Church is archaic

Often we may have heard a biblical passage and thought, what relevance has this for me? Especially today. In fact, the relevance of church is questioned by many in society. The church is archaic, old-fashioned and fails to connect with the issues of today might be one way some might put it. If anything, we can shrink back into our buildings every Sunday and feel protected, entombed perhaps.

What if we could answer that question “Who do you say that I am?” using expressions which everyone around us could understand, not biblical verses nor theological phrases,
but plain practical language which comes from the heart. Just think…

Surveys

You know when you hear of surveys…scientists suggest and then you hear a crazy statement, I wonder how they got their data for that conclusion. In our passage today Jesus asks his closest followers what people are saying about him. What’s the low down on what he has been doing? You know the thing: what’s been going well, what went wrong. Well, given that there’s been the feeding of the 5000 one day, 4000 people a wee while later, and in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus has healed a bind man, there must be some form of reaction, surely?

Matthew 16:13-20

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They answered, “Some say you are John the Baptizer, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!” Jesus replied, “Simon, bar-Jona, son of Jonah, you are blessed! No human revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven revealed it to you.  You are Peter, and I can guarantee that on this rock I will build my church. And the gates of hades will not overpower it.  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you imprison, God will imprison.
And whatever you set free, God will set free.”

The scene is set in Caesarea Philippi, about 25 miles north of Jesus’ usual stomping ground, Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee. It’s place where pagan worship is quite the thing. The title of the city gives away one of the things the locals worship. Caesar, but there are plenty of other things to worship, including Pan. Jesus causally turns to his disciples and asks Who do you say that I am? 

What would you say?

Scholars debate whether the question was meant to be “who do you,” as in the person who is being spoken to, “say that I am?”, or whether “who do yous say that I am?” More plural, more general, bit more of a “what have you heard on the grapevine?”

Well, they respond: John the Baptist, that vegetarian no-alcohol, locust munching, chap who lives in the desert. I wonder whether they may have felt a bit uneasy hearing their own response given that Jesus was always keen to be eating with all, drinking and being with the people. Well, there is also Elijah or even Jeremiah, the weeping prophet… ???

and there’s Peter

Peter, who is a bit of lead character here, speaks up. “You are the Messiah.”  Hey, powerful stuff. Messiah might be a term to describe a political agitator, wanting to overthrow the local governing body; “antifa” might be close to that today. It certainly is a perspective, Christian Nationalists perhaps, that some might hold today.

Jesus responds to Peter, and says You are fortunate Simon Bar-jona, Simon son of Jona, you are Peter. As the meme goes, blast… after getting all of his business cards printed with Simon, he’s now known as Peter…

But there’s more from Jesus: I will build my church upon this rock, and the gates of Hades (they were actually located in Caesarea Philippi) will not defeat it. You have the keys of heaven, what you bind here, is prohibited in heaven; what you loose here, is permitted in Heaven.

Let’s explain this, as the English translation doesn’t do it justice – something we wanted from earlier.

Did Jesus want to build a community or a building?

What do the people say?

The crowds have previously reported that Jesus is a prophet (Luke 7:16), an insane man (Mark 3:21), a deceiving demagogue (John 11:47-48), and a minion of Satan (Matthew 12:24. Just like the Roman Emperor, Jesus is given two names Christ the Messiah, i.e. anointed but priests were anointed, Jesus is perceived to be the second son of David, the one to restore Israel. Peter hasn’t registered that Jesus is fully divine, even to the point of telling Jesus that he is not going to die. Jesus responds saying that “You are petros, and on this petros I will build my church” Petros being the rock. Just because Peter is now to be known as the rock doesn’t mean that ‘The Church’ is to be built upon Peter but that the kingdom of God is rooted in Jesus, set in the context of conflict and entrusted to deliver what God seeks. Don’t mix up the church now and what God intended. 

Peter soon after suggests that Jesus has it wrong, and Jesus speaks of a hindrance, even if in the Greek skandalon is more of a tempter, that’s where Satan creeps into our versions.  When he speaks of the Gates of Hades, we might have hell in some English translations, there’s a chasm between the two. Hades was the Greek god of the underworld, a temporary place, like Sheol, where the dead would exist. Hell is translated from Gehenna, or even Tartarus, which was thought by Greeks to exist below Hades. Finally, when Jesus is recorded as speaking of church he used the word ekklesia, an assembly of people, the presence of God’s people – no building was mentioned. 

At that time of writing the Gospel there were two schools of prominent rabbis. One was Shammai, known for their strictness, or binding people; the other was Hillel, known for their permissiveness, or loosing. It refers to one that who might deny that welcome for those who believe that they are disciples that persist in doing wrong: they should be bound, removed; whereas the other might welcome the repentant disciple who has, in the past done wrong, their tie should be loosened, permitted, and they should be welcomed. 

So how do we see the church today, in this light?

It has struggled to keep its focus upon Jesus, seeking to enjoy the delights of self-importance and power over the age. Whenever that balance swung towards the church rather than what God is doing, there is an issue.

It isn’t about how many people who attend, nor our membership numbers or likes of Facebook. It has to be real, focussed upon the person, looking for justice, recognising the kingdom of heaven here on Earth whenever we can. 

Church is that opportunity to meet, praise God but church can occur any day of the week, and not necessarily in that particular building.. Just think if we could see our faith in terms of people, something which is 24/7, where we wish to see, feel, experience the kingdom of God here now. 

What if we could answer that question “Who do you say that I am?” using expressions which everyone around us could understand, not biblical verses nor theological phrases,
but plain practical language which comes from the heart. Just think…