The Church as a Site of Repair or Harm

Biblical Passages

Matthew 16:18

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.

Revelation 2:3

3 I also know that you are enduring and bearing up for the sake of my name and that you have not grown weary.

Reflection

For today’s reflection there are two passages- the first one is from Matthew 16:18 that reads, “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,” and the second one is from Revelation 2:3 that reads, “I also know that you are enduring patiently and bearing up for the sake of my name, and that you have not grown weary” (NRSV).

The first passage from Matthew 16:18 reflects on Jesus’ proclamation to build the church, and Peter has been interpreted as the foundational rock on whom the church has been established. Peter, a fisherman, was chosen by Christ even knowing that he was not the perfect one. According to the standards of the society, he had his own flaws, fears, weaknesses, vulnerability, impulsiveness and contradictions. Yet, Jesus knew that he would be a disciple who would deny him three times before his crucifixion. Despite this, Jesus chose to make him the foundation for the church to flourish and called him the rock.

Jesus’ act of choosing Peter disrupts the idea that the church is a place for those that society deems perfect or flawless. In contradiction, the church is truly built by those the society considers outside the “normative.” A church that follows Jesus must take his message of love by believing that it is truly built by the so-called imperfect people, people who have their own flaws, people who are struggling, people with their varied gender and sexual identities and orientations, by those who have been rejected by society and are being criticised for who they actually are. Choosing Peter as the foundation of the church invites the church today to ponder that the queer community, who are not accepted by the church either for the episcopal leadership or any other significant positions, not even for their participation in the sacraments and the orders of the church, because of their gender and sexual orientations. The church must realise that the LGBTQ+ community could be the people who are foundational to the church in the sight of Christ, on whom the church must be built, begin and continue. Any kind of marginality, exclusion, silencing or discrimination in the church based on gender and sexuality must be challenged by the spirit of inclusion, belongingness and equality.

The context of Revelation emerges out of suffering and persecution, and the verse Revelation 2:3 says that the church of Ephesus has endured patiently. This resonates how, being the body of Christ, the queer bodies have gone through violence, persecution, exclusion from the faith community, loneliness, condemnation and so on. This verse also encourages that in Christ there is liberation, which is possible in and through the faith community that is the church herself. The church is not called to suffer eternally but to be liberated with Christ’s intended love and justice. Likewise, this passage reassures the queer community who have endured rejection and traumatic experiences because of the Church, they must be embraced and liberated to be the foundation of the church at all times that Christ built, builds and will build.

Short Prayer:

God of love, build your church with those who are marginalised, rejected, discriminated and chased out because of their gender identities and sexual orientations. Make the church a place for and of everyone and not for and of a few influential and privileged. May your spirit break down all the barriers and boundaries that exclude people from being foundational, instead let your spirit build a space for the entire community to be seen, lived, loved, held and belong. Amen.

Author: Rev. Dr. B. Silpa Rani

About the Author: Silpa is an Assistant Professor of Old Testament at Bishop’s College, Kolkata, India. She is also an ordained minister of the Church of North India.