A Thought for the Week of February 11

"I tell you that you are Peter. And I’ll build my church on this rock. The gates of the underworld won’t be able to stand against it." (Matthew 16:18) I thought of this verse yesterday when I heard the news of the Pope's resignation. It's the primary biblical verse on which the whole concept of the papacy is based. Peter is the rock, and that makes him the head of the church, and that makes his successors the head of the church. Many Protestant theologians (not surprisingly) reject that out of hand. The rock becomes the confession of faith that Peter had just made ("You are the Christ ...") so that the church is founded on faith and not on a man. I find myself wondering if both aren't wrong. First of all, we're assuming a definite article: as in "the" rock. The definite article isn't in the Greek. Jesus says to Peter, you are "a rock" - which is what the word "petros" means. So Jesus says to Simon (his original name) "you are a rock." I find myself wondering if it isn't that quality that Jesus meant to be what the church was founded on. Peter, in the midst of a lot of doubts and hesitation, had just said "you're the Christ." And Jesus says, "that's the sort of quality we need to build a church." The church is built on people willing to stand up and be counted even when there's confusion and uncertainty and doubt and even active opposition all around them. Peter would have his ups and downs. So do we all. But the church is built on the fact that there are people all over the world at any given time who act as "rocks" - who stand firm and who won't be moved and who continue to proclaim good news to those in desperate need of it. Protestant or Catholic (or whatever else) - be that rock! It's only that quality in its members that makes the church able to be the herald of the good news of grace and salvation that Jesus called it to be. Have a great week!