The Rock and the Wind – Marilyn Zehr – August 21, 2011

I also noted that the wind that day had blown away the typically dense heat and humidity of North Carolina and so it would in fact be a good time to complete the assent.  In the past, I had climbed this hill in much more challenging circumstances and so I continued – no water and no snack, the things I usually take with me.  I mentally shrugged and decided to enjoy this unplanned and unexpected opportunity to travel lightly.  

The last part of the climb is most challenging.  The terrain gets quite rocky and requires a bit of hands and feet climbing and then quite suddenly you are at the top – a rocky crest about three meters in diameter with views for miles in the east, north and west directions. A few trees to the south block the southern view.  This summit is close to Mt. Mitchell, the highest point of the Appalachians and so also the highest point in the Eastern United States at 6,684 ft.

If you are familiar with even relatively small mountains like these you may know that a good breeze halfway up can be quite a strong wind at the top.  On this particular crest there are two good rocks to stand on if you want to feel you are as high as you can go and so I climbed onto the one that seemed the higher of the two.  It was a peaked rock and my running shoes couldn’t find a very good grip and as I tried to straighten up the wind blew hard against me and I decided maybe in the face of such strong winds I had better have a more stable place to put my feet.  I moved to the other rock with a flat top, securely planted my feet and was able then to face the wind and the view with confidence. And in those few minutes at the summit, I knew that my next sermon would be about the Rock and the Wind. 

In light of this experience – our summer theme – “I have seen the wind,” or where have we seen or experienced the work of the Holy Spirit made me wonder about the importance of the rock we stand on so that we can face the power of the wind or the Spirit with confidence.

I need to go down two paths from here.  First, what winds are we talking about and what is the rock that gives us the foundation that allows us to face the wind with confidence?

There are two categories of Biblical images for wind either positive or negative.  The negative ones depict lack of substance and meaning, adversity or changeableness.  In Ecclesiastes, The preacher pronounces over and over again that meaninglessness in human activity is “chasing after the wind.”  When the Bible wants to talk about adversity, the wind image most often used is the destructive hot desert wind.  When I had an opportunity to be in the Negev, the Judean desert, a few years ago, I understood a little better this hot dry wind and how challenging it was for a human body to be exposed to such a wind.  I remember feeling a strong need to cover up my body with long sleeves and long skirts or long pants despite the heat because the hot dry wind threatened to drain my body of both moisture and energy.  The biblical writers knew the threat of this wind intimately. When the Bible wants to talk about changeableness with a wind metaphor, we hear about the winds of false teaching. In several places in the New Testament we are encouraged not to allow ourselves to be blown about by the winds of false teachings.

In our time and place we also know the threat of ill winds. 

This week, Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney when he met with finance minister Jim Flaherty, used a wind metaphor to describe the global economy. “The considerable external headwinds that the bank has long identified are now blowing harder,” said Carney, backing off previous language that suggested interest rates would be heading up in the short term.”  I guess these strong head winds are going to keep interest rates low for a while longer.  Clearly winds described thus can have little or nothing to do with the winds of the Spirit.

The Bible uses positive images for the wind when it describes the nature or substance of God. God both creates and controls or behaves like wind.  This is the Spirit we cannot see but use our many senses, sometimes including our sixth sense, to be attuned to its effects.   A few weeks ago, Jeff Taylor explored with us the unpredictable nature of the wind/Spirit and how even if the source is God or the Spirit of God – the unpredictability of the wind can be uncomfortable. 

In the face of the winds on top of the mountain, I was glad to have the solid footing of the flat rock.  Whether the winds are ill winds or whether they are winds of the Spirit, footing can make all the difference.

In our gospel text for today, Jesus turns to Peter and says, “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah!  For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven, Peter has just confessed that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God,” in answer to Jesus’ question, “Who do you say that I am?” The story of this question and this answer is found in all four of our gospels.  In the Matthew passage alone, Jesus goes on to say to Peter, “And I tell you, you are Peter, (in Greek, Petros) and on this rock, (in Greek, petra) I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.

Petros and petra, – Peter and rock.  I’m sure you’ve heard this connection before.  What kind of rock is this?  The metaphor of rock implies something solid, a foundation, something strong and unassailable.  Papa
l authority in the Roman Catholic Church is built upon this rock.  Their understanding of Papal succession from Peter and the authority of the church is quite substantially built on these verses and the ones that follow.  Jesus says to Peter, “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.”  This phrase – “binding and loosing” was commonly used and understood in Pharisaic and Rabbinic Judaism.  In that context it was used to refer to the traditional understanding that the Pharisees had the divine authority to forbid or permit certain things.  In these verses Jesus seems to be giving this same divine authority to Peter and the church.  And again in chapter 18:18 in the gospel of Matthew, authority is given to all the disciples and through them to the church, “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Is this authority then the rock solid foundation that will permit the church, all of us gathered here to stand against the winds that blow, both the ill winds and the winds of the Holy Spirit?  

If this is the only rock that we stand on – the authority of the church to forbid and permit things then I fear we may end up becoming like petrified wood.  Are you familiar with petrified wood?  Petrified wood is a unique type of fossil process whereby the organic nature of wood trapped in the earth in an oxygen-free environment gradually becomes mineralized forming a perfectly preserved rock structure that in all details resembles the original tree – rings and all. This incredible transformation happens only in a place where there is no air (read “no wind”) and all it takes is about 100 years in this environment for trees to become fossilized rocks.

So now my question becomes – how do we hold the tension between the need to take seriously the authority and responsibility of the church to bind and loose things and the desire to remain flexible in the face of winds that long to change and transform us in life-giving ways.

Put succinctly what is the rock we stand on and what did it mean in this text to call Peter the rock upon which the church would be built? 

First, let me admit that I’m still working on the answer to this question, but it seems to me that part of the answer is embedded in the stories of these next two chapters in Matthew.  Between these verses in chapter 16 and the verse in chapter 18 that repeats the image of binding and loosing we hear stories about the nature of being Messiah – Jesus will go to Jerusalem and suffer.  When Peter hears this he rebukes Jesus and Jesus who had just congratulated him now calls him Satan and accuses him of having his mind on human things rather than things of God.  Also, in this section we hear the story of the answer to the question, “who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”  Jesus answers, “The child or the least of these is the greatest among you.” And in case you don’t get the point he goes on to say that if you cause such a one as this to stumble – it is better for you to be drowned with a millstone around your neck.  Sobering words indeed. Also in this section, we hear the story of the shepherd who has lost one sheep out of 99 and goes and looks for that one sheep until he finds it.  And finally after a long discussion in chapter 18 about what to do if someone among you sins, we hear the injunction to forgive not only seven times but also seventy times seven times.  In summary, any authority and responsibility the church has to bind and loose must be held carefully and with the greatest of humility.   

And so in the end I’m going to change the question from what is the rock we stand on that allows us to face strong winds, to what is the nature of the rock and what is the nature of our stance upon it. Peaked rocks are difficult to stand on. The rock on which we stand and how we stand on it is as solid as our knowledge of the One who created us.  And we know the One who created us best by listening very carefully to the one God sent to reveal himself to us.  So let us square up our stance on the good, solid and flat rock of our relationship with God through Christ.  And God will not let us stumble or fall though the winds are strong.  Let us face these winds with confidence knowing that God’s everlasting love will preserve God’s people.