You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church
You will not be surprised to learn that I was
one of those children who had a problem with authority. Probably still do. But I tried to grow up and
the rest of the world seemed to revert to adolescence. In fact the problem I
still have with authority is that it refuses to be authoritative.
The problem with that is once you remove
authority all that is left is power.
The Gospel this Sunday is certainly one of the
most disputed, if not the most disputed passage in the New Testament. Around
the foundation of the Michelangelo’s great dome atop St. Peter’s Basilica, as
if supporting not just the dome but the very institution of the papacy itself, are
inscribed in large gold letters the words: "Tu es Petrus et
super hanc Petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam: ‘Thou are Peter
and upon this rock I will build my Church’.
In the 20th
and 21st Centuries there have been an extraordinary number of great
popes. Two, John XIII and John Paul II have
been canonized. Both John Paul II were Benedict
XVI were extremely gifted theologians. Pope Francis may well end up being the
most popular modern pope of all.
But in the 16th
century there was a run of particularly bad popes. Julius II took his name from
Julius Caesar, spent considerably more time on a horse defending papal
territories than he did on his knees praying, and initiated the rebuilding of
St. Peter’s Basilica primarily to house his grand tomb according to the design
of Michelangelo. Leo X, the son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, a Medici, is best remembered for coming up with the
idea of selling indulgences to finance
the competition of St. Peter, which was challenged by Martin Luther’s “95
Theses’. Paul III, like many of the 16th century popes, was good at
taking care of his illegitimate children, not so good at taking care of the
Church. You get the idea.
For many Christians
in the 16th century the Popes had ceased to be authoritative but
they had not ceased to be powerful.
Fair enough. But what
do you put in the Pope’s place? For the Protestants the Bible seemed to be the
perfect answer. Sola Scriptura – ‘Scripture alone’ had authority. The
only problem was that none of the Reformers could agree on what Scripture
means. The Reformers burnt as many other Protestants at the stake as Roman
Catholics; maybe more Protestants than the Roman Catholics burnt at the stake. They
had power but not authority.
What is more: how do
you settle disagreements about Scripture, besides putting folks to the torch? Well, first they said
let the King decide. Not a very good idea, but still popular with Christians who get their theology from politicians. Then they said let’s vote on what we
believe. Another spectacularly bad idea, the ultimate result of which is the
Protestant churches voting to endorse the very things which the Reformers had objected
to in the Popes in the first place.
However you interpret this Gospel, this much is
certain: it is about the authority in the
Church and it is this authority, which at the root of the crisis in the Western
Churches.
The first thing that must be said about the
authority in the Church and the thing which must be kept constantly in mind is
that it is a derived authority. The
two signs of authentic authority which Jesus gives in his words to Peter are
the signs of the rock and the keys and both
these images come from the Old Testament.
In the Psalms God is repeatedly called the
‘rock’ meaning He is the one alone who is trustworthy, the one who can be depended
upon unconditionally. “ My help comes from God, he alone is my rock.”.” The divine Word of God is perfectly trustworthy
and this Word has become flesh. St Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:4, speaking of the Israelites
in the wilderness, says "They drank from the spiritual rock which followed
them—the rock was Christ."
The remarkable thing is that Jesus allows Peter
to share his own rockiness: “you are Peter” that is “Rocky” and upon this rock I
will build my Church.” The Church must also participate in this rockiness, this
quality of unconditional trustworthiness: “the gates of hell shall not prevail
against her.” The reason that Jesus adds this promise is that there is no guarantee
that authority will not get it wrong. Even Papal Infallibility is a very limited
thing. Something which the Popes have used only twice. In fact Peter very quickly tries to abandon his
rockiness, when he refuses to accept that being “the Christ, the Son of the
living God” entails suffering and death. He draw this sharp rebuke: "Get
behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me; for you are not on the side of
God, but of men." But this does not mean that his confession is
untrustworthy: Jesus is “the Christ,
the Son of the living God.”
This quality of rock-like trustworthiness can
only be passed on by perfect faith, which comes by the grace of the Father, not
by Peter’s own insight. Faith in God and in His Christ can only become rock hard
faith through God and Christ himself. Such is the foundation upon which Christ, not man, builds
his Church.
The second sign of authentic ecclesiastical
authority is the Keys, again something which can be given only by divine
authority. The king’s servant cannot steal the keys to the palace but he can be given them. The ‘key of the House of David” is placed on
the servant’s shoulders, like a cross, a burden of responsibility. Jesus
assuredly had these words of Isaiah in mind, when he spoke to Peter: “when he
opens, no one shall shut; when he closes, no one can open.” But in the first
place it is Jesus who bears ‘the keys of David, who opens and no one can close,
who shuts and no one can open” according to the Book of Revelation. The
keys to eternal life and to death.
Jesus gives these keys to Peter, something even
more disturbing than the Rock. On Easter Evening he confers the same authority
on all the apostles. Jesus said to them
again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send
you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them,
"Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are
forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." This does not
mean that the apostles are the ultimate authorities on who gets saved and who does not or that they can never be
wrong. The purpose of the Keys is pastoral. In the first place the apostles and
their successors are given the keys that they might continue the ministry of
Jesus, the ministry of reconciliation, the forgiveness of sins, that they might appropriate to Christians the
fruits of the redemption secured by the Cross
of Jesus Christ.
In the second place, Jesus is the Good Shepherd
and he sends shepherds, who must tend the sheep, heal their wounds of body and
soul. But they must also like David have a club to ward off the wolf. The worst
thing about the 16th Century popes was not that that they could not mind
their own business but that this is all they did, letting the church go to hell in a
hand basket.
It is time that the Church grows up.
It is time that the Church grows up.
You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church
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