Thomas J Parlette
“A Team-building Retreat”
Matthew 16: 13-20
8/23/20
I don’t know if you have noticed or not, but it seems like CEO’s and HR Departments of nearly every sort of business, as well as every sports coach in the land these days is talking about how to build a winning culture. Building the right culture is said to be the magic formula for uniting your team around a singular vision.
Some companies address this challenge by scheduling a team-building expert. Maybe you’ve been to a team-building retreat. They’re designed to get people away from their workplace, outside their comfort zone, and teach them to work together to learn a new skill or face a new challenge. It sounds good in theory, but not all team building experiences live up to their billing.
The folks at Quickbase software company asked for feedback on some of the worst team-building exercises that actual businesses have put their employees through. Some of them are pretty unbelievable.
One company brought in a consultant who asked all the employees to kick off a team-building meeting by going around the conference table and sharing what they didn’t like about their fellow employees. And of course it didn’t go well – within minutes, all the employees were angry or in tears. It was like something Michael Scott would do in “The Office.”
Another person wrote about a team-building retreat at a horse farm. The goal of the exercise was to improve each employee’s communication skills by having them learn to communicate with a horse. OK, that’s a new approach, might be worth a shot. But everything fell apart when one particularly rambunctious horse got out of control and trampled one team member so badly, an ambulance had to be called.
But one of the strangest team-building exercises on the Quickbase blog was from an employee who said their team sat through a 2 hour exercise where they were instructed to visualize flying over the ocean to a mythical place called the “Temple of the Dolphin.” Then they were asked to watch dolphin videos and study the unique leadership skills of dolphins. I didn’t know dolphins had leadership skills, but I don’t know, maybe.(1)
Jesus, on the other hand, was ahead of his time when it came to team-building. He took his disciples off from time to time for retreats – getaways that usually included time for prayer or conversation about the Kingdom of God.
Sometimes. However, Jesus took his disciples to a place outside their comfort zone. Such a place shows up in today’s passage from Matthew. Caesarea Philippi, an ancient Roman city known for it’s worship of foreign gods.
There was a sacred cave at the entrance to Caesarea Philippi, and all around this cave were carved niches filled with small statues of the various gods worshiped there, gods like Hermes and Echo. The region was also full of pagan religious sites devoted to the god Pan. Pan was the half-man, half-goat god who had the ability to create a feeling of sudden and overwhelming fear in people. In fact, it is from his name that we get the English word “panic.”
So Put yourselves in the disciple’s shoes. Jesus has led you to a place that makes you very uncomfortable. Having been raised in the Jewish faith which rejected all forms of idolatry, you feel like a fish out of water in such a place. Everywhere you look, you see evidence of shrines and statues and inscriptions to various pagan gods. You’re confronted with abomination in every direction. And as you begin to stare at your sandals to avoid looking at these offensive statues, Jesus asks a strange question: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
Feeling somewhat relieved – “Oh, Jesus is just taking an opinion poll”- they offer some potential answers. Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; I’ve heard Jeremiah’s name come up or one of the other prophets.
Everyone has their own idea about Jesus. And they are all good images, positive comparisons. Those mentioned are some of the most important prophets in Israel’s history. But then Jesus asks another question. “What about you, the ones who know me best. Who do you say I am?”
I’ve always imagined a long silence here as the disciples think about their answer. They sheepishly look at each, maybe one or two of them shrug as if to say, “I don’t know…You answer him.” Finally, Peter responds.
“You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Peter doesn’t realize it in the moment, but he has just stepped through a one-way door. There’s no going back. He has announced that Jesus is the Anointed One promised by God to the nation of Israel. He’s the guy. He is God in the flesh… not the image or statue of a dead idol as seen in Caesarea Philippi, but the Son of the living God.
I like to think that this is when Jesus turns to face his disciples. And they see a big smile on his face. Jesus walks over to Peter, puts his hands of his shoulders and looks him in the eye. “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
You know, we like to think of Pentecost as the birthday of the church. The Holy Spirit came like a rush of wind and the disciples were empowered to preach God’s message to the world. I know I’ve said that many times in sermons and children’s sermons over the years. And it is true. But the first time the word church is mentioned in the Bible is actually in this passage, here in verse 18.
This moment though is the real birthday of the church, Pentecost was more of a confirmation, an empowering of the church to move ahead on it’s own, without Jesus’ physical presence, but still guided by the Spirit. This is the birth of the church that Jesus will build.
And notice the subtleties here. Jesus says “on this rock I will build my church. Not the church. Not a church. My Church. This is Jesus’ church – not my church, not your church, but Jesus’ church.
The word Jesus uses for “church” is ekklesia. That term doesn’t refer to a building, it refers to a community. Ekklesia mean, literally a “called-out people.” Jesus is casting a vision for his disciples. He is showing them that his ministry isn’t just for this time and this place and this people. His ministry will continue long after his death. His ministry will attract people from all over the world. Jesus’ church is for all time and for all people. So what does it mean to be a called out people?
First of all, Jesus calls us to be a light to the nations of the world. Let your light shine before other, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. To be a light to the world means that we are to be living examples of what living in God’s Kingdom is all about.
A few years ago there was a story in Leadership magazine from the city of Jackson, Mississippi. There had been a scandal among their city council members. The council president, along with another member, had been caught in an unethical situation. A number of community leaders were brought together for a televised panel discussion on the issue.
Journalist Matt Friedman participated in the panel. At one point, the moderator asked, “Matt, whose fault is this? Who bears this responsibility?”
Matt savored the question for a moment. He admits that he was ready to denounce the council president in no uncertain terms. But suddenly, another man spoke up. It was Pastor John Perkins, also a participant on the panel. Pastor Perkins said simply, “I do. It’s my fault.”
Everyone turned to stare at this strange comment. “I have lived in this community for decades as a Bible teacher,” Perkins said. “I, and other like me, should have been able to create an environment where what our council president did would have been unthinkable because of our efforts in all the churches of this town. You want someone to blame? Blame me.”(2)
Pastor Perkins understood what Jesus meant when he said, “You are the light of the world.” We are called to be the embodiment of righteous living- and that means taking responsibility. We are meant to be an example of what living in God’s Kingdom is all about. Letting our light shine before others mean working for peace, justice, compassion and empathy for everyone in this community, our country and the world.
Jesus also calls us to be a community of love. Ekklesia is a plural word. Once you become a follower of Christ, you are one in heart, mind and spirit with every other follower of Christ all over the world throughout time and history.
We cannot follow Christ and look out solely for our own interest. We cannot follow Christ and look down on others around us. We are a community that spans more than 2,000 years of history and covers every nation, every skin color, every language, every nationality and every social class on earth. If you remember, Jesus final prayer for us asked that we would be one – one in heart, one in mind, one in love.
Maybe you remember this story from December of last year. A little boy named Michael in Grand Rapids, Michigan was getting adopted after years in the foster care program. When Michael’s foster parents told his kindergarten teacher that the adoption hearing was coming up, the kindergarten teacher arranged for every child in Michael’s class to attend the hearing and show their support for Michael. Imagine the judge’s surprise when she entered the courtroom for a standard adoption hearing and saw 39 five-year-olds waving red paper hearts in support of Michael. The judge even took the time to ask the children what Michael meant to them.(3)
When you become a follower of Jesus, you were adopted into the church, the called-out people. You are no longer alone. You have a family that shares your joys and your heartaches. That’s what it means to be the church. Jesus calls us to be a light to the nations and a community of love.
And finally, Jesus calls us to reach out to those who do not know him. Two thousand years ago, Jesus had a vision of people all over the world joining together in prayer and Bible study and worship, going out to minister to those in need and loving each other with a sacrificial love that is so contagious that it draws others to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.
Francis Chan, the author of the book Crazy Love, visited church congregations around the world and studied what passionate, committed, courageous Christian faith looks like. He told of his conversation with a Chinese pastor who served the underground church in China. For most of the last century, the church in China was forced to exist in secret cells because of state persecution. Amazingly this did not hinder the church’s growth.
This pastor said that the persecution faced by the underground church forced them to focus on Jesus’ mission even more. He said that the underground Chinese church is built on five pillars – Studying the word of God/ devotion to prayer/ the expectation that every single believer would share their faith in God/ regular expectation of miracles and embracing suffering for the glory of Christ.(4)
That’s not a formula that you would think would be all that attractive – particularly the part about suffering. And yet, it is estimated that there are currently 100 million Christians in China. The so-called underground church accomplished amazing things in Jesus’ name.
My friends, we have been “called-out.” Called to be a light for the nations of the world; called out to be a community of love; called to reach out to those who do not know Jesus yet. That’s the Team-building retreat that Jesus leads us through. Who wouldn’t want to a member of a team doing that!
May God be praised. Amen.
1. Dynamic Preaching, Vol. XXXVI, No. 3, p.40.
2. Ibid… p. 42.
3. Ibid… p. 43.
4. Ibid… p. 43.
