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| On This Rock... (June 2014) |
A Sermon Preached in
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Royal Oak, MI
The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
(Proper 16A RCL)
The Rev. Vicki K. Hesse
Good
morning!
Greetings
from the Diocese of Michigan
in my
new role as the Director of the Whitaker Institute.
The
Whitaker Institute is the teaching
and
Christian formation department of the Bishop’s office.
Our
vision is to provide learning opportunities
beyond
what individual parishes can
developing
and forming disciples
who do
God’s work in the world.
Practically
speaking,
this
includes three main programs:
First,
Academy for Vocational Leadership –
a
monthly seminary operating collaboratively with
Dio E
Mich and Dio W Mich.
The
Academy provides theological training
for
people seeking ordination.
Second, Exploring
Your Spiritual Journey –
a
twice-monthly circle of people
listening
with the ear of their heart
how God
is calling them to serve in the world.
Third,
Safeguarding courses –
regular
courses designed to teach church ministers
about
protecting the safety and dignity
of
children and vulnerable adults.
Whitaker
offers several other enrichment courses
that
arise through commonly expressed needs –
such as
the Epiphanies Conference –
a
speaker series for church geeks
who love
to wrestle with meaty theological topics
OR
like a
pilgrimage to provocative places
for
people seeking to refuel their spiritual life,
such as
the Holy Land tour offered
last
November (and will again in 2019).
I would
like to thank Pastor Beth, in absentia,
for
inviting me here today to be with you
while
she is away on vacation!
A few summers
ago, I, too, joined a 10-day pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
One day,
we took a bus to a spot about 25 miles
north of
the Sea of Galilee,
in the
hills just west of Syria.
Caesarea
Philippi.
We
pilgrims gathered at the trailhead,
shaded
by a grove of trees.
We reflected
on today’s gospel passage, “who do you say that I am?”
In the
cool breeze near a babbling brook,
we pondered
that question.
Who do
we say that Jesus is –
Not with
our mind, not with our Sunday creedal formulas.
We wondered
aloud and shared who he is in our lives –
in our
relationships, in our bank accounts, in our time energy …
We
realized we don’t *really* understand who he is,
but we
gave it a try.
And one
by one we opened our hearts and got vulnerable.
Who do I
say that Jesus is?
Here’s
what he is for me, today:
Jesus is
the embodied presence of God in our lives.
He is
here to show us
how much
God loves us
and all
people.
Since
God is so big, so enormous,
so
unconditionally generous and gracious,
God in
Jesus came to live like one of us,
to
reveal how God feels about us
and to
know the pain and suffering of humanity.
In this
way Jesus shows us the heart of God,
the
heart that is broken
when
people march in circles
and say
mean-spirited, ugly words about others.
The
heart that suffers when natural disasters
wreak
havoc on homes and the environment.
The
heart that knows the tender, holy spot
in the
depth of our souls where beauty rests.
The
heart that loves us, wants the best for us
and is
always eager to welcome us home
with
grace, forgiveness and love.
Who do I
say Jesus is?
The
power of Jesus is the action of God –
healing
in the face of disease,
compassion
in the face of demons,
food in
the belly and hearts of hungry people,
and
the
power of Jesus is found in
prophetic,
subversive,
turning-the-world-upside-down-for-justice
passion.
The
power – God’s power – LOVE
is more
powerful than hate and fear and death.
Here,
through Jesus, we know God’s love wins.
Well,
that’s not perfect, but that’s a start, for me.
Which is
all that I can claim, here, today.
But that
day, a few years ago, at Caesarea Philippi,
we
walked in the scorching-heat up the trail
and
looked out from a terrace that was 1200 feet above
the
fertile Jordan valley below.
We
looked up at the sheer rock cliff,
high as
El Capitan in Yosemite,
solid
and sheer,
petrified
& glazed from the bright sun,
the wind
and rain-smoothed edges
flat
face soft like sandstone yet shiny like polished concrete.
On this Petrified/Peter
rock, Jesus said,
he will
build the church.
At the
base of the cliff,
a large
cave offers gushing sounds from underground.
Long before Jesus’ time,
people called it the “Gates of Hades”,
because they believed the ancient Syrian god Baal
would enter and leave the underworld
through places like this, where water emerged.
Here was
the watershed for the Jordan river
Flowing below
ground towards Jerusalem.
The
psalmist referenced this cave’s gurgle
in Psalm
42 “as a deer longs for water brooks,
so longs
my soul for thee.”
We learned that ancient peoples scattered
at least
fourteen temples
between
where we stood and nearby Mount Hermon,
aka Baal
Hermon from 1st Chronicles, chapter 5.
Here,
too, is the birthplace of the Greek god Pan,
god of
nature, fields, forests, mountains –
son of
the god Hermes.
There,
on the rock face, the three niches display
inscribed
prayers to Pan and to the Nymphs.
Here,
too, history records this spot
as the
administrative center of Rome
during
the time of King Agrippa.
Here,
Herod the Great built a temple
for
Caesar and his son, Philip,
used
white marble for the city’s finishing touches,
and
named the place Caesarea Philippi.
So –
what a context!
Here is
Jesus, standing as
a
homeless, penniless Galilean carpenter
with 12
regular disciples
teaching
and wondering,
who do
the people say that I am?
Here is
Jesus, standing in an area
· littered
with statues[1]
& temples of the ancient Syrian gods
· beneath
the niches dedicated to Hellenistic god Pan
· known as
the most important river in Judaism comes to life
· where the
white marble home of Caesar-worshiping Romans dominated the landscape
Here,
Jesus seems to have
deliberately
set himself
against
the background
of the
world’s powers
to
demand his disciples confess who he is.
Here, in
Caesarea Philippi.
Not just
another city, but a strong symbol,
Like Washington
DC, known for political power gods
Or like
NY City, known for economic & consumer gods
Or like
Las Vegas, known for … other gods…
well
you know – what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
Not just
any old city.
For here
was the perfect place for Jesus
to
confront the powers of the world
who seemed
to scream
death
and destruction, hate and greed.
Here was
the place Jesus blessed Peter
for
recognizing the Divine power of Love
on which
Jesus will build the church –
the new
community through whom
God can
bring about a kingdom
of peace
and justice.
Here is
the place where God is at work.
Yes, here,
in the midst of
statues and
white supremacy groups
that
offend the gospel,
here in the shadow
of governing powers
threatening
the dignity and respect
of our transgendered
sisters and brothers
here in the
wake of destruction by Hurricane Harvey
here in the
fear of North Korea’s confrontation with the US
For here
in the midst of our context
is the
perfect place for God in Jesus
to confront
the powers of the world.
Here is
the place where Jesus blesses us
And
gives us the keys to the kingdom
to build
a new community of disciples
through
whom God can bring about a kingdom
of peace
and justice.
Here, we
confess who Jesus is: God’s love at work.
For Love
is bigger. Love is stronger.
Love is
brighter than any power or principality
that seems
to darken our lives.
Here, in
the form of the Open Hands Food Pantry and Garden.
Here, in
the service of the New to You clothing closet.
Here, in
the Youth “take a bag-share a bag” service project.
Here, in
various community gatherings at
Other
worship sites,
we
proclaimed that LOVE IS BIGGER.
Here, in
this community
we
confess in word and deed,
that the
Living God is at work in our lives,
here we
claim God’s power and providence
is
bigger than the context
in which
the world places us.
Love –
today – Love is here.
Here, in
the midst of our Caesarea Philippi.
And on
this rock of unwavering love,
God is
building a new community,
in this
gathering of ordinary disciples
here,
today.
Amen.
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