"And I tell you that you are Peter,

                                                                                            and on this rock I will build my church...!"

Grace was host to a funeral Thursday, for one of the pillars of the Church. Our sanctuary was almost three-quarters full for a 1:00pm service, ample testimony to the esteem in which this man was held. Now, you may be wondering: why we didn't contact all our members with the day and time of service, especially since the man was such a pillar? The reason is, though he was a pillar of the Church, he was not a pillar of our congregation.

Domenic DiMarco held formal membership in various Christian communities, but he always held the stance that he never once changed churches. You know I'm not speaking in riddles because you recognize where I'm going with this. There is but one Church ... founded 2,000 years ago on the foundation of Simon the fisherman. There are untold Christian communities, each trying in one way or another to be a perfect expression of the ONE Church of Jesus Christ. Each failing to reach that utopian goal of being that heaven-on-earth congregation. Domenic had a keen understanding of this. He once told me, in words not original but heartfelt, "Pastor, for a long time I was searching for the perfect congregation, but one day I realized that if I found it, and joined it, that congregation would no longer be perfect!"

Jesus was a carpenter. I mentioned some time ago that there is growing sentiment to the notion that Jesus was more likely an apprentice stone mason - but woodworker or stonemason - Jesus was a builder. In his formative years. Before he before he became a Savior. And so this morning, we hear the familiar story of how Jesus went about building the Church. A place designed to be a witness to God's love for all humanity. Jesus created a community that would live out God's love and spread God's good Word. Jesus builds himself a Church. Not a building, but a Church. Not a church. THE Church.

Our text this morning explains why Jesus built his Church on the foundation of Simon the fisherman. The disciple Simon is the first to recognize that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. God's Savior. And in response to that recognition, Jesus says, "And I tell you, you are Peter." The English language does not adequately convey the pun; Petros means rock ... and Jesus is saying, "you are Peter (you are Rock), and upon this rock I will build my church."

Roman Catholics say that Peter himself is the rock upon which the Church is built. Protestants say that the faith of Peter is the rock. I say, "Who cares?" I kind of like the idea that the rock foundation of the church is the totally human Peter. A man capable of great ministry; and equally as capable of great mischief. "You are the Christ," he proclaims. And then that terrible night on the eve of crucifixion, "I don't know the man!"

Kind of like what happens within congregational communities at times. We are capable of great ministry ... and sometimes we get caught up in petty squabbles and disputes. We are brothers and sisters in Christ at one moment ... yet the next moment we deny the Christ who commands, "Love one another." We are children of God, to be sure. But we are equally descendants of Simon Peter. Capable of great ministry and great mischief.

But there is no need to be discouraged. Consider this: for two thousand years nations and empires have risen and fallen. For two thousand years mighty kings have reigned and passed away. But the Church of Jesus Christ survives, yes prospers. If you've read any obituaries about the church lately - hold on to the article - and use it to paper the bottom of your bird cage. The Church of Jesus Christ is alive and well. Perfect? By no means perfect. Jesus alone is perfect. That being said, when Grace Lutheran Church is at the top of her game, this is what we do best: remind the world that there is a Love more powerful than hate and a Life more powerful than death. And not only remind the world, but live as if we really believe it!

Elaine Pagels is a distinguished professor at Princeton University. Her specialty is early Christianity, and she is widely respected for her scholarly research and books. At one point in her life she had given up. She had given up, not on God, but on the Church. The all too human Church. You understand. You have friends who have given up on the Church. Maybe from time-to-time, you also are tempted. But for Elaine Pagels, things changed. She tells about how, on a bright, cold Sunday morning in Manhattan, she stopped in the narthex of an Episcopal church - only to get warm. Two days earlier, her young son had been diagnosed with a fatal lung disease. It takes little imagination to fathom how she was feeling.

Pagels writes: "Since I had not been in church for a long time, I was startled by my response to the worship in progress, the soaring harmonies of the choir singing with the congregation, and the priest, a woman in bright gold and white vestments, proclaiming the prayers in a clear, resonant voice. A thought came to me: Here is a family that knows how to face death.... Standing in the back of that church, I recognized, uncomfortably, that I needed to be there. Here was a place to weep, and a safe place, at that. This community, a cross section of humanity, had gathered to sing, to celebrate, to acknowledge common needs, and to deal with what we cannot control or imagine."

What a grand definition. "The Church is "a community to deal with what we cannot control or imagine." St. Paul put it differently in our Second Reading this morning, but it captures the intimacy that Elaine Pagels was seeking, "For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another." That's us. That's Church. Like it or not, and most times we do and sometimes we don't, "we are members one of another." Just one of the reasons our emotions run deep as we send Elizabeth off to a cancer cure in Boston, with sister Katrina, her stem-cell mate.

Gosh, what a fine Sunday morning for Olivia Sophia to be joining this local branch office of the Church of Jesus Christ; on Grandma Betty's birthday to boot. And in a bit of Godincidence, Caroline Hughes, who had sung at the wedding of Janet and Scott, is singing again this morning. God is good! When Simon became the foundation for the Church, he was renamed Rock. Olivia joins the Church of Jesus Christ through the waters of Yorktown as her parents echo the faith of ol' Rock. Remember when Simon Peter tried to walk on water? He discovered rocks don't do well atop H20. The Rock failed and had to be saved by Jesus. Well, Olivia will skip the walking on water part; she'll happily settle for the part of being saved by Jesus. It might be said of Olivia this morning, that compared to the size of Peter and compared to the faith of Peter, Olivia is merely a pebble. Even so, rock solid Christianity begins somewhere.

In some far off future, perhaps Olivia will read the sermon preached on this, the day of her Baptism. If she does, she'll discover that when she joined the Church she became a member of a wider family. She'll learn that in this wider family she is related both to Domenic and a man named Peter. A sister and two brothers in Christ: the Pebble, the Pillar, and the Rock.