Our Rock

Text: Matthew 16:13-20

Focus: The Church

Function: to see that God will sustain us

¹³Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴And they said, “Some say John the Baptist but others Elijah and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷And 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. ¹⁸And 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. ¹⁹I 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.” ²⁰Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Good morning to God’s beloved! We are people loved by God and we pass that love on to others through the power of the Spirit inside of us.

Today we are looking at the building and the keeping of the Church.

It is important to understand the meaning of the word church. Mirriam Webster dictionary gives 5 different meanings ranging from the building, to the worship service itself, to the leaders, to the whole body of Christians world wide to the specific denomination of body.

But they all include the religious aspect to it.

But when Jesus used the word ecclesia in the 1^st century it didn’t have a religious connotation to it all. It simply meant the gathering of disciples together. It refers to their community.

And later on the Apostle who wrote Hebrews tells us not to forsake the gathering of ourselves together.

Indeed, Jesus himself indicated that this is and I believe will be a spiritual event fueled by the Holy Spirit itself that causes us to be strengthened and encouraged by community when he said if even just two or three gather together for him he will be with us. We see and feel the evidence of the Spirit inspiring us when we meet together here at Painter Creek.

I suppose it is important to note that Jesus mentions specifically that the gathering is in his name. And I suppose that is why the word for church now has a religious connotation to it. But in his name means that we are gathering together because of him and what he has done for us.

This is the first time that Jesus has mentioned the church going on after he is gone.

It became an important distinction when they gathered in Jesus’ name in the Roman empire. Because when they gathered around Jesus and it became Jesus as Lord, when they gathered around that phrase, Jesus is Lord, they were indicating that their allegiance was to God’s kingdom instead of Caesar and they were murdered for being unpatriotic.

Gathering in the name of Jesus is a blessing for us and we have the freedom to do it here in our country. That is why we Brethren immigrated to the US, to get that freedom. We have to remember that we are also immigrants and it is immigrants that have built this nation.

And I don’t mean politically. I mean spiritually. In Hebrews it speaks of us believers as people who seek a city whose builder is God. We as believers live in a corrupt world, but we dream of a better place where everyone has enough and there are no more wars.

And Jesus came to set up a kingdom of peace that didn’t align itself with any political government. That is why Christian Nationalism is wrong because it focuses on the fleshly power of men instead of the Spirits power to transform hearts.

He rested in the power of the Holy Spirit to make the change. That is why in the text he tells Peter that it was not human understanding or his cleverness that helped him see that Jesus is the Messiah, but it was the Spirit of God inside of him that showed him Jesus.

The Spirit draws us to Christ and helps us to believe.

And after Peter confesses the role of Christ to the world and makes it public that Jesus is Lord instead of any other power, Jesus commissions him to build the Church.

Now, there is argument about what the next verses mean. If you are Roman Catholic, then the Rock that build the Church is Peter and Jesus establishes the authority of the apostles. Which was necessary since they gave us the New Testament.

If you are not Roman Catholic, then the Rock that Jesus established as authority is the confession itself that Jesus is the Messiah. And there is other New Testament scripture about testifying the “good confession.”

Simply put, although I am not Roman Catholic, I tend to agree with them on this verse. Simply because it is the most obvious reading.

I like that reading because God entrusted this all important message to us who are human and subject to error. The church isn’t perfect, but she is planted by God.

In that error, we have created a multitude of different expressions of the faith, different denominations and sects that number in the hundreds of thousands. Hopefully most are like us and don’t believe that we are the only ones who got it right. But we see the power of diversity through the Spirit to reach everyone with the transforming power of the gospel of Christ. And I believe that is why God made us all different.

We shouldn’t fight about who is right, but trust the Spirit to lead others like she leads us.

And then the passage takes a turn and gives us a glimpse of what it means to have the authority that Jesus gave to us, the church.

He talks about our prayer life and what we pray for. He says that what we bind on earth will be bound in heaven and what we loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

He is speaking, I believe, about how the Church will transform the culture through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Humanity numbers its days based on the life and death of Jesus. But maybe the biggest thing is the cessation of slavery.

Although the bible gives instructions for the proper treatment of slaves, it doesn’t endorse slavery. It calls us to treat everyone equally and to consider another person’s needs as well as ours, even to give preference to the other in faith trusting God to supply our need.

But since slavery was a political reality, the Bible tried to mitigate the evil. And that showed just what God thought of slavery so it began a Christian movement to eradicate slavery in the world. And although slavery exists, it is illegal everywhere because the Church has power.

God is calling the church to be transform the culture. And we can. I wonder what is next?

I hope it is justice for immigrants.

So, are the church. We are the body of Christ left on earth to keep up the work of Jesus to build faith in people and disarm oppression.

Let us be faithful, because God will never leave us.