Rocks and keys - "Who is this Christ for you?"

Regional open-air service at Lönsstein on Whit Monday with a sermon by Holger Siebert, representative of the director, on Matthew 16:13-20:

Jesus' question is not a question about knowledge, but about the ground on which we stand. It is about what we believe in. The answer cannot be deduced logically, but is a confession. Peter's answer unites people - even today: You are Christ, the Saviour, the Redeemer, the Life. The answer is a gift; a moment in which the Spirit works. And this is where the Easter story becomes a Pentecost story.

The church is then described in two images:

• On this rock I will build my church ...
• I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven ...

Is Peter really a rock - or rather a shaky rock? He is a man who follows Jesus - like the church with strength, convinction, sometimes rigidity; a rock of beauty and abysses - especially where people leave the path and leave others defenceless and abused.
Rocks often have a closeness to heaven, but also the difficulty of climbing up and down. Jesus does not build his church on power, but on a person who sometimes promises more than he can deliver.

The key is an image of responsibility, it tells of opening or binding, of releasing or locking. It is the personal key question of how we make the church a place where forgiveness and power are not abused.

A good image is the Primula Veris - the cowslip or pharmacy cowslip. It blooms yellow - under trees; it needs light and shade. It is small and delicate, but has deep roots. It thrives well in groups; its scent radiates and attracts bumblebees and gives them food ...

Apparently God trusts us to be both a key and a rock. His spirit should work in us and be a gift that also demands a decision.
Just as you have to turn a key, our decisions become more and more necessary. Hopefully, these confessions will come easily to us so that the church can flourish, old thought patterns can be dissolved and people can be set free to enjoy the fullness of life.
I want to build my church on this spirit of diversity and love. Where this spirit unites, there is joy instead of strife; and people are intertwined.