The Right Answer

Text: Matthew 16:13-20

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

          Ask a group of people out in the world, “Who is Jesus?” and you’re going to get a ton of answers. A good teacher. A moral example. A great leader. And that’s from the people who have some level recognition and fondness for Jesus. Others might call Him a revolutionary, or maybe in some circles people might say that He didn’t even exist. I’d hope that in here, within our Christian circles that our answers would be better than that, even though some of those are true. And yet, the Christian church over the past 2,000 years has had its own share of difficulty at times with properly proclaiming who Jesus is. Which is a tragedy because this is the very place that there should be no question about it. Where there should be no hesitation to answer right along with Peter that,

“YOU ARE THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD.”

          Because this is the place Jesus Himself built so that we could confidently gather and make that very same confession. The church is the place where Christ dwells among us in Word and Sacrament. It’s the ship we’ve been given to weather the storms until Jesus returns to call us all home. And we know that the cornerstone of this church He built for us is Himself. “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” And the foundation built off that cornerstone and supporting the whole structure is the apostles and the prophets. And more specifically that confession of the apostles and prophets, the one we just heard Peter speak. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Without that confession. Without that rock, that solid foundation, the whole thing will crumble and fall. We all remember the “foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

When the church becomes about anything other than the confession of Jesus Christ as God and Lord, it ceases to be the house that Jesus built. If we become more worried about the physical structure of the building, the programs, the attendance numbers, or anything else to a greater degree than the confession we hold to, God could very well cease to bless the work He’s doing here. That’s not to say that those things – the physical building, the programs, the people coming through the doors – aren’t important. They’re gifts – they’re tools to deliver the goods. And one of our missions is to use those gifts – to be good stewards of each and every thing God gives us – but to do so solely for the purpose of proclaiming the truth – the life saving message that He is the Christ, the son of the living God.

But sometimes it’s not easy to look past all those distractions that the world serves up. Which is why when we look at today’s Gospel, it’s important to understand the context in which Peter’s confession was made. “Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’” As they walked into that city, about 25 miles northeast of the sea of Galilee, they had to enter directly between the temple built by Herod the Great and dedicated to Caesar Augustus and a massive rock outcropping dedicated to the worship of the Greek god Pan. In ancient times that rock was also said to be the gate to Hades. In this place, also littered with the temples of the Syrian gods, Jesus clarifies for the us who the real Rock is on which His church is built. Not one overlooking a pagan city, but a flesh and blood Rock that would stand the test of time and every false understanding and worship that the world might try to replace Him with.

And we certainly do attempt to replace the true Rock with foundations we think might better support the weight of our own thinking and desires. But the truth is that any foundation we build simple crumbles when it faces the weight of the world crushing down on it. And that weight will come down. It comes down in the form of physical and emotional fatigue. For a few moms here today that weight is in the form of sons and daughters they spent 18 years raising who they just dropped off at college. Or maybe you’re the student who just left home and are in your first few days of navigating that life on your own. Or the moms who are nurturing and carrying new life within them and just waiting with your husbands to welcome your precious children into the world. Most of these things will likely end in great joy, but could also crumble around us if we try to navigate them on our own. The sin we often fail to avoid is to try to build our own foundations to withstand the weight of it all. And it’s just not necessary because we already have a solid foundation. As long as we just allow Him to be our Rock and our strength.

Which is sometimes easier said than done. If you remember Luther’s explanation to the Thid Article of the Creed, we each confess that “I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to Him.” After Peter’s confession, Jesus calls him Simon Bar-Jonah. Jesus is simply talking to Peter and the other disciples so there’s not really a need to identify Peter in this way, and yet He does. Perhaps as a reminder that he is a man of flesh and blood, with a father, and yet that flesh and blood hasn’t revealed this truth to Peter. The truth that Jesus “is the Christ, the Son of the living God” is revealed “by [the] Father who is in heaven.” It’s the very same way that truth is revealed to you. Our heavenly Father, through the working of His Holy Spirit, gives you the strength to believe in Jesus Christ your Lord and come to Him.

And by doing this He places the foundation you need under your house. Just as He is the cornerstone of the church, with the confession of the apostles as its foundation, the same should be true of your homes. I love the picture of each of our lives as a structure. God picks up our house at our baptism and places us on the sure and solid foundation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He sends the rain of water combined with the Word to wash us clean in the forgiveness won at the cross. Then we build out our lives as we move around and go about our daily tasks. But that foundation remains under us. Keeping us firm and secure even when the flood waters of life rise and threaten to knock us off that foundation.

And that will happen. Because we’re constantly walking into spaces just like the Caesarea Philippi. Places where the worship of every false god known to man is happening all the time. Think about the false confessions you encounter every single day. The misrepresentations of who Jesus is, but also the flat-out denial of the Gospel He came to give to us. Replacing it with a Gospel of our own making. One that would say that we can do it on our own. That we can find, or create, a rock strong enough to hold us up. What our world needs. What each of us needs. Is the bold confession of Peter. The realization that there is no stronger foundation upon which our life could be built. There is no other cornerstone that holds together the church and our lives. So, we too, along with Peter, must confess of Jesus that, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And when we do, we’ll also be reminded that this isn’t a confession revealed to us through flesh and blood. But one given by our Father who is in heaven.

In the shadow of the rock outcropping once thought to be the gate to Hell, overlooking the temples to pagan gods and Roman rulers, Jesus boldly stated that “on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” The Rock isn’t Peter. It’s the confession he makes. It’s the faith that can see who Jesus actually is and isn’t afraid to proclaim it whenever and wherever it needs to be heard. Abigail’s going to get up here in a minute and make that proclamation of faith as she becomes a new member of this congregation. Our confirmands did it just a few months ago. May it not be a one and done thing for them, or for any of us. May we boldly and confidently confess our faith in Christ every day and in every place where that confession needs to be heard. Because we’re no longer under the restriction Jesus gave to those disciples when He “strictly charged [them] to tell no one that he was the Christ.” Our Commission now is the Great one. The one that says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” And then He gives us this promise, “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” And the best way for us to make that confession is to clearly, accurately, and faithfully proclaim who our Lord is and what He’s done for us. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.