The Rock

Today in church, the Gospel was Jesus asking his Disciples, "Who do men say that I am?" The next question was, "Who do YOU say that I am?" The Gospel went on to Simon stating, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!" Jesus renames Simon, gives him the name Peter (meaning "rock") and states, "On this rock will I build my Church."

Peter, at this point, becomes the head of the Church and, in the Catholic tradition, the first Pope. He, indeed, was a rock that formed the cornerstone of the Church.

Our Pastor talked about the difference between what people say about you and what people who actually know you think about you. He illustrated his point by talking about his new neighborhood. His family has recently built a new home and moved. He said that a young man visited their home and told them that everybody knows who they are - word spread very quickly through the neighborhood that the new family was the preacher from St. Bartholomew's Episcopal church. But, while this young man espoused to know them, they did not know him. How well can someone know you when you don't know them? Lots of people knew ABOUT Jesus, many less really KNEW HIM.

Do we know about him or do we know Him? Our challenge is to draw closer and closer to Him until we can truly say that we know Him personally.

I read a wonderful quote today on someone else's blog. The quote was from St. Francis and says, "Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary, use words."

I think that's the whole point of our Pastor's sermon. We need to be so close to our Lord that we reflect His love without ever speaking.

Our Pastor went on to explain that while our Father chose to build His Church on Peter, each of us are a part of the rock. It is our responsibility to help build the Church, not leave it to others to do. Each of us were handed out a small rock to help us remember our part in the job of building.

It's impossible to build something without having something to add. If you're needy, instead of adding to the rock, you just take from it. This process of adding must first mean that each of us are strong enough to be able to give back more than we take. To reach a level of strength where we have something to offer to the Church, we must draw nearer to Christ. Here we are again.

It seems that the solution to both of these tasks is to continue to draw nearer to Our Lord - if we want to be able to tell others, through actions or words, who He is, we must first know Him. If we want to help build The Church, as we've been asked, we must first know Him.

I'll keep my rock. I hope it will help me remember how important it is to my life and those I love that I continue to draw ever nearer to my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.