Sermon 21st August 2011
Sermon Pentecost P10 Taupo
Matthew 16:13-20
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ 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. And 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. 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.’ Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
Romans 12:1-8
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.
Peter is given the keys to the kingdom of heaven. That is the image in this story I will suggest we focus on this morning.
The story is found in Mark’s gospel, and Matthew has taken it and added his own material. The story begins with a question that Jesus asks of his disciples: Who do men say that the Son of Man is? Their answer is John the Baptist, Elijah or Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. Then Jesus says: ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’
Jesus replies:
And 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.”
Simon Peter is given a new name: Peter. There is a pun here, Peter meaning rock.
There is in here the idea of the people of God as a temple, and in Jewish tradition, the rock at the base of the temple of Zion is at the centre of the world. It links heaven and the underworld, being the gate to heaven and the gate to Hades, the realm of the dead.
Peter is given the keys to 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.’
It is clear that Peter is seen as the authoritative leader of the disciples. As you can imagine, there has been much debate around this verse. The Roman Catholic tradition believes that Peter is the first office holder and that is then handed down to others in an apostolic succession. The Protestant view is that Peter is the new Abraham, the new man of faith who opens a new era.
What we have here in Matthew’s gospel, is Matthew’s view that the founding of the new church rests on the rock of Peter. If you stand back and look at the writings of the New Testament, Peter’s leadership is important and definitive. However equally important was the leadership of Paul, who was not in the band of disciples of Jesus at that time. The apostolic succession was wider than just Peter – Paul was a definitive apostle as well.
Let’s now turn to this phrase:
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven
Let’s begin by noting that the Kingdom of heaven and the church are not the same. In the hands of Peter are given the keys to the kingdom. The kingdom here is pictured as a place to be entered, and the keys are given to Peter.
Fenton in his commentary says that the key is the power to forgive, while Allison and Davies in their commentary say that Peter functions as a new Abraham, the head of a new people of God, and the image is one of opening the gates to the future city of God.
Having the keys to the kingdom.
The image of the key is that it unlocks the access to a place or domain. The key unlocks a door, or a gate, or unlocks the frozen computer screen. The key may be a physical object, or a password, or an electronic device. The key opens or unlocks – it gives access.
A key is not the thing itself.
Ninian Smart has written:
“It might be plausible to think of religious activities, and symbols, as functioning rather like complex fingers – pointing towards the religious ultimate. This indeed is the basis of one Eastern simile: doctrines and religious activities are like a finger pointing at the moon – he who concentrates on the finger misses seeing the moon.” (P48)
We could use this image to think of a “key to the kingdom” as a mission statement for the church. The purpose of the church is to be a key to the kingdom, to open access to a new world.
I always think it silly of the supermarket that calls itself: “New World”. The idea here is that if you shop at this supermarket you can buy a new world, or buy some ingredients that will make a new world. It is a pretentious as the shop that sells furniture just along the road and calls itself “Freedom”, as if you can buy freedom like you buy a comfortable piece of furniture.
These two examples portray a false belief that commercial organisations can provide in commodities, the values or services that can only be accessed through the key to the kingdom.
If we make a broad brush picture, the early church was very much a minority group, often persecuted and derided. It was when Constantine became Emperor and made Christianity the state religion, that the church became an empire, an organisation of state. Christianity was ingrained into the culture of the State. However in the last two centuries, Christianity in many countries is no longer a state religion. The State in NZ, for example, adheres to a policy of religious diversity. There is this question being asked at some local body Councils of whether they should open their meeting with a prayer. The challenge to the prayer is that religion should be kept out of politics. Religion they say, is a private matter, and should not intrude in the public domain.
In this sense, we find ourselves in a situation where the dominant culture is irreligious, often market driven, sports mad, and distant from religious persuasion. The media treat religion as a token of something of the past. In this environment, we have more connections with the first century of the early church, than with the state religion brought about by Constantine. Ours today is a counter culture, a minority activity. There are many institutions that pretend to offer what the church offers – the key to the kingdom. Some of those institutions do have common values with the church. Yet I suggest that the church needs to focus on its key mission – having the key to the kingdom of heaven.
So what can we say about the key? It opens access to something or someone else. The key is effective when the values of the kingdom and God’s reign among us, when that relationship is opened and God comes into our lives. When forgiveness and love dominate our lives, then the kingdom is with us and among us.
John Howell
|