I do not come from a
family of college-educated folks. My
parents did not go to college. Neither
did my grandparents. My dad’s little sister
went to college in Springfield for a year and one of my mother’s younger
brothers went to Arkansas for a year. I
was the first in my family to attend college however my sister managed to
graduate a year ahead of me. She
successfully navigated the 4-year route at University of Kansas while I took
the 8-year route through Park College via the US Air Force. My youngest brother also has a college
degree. The next generation of kids in
our family – the majority of them all went to college and a couple of them have
master’s degrees. I am not sure that my
sister and I were exactly trailblazers in the family, but we were firsts.
It takes people willing to
be first at something for innovation to take place. Someone has to lead the way. They have to lay the foundation upon which
others will build. The first computer
program was written long before machines were invented to perform the
computations. Charles Babbage is
credited with this and Ada Lovelace, a student of Mr. Babbage, was the first to
write a complex algorithm meant to be carried out by a machine. That is one of thousands of examples of
people who led the way into something new.
In the synoptic gospels of
Matthew, Mark, and Luke there is a moment when Jesus asks the disciples about
his identity. “Who do the people say
that I am?” The answer was the reincarnation
of a past prophet or evangelist. Then
Jesus asks them who they say he is. In
Mark and Luke the answer is short – the messiah. However, in Matthew, the writer expands
Peter’s answer to “the messiah, the Son of the Living God.” And then Jesus tells Peter that this was
revealed to him by the Holy Spirit and that he will be the rock upon which
Jesus will build the church. Peter was
established as the leader – the trailblazer.
But Peter was not the only leader – others would lead in the church and
continue to do so. That is because
leadership is not a position. Rather, it
is an activity. The implication is that
anyone can lead at any time.
We are called to be
leaders in sharing the Gospel. This
simply means that we see the possibilities and a new reality that has yet to
emerge, the reality of God’s coming kingdom.
We preach the Good News of this and invite others to share in it. We continue to build upon the foundation laid
for us through Peter and the apostles, Paul and his companions, as well as
church fathers and mothers. We are the
rock and God is continuing to build his church upon it.
I invite you to take time
and read each of the scriptures above followed by reflection on the questions
below. Consider the ways in which God is
inviting you to be part of the rock upon which God continues to build the
church. Lastly, I pray that God bless
the reading of God’s Word and the meditations of your heart.