Most our homes have a stash of pictures that catalog important events in the lives of our families. Some might have these pictures in photo albums or maybe they’re stashed in shoeboxes. Chances are that many of these pictures were taken using a Kodak camera and film. If we look on the back of these pictures, chances are that we’ll find words that say something like: “Genuine Kodak photo paper.”
Do you know what happened this past week? The news media carried a story that promises to make all our old snap shots a piece of bygone history. Kodak announced that it would stop making and selling traditional film cameras in the US, Western Europe and Australia. Why? - Because sales of digital cameras have overtaken sales of the old trusty film cameras. We are in the process of watching an era pass us by.
Who would have ever thought that Kodak would stop making film cameras? They were the premier choice for the amateur just wanting to save memories on picture. Kodak’s slogan used to be: “You just push the button – we’ll do the rest.”
This piece of news fascinated me, so I read as many stories as I could this week. One that caught my attention was about a man from Australia named Ian Bock. He remembers his first camera well. It was given to him in 1947, on his 14th birthday. Here started a life-long passion for him. He says, “I’ve still got the first photographs I took.” – Pictures of landscapes and seaside holiday snaps from another era. Mr. Bock, now 70, admitted to feeling a tinge of sadness at the news that Kodak had bowed to the digital revolution.
Eras pass. Things change. So, on what can we depend? A business news reporter told the TV audience this week that as a young boy he loved a particular type of cookie. Even as an adult, he relished that particular cookie type. Whenever he was in a store, he’d pick up a package or two to bring home and enjoy. But he can’t get them anymore. The company that sold them just stopped making them. The reporter wondered aloud during the personal story segment of his program why companies would do that.
One hot day, about 38 years ago, I walked into the house to get a glass of water. My intention was to quickly return to the basketball game I’d been playing with my friends – but the telephone rang. And so I picked up the phone. On the other end was my mother. She said to me, “Listen, I’m not going back to the house. I want you and your brother and sister to come with me.” I asked, “Is dad going too?” She said, “No.” I said, “Mom, I want dad to go too.” She said, “If you don’t come with me today, you will never see me again.” At that moment I felt like my whole world was turning upside down – like I was on a little raft being bounced up and down on a wild ocean. It simply had never occurred to me that mom and dad would one day not be there.
What can you hang your hat on? On what can you depend? It is important for us to know that we can truly and absolutely rely on someone or something. We need to know that there are things that we can count on. But we find our most important relationships fail us; Kodak up and quits on us; even the cookie makers quit us. On whom can we depend?
Many, many people are drifting. What used to be unquestioned truth – solid, reliable - simply is not to many, many people. Chuck Colson writes:
“There was a time when most Americans respected the Bible, and you could quote it with authority. In 1963, according to Gallup, 65% believed the Bible literally; today the number is only 32%. There was a time when most Americans were familiar with biblical doctrine. You could say, ‘Believe in Jesus,’ and at least they knew what you meant. But today most would be mystified. Newsweek tells of a child who saw a crucifix and asked, ‘Mommy, what’s that man doing?’ There was a time when most Americans accepted absolute standards. They might disagree on what those absolutes were, but they knew that some things are really right or wrong. Today 70% reject moral absolutes.” (Chuck Colson, Christianity Today, November 9, 1992, p. 112. From SermonIllustrations.com)
But there is a message of peace and comfort that is a sure thing, beloved. If you are just plain tired of hoping against hope that you won’t be let down again, that your hopes won’t be dashed, then the message from today’s Gospel Lesson is for you. Let’s read it together: [read Gospel Lesson here]
In our reading, the Lord Jesus asks two questions, each of them is critical in the formation of our faith. The first question: “Who do people say that I am?” Jesus’ followers responded with several different names: John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah. Each of these was certainly an important personage in the Bible. But the reality is that Jesus will also let us down if He were just a reincarnation of one of these. If He were just a new version of Elijah or Jeremiah, we would still be in our sin. Our life would have little meaning, and heaven would be just a pipe dream.
Answering the question: “Who do people say that I am?” wrongly will harm faith. And many people answer the question wrongly. Some people today say that Jesus is just a prophet. Some say that Jesus is an ascended master. Some will say that Jesus was a great teacher of morality. Some think that Jesus is the founder of a religion. Again, if that is all that Jesus truly is – we are in for a heart break. Answering the question this way harms faith.
This is where Jesus’ second question and Peter’s answer comes in. The Lord asked: “Who do you say that I am?” Peter answers, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” To this answer, Jesus immediately replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” There is something in what Peter said to which Jesus responds. There is a point of ultimate importance - yea even a critical, life giving truth – that Jesus affirms.
Now let’s pause for a quick note here: Beloved, Jesus was not talking about Peter being the Rock. We know this because just a bit later Jesus has to sternly correct Peter telling him, “Get thee behind me satan.” And a bit later we find Peter falling prostrate in fear on the mount of transfiguration. And after that we find Peter denying that he even knows Jesus not once or twice but three times. So the Rock is obviously not Peter.
The Rock, beloved, is Peter’s confession. The Rock is faith that sees Jesus as the Christ – the Son of the Living God. The Rock is a confession which looks to the Cross and only to the Cross for forgiveness. The Rock is hope of eternal life based on the empty tomb Jesus left after his Resurrection. The Rock is living daily in the forgiveness that God gave to us in our Baptism. The Rock is trusting in God to keep us and strengthen us with the very Body and Blood of his Son. The Rock is Jesus. And upon it the Church is built. And the gates of hell will never – ever – ever prevail against it!
Jesus asked Peter, “Who do ‘you’ say that I am,” He made it personal. He cares about your answer too, beloved. By asking the question with the pronoun, ‘you,’ Jesus has set the believer off from the rest of humanity. He has called us to rest on the Rock. He has cast a line in our direction and placed us on the Rock. Our little raft need not be tossed about on our ocean of insecurities. He has called us into a relationship. We can rely on the Rock – it will outlast Kodak and cookies and all human relationships. It is a Rock which will forever stand and that will never let us down.
We celebrate Peter’s Confession today. Peter responded with the right answer to Jesus’ question, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” We lean on that very Rock today. Our Church stands on that very Rock. Our Church will stand because it rests on that Rock – not on this property – but on Jesus.
Share the news, brothers and sisters. Others need to know of this Rock – our Lord Jesus. Children of divorces need to rest in the Rock. People who have no one that loves them need the Rock. Those walking under a burden of guilt and sin need the Rock. Beloved, let them know about Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the Living God – the Living Rock.
The gates of Hell will never prevail against the Rock upon which our hopes rest. Amen.
