 200 centuries as rings of time, as concentric circles of time, scores and scores of such circles, we are in the very outermost circle, farthest away from the center\u2014and at the center is a Cross. We are brought into the circle, into the faith, in large part because somewhere, somehow, someone in the circle just before ours took us by the hand and said, \u201ccome,\u201d and so drew us in. That is one very important reason why we are here. That person was able to do this for us because someone had taken him or her by the hand and had drawn that person in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so on, through all the centuries, hands are held through all of those circles. Until we reach the place where a very few of those hands were held by hands touched by the mark of nails. So we hold hands touched by nails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this way, Christ builds his church; such is the gift we have been given.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What Jesus is stressing in these words of Peter is continuity\u2014the historical and spiritual reality that the church Jesus is creating is his\u2014his alone. No one can create another church. Christ\u2019s church can be built on no other foundation, with no other living stones than those he names, and with no other cornerstone and chief builder than Christ himself. We constantly re-live this Gospel story. As we say to Jesus, \u201cyou are the Christ,\u201d he says to us\u2014to each of us\u2014\u201cyou, too, are Peter, you too, are a rock, and with you, also, I am building my church.\u201d What happened to Peter continues and it includes us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One more thing: Jesus called Peter blessed, fortunate, happy. Remember what that blessedness looked like. Remember Peter\u2019s life of poverty and struggle, of pain and of conflict and, finally, of a martyr\u2019s death. That\u2019s what Jesus meant by blessed. To be given a new name by Jesus, to have a Christian name, this always includes being named as servant, as minister, as one who gives one\u2019s self, and so becomes a gift to the world in the name of Christ. To be chosen, to be called, to be named as part of the glorious company of Christ\u2019s church, to be another Rocky, this is never done as a sign of privilege, but always as a mark for service; never for ourselves alone, but always for others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we are named\u2014we are named rock\u2014part of Christ\u2019s church\u2014and we are named servant, gift to the world. In that way, we are named as Christ\u2019s own\u2014forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This sermon was written by the Rev. James Liggett<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Simon Peter replied, \u201cYou are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.\u201d And Jesus answered him, \u201cBlessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father, in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":201212,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[43,52,33,1953],"tags":[102],"class_list":["post-511297","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sermons","category-sermons-that-work","category-the-season-after-pentecost","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-proper-16a"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":43,"label":"Sermons"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":33,"label":"The Season After Pentecost"},{"value":1953,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":102,"label":"Proper 16A"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/511297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/sermon"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/511297\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3477290,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/511297\/revisions\/3477290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}