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Jesus replied, \u201cAnd 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\u201d (Matthew 16:18).

Before we return to Deuteronomy, I want to follow up on Pastor Anthony\u2019s reflection on Deconstruction. \xa0It truly is all the buzz today. In fact, a daily email I subscribe to began yesterday\u2019s reflection with the phrase \u2018deconstructing faith\u2019. I just couldn\u2019t pass up the opportunity to add my two cents to the conversation.

This will not be a \u2018Debbie downer\u2019 devotion. Let me set the stage with two personal experiences. Growing up I thought the Christian Reformed Church was \u2018the church\u2019. We had it right, everyone else had it, if not wrong, at least less right. But then, in my early 20s the denomination sort of blew up over the issues of women in ecclesiastical office and differing interpretations of Genesis 1. I discovered that we did not have it all figured out. I also saw that the church can be a dangerous community. Some people went to other churches, some quit the church altogether, their faith deconstructed by the behaviour of church members. I know that some of you still bear the wounds of those days. I was starting to deconstruct.

Then I was ordained in this wobbly denomination, having been called to my first congregation. A few years in, I sat at my desk when it hit me rather hard, \u201cI had no idea what I was doing!\u201d Out there was a congregation expecting me to lead them, but what did it mean to lead a congregation? Every book I read had a different take on the answer. About the same time, I preached a sermon titled, \u2018Growing up into Christ\u2019 based on Ephesians 4. Halfway through preaching the sermon I was shocked to realize that I didn\u2019t know very much about growing up into Christ at all. I was quite deconstructed.

So, I did the most logical thing, I went back to school to study leadership and discipling. It was helpful, but it was not the solution. Every year there are still dozens of books published about how to lead the church. They all have a different slant. Books about making disciples of Jesus are probably just as numerous. These books are helpful but not the answer.

The answer that reconstructed me is in our text. \u201cI will build my church,\u201d says Jesus, \u201cand the gates of Hades will not overcome it.\u201d Without fail, the church is led by sinful humans who are struggling to be disciples of Jesus. It\u2019s been 2000 years since Jesus made this claim, and the church still hasn\u2019t got it figured out. But that is not fatal. We don\u2019t need to get it figured out; we don\u2019t need to get it all right. Despite us, Jesus continues to build his church.

Here is something else to think about: sometimes, maybe often, Jesus needs to deconstruct the edifice we humans call church so that he can build his church. I think that COVID is something our Lord is using to do some deconstructing. This is difficult, its painful. We lose things, things that are precious to us. But they must go so that he can build something better.

I used to worry lots about the church, especially about the congregations I served. Not so much anymore. Maybe that\u2019s progress in discipleship. Congregations may fall apart, maybe our denomination is slated for total deconstruction. If this happens it will be very painful, I will weep. But Jesus will build his church. He does not need the Christian Reformed denomination and he doesn\u2019t need Immanuel. And as painful as that may be for us invested in these, it is also good news.

Jesus is building his church. I don\u2019t think that our Lord defines church in terms of incorporated congregations and denominations. Rather, when Jesus\u2019 said, \u201cI will build my church\u201d he meant groups of people who believed what Peter had just confessed, \u201cYou are the Messiah, the Son of the living God\u201d (16:16). Jesus keeps deconstructing what we try to build, so that he can construct something better. I have discovered that it doesn\u2019t matter so much that I don\u2019t know what I am doing, Jesus continues to build his church. That\u2019s good news.