Built on the Rock

by Mathew Block

Several months ago, I was reading through old issues of The Canadian Lutheran, and I came across a fascinating article by Lutheran Church–Canada’s (LCC) then-President Edwin Lehman. Dr. Lehman was looking to the future, wondering what our church body might be like in three decades’ time—wondering, that is, what the church might look like today. Would things go well or go ill? Would Lutheran Church–Canada even still exist?

Much has changed over the past 30 years. Western society has continued to abandon historic Christian morality. The percentage of the population identifying as Christian continues to shrink. And public antagonism towards those who remain Christian continues to increase.

We saw that recently with the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics. One scene featured a tableau patterned after Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper. But instead of Jesus, they had a gay women in a halo. Instead of the disciples, they had men in drag. And instead of the Eucharist—in which we are fed the body and blood of the Son of God beneath bread and wine—there was a giant dinner plate, featuring a scantily-clad man painted blue and representing Dionysius (also called Bacchus), the Greek god of wine and debauchery.

It’s just the latest entry in the long normalization of anti-Christian imagery  and bias in western society. The whole thing can leave Christians feeling like there isn’t much place for them in our modern world. But take heart: Christ has overcome the world (John 16:33).

Yes, in this world the Church faces insult and tribulation. But the Church is not for that reason shaken. “Built on the Rock, the Church shall stand, even when steeples are falling.” So writes the hymnwriter N.F.S. Grundtvig (LSB 645). And it is true: the Church, built on her Rock, Jesus Christ, stands strong—even if to outside eyes it looks like she is falling. She stands strong because Christ stands strong. He is our Cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20), and He cannot be moved.

Jesus once promised Peter: “On this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). It’s worth remembering where they were at the time: near Caesarea Philippi, an area in which Greeks had settled and established a shrine to the pagan god Pan. For the disciples, then, the area really would have felt like it was the “gates of hell”—a place where pagan religion had become entrenched within God’s promised land.

The good news of the Gospel is for all people, and Christ longs for all people to be united to Him through His body, the Church.

Nevertheless, Jesus said, the gates of hell shall not overcome the Church. Christ holds us in His hand, and no one—not the devil nor the world—can snatch us away (John 10: 27). And because He holds us, we need not fear. Christ is ours. He died on a cross to save us from our sins. He rose again to assure us of eternal life. He is ours, and He holds us firm through all things. The mountains may fall, the hills may crumble, but the steadfast love of our God shall never leave us (Isaiah 54:10).

That promise gives us hope not only to stand firm in this world of sorrow, but also to share that hope even with those who hate the Church. For Christ died for them too. He “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). And so, St. Paul instructs us: “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them” (Romans 12:14). And Jesus Himself encourages us: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).

The good news of the Gospel is for all people, and Christ longs for all people to be united to Him through His body, the Church. The world may rage and riot, but the Church will yet endure; that’s the promise of Jesus, and His promises cannot fail.

In this issue, we remember God’s promise to the Church that it and its work in this world will forever withstand the gates of hell. To that end, we are reprinting three features from LCC’s former presidents. President Emeritus Lehman tells us that so long as the world endures, so will the Church’s witness to Christ (page six). President Emeritus Ralph E. Mayan assures us the cross of Christ will never be snuffed out (page nine). And Past President Robert Bugbee reflects on the comfort Christ’s Church brings, both to struggling Christians and the sinful world outside (page 12). Our current president, meanwhile, poses the question: does the Church have a future (page 42)?

The Church of Christ shall stand forever. O Lord, Jesus Christ, hold Your Church always in Your hands. When we are tired, enliven us with Your Spirit. When we are afraid, comfort us with Your presence in Word and Sacrament. And give us the strength we need to speak clearly of You and Your love to a world in need. Amen.

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Mathew Block is editor of The Canadian Lutheran and the Communications Manager of the International Lutheran Council (ILC).

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