Grace to you and Peace….

I’m sure I might find many of you who would agree with me that this has been quite a week.  First, there are the Olympics, then the developments in national politics, and also the crisis in international relations with Russia and Georgia, and the rest of the world.  One has to hope and pray that we have the statesmanship or states(woman)ship to resolve the issues in the Caspian Sea area so that things don’t escalate into a major worldwide confrontation.  I would also guess that many of us spend considerable time watching the developments of the major political parties in our country as they move toward political conventions.  Lastly, it is the incredible show of the athletes in the Olympic games that also has had our attention.   The eight gold medals that young Phelps acquired and the teamwork that helped make it happen for him.  His attitude has been very refreshing as well as listening to his supportive mother and sisters. The speed of the Jamaican sprinter and the skill of the Chinese and American  women gymnasts are wonders to watch.  

These games and national and international politics make me think back to exactly 4 years ago to the last games.  As they happened, Martha, our two daughters, and myself had been invited to Germany for  the wedding of one of our former exchange students.  Imagine, me, a Lutheran pastor, presiding at a wedding in an German  Catholic Church in the southwestern part of Germany.  We arrived a week early and decided to hop on Ryan Air lines, which is a unique travel experience, and we went to Rome for 3 nights.  The first day we took a tour of the Roman Coliseum.  We heard the history of the early games and saw where they had kept the wild animals under the floor of the coliseum.  We heard about the gladiators and saw where the wealthy patrons sat on the first level seating.  We heard about how, when there were breaks in the activities on the field,  local prostitutes came in on the top level and there could be other activities.  That night we had dinner on a roof top restaurant on the east side of the  Coliseum and we watched the sun set on its walls and thought about all the display of toughness and even violence that occurred there.  The next day we took a tour of the Roman forum. We saw and heard stories about the vestal virgins, and saw the arches that different emperors had built. Each time the emperors’ armies won a foreign war they built a new arch. Again these were memories of conquering sexual and military violence and power.  At the end of the forum we went past the prison where St Peter and St Paul were supposedly kept and where St Peter was crucified upside down. 

We liked our guide so much, and she was so knowledgeable, that we decided to take a tour with her the next day and we went through St Peter’s Square and the Vatican.  In the Vatican, we saw St Peter’s Basilica and Pope John XXXIII embalmed under glass!   We saw some of the art collection in the museum.  If my memory serves me correctly you could spend one minute in front of each piece of art and it would take several  years to see them all. 

Hearing the history and seeing the sights, as they were explained by a young and very intelligent, catholic,  PhD student, who had been giving tours for 16 years,  gave us a perspective I had never heard before.  She described the counter reformation movement and those coming from Germany as the “German hordes”   We were a horde of 4 that weekend! One of the last things we did was to take a walk, using Rick Steve’s tour book, through the trastevere.   This was the Jewish neighborhood which at different times had been the location of  great academics, ghettoizing of Jews and even the slaughter of Jews. 

All this history and site seeing that covers nearly 2000 years of time shows the good, the bad, and the ugly of church and state.  It feeds my understanding and helps me put into context the incredible struggle between Rome’s way and Jesus’ way.   The Gospel for today, which makes a clear claim about Jesus and Peter, is set in a town named Caesarea Phillippi.   This is no accident, I’m sure.  It’s a town named after the Caesar, who wanted to be known as the Son of God.  The claim that Jesus was this Son of the living God shows the struggle and opposing points of view.  Some years after Jesus had been crucified, but his impact and contributions still being felt, Matthew wrote to a small group of followers, that Jesus was the “Messiah and the Son of the living God. “ 

The thing that really struck me, as I stood there four years ago in Rome and heard the stories about the incredible brutal power,  was what a contrast this was to the values and roots of a rural country preacher from Galilee and a fisherman who followed him.   The contrast, and how it’s played itself out in history is stark.   The common roots of a Jesus and Peter make room for a lot of people like you and like me.   Jesus had said to the common fisherman, Peter,  “On you, the church is built”  This stresses the importance of people like you and me.   It underlines works of compassion and recognizes the value of the lowest in the face of opulence and power.  It celebrates  the  boldness of those who stand in the face of tremendous earthly power and find a way to disarm it with truth and with mercy and with love.

The games, the politics and brutal international relations go on century after century.  Some of us today probably wish it was mid November by now and some of the struggles of the next months were behind us. But don’t be dismayed, the work of Jesus, and St Peter, and St Paul continue through people like you and like me. Their cause is carried on by the likes of people like you.  Their mission. Their Gospel. Our Mission. Our Gospel.

Through people like you!

Amen.