A ‘Peter-type’ church

“You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church”.

IF ever there was a text that changed the world this is it! If you’ve ever visited the Vatican City, stood in awe of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel or wondered at the scale of St Peter’s Basilica; then you will know what this verse means to around 40 per cent of the world’s 2.8 billion Christians.

The striking thing about this verse (Matthew 16:18) is the way in which it announces the establishment of the Church of God. Of course, for many scholars this passage about the founding of the Church forces some searching questions about its context and origin, but, whether or not this text has been sharpened by the pens of the early church, it tells us three things: that the Church is Christ’s Church, that it is built on a Peter and that the power of “shadowy places” cannot prevail against it.

Sometimes we act as if it is our church. Ministers talk about my pulpit and members talk about my church. We put endless effort into preserving the institution and sometimes we act as though we did not believe in a Gospel of grace; instead, we act as if the future of the church depended on us working our passage rather than living our faith. It is good for us to remember that it is Christ’s Church.

Think too, of the implication that Jesus should choose to build his Church on the likes of the Peter that you know from the New Testament. Peter, the hot-headed, impulsive, ‘think before you speak’ disciple. The risk-taker who steps out of boats, who one minute enjoys the deepest of insights into the identity of Christ and the next is condemned as a friend of the dark one. The bravado disciple who will never let his Master down – yet crumbles like a hero with feet of clay. He chooses Peter and on the big fisherman Jesus trusts the future.

You could have understood it if Jesus had chosen John -a spiritual giant of a man or if he had chosen Matthew – you would understand our preoccupation with balancing the books. But it was Peter and as we approach another General Assembly we should remember that it is a Peter type Church that we are called to be. A Church that takes risks, a Church that has the vision to abandon some of the old rules so that new things can happen (Acts 10) and a Church that doesn’t always get things right but can admit to its failures and try again.

A Peter-type Church is not afraid to show its vulnerability, to journey with the broken and to repent and begin again and again and again. It is that kind of Church – which the gates of hell cannot prevail against.

It is in the definition of Church of Scotland that we are a small part of that Church which was founded by Christ. And the future of that Church does not depend on us finding the right structure, the right strategy, the right publicity or the right hashtag. Instead it depends on us finding where God is already active in our communities and joining in. That’s a very different thing from working to save a building, guarding a congregational identity or defending a peculiar dogma.

“The sign of Lazarus and the message of Easter is the hope that death has lost its sting in the victory of God in Christ.

Even before this ghastly pandemic we knew that change was in the air and we devised a radical action plan to take us to new place. The experience of this past year has hastened the need for change. It is time to tear up the old maps of church life and plan like we have never planned before to participate in the mission of God.

Like Peter we will have to be risk takers, for that is the kind of Church that the gates of hell cannot prevail against. ¤