Built on the Rock August 24, 2008
Pentecost 15
Matthew 16:18
I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it
The official notice concerning the 2008 archaeological season at the Hippos Dig that I have participated in the past few years read like this: “In 2008, the Concordia Team will work on the east and west areas of the Northeast Church Complex, proven in 2006 to be more extensive than originally anticipated. We will open several probes under the church seeking evidence of a Roman temple complex.” So wrote Dr. Mark Schuler, leader of our Concordia Team.
The 2008 season has come and gone. During the dig, several probes were opened under the church, but no evidence of a Roman temple complex was found. It appears that when they built the little Northeast Church in the late fifth century they built it on bedrock.
The Northwest Church, less than fifty meters from the Northeast Church, is another story. It is being excavated by a team from Poland. Listen to this from a report written by Dr. Arthur Segal, overall director of the dig and professor at the University of Haifa: “The North-West Church is built of ashlars, most of which were taken from both the Hellenistic and the Roman temples. Some of the walls of the church are built directly upon the walls that belong to the Roman temple.” Listen to that final sentence again: “Some of the walls of the church are built directly upon the walls that belong to the Roman temple.”
There are at least five other churches within the city walls of Hippos, only two of which have been partially excavated. This is how Dr. Segal concludes an article on the churches of Hippos – known as “Sussita” in Hebrew: “It may be said with certainty that the churches of Sussita faithfully reflect the rapid and radical process of Christianization of the population in Sussita, whose residents erected for themselves houses of prayer that, in their variety, style of decoration and wealth of artifacts give evidence of the religious life. . . of a diversified Christian urban community, proud, confident and full of vitality.”
I share all this to help us better understand today’s Gospel.
Last Sunday Jesus and his disciples were in “the region of Tyre and Sidon.” Today we find them in “the region of Caesarea Philippi” – 25 miles north of the Sea of Galilee. It is a beautiful place today – usually green and lush. Several springs in the area form streams that form the headwaters of the Jordan River. In Jesus’ day it was a thoroughly pagan place – probably the most pagan place Jesus ever visited. While they were there Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” And then the more important question, “Who do you say that I am?” “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” answered Peter. “You are the Christ,” he said; in other words, “You are the Messiah.” “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven,” replied Jesus. And then those famous words, “I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”
On what rock? Since the name “Peter” means “Rock,” some claim that Jesus was saying that he would build his church on Peter (who would some day be named the first pope). No; that was not what Jesus was saying. Others claim that the “rock” was Peter’s confession about Jesus being the Messiah and the Son of God. OK; I’ll buy that; that is what I was always taught. The church is built on the confession of Jesus as Lord and Savior. No doubt about that. But I believe Jesus was saying more than that.
The most prominent feature at Caesarea Philippi was a temple dedicated to the Greek god Pan. The place later became known as Paneas, and today is known by its Arab name Banias. Among other things, Pan was the guardian of thresholds, the guardian of entrances. His temple was at the foot of a high sheer rock cliff. At the bottom of the cliff was the entrance to a cave. In Jesus’ day the cave was filled with water, and it was so deep that no one had been able to ascertain its depth. It was as if the cave led to the underworld, to Hades. In fact, they regarded the cave as the entrance to or the gate of Hades. Pan’s father was Hermes. Nearby Mt. Hermon was named after him. Hermes, they believed, was the god who conducted your soul to Hades at death.
Bringing this all together, then, Jesus was saying to his disciples, “See this towering cliff, this gigantic rock that serves as the wall of Pan’s temple? Just as sure as Peter’s name is Peter, I am going to build my church on this rock. I am going to build my church right on top of Pan’s temple. And the very gate of Hades will not overcome it.” It was an “in your face” kind of thing. The Christian church would replace the pagan temple.
That is exactly what happened at Hippos. In Jesus’ day it was a pagan city. But Christianity overcame and replaced the paganism. As Dr. Segal wrote, most of the stones used to build the Northwest Church were taken from the Greek and Roman temples that had stood there for centuries. “Some of the walls of the church were built directly upon the walls that belong to the Roman temple.” It happened all over the Holy Land. For example, both the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem were built on the ruins of pagan temples.
What Jesus said he would do, he did. He built his church on pagan temples. Sometimes, quite literally. What Jesus said he would do, he is still doing. He continues to build his church – not literally on pagan temples, it is true. But he builds his church today in the midst of an unbelieving world; in the midst of a people who worship false gods. Gods like power and prestige, gods like wealth and weapons, gods like pleasure and possessions. Jesus builds his church in the face of rampant paganism. He builds his church with us and through us. “With us” because we are the church. “Through us” because we are his instruments as he gathers others into the church.
Part of the worship of Pan at his temple in Caesarea Philippi involved the sacrifice of animals. The animals would be ritually slaughtered and then thrown into the cave. What the worshipers did not know was that the water in the cave was the result of an underground spring, and that the water in the cave eventually made its way underground until it emptied into a stream which flowed into the Jordan River. When the people of Caesarea Philippi saw the blood of the sacrificial animals in the stream, they took it as proof that Pan had accepted their sacrifice.
St. Paul talked about sacrifices in today’s Epistle. Not about animal sacrifices, but about human sacrifices. Not about dead sacrifices, but about living sacrifices. Remember his words? “I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” (Romans 12:1) Because Jesus offered himself as a once and for all sacrifice on the cross, there is no further need for the shedding of blood. But Paul encourages us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices.
And how do we do that? How do we offer our bodies as living sacrifices? He tells us: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2) One modern translation puts it like this: “Do not let the world shape you into its mold.” Paul says, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought.” And then, “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” Then Paul goes on to get specific. “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.” (Romans 12:6-8) Serve, teach, encourage, contribute, lead, and show mercy. If we followed Paul’s encouragement, if we made use of the gifts God has given us, if we refuse to let the world shape us into its mold, but rather, put our Christian stamp on the world -- the church will be built up within and will expand without.
Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, would use you and me to continue to build his church today, even as he told his disciples he would, and as he in fact has over the centuries. Remember Jesus words at Caesarea Philippi: “On this rock I will build my church.” Remember Hippos – a pagan city that became Christian. Based on the evidence, those Christians in Hippos were “proud, confident, and full of vitality” according to Dr. Segal’s report. May that also be said of our Christian community today.
August 17, 2008
Pentecost 14
Romans 11:17-18
Have you been watching much of the Olympics? Did you watch the gymnastics competition last week? Did you know that when an eighteen year old Russian was presented the gold medal for the women’s all round competition they played The Star Spangled Banner? It is true. And it wasn’t a mistake. Nastia Liukin was born in Moscow. But she and her parents moved to the United States when she was a young child. Nastia is a naturalized U.S. citizen and competed as an American. Shawn Johnson, on the other hand, who won the silver medal, was born and raised and still lives in Iowa. You cannot be much more American than that. The two of them, with totally different backgrounds, are the best of friends and in fact are roommates in Beijing.
You and I are naturalized citizens. We are naturalized citizens of the kingdom of God. We have no reason to be proud, but we have every reason to be grateful. Let me explain, on the basis of this morning’s Scripture readings.
Think about today’s Gospel. The disciples should have sensed there was something special about the Canaanite woman right away. They had “left that place,” says Matthew. “That place” was the western side of the Sea of Galilee. Now they were forty or fifty miles northwest of there in the region of Tyre and Sidon – Phoenician cities on the Mediterranean coast. (Today, those cities are in modern Lebanon.) You can see the geography on page 31 of the Bible in the pew, way in the back – the map labeled “Palestine in New Testament Times.” Jesus and his disciples had traveled fairly deeply into Gentile territory. Not many Jews lived “in the region of Tyre and Sidon.” Some of the disciples must have wondered why Jesus had led them there. And they all must have wondered why this woman – this foreigner, from their perspective, this Canaanite – why she was crying after Jesus, and why Jesus did not send her away. In fact, they made that suggestion: “Send her away,” they said, “for she keeps crying out after us.” And although they did not say it, they probably thought, “Send her away, for she isn’t one of us; she is a Canaanite!”
She was a Gentile Canaanite. But the disciples should have sensed there was something special about her. Remember her cry? “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me!” she cried. “Son of David.” Son of David – that great Jewish king. This woman – this foreign woman – knew who Jesus was! She recognized him as the Messiah. She was a believer. “Woman, you have great faith!” Jesus eventually told her. Had she seen Jesus previously? Probably not. Had she heard about him? Evidently. Someone had told her. She did not believe in Jesus because he healed her daughter; she had come to him as a believer. As a Canaanite, she was included in those the Lord had spoken about through Isaiah; remember the words from today’s Old Testament reading? “He who gathers the exiles of Israel [says] ‘I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered.’” (Isaiah 56:8)
The Canaanite woman was an outsider who had come in. What joy was hers after her experience with the Lord Jesus!
You and I are also outsiders who have come in. That is what St. Paul talked about in today’s Epistle. Jesus was a Jew. His disciples were Jews. Most of the people who became part of the church on Pentecost and the weeks following were Jews. Paul himself was a Jew – “a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.” But by the time Paul wrote his letter to the Romans – maybe 25 years after Easter – more Gentiles were becoming Christian than Jews were. In fact, Paul called himself “an apostle to the Gentiles.” Being the Jewfor the most part rejecting the Gospel and rejecting Christianity.
As he speaks to the Gentile Christians at the congregation in Rome, he reminds them (and today he reminds us) that God’s story of salvation did not start with us Gentiles; in fact, we are “Johnny-come-latelys.” Making use of an image from horticulture, Paul says that we Gentiles are like a wild olive branch that has been “grafted in” to a healthy tree “so that we share in the nourishing sap from the olive root.” We Gentiles dare not boast, says Paul, for “we do not support the root, but the root supports us.”
It is all about faith. “You stand by faith,” says Paul. “Woman, great is your faith,” said Jesus to the Canaanite woman. The Gentiles Christians at Rome and the Canaanite woman were outsiders, because they were not Jews. But they became “insiders,” if you will, through their faith. So we also have become “insiders” through our faith in Jesus.
You and I are naturalized citizens. We are naturalized citizens of the kingdom of God. We have no reason to be proud, but we have every reason to be grateful to our gracious God.
“My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations,” the Lord has said. “I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered.” (Isaiah 56:7-8)
That is where we come in. What better way of expressing our gratitude than being involved in that gathering of “still others” into the kingdom. You have an informative pink bulletin insert in your bulletin today from “Christian Friends of New Americans.” It speaks of a “Festival of Nations” and of those “seeking to become citizens of the USA.” Christians Friends of New Americans is also interested in leading them to become “naturalized citizens” of the kingdom of God – just like we are! Get involved! Pray for “CFNA.” Help the congregation support them financially. We live at a time when the nations seem to be gathering here in America. What an opportunity the Lord has given us to help him gather these nations to himself!
For the most part, people come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior one at a time. Do you know an individual who does not believe? Take the opportunity to do what you can to bring that person into the kingdom. There is ample room.
Many years ago – maybe 1980 – it was when Gene McNary was St. Louis County Executive – I attended an open forum down Clarkson Road in the Daniel Boone Library. Mr. McNary was there to lead the meeting. Topic was the ongoing expansion of West St. Louis County. I will never forget the number of people that evening who spoke against that expansion. Oh, most of them had become residents within the past couple of years. But now that they were out here, they wanted the expansion to stop, before it got too crowded. They had bought their acre and had built their house, but didn’t want anyone else to do the same.
At the rate the Christian Church is growing here in America, I sometimes wonder if that is not our attitude. We have become naturalized citizens of the kingdom. We have been grafted in. Now that we are in, are we dedicated to bringing others in, or are we satisfied with the status quo?
God’s plan, for as long as the earth exists, is a simple one: “I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered.” How can we help but join him in that task?Gr
