Readings, hymns and sermon ideas for Sunday 6 September 2020, Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

‘If two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven’ (Matthew 18: 19) … the Cross of Nails in Coventry Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Next Sunday, 6 September 2020, is the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XIII).

The readings in the Revised Common Lectionary, as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland, are in two sets, the Continuous readings and the Paired readings.

The Continuous Readings: Exodus 12: 1-14; Psalm 149; Romans 13: 8-14; Matthew 18: 15-20.

There is a link to the Continuous Readings HERE.

The Paired Readings: Exodus 33: 7-11; Psalm 119: 33-40; Romans 13: 8-14; Matthew 18: 15-20.

There is a link to the Paired Readings HERE.

‘Go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone’ (Matthew 18: 15) … the sculpture ‘Reconciliation’ by Josephina da Vasconcellos was given to Coventry Cathedral by Richard Branson in 1995, 50 years after the end of World War II, as a token of reconciliation (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Introducing the Readings:

The Cross of Nails in Coventry Cathedral is a symbol of the cathedral’s ministry of reconciliation. Two charred wooden beams from the roof of the cathedral, damaged during an air raid in World War II, now stand in the ruins of the chancel. Behind the Cross, in large letters, are the words, ‘Father Forgive.’ In the 75 years since the end of World War II, the cross in Coventry has come to symbolise the ministry of reconciliation and forgiveness throughout the Anglican Communion.

Reconciliation is very difficult, and very costly, for everyone involved. Pharaoh refuses to be reconciled with God or to accept the consequences that this refusal is going to mean for the people of Egypt. In his oppression of the children of Israel, the poor and exploited descendants of one immigrant family, he eventually calls down disaster on his own people.

He fails to accept that the demands for freedom for people is connected to their right to freedom of worship and religion, and freedom for one must mean freedom for all. The consequences of his refusal are devastating, and he only realises this when it is too late.

The consequences of refusing the opportunities for reconciliation can be devastating. It is only when he has had enough – and when his people have had enough – that he agrees: ‘Rise up, go away from my people … Go, worship the Lord … And bring a blessing on me too!’

Saint Paul reminds us in the second reading that love is not only an essential expression of our faith, but that love fulfils all the commandments.

But love does not come cheaply, and forgiveness and reconciliation are difficult and costly, as the Gospel reminds us. How we cope with those who refuse the offer and opportunity of reconciliation and forgiveness is a difficult task not only for an individual Christian but for the whole Church.

The Ten Plagues of Egypt … an illustration in Arthur Szyk’s ‘Haggadah’

Exodus 12: 1-14:

This reading tells of the origin of Passover, the commemoration of how God rescues his people from slavery and oppression.

In the immediate, preceding chapters (Exodus 7 to 11), nine plagues have afflicted Egypt: the Nile waters turning to blood; frogs; gnats; flies; animals dying in the fields; boils; thunder and hail; locusts; and three days of darkness. All are attempts to convince Pharaoh to ‘Let my people go, so that they may worship’ the Lord God (Exodus 9: 1). But his heart is hardened, and a warning of the final plague – the death of the firstborn – follows.

As with the other plagues, the preparation for the tenth and last plague is described at length, but the plague itself takes is described in only a few verses (Exodus 12: 29-32).

In this reading, we are between the first nine plagues and the tenth and final plague. Moses and Aaron tell each family to take and keep a young, unblemished, lamb or goat until close to the full moon, the fourteenth day. Then ‘the whole assembled congregation’ will slaughter the animals that evening. The animals are to be roasted, not boiled, and to be eaten, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

As they eat this meal hurriedly, the people are to be ready to travel, with loins girded, sandals on their feet, and staffs in their hands, and they are to mark their doorposts with blood so that they shall not be struck by the terrible, tenth plague.

This is a day and a night that is different from all others, and that is to be remembered and observed by the people throughout all generations, for ever.

After this reading (verses 29-32), God brings the tenth plague falls on the Egyptians, all their first-born children are killed, just as Pharaoh once plotted to kill all the new-born, male Hebrew children. Then Pharaoh has had enough: ‘Rise up, go away from my people … Go, worship the Lord … And bring a blessing on me too!’ (Exodus 12: 31).

The Exodus is about to begin. When we return to this book the following week (Exodus 14: 19-31, 13 September 2020), the people are crossing the Red Sea

‘Let them sing praise to him with timbrel and lyre’ (Psalm 149: 3) … singers and musicians in an evening street concert in Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Psalm 149:

Psalm 149 is a psalm of thanksgiving for God’s role in Israel’s history, granting them victory in war and ensuring the ultimate victory of justice over cruelty and aggression.

The people are called to sing ‘a new song’ to Lord, new perhaps because God continually reveals more of himself to the faithful. These hymns are accompanied by ‘dancing … tambourine and ‘lyre’ (verse 3).

The ‘two-edged’ sword (verse 6) may be a reference to the dual nature of history: on the one hand, the house of Israel must fight its own battles; on the other, it must always be conscious of the providential pattern of history and the role of God in its survival and success.

But for New Testament uses of imagery see:

‘The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing as far as the division until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart’ (Hebrews 4: 12).

And:

‘… and from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining with full force’ (Revelation 1: 16) … ‘These are the words of him who has the two-edged sword’ (Revelation 2: 12).

‘Love is the fulfilling of the law’ (Romans 13: 10) … ‘Love is the Answer’ … a sign seen in a shop in Skerries, Co Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Romans 13: 8-14:

The Apostle Paul continues his instructions on ethics for Christians, saying the only thing we Christians should owe others – Christians and non-Christians alike – is love. This sums up the obligations of the Christian in life: ‘for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.’

Saint Paul then goes on to teach how love among Christians is something special: it is mutual. He quotes those commandments in the Ten Commandments that deal with loving one another, and says they are summed up simply, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’ (verse 10), for ‘love is the fulfilling of the law.’

He compares other ways of life and the Christian way of life, between walking in darkness and walking in light. In our Baptism, we have ‘put on the Lord Jesus Christ’ (verse 14), and so we must put aside all selfish desires and temptations.

The command to love, to love God and to love our neighbour, is at the heart of the Gospel. It is summarised in the two great commandments in Matthew 22: 36-40 and Luke 10: 27. In Matthew alone, Christ says, ‘On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’

But Saint Paul, on more than one occasion – including this reading – reduces it all down to one great commandment:

Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments … are summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law (Romans 13: 8-10).

And again:

For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’ (Galatians 5: 14).

In other places, he writes:

The only thing that counts is faith working through love (Galatians 5: 6).

Or:

Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in harmony (Colossians 3: 14).

And:

If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, and compassion and sympathy. Make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind (Philippians 2: 1-2).

To love our neighbour as ourselves means to love them as we are ourselves, as being of the same substance – created in the image and likeness of God. The Church Fathers teach that we find our true self in loving our neighbour, and that love is not a feeling but an action.

‘Father Forgive’ … the Cross of Nails in Coventry Cathedral … ‘If two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven’ (Matthew 18: 19) … (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 18: 15-20:

Christ has just told the parable of the lost sheep, and how the shepherd goes in search of the one that goes astray, and rejoices over finding it (Matthew 18: 10-14).

So now, how should the Church respond to a member who has gone astray or sins against other members of the Church?

The first response is to try taking person aside to point out the fault. But that person should not be humiliated in front of others, and this should be done alone.

However, if you are not listened to, one or two others should be asked to be present as witnesses.

If the person still refuses to listen, the matter should be brought before the whole assembly (ekklesia) of the Church.

If the offender refuses to listen even to the Church, that person should be treated as an unworthy outsider, ‘as a Gentile and a tax collector’ was responded to in those days.

Christ then says that ‘you’ – the whole assembly or ekklesia – have the authority to bind or condemn or to loose or acquit in a decision that has divine authority.

Finally, Christ tells us that he is present in common prayer, study, and in decision-making, even when only two or three members of the Church are present. Christ is to be found in community.

The ekklesia in classical Athens met in the Theatre of Dionysus, beneath the slopes of the rock of the Acropolis (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Reflecting on the Gospel reading:

There are only two places in all the four Gospels where Christ uses the word for the Church that is found in this Gospel reading, the word εκκλησία (ekklesia): the first use of this word is in Matthew 16: 18, when Christ relates the Church to a confession of faith by the Apostle Peter, the rock-solid foundational faith of Saint Peter, which we read about two weeks earlier [23 August 2020].

His second use of this word is not once but twice in one verse in this reading, in Matthew 18: 17.

It is a peculiar word for Christ to use, and yet he only speaks of the Church in these terms on these two occasions.

In total, the word εκκλησία appears 114 times in the New Testament (four verses in the Acts of the Apostles, 58 times by Saint Pauline in his epistles, twice in the Letter to the Hebrews, once in the Epistle of James, three times in III John, and in 19 verses in the Book of Revelation). But Christ only uses the word twice, in these incidents in Saint Matthew’s Gospel.

How does God define the Church?

What makes up and defines the Church?

How does Christ define the Church?

And why, throughout the Gospels, does he use this word to describe the Church only twice?

During the pandemic shutdown, while many of our church buildings remained closed, many of us comforted ourselves with phrases such as ‘the church is not a building’ and ‘people make the church.’

The Irish language expresses this in a different way. The Irish word eaglais, which comes from this same word εκκλησία, is usually used for a church building, although the word teampaill is used too, and eaglais is also used for the Church as institution, so that the Church of Ireland is called Eaglais na hÉireann in Irish.

But when referring to the Church as the people, the Irish language uses the phrase Pobal Dé, the ‘People of God.’ (As an aside, the word séipéal and the term séipéal an pharóiste, used for a parish church, is unlikely to parallel the use of the word ‘chapel’ for non-Anglican Protestant or ‘non-conformist’ church buildings from the late 17th century on, or the side chapels in cathedrals or large parish churches. In its original use in French, a chapel was a small, covered place used for worship or to keep relics, and the French words also give us the word chaplain. The words séipéal (from cappella), came into usage in Irish after the arrival of the Anglo-Normans.)

The English word ‘church’ we use in everyday English can be traced through Old English (cirice) and Old High German (kirihha) to a Greek word κυριακόν (kuriakón), that simply means ‘of the Lord.’

But the word εκκλησία (ekklesia) does not mean ‘belonging to the Lord.’ Even if that is implied, the word is different.

The word Christ uses in this reading, εκκλησία, means ‘called out,’ an assembly of people that is involved in social life, religion and government.

This word εκκλησία goes all the way back to classical Athens, when the city assembly or εκκλησία consisted of all the citizens who had kept their civil rights. From ca 300 BC, the ekklesia met in the Theatre of Dionysus, beneath the slopes of the rock of the Acropolis.

The powers of the εκκλησία were almost unlimited. It met three or four times a month, and it elected and dismissed judges, directed the policy of the city, declared war and made peace, negotiated and ratified treaties and alliances, chose generals and raised taxes.

It was a city assembly in which all members had equal rights and duties, and all citizens of Athens could take part, regardless of class. It had the final say.

When Christ is talking about the church as εκκλησία then, he is talking about all the members of the church community, who have equal rights, equal power, equal duties and an equal and respected say in what is going on.

Baptism makes us all equal, without discrimination, in the Church.

And the Holy Communion, the Eucharist, is the lived continuation of our Baptism.

There is only one Body of Christ, and so there is only one Baptism and only one Eucharist.

For the Apostle Paul, the Church is one body, the Body of Christ, where there is no discrimination among those who are baptised and who share in the sacramental mysteries (see I Corinthians 12: 12-13 and Ephesians 1: 22-23).

And what Christ does in this Gospel reading is not to give power to the Church but to warn us as the Church about the power we already have as εκκλησία and the consequences of how we use that power.

A few verses earlier, in verses we do not read this time (see verses 10-13), Christ reminds us not to despise the little ones, to go after the one sheep from among the 99 that might go astray, to make sure that not even one of the little ones is left to be lost.

Now he tells us that in the Church there is no room for us to refuse to talk to one another, to bear grudges, to refuse to listen to one another.

And he warns us against the real dangers of trying to use the powers that the Church has in the wrong way.

In the culture and context of the Greek-speaking world of the East Mediterranean, people would know that the εκκλησία, this very particular type of assembly, had the last and final say.

For Christ to say that what the Church approves of or disapproves of has implications of the highest order is not Christ endowing the Church with supernatural powers. Rather, it is warning us of making decisions, going in directions, exercising discrimination, in the Church that will have not merely temporal and worldly but eternal and spiritual consequences.

Saint Paul says something similar to the Church in Corinth. For example, he tells the Church there that in the Church there is only one Baptism (see I Corinthians 3: 4-7), that there is no room for factions when we come together to share the Eucharist (see I Corinthians 11: 17-22), and that all arguments and division should be kept at home.

Earlier in this Gospel, Christ tells his disciples: ‘So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift’ (Matthew 5: 23-24).

There can be no petty divisions in the Church, if we are to be true to the meaning of Baptism and the Eucharist which form and sustain us in one body, the Body of Christ. And the Church has to be a haven for those who are the victims of division, discrimination and disaster. Our haven can be their heaven.

When we discriminate against others, the consequences are not just for them, or even for us, but for the whole Church.

In recent months, there have been protests throughout the United States against police use of brutality and proclaiming ‘Black Lives Matter.’ But the silence of many megachurch and evangelical leaders who have supported President Trump has been hauntingly deafening in these recent months when it comes to racism, and the use of troops on city streets, and other pressing issues such as climate change. In many places, that part of the Church that claims the moral high ground has been found to be morally impoverished.

The Old Testament reading, difficult though it may be to read in our culture today, is a story that people used to recall that in the midst of death and destruction, God could still look down on a people who were oppressed and enslaved, hear their cry, and want them to be free.

Who are the people who are enslaved and oppressed among our neighbours today? The new arrival in direct provision, the immigrant, the homeless family, the people living on their own, those who cannot find meaningful employment after the pandemic lockdown, those who struggle to keep a shop open or to keep a farm going, those who truly have no friends or no-one to listen to?

Would they see that we have taken to heart Saint Paul’s advice in the Epistle reading, ‘Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law … Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.’

‘Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven’ (Matthew 18: 18) … paper or origami chains in the shape of cranes, a Japanese symbol of peace and reconciliation, in Coventry Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 18: 15-20 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 15 ‘If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. 16 But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax-collector. 18 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. 19 Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.’

‘The night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness’ (Romans 13: 13) … night-time at the Bridge of Sighs in Venice (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Liturgical Resources:

Liturgical Colour: Green (Year A)

The Collect of the Day:

Almighty God,
who called your Church to bear witness
that you were in Christ reconciling the world to yourself:
Help us to proclaim the good news of your love,
that all who hear it may be drawn to you;
through him who was lifted up on the cross,
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Collect of the Word:

O loving God,
enliven and preserve your Church
with your perpetual mercy.
Without your help we mortals will fail;
remove far from us everything that is harmful,
and lead us toward all that gives life and salvation,
through Jesus Christ our Saviour and Lord.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

God our creator,
you feed your children with the true manna,
the living bread from heaven.
Let this holy food sustain us through our earthly pilgrimage
until we come to that place
where hunger and thirst are no more;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

‘At the Lamb’s high feast we sing’ (Hymn 254) … the Lamb of God depicted in a stained-glass window by Harry Clarke in Mount Melleray Abbey, Cappoquin, Co Waterford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Suggested Hymns:

Exodus 12: 1-14:

254, At the Lamb’s high feast we sing
258, Christ the Lord is risen again
328, Come on and celebrate
268, Hail, thou once–despisèd Jesus
431, Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendour
703, Now lives the Lamb of God

Psalm 149:

346, Angel voices ever singing
705, New songs of celebration render
368, Sing of the Lord’s goodness
710, Sing to God new songs of worship
492, Ye servants of God, your master proclaim

Exodus 33: 7-11:

206, Come, let us to the Lord our God
479, Go, tell it on the mountain
589, Lord, speak to me that I may speak

Psalm 119: 33-40:

594, O Lord of creation, to you be all praise

Romans 13: 8-14:

515, ‘A new commandment I give unto you’
549, Dear Lord and Father of mankind
74, First of the week and finest day
39, For the fruits of his creation
312, Gracious Spirit, Holy Ghost
126, Hark! a thrilling voice is sounding
495, Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love
525, Let there be love shared among us
487, Soldiers of Christ, arise
488, Stand up, stand up for Jesus
142, Wake, O wake! With tidings trilling
143, Waken, O sleeper, wake and rise
498, What does the Lord require for praise and offering?
145, You servants of the Lord

Matthew 18: 15-20:

517, Brother, sister, let me serve you
550, ‘Forgive our sins, as we forgive’
338, Jesus, stand among us
336, Jesus, where’er thy people meet
623, Our heavenly Father, through your Son
342, Sweet is the solemn voice that calls

‘Owe no one anything, except to love one another’ (Romans 13: 8) … old pennies in a bar in Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

The hymns suggestions are provided in Sing to the Word (2000), edited by Bishop Edward Darling. The hymn numbers refer to the Church of Ireland’s Church Hymnal (5th edition, Oxford: OUP, 2000)

Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.

Eating the ‘Bread of Affliction’ … an illustration in Arthur Szyk’s ‘Haggadah’

Readings, hymns and sermon ideas for Sunday 30 August 2020, Twelfth Sunday after Trinity

‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me’ (Matthew 16: 24) … the Byzantine-style crucifix by Laurence King (1907-1981) in the crypt of Saint Mary le Bow on Cheapside in London (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Next Sunday, 30 August 2020, is the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XII).

The readings in the Revised Common Lectionary, as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland, are in two sets, the Continuous Readings and the Paired Readings.

The Continuous Readings: Exodus 3: 1-15; Psalm 105: 1-6, 23-26, 45c or Psalm 115; Romans 12: 9-21; Matthew 16: 21-28.

There is a link to the Continuous Readings HERE.

The Paired Readings: Jeremiah 15: 15-21; Psalm 115; Romans 12: 9-21; Matthew 16: 21-28.

There is a link to the Paired Readings HERE.

‘Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour’ (Romans 12: 9-10) … a summer wedding in Arkadi Monastery in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Introducing the Readings:

There is a wonderful contrast in the Gospel reading and the Epistle reading between the Apostle Peter, who gets it wrong, and the Apostle Paul, who gets it right.

On the previous Sunday [23 August 2020], in the Gospel reading, we saw how Saint Peter could get it right with his confession of faith, a rock-solid faith that had firm foundations.

This week, Saint Peter becomes a stumbling block because he thinks Christ has come to defeat those he sees as the enemies of the people, and he wants to share in the victory he hopes Christ will win. From rock to stumbling block in the space of a week.

Saint Peter is going to share in Christ’s victory, but it is not that kind of victory. It is a victory won not by killing enemies, but by forgiving them. It is a victory won on the cross, and Saint Peter will share it when he is ready to take up his cross and follow Christ.

On the other hand, Saint Paul, who once used rocks and stones in another way – at the stoning of the first, early Christian martyrs – now provides us with his own concise summary of Christianity faith, life and love. It reads like his own retelling of the Sermon on the Mount, or Christ reading in the synagogue in Nazareth (see Luke 4: 18-22).

Saint Paul tells us: ‘Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour’ (Romans 12: 9-10).

‘The Burning Bush’, an icon by Mikhail Damaskinos (ca 1585-1591) in the Museum of Christian Art in Iraklion, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

Exodus 3: 1-15:

The story in the first reading (Exodus 3: 1-15) is a reminder that God’s love is expressed in just the same ways that Saint Paul in the New Tewstament reading describes the love that we should have and that reflects God’s love.

Moses is forced to flee Egypt after it becomes known that he has murdered an Egyptian slave-master and Pharaoh seeks him. Exodus 2 tells how he flees to Midian in the Sinai Peninsula, and marries Zipporah, daughter of the priest Jethro. Meanwhile, back in Egypt, the Pharaoh has died, and the people in slavery cry out to God for help.

This reading begins while Moses is looking after Jethro’s flock beyond the wilderness. At Horeb, near Mount Sinai, a messenger from God, or God himself, appears to Moses in the form of fire in a bush that refuses to burn up. Moses leaves Jethro’s sheep, and hears the call of God.

Moses is reluctant and refuses four times. Yet he believes God is sending him: ‘Here I am.’ Removing his footwear is a common form of respect at the time. God reveals himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and Moses hides his face from God in fear.

This God is compassionate and hears the cry of the enslaved people in Egypt. He promises to deliver them into freedom, into a new land. God commissions Moses to lead the people. But Moses has an excuse, and asks, ‘Who am I’ to do this? God answers: ‘I will be with you.’ The people are to be led into freedom so that they are free to worship God.

But Moses still finds excuses. What if the people ask who is this God, ‘what is his name?’ To know someone’s name was to have power over him. God’s answer is enigmatic, ‘I am who I am … I am has sent you.’ The Hebrew is unclear hear, and the name translated as ‘the Lord’ in English translations is the tetragrammaton, the four-letter word YHWH from the Hebrew, meaning to be, become, or come to pass.

God has seen the misery of the people, has heard the cry of the oppressed, knows their suffering, wants to deliver them from slavery and to bring them to freedom, and wants what is best for them. He emphasises that he has heard their cry (verse 9), and he wants them to be free.

In freedom, and only through their own choice, can they worship God freely, become free to be consumed in his love.

It is only then, after a long experience and a long dialogue, that God reveals God’s name, ‘I am who I am’ (verse 14), ‘I am’ (Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν). God makes himself known in his promises of love, and then, only then, does he reveal his name. First of all, he says what he does, then he says who he is. And he is who he is, faithful for ever.

God’s love for us, like the bush that is blazing on the mountain, never burns out. It is a flame that is never quenched, that never burns up.

Later, back on this mountain, God is going to tell Moses who God is once again, ‘… merciful and gracious, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin …’ (Exodus 34: 6-7).

Those words are echoed in Saint Paul’s words in the Epistle reading.

The Belfast-born writer CS Lewis (1898-1963), best-known as the author of the Chronicles of Narnia, the Screwtape Letters and Mere Christianity, also wrote The Four Loves (1960).

In a lecture on The Four Loves some years ago in Cambridge, the great Orthodox theologian Metropolitan Kallistos Ware spoke of the Holy Trinity as the model of mutual love, and the fountain and source of love. He said if God is love (John 4: 8), then God cannot be one person loving himself, and a circle of two persons would be closed and exclusive.

The Trinity shows us that love should not only be mutual, but that it should be shared. The doctrine of the Trinity is a way of saying that God’s eternal being is self-giving.

God is God, and we are truly human, because of our ability to relate to others, to love others. We are what we are only in relation to other persons. There is no true person unless there are two or three persons in communication with each other.

In other words, love is at the centre of our understanding what it means for God to be God, and what it means for us to be human. We love like this because God is like this.

If we keep it all to ourselves, it is not love. When we put love into action it becomes genuine. It rejoices and is patient, it looks out for the needs of others, it welcomes the stranger. It hopes, it prays, it rejoices with those who rejoice, and weeps with those who weep. It does not repay evil with evil, it lives in peace with all, it gives food and drink to those who are hungry and thirsty, without discrimination, and it overcomes evil with good.

And that is love that lasts far longer than the summer of love. That is love, like Moses experiences it, that is love that is never quenched, love that never burns out.

‘O seed of Abraham his servant, O children of Jacob his chosen’ (Psalm 105: 6) … ‘Ibrahim/Abraham/Avraham’ by Stephen Raw in the ‘Holy Writ’ exhibition in Lichfield Cathedral in 2014, bringing together the traditions of the Abrahamic faiths (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Psalm 105: 1-6, 23-26, 45c:

We read from portions of Psalm 105 just a few weeks ago (Psalm 105: 1-11, 45b, 26 July 2020, the Seventh Sunday after Trinity).

Psalm 105 was probably written for a major festival, and verses 1-15 are largely reproduced in I Chronicles 16: 8-22.

In Jewish tradition, this Psalm is recited on the first day of Passover, verses 8-10 are part of the prayers recited at the naming of a boy at his brit milah or circumcision, and verses 8-42 are repeated in the Amidah or principal prayer on New Year’s Day, Rosh Hashanah.

Psalm 105 recalls the events in Israel’s history, from Abraham to the entry into the Promised Land, that show God’s fidelity to his covenant, culminating in the giving of the Law.

Verses 1-6 invite the people to worship and to recognise God’s deeds with joy and gratitude. God is to be praised for his judgments and for his wonderful works.

God’s judgments are for all people. He first promised the land to Abraham, confirmed it to Isaac and to Jacob, and made it part of an everlasting covenant.

The second portion of this psalm, verses 23-26, recalls God's delivery of the people from slavery in Egypt: Ham (verse 23) is a poetic name for Egypt. Although Pharaoh and the Egyptians hated the people and reduced them to slavery, they were led to freedom by Moses and Aaron.

Originally the psalm began as it ends, with the words ‘Alleluia!’ or ‘Praise the Lord.’

‘May you be blessed by the Lord who made heaven and earth’ (Psalm 115: 15) … Arnaldo Pomodoro's sculpture ‘Sphere within Sphere’ at the Berkeley Library in Trinity College Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Psalm 115:

Psalm 115 is warning of the impotence of idols and a reminder the greatness of God.

Other nations worship impersonal objects or forces in a way that eventually dehumanises a culture and those who are part of it, ending with the sacrifice of human lives on the altar of high, yet imperfect, ideals. Idolatry is the worship of the part instead of the whole, one aspect of the universe in place of the Creator of all who transcends all.

We are to trust in the Lord God alone, who helps and defends us, who blesses all who fear him, ‘both small and great.’

But we do not own the earth; we hold it in trust from God, and there are terms and conditions attached to that trust: we must respect the earth’s integrity and the dignity of the human person, honouring God’s laws.

‘Love being awake’ … ‘Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour’ (Romans 10: 9-10) … a sign in a café in Charleville, Co Cork (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Romans 12: 9-21:

There are different kinds of love. But, sometimes, we are afraid to, we are threatened by, exploring what we mean by love.

Perhaps we feel too embarrassed to explore what we mean by love because, in some Victorian way, we think this involves private emotions and feelings that should not be discussed in public or in polite company.

Perhaps we return to teenage feelings of blushing and being unable to find appropriate mature language to discuss what love truly means beyond our own emotions.

Perhaps because of past experiences, we can confuse attention with affection, affection with love, and so go on doing things to gain attention so that this compensates for a lack of affection and for not being fulfilled in our needs to be loved.

Few of us grow up being taught how to think about love and what it is, in its broader, theological, spiritual and psychological meanings.

What does the Apostle Paul mean by love in this New Testament reading?

On the one hand, Saint Paul’s idea of love means something very different from Saint Peter’s love of our own that turns to hatred of the other. And, on the other hand, his idea of love means something very different from a love-in in San Francisco the Summer of Love.

In his book The Four Loves (1960), CS Lewis identifies the four loves as: affection (στοργή, storge), which he calls the humblest love and which is unmerited; friendship (φιλία, philia); eros (ἔρως); and caritas or agape (ἀγάπη).

In this reading, Saint Paul draws on three of these words, so that he talks about love in all its fullness. He talks about ἀγάπη (agape, Romans 12: 9), and the need for it be genuine, without duplicity. He refers to the word στοργή, unearned or unmerited love, when he talks about φιλόστοργος (philostorgos, verse 10), honouring one another and loving without counting the cost. He talks about φιλαδελφία (philadelphía), mutual love for one another that is so much more than the affection described in the English translation and so much wider in scope than ‘brotherly love’ which is often used instead (verses 10 and 12).

He gives a balanced and considered approach to what love is. And yet there is not one word in it about marriage, sex or gender.

Rather than offering mere words that label love, Saint Paul provides practical examples of how love is expressed, how it is not just a feeling but is only genuine when it is put into action.

He tells me that love is mutual, shows honour, is the best way to serve God. I must rejoice, be patient, pray for others, give to others, welcome strangers, bless those I see as threats and as enemies and never to curse them.

I am to rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. I am not to be a social or an intellectual snob.

I am to live in peace with all, and let God take care, in God’s own way, of those who do me wrong. I am to feed the hungry, give something to drink to those who thirst, I am to respond to evil with good.

What a different Church we would have today if these were our priorities when it comes to mission.

‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me’ (Matthew 16: 24) … Station 5 in the Chapel at Saint John’s Hospital, Lichfield, Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the Cross (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 16: 21-28:

Christ has been teaching the disciples about their mission and how to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God. Now, as he prepares them to go up to Jerusalem, his emphasis shifts to teaching them that he must suffer, die and be raised from the dead on the third day.

The Apostle Peter has already grasped in the previous Sunday’s reading that Christ is ‘the Messiah, the Son of the living God’ (verse 16, see Matthew 16: 13-20, 23 August 2020). Now, however, he fails to grasp or refuses to accept the concept of the Messiah suffering and dying, rather than leading them to freedom glory.

There is a harsh, terse response from Christ: ‘Get behind me Satan! You are a stumbling-block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’

Peter who is a rock becomes a stumbling block, literally a scandal (σκᾰ́νδᾰλον, skandalon; see Leviticus 19: 14); Peter who has attempted to walk on water does not grasp what it means to walk with Christ on the road to Jerusalem; Peter who is to receive the keys of the kingdom fails to grasp the key to understanding Christ’s Messiahship; later, Peter who is present at the Transfiguration, is also going to deny Christ three times at his passion.

Christ then talks to the disciples about the cost of discipleship. To be his followers, we must be willing to take up the same cross, we must be willing to devote our whole lives to God, denying ourselves, giving up physical comforts and safety, accepting even death if necessary.

Jesus then asks a rhetorical question. Nothing that we can gain can add to the value of our future with God.

There will be a time of reckoning, when Christ comes in glory at the end of time, on the Day of Judgment, when Christ comes, ushering in his kingdom.

‘Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem’ (Matthew 16: 21) … an artist’s view of multi-faith Jerusalem in a restaurant in Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 16: 21-28 (NRSVA):

21 From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.’ 23 But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling-block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’

24 Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?

27 ‘For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. 28 Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.’

The Apostle Peter and the Apostle Paul holding the church in unity … an early 18th century icon in the Museum of Christian Art in Iraklion, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

Liturgical Resources:

Liturgical Colour: Green (Orinary Time, Year A).

The Collect of the Day:

Almighty and everlasting God,
you are always more ready to hear than we to pray
and to give more than either we desire, or deserve:
Pour down upon us the abundance of your mercy,
forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid,
and giving us those good things
which we are not worthy to ask
save through the merits and mediation
of Jesus Christ your Son our Lord.

The Collect of the Word:

O God,
whose Son has shown the way of the cross to be the way of life:
transform and renew our minds
that we may not be conformed to this world
but may offer ourselves wholly to you
as a living sacrifice
through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

God of compassion,
in this eucharist we know again your forgiveness
and the healing power of your love.
Grant that we who are made whole in Christ
may bring that forgiveness and healing to this broken world,
in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

‘Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour’ (Romans 10: 9-10) … a sign in a shop in Skerries, Co Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Suggested Hymns:

Exodus 3: 1-15:

325, Be still, for the presence of the Lord, the Holy One is here
262, Come, ye faithful, raise the strain
331, God reveals his presence
321, Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty
336, Jesus, where’er thy people meet
323, The God of Abraham praise
679, When Israel was in Egypt’s land

Psalm 105: 1-6, 23-26, 45c:

321, Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty
679, When Israel was in Egypt’s land

Psalm 115:

668, God is our fortress and our rock

Jeremiah 15: 15-21:

384, Lord, thy word abideth

Psalm 26: 1-8:

343, We love the place, O God

Romans 12: 9-21:

517, Brother, sister, let me serve you
219, From heav’n you came, helpless babe
455, Go forth for God; go forth to the world in peace
520, God is love; and where true love is, God himself is there
312, Gracious Spirit, Holy Ghost
523, Help us to help each other, Lord
300, Holy Spirit, truth divine
525, Let there be love shared among us
57, Lord, for tomorrow and its needs
503, Make me a channel of your peace
507, Put peace into each other’s hands
531, Where love and loving–kindness dwell

Matthew 16: 21-28:

666, Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side
561, Beneath the cross of Jesus
645, Father, hear the prayer we offer
588, Light of the minds that know him
59, New every morning is the love
108, Praise to the Holiest in the height
599, ‘Take up thy cross’, the Saviour said
285, The head that once was crowned with thorns
605, Will you come and follow me

Moses slays the Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave (see Exodus 2: 11-15) … an illustration in Arthur Szyk’s ‘Haggadah’

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

The hymns suggestions are provided in Sing to the Word (2000), edited by Bishop Edward Darling. The hymn numbers refer to the Church of Ireland’s Church Hymnal (5th edition, Oxford: OUP, 2000)

Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.

‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me’ (Matthew 16: 24) … Christ is given his cross, a fresco in Analipsi Church in Georgioupoli, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Readings, hymns and sermon ideas for Sunday 23 August 2020, Eleventh Sunday after Trinity

Saint Peter receiving the keys … a stained-glass window in Truro Cathedral, Cornwall (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Patrick Comerford

Sunday next, 23 August 2020, is the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XI).

The readings in the Revised Common Lectionary, as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland, are in two pairs, the continuous readings and the paired readings.

Continuous Readings: Exodus 1: 8 to 2: 10; Psalm 124; Romans 12: 1-8; Matthew 16: 13-20.

There is a link to the Continuous Readings HERE

Paired readings: Isaiah 51: 1–6; Psalm 138; Romans 12: 1-8; Matthew 16: 13-20.

There is a link to the Paired Readings HERE

‘On this rock I will build my church’ (Matthew 16: 18) … the monastery of Simonopetra, built on a rocky clifftop on Mount Athos (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Introducing the Readings:

What’s in a name?

So often, a new name marks a new beginning in life or in ministry.

Think of how Saul becomes Paul, Abram and Sarai become Abraham and Sarah, Jacob becomes Israel. In the creation stories, Adam names all the created living things (Genesis 2: 20). Samuel’s ministry begins when God calls him by name. In some church traditions, people often took a new or additional name at Confirmation or on joining a monastic community.

In the first reading, the name given to Moses is a hint that we are about to read a dramatic story of people being drawn out of misery and oppression into liberation and participation in God’s promises. In the reading on the following Sunday, Moses asks God his name, and is told, ‘I am who I am’ (verse 14), ‘I am’ (Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν).

In the Gospel reading, Simon becomes Peter, and a symbol of the rock or foundation of faith on which the Church is built.

As Saint Paul reminds his readers in the New Testament reading, we are being called to be ‘holy acceptable to God.’

Whenever I hear the Leonard Cohen song ‘Love calls you by your name,’ I am reminded of how the Prophet Isaiah quotes God addressing the people as both Jacob and Israel and then says: ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine?’ (Isaiah 43: 1)

Is God calling you by name?

The Baby Moses … an illustration in the ‘Passover Haggadah’ by the Polish-American artist Arthur Szyk

Exodus 1: 8 to 2: 10:

We have spent some weeks reading through the stories in Genesis of the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel), and, in recent weeks, the story of Joseph and how the people went down to Egypt.

We now turn to Exodus, in the time after Joseph has died (Exodus 1: 6). The people of Israel have multiplied, as God promised Abraham. Pharaoh stirs hope hatred against the descendants of these immigrants, and forces them slave labour, using them to build ‘supply cities’ (store houses) and as forced labour.

Despite all this, the people of Israel ‘multiplied and spread’ (1: 12). The Pharaoh then orders the Hebrew midwives to kill male new-borns. But the midwives are in awe of God, or feared God (1: 17) and explain their inability to obey these strictures, claiming the Hebrew women are so ‘vigorous’ (verse 19) that they give birth before the midwives arrive.

The people continue to grow in numbers, and Pharaoh next orders ‘all his people’ (1: 22) to throw all Hebrew boys into the Nile.

The story of Moses then begins in Exodus 2: 1, where he is born to parents who are both of the tribe of Levi. His mother sees he is ‘a fine baby,’ and hides him for three months. But when she can no longer hide him, she makes a basket, places him in the reeds in the river.

The Hebrew word translated ‘basket’ (2: 3) literally means ‘little ark.’ This looks back to the story of Noah and the salvation of all life through the ark; but it is telling us that in saving Noah, God saves the Children of Israel, foretelling of God’s presence with the Ark. The basket, made like a miniature Nile boat, is placed ‘among the reeds,’ foreshadowing the crossing of the Sea of Reeds or Red Sea.

The baby is found in the basket in the Nile by Pharaoh’s daughter while she is bathing in the river. She sees the baby is a Hebrew boy, but still she saves his life. Moses’ mother becomes the child’s nurse, and as he grows up Pharaoh’s daughter adopts him as her own son and names him Moses, ‘because I drew him up out of the water.’

How does Pharaoh’s daughter know that Moses is ‘one of the Hebrew children’ (verse 6)? We are not told that Moses was circumcised, but we are told that his mother ‘saw that he was a fine baby’ (verse 2). What did she see? One traditional rabbinical interpretation says that she saw that he was circumcised and knew that there was greatness in store for him. It was said that being born circumcised was an sign of other-worldly perfection that characterised someone who would speak face to face with God.

The Midrash lists Moses among seven special people who were born circumcised: Adam, Seth, Noah, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and Job (Midrash Tanchuma Noach 5). Another Midrashic source provides a longer list: Adam, Seth, Noah, Shem, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Balaam, Samuel, David, Jeremiah, Zerubabel and Job.

We do not learn the name of his father Amram and his mother Jochebed until later (see Exodus 6: 20). Pharaoh’s daughter gives him the name Moshe to the infant thor Moses because she ‘drew from the water.’ The Hebrew word for ‘drew him (mishitihu) sounds like the word ‘Moshe.’ How did Pharaoh’s daughter give the child a Hebrew name? Did she speak Hebrew?

Rabbinical tradition gives Moses no less than ten names: Yered, Avigdor, Chever, Avi Socho, Yekutiel, Avi Zanoach, Toviah, Shemayah ben Nethanel, Ben Evyatar and Levi. But throughout the Bible he is referred to only as Moshe or Moses.

In Egyptian, Mose also means ‘son of,’ and it was often part of a name, as in Tut-mose, ‘son of Tut.’ So, Moses is to be brought up as an Egyptian prince.

‘Then would the waters have overwhelmed us and the torrent gone over our soul; over our soul would have swept the raging waters’ (Psalm 124: 4) … an illustration in the ‘Passover Haggadah’ by the Polish-American artist Arthur Szyk

Psalm 124:

Psalm 124 is a psalm of thanksgiving, using – as so often in the Psalms – a rapid succession of different images.

The people have been in danger of being swallowed up or swept away, as in a flood, a prey to the enemy’s teeth, captured in a hunter’s trap.

The images do not coalesce into one single metaphor. Rather, they combine to express a mood – in this case, the sense of sudden release from danger.

‘Do not be conformed to this world’ (Romans 12: 2) … a globe sculpture on the Quays in New Ross, Co Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Romans 12: 1-8:

In this reading, the Apostle Paul reminds us that before God, in our worship and obedient discipleship, we are like a living sacrifice that is ‘holy and acceptable’ to God and perfect.

Saint Paul insists that we must now think of ourselves as better than anyone else, or think of others as the world thinks of them. All of us are members of the body of Christ, and each of us has particular gifts. Together we are ‘one body in Christ’ and each is dependent on every other.

For the benefit of the community, God gives us different gifts. They include ‘prophecy’ or inspired preaching, ‘ministry’ or serving the material needs of others, teaching, encouraging others in the faith, giving and generosity, diligent leadership, being compassionate, and being cheerful.

Do we recognise the gifts of others? Do we affirm them and encourage them to use those gifts within the church and within the community?

Do we recognise our own gifts, and accept and use them in humility and with gratitude and cheerfulness?

Saint Peter depicted in a stained-glass window in the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Athlone (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 16: 13-20:

This Gospel reading includes Christ’s words to the Apostle Peter: ‘I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church …’ (Matthew 16: 18, NRSVA). The debates about the interpretation of this one phrase and the following words have not only divided Christians in the past but have stopped us from discussing the full implications of a very rich passage, full of many meanings.

This Gospel reading is set in the district of Caesarea Philippi, then a new Hellenistic city west of Mount Hermon, on the slopes of what are known today as the Golan Heights. The city was built on the site of Paneas, which was known for its shrine to the god Pan.

Herod the Great built a temple of white marble there in honour of Caesar in 20 BCE. Herod’s son Philip inherited the site 18 years later and named it Caesarea Philippi, honour Caesar as a living god and himself.

The cave at Caesarea Philippi was seen as a gate to the underworld, where fertility gods lived during the winter. The rock was filled with niches for these idols, and the water of the cave were seen as a symbol of the underworld through which the gods travelled from the world of death to the world of life.

Christ is alone with the disciples at Caesarea Philippi when he asks them who do people say that he is. Herod thinks that he is ‘John the Baptist’ (verse 14), although John had already been beheaded. Elijah was expected to return at the end of time. Jeremiah foretold rejection and suffering.

But Christ who does Herod say he is, or who do other people say he is, are less important questions than who do the disciples say he is. Is he a prophet, a spokesman for God, a harbinger of suffering and rejection? Or, is he something more than all these?

Simon Peter offers an insight and answer of his own: ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God’ (verse 16).

Christ acknowledges this vital insight. Peter is blessed (μακάριος makários), as people in the Beatitudes are singled out as being blessed (see Matthew 5: 3-11). This is an insight that comes not from human knowledge but through revelation from God the Father (verse 17).

Then, in word play, Christ tells Simon Peter he is Petros, his nickname Peter, and on this petra, rock, are the foundations of the Church (ἐκκλησία, ekklesía), the assembly in which all are equal.

In the past, Protestant theologians have put forward strained arguments about the meaning of the rock and the rock of faith in this Gospel passage. Some have tried to argue that the word used for Peter, Πητρος (petros), is the Greek for a small pebble, but that faith is described with a different Greek word, πητρα (petra), meaning a giant rock.

They were silly arguments. The distinction between these words existed in Attic Greek in the classical days, but not in the Greek spoken at the time of Christ or at the time Saint Matthew was writing his Gospel. Πητρος (Petros) was the male name derived from a rock, while πητρα (petra) was a rock, a massive rock like Petra in Jordan.

Other words related to these concepts include the word λιθος (lithos), used for a small rock, a stone, or even a pebble – it is the Greek word that gives us words like lithograph and megalithic, meaning Great Stone Age – and πάγος (pagos), which in Ancient Greek, means ‘big piece of rock.’

In classical Athens, the ekklesía (ἐκκλησία) was the assembly of the citizens in the democratic city-state in classical Athens. The Athens met as equals twice a year at the Theatre of Dionysus, on the southern slopes of the Acropolis. The Septuagint uses this word ekklesía for the Hebrew qahal or congregation (see Deuteronomy 4: 10, 9: 10, 18: 16, 31: 30; II Samuel 7; I Chronicles 17). Matthew is the only one of the four gospels to use this term.

Hades (ᾍδης or Ἅιδης) was the Greek god of the dead and his name had become synonymous with the underworld or the place of the dead. Death shall not destroy the Church, whether we see this as the death of Christ, the death of Peter and the other disciples, or our own, individual death.

Christ gives Peter the keys, the ability to unlock the mysteries of the Kingdom, or the symbol of authority in the Church. To ‘bind’ and ‘loose’ are rabbinical terms for forbidding and permitting in a juridical sense. They were used the previous week in the story of the Canaanite or Syro-Phoenician woman in the district of Tyre and Sidon (Matthew 15: 21-28).

The reading concludes with Christ sternly ordering the disciples not to tell anyone that he is the Messiah.

The Hill of the Areopagos and the Agora of Athens seen from the Acropolis (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

Reading the Gospel reading:

There are only two places in all the four Gospels where Christ uses the word for the Church that is found in this Gospel reading, the word εκκλησία (ekklesia): the first use of this word is in this reading (Matthew 16: 18), when Christ relates the Church to a confession of faith by the Apostle Peter, the rock-solid foundational faith of Saint Peter.

His second use of this word is not once but twice in one verse two weeks later [6 September 2020], in Matthew 18: 17. It is a peculiar word for Christ to use, and yet he only speaks of the Church in these terms on these two occasions.

In total, the word εκκλησία appears 114 times in the New Testament (four verses in the Acts of the Apostles, 58 times by Saint Pauline in his epistles, twice in the Letter to the Hebrews, once in the Epistle of James, three times in III John, and in 19 verses in the Book of Revelation). But Christ only uses the word twice, in these incidents in Saint Matthew’s Gospel.

The ekklesia (ἐκκλησία), the assembly of the citizens in the democratic city-state in classical Athens, met twice a year at the Theater of Dionysus, on the southern slopes of the Acropolis. The Acropolis is the highest point in Athens. It stands on an extremely rocky outcrop and on it the ancient Greeks built several significant buildings. The most famous of these is the Parthenon. This flat-topped rock rises 150 metres (490 ft) above sea level and has a surface area of about 3 hectares (7.4 acres).

Immediately north-west of the Acropolis is the Areopagus, another prominent, but relatively smaller, rocky outcrop. In classical Athens, this functioned as the court for trying deliberate homicide. It was said Ares (Mars) was put on trial here for deicide, the murder of the son of the god Poseidon. In the play The Eumenides (458 BC) by Aeschylus, the Areopagus is the site of the trial of Orestes for killing his mother.

Later, murderers would seek shelter here in the hope of a fair hearing. Here too the Athenians had an altar to the unknown god, and it was here the Apostle Paul delivered his most famous speech and sermon, in which he identified the ‘unknown god’ with ‘the God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth’ (Acts 17: 24), for ‘In him we live and move and have our being’ (verse 28).

This is the most dramatic and fullest reported sermon or speech by the Apostle Paul. He quotes the Greek philosopher Epimenides, and he must have known that the location of his speech had important cultural contexts, including associations with justice, deicide and the hidden God.

The origin of the name of the Areopagus is found in the ancient Greek, πάγος ( pagos), meaning a ‘big piece of rock.’

Another word, λιθος (lithos) was used for a small rock, a stone, or even a pebble – it is the Greek word that gives us words like lithograph and megalithic, meaning Great Stone Age.

When you see breathtaking sights like these, you understand how culturally relevant it was for Christ to talk about the wise man building his house on a rock rather than on sand (Matthew 7: 24-26) – a Gospel reading we have missed this year in the Lectionary readings that take us through Saint Matthew’s Gospel Sunday-by-Sunday.

Ordinary domestic buildings might have been built to last a generation or two, at most. But building on rock, building into rock, building into massive rock formations like the Acropolis, was laying the foundations for major works of cultural, political and religious significance that would last long after those who had built them had been forgotten.

And so, when Christ says to Peter in this Gospel reading that the Church is going to be built on a rock, he is talking about the foundations for a movement, an institution, an organisation, a community that is going to have lasting, everlasting significance.

In the past, Christians have got tied up in knots in silly arguments about this Gospel story. Some of us shy away from dealing with this story, knowing that in the past it was used to bolster not so much the claims of the Papacy, but all the packages that goes with those claims. In other words, it was argued by some in the past that the meaning of this passage was explicit: if you accepted this narrow meaning, you accepted the Papacy; if you accepted the Papacy, then you also accepted Papal infallibility, Papal claims to universal jurisdiction, and Papal teachings on celibacy, birth control, the immaculate conception and the assumption of the Virgin Mary.

And that is more than just a leap and a jump from what is being taught in our Gospel reading this morning. But to counter those great leaps of logic, Protestant theologians in the past put forward contorted arguments about the meaning of the rock and the rock of faith in this passage. Some have tried to argue that the word used for Peter, Πητρος (Petros), is the word for a small pebble, but that faith is described with a different word, πητρα (petra), meaning a giant rock, the sort of rock on which the Greeks built the Acropolis or carved out the Areopagus.

But they were silly arguments. The distinction between these words existed in Attic Greek in the classical days, but not in the Greek spoken at the time of Christ or at the time Saint Matthew was writing his Gospel. Πητρος (Petros) was the male name derived from a rock, πητρα (petra) was a rock, a massive rock like Petra in Jordan or the rocks of the Acropolis or the Areopagus, and the word lithos (λιθος) was used for a small rock, a stone, or even a pebble.

And Saint Peter is a rock, his faith is a rock, a rock that is solid enough to provide the foundations for Christ’s great work that is the Church.

How could Saint Peter or his faith be so great? This is the same Peter who in the previous Sunday’s Gospel reading (Matthew 15: 21-28; 16 August 2020) wanted Christ to send away the desperate Canaanite woman because ‘she keeps shouting at us.’

This is the same Peter who two weeks before (Matthew 14: 22-33; 9 August 2020), tries to walk on water and almost drowns, and Christ said to the same Peter: ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’ (verse 31).

This is the same Peter who, in the week before that (Matthew 14: 13-21, 2 August 2020), was among the disciples who wanted to send away the crowd and let them buy food for themselves (verse 15).

This is the same Peter who seems to get it wrong constantly. Later in this Gospel, he denies Christ three times at the Crucifixion (Matthew 26: 75, 6 April 2020). After the Resurrection, Christ has to put the question three times to Peter before Peter confesses that Christ knows everything, and Christ then calls him with the words: ‘Follow me’ (John 21: 15-19).

Saint Peter is so like me. He trips and stumbles constantly. He often gets it wrong, even later on in life. He gives the wrong answers, he comes up with silly ideas, he easily stumbles on the pebbles and stones that are strewn across the pathway of life.

But eventually, it is not his own judgment, his own failing judgment that marks him out as someone special. No. It is his faith, his rock solid faith.

Despite all his human failings, despite his often-tactless behaviour, despite all his weaknesses, he is able to say who Christ is for him. He has a simple but rock-solid faith, summarised in that simple, direct statement: ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God’ (verse 16).

How do you see Christ? Who is Christ for you? … a damaged Byzantine fresco in the Museum of Christian Art in Iraklion, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

Reflecting on the Gospel reading:

Who do you say Christ is?

Who is Christ for you?

I spend much of my time off in Lichfield, where I once worked and where I had a profoundly life-changing spiritual experience when I was in my late teens. George Fox, the founding Quaker, once walked barefoot through the streets of Lichfield. He also challenged his contemporaries with these words: ‘You may say Christ saith this, and the apostles say this, but what canst thou say? Art thou a child of the Light and hast thou walked in the Light, and what thou speakest, is it inwardly from God?’

Who is Christ for you?

Is he a personal saviour?

One who comforts you?

Or is he more than that for you?

Who do you say Christ is?

It is a question that challenges Saint Peter in this Gospel reading. Not who do others say he is … but who do you say Christ is?

Peter’s faith is a faith that proves to be so rock-solid that you could say it is blessed, it is foundational. Not gritty, pebbly, pain-on-the-foot sort of faith. But the foundational faith on which you could build a house, carve out a temple or monastery, or a place to seek justice and sanctuary, rock-solid faith that provides the foundation for the Church.

There are other people in the Bible and in Jewish tradition who are commended for their rock-solid faith, including Abraham and Sarah (see Isaiah 51: 1f).

It is the sort of faith that will bring people into the Church, and even the most cunning, ambitious, evil schemes, even death itself, will not be able to destroy this sort of faith (verse 18).

Throughout the Bible, as people set out on great journeys of faith, their new beginning in faith is marked by God giving them a new name: Abram becomes Abraham, Jacob becomes Israel, Saul becomes Paul, and Simon son of Jonah is blessed with a new name too as he becomes Cephas or Peter, the rock-solid, reliable guy, whose faith becomes a role model for the new community of faith, for each and every one of us.

Why would Christ pick me or you? Well, why would he pick a simple fisherman from a small provincial town?

It is not how others see us that matters. It is our faith and commitment to Christ that matters. God always sees us as he made us, in God’s own image and likeness, and loves us like that.

The faith that the Church must look to as its foundation, the faith that we must depend on, that we must live by, is not some self-determined, whimsical decision, but the faith that the Apostles had in the Christ who calls them, that rock-solid, spirit-filled faith in Christ, of which Saint Peter’s confession this morning is the most direct yet sublime and solid example.

Apostolic faith like Saint Peter’s is the foundation stone on which the Church is built, the foundation stone of the new Jerusalem, with Christ as the cornerstone (Ephesians 2: 20; Revelation 21: 14).

It does not matter that Saint Peter was capable of some dreadful gaffes and misjudgements. I am like that too … constantly.

But Christ calls us in our weaknesses. And in our weaknesses, he finds our strengths. So that, as the Apostle Paul reminds us in the Epistle reading, the Church is then built up by the gifts that each one of us has to offer, ‘each according to the measure of faith that Christ has assigned’ (Romans 12: 3).

Our weaknesses can be turned to strengths if we accept the unique gifts each of us has been given by God and joyfully use them, lovingly use them, in God’s service, for building up his kingdom.

Let us not be afraid of our weaknesses. Let us not be afraid of the mistakes we inevitably make. But let us accept the gifts God has given us. Let us use those to build up our faith, to build up the Church, and to serve Christ and the world.

Saint Peter (left) and Saint Flannan of KIllaloe on the reredos in the Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Ennis, Co Clare (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Matthew 16: 13-20 (NRSVA):

13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ 14 And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ 15 He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ 16 Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ 17 And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19 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.’ 20 Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

‘On this rock I will build my church’ (Matthew 16: 18) … a monastery built on a rock top in Meteora, Greece (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Liturgical Resources:

Liturgical Colour: Green (Year A, Ordinary Time)

The Collect of the Day:

O God,
you declare your almighty power
most chiefly in showing mercy and pity:
Mercifully grant to us such a measure of your grace,
that we, running the way of your commandments,
may receive your gracious promises,
and be made partakers of your heavenly treasure;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Collect of the Word:

O God,
fountain of all wisdom,
in the humble witness of the apostle Peter
you have shown the foundation of our faith:
give us the light of your Spirit,
that, recognising in Jesus of Nazareth the Son of the living God,
we may be living stones
for the building up of your holy Church;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Lord of all mercy,
we your faithful people have celebrated
the memorial of that single sacrifice
which takes away our sins and brings pardon and peace.
By our communion
keep us firm on the foundation of the gospel
and preserve us from all sin;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

‘On this rock I will build my church’ (Matthew 16: 18) … the cathedral ruins on top of the Rock of Cashel, Co Tipperary (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Suggested Hymns:

Exodus 1: 8 to 2: 10:

13, God moves in a mysterious way
679, When Israel was in Egypt’s land

Psalm 124:

642, Amazing grace (how sweet the sound!)
553, Jesu, lover of my soul
537, O God, our help in ages past

Isaiah 51: 1-6:

512, From you all skill and science flow
481, God is working his purpose out, as year succeeds to year
102, Name of all majesty
136, On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry
545, Sing of Eve and sing of Adam

Psalm 138:

250, All hail the power of Jesu’s name
358, King of glory, King of peace
21, The Lord’s my shepherd, I’ll not want

Romans 12: 1-8:

517, Brother, sister, let me serve you
408, Come, risen Lord, and deign to be our guest
567, Forth in thy name, O Lord, I go
520, God is love, and where true love is, God himself is there
523, Help us to help each other, Lord
358, King of glory, King of peace
301, Let every Christian pray
438, O thou who at thy eucharist didst pray
639, O thou who camest from above
597, Take my life and let it be
313, The Spirit came, as promised
247, When I survey the wondrous cross
531, Where love and loving–kindness dwell

Matthew 16: 13-20:

460, For all your saints in glory, for all your saints at rest (verses 1, 2j, 3)
668, God is our fortress and our rock
659, Onward, Christian soldiers
528, The Church’s one foundation

Christ with Saint Peter and the Apostles at Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

The hymns suggestions are provided in Sing to the Word (2000), edited by Bishop Edward Darling. The hymn numbers refer to the Church of Ireland’s Church Hymnal (5th edition, Oxford: OUP, 2000)

Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.

Saint Peter’s Cathedral in Peterborough (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)