Aug 23, 2020  SERMON ARCHIVE

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, AMEN

The text for our meditation today is the Gospel Lesson for this 12th Sunday Afyter Pentecost, Matthew 16:13-20. There we read these words:

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar- Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

We begin in Jesus Name, AMEN

Simon Peter, good old Simon Peter, so rock solid, so strong. As he should have been: After all, the name "Peter" means "rock." Take the Gospel lesson for today.

Jesus asked the disciples who people thought He was, and they responded with the litany of rumors: "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." Lots of rumors and sincere beliefs, all of which were wrong.

Next, Jesus got to the point. He asked, "But who do you say that I am?", Peter, rock solid, strong, Peter hit this one out of the ball park. "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," he confessed, and he was absolutely right.

It was an extraordinary confession of faith, and Jesus said that Peter knew this because it had been revealed to him by God. It was not a logical conclusion arrived at by smart flesh and blood, but a statement of God-given faith. It was a rock-solid declaration that Jesus was the long-awaited Savior.

Jesus continued: "And I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

Now, you may well know that some have argued that the rock is actually Peter, that the Church was built upon this foremost of the apostles. But we must ask the question: Was Peter really the Rock whom Jesus speaks of? Is the Church really built upon this apostle? And, was Peter the Rock that you want the Church to be built on?

You see, Peter was solid, rock-solid, in what he said, and in what he did. Most of the time. Sometimes, not so much.

In the next few verses of Matthew 16. Jesus told the disciples how He was going to be a Savior, how He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day (Matt. 16:21). None of the disciples were thrilled with this news, but it was Peter who pulled Jesus aside and rebuked Him.

"Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!" he blustered protectively; and for his trouble, Jesus called him Satan and told him to step aside. You see, what Peter was saying was, "Lord, there's no way that You're going to die on the cross to take away my sins or anybody else's.” One moment, Peter was a rock, solid as could be. The next moment, he rolled.

One moment, Peter was a rock, solid as could be. The next moment, he rolled. A few chapters later, Matthew 26, Jesus and the disciples were on their way to the Garden of Gethsemane; Jesus was about to be betrayed and crucified. Peter declared boldly, "Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble" (Matt. 26:33). But by the time the rooster crowed, Peter had denied the Lord three times.

One minute, he was a rock. The next minute, he rolled. Take Acts 4:8-13. Peter and John had been arrested because Peter healed a man and preached about Jesus, crucified and risen. The same crowd that arranged Jesus' crucifixion now put them on trial-a frightening position to be in. What happened? Peter stepped up and hit another grand slam: He preached to the council that they had unjustly crucified Jesus Christ, who had since risen from the dead.

But once again, Peter wavered. After preaching salvation in Christ alone in Acts 4, Peter started to teach that one's salvation rested partly on his own works. When we get to Galatians 2, Paul confronted Peter and opposed him to his face for teaching false doctrine, and Peter was forced to repent again (Gal. 2:11ff).

Here, he's a rock. There, he rolls. Now, don't misunderstand: I like Peter. I give thanks for the confessions of faith that he made, and I pray that I might follow his example. But he's not a solid rock who doesn't move. He rolls. He wavers. He sins. To his credit, he knew this.

He didn't say that he was the Rock in Acts 4. Instead, he pointed to Jesus as the chief cornerstone. In 1 Peter 2, he once again declared that Jesus is the living stone and the cornerstone on which the Church is built. He pointed to Jesus for good reason: Because of his sin, Peter was not a redeemer, but one in need of redemption. He was saved by Jesus, the chief cornerstone who flings wide the gates of heaven for us.

When I was in college, I listened to a lot of contemporary Christian music, and especially liked the music of three artists. Their style was catchy and their lyrics proclaimed the importance of obedience to God's Word. It was easy to conclude that the life of the Christian was about obedience and living a holy life, based upon their example. Of the three, two of them would soon be found guilty of adultery. The third would later admit to a long-term cocaine addiction.

Those singers weren't rocks. They rolled. You see, if you base your faith on the pure and holy obedience of sinners, you're bound to be disappointed. Such examples may well cause some to decide that Christianity is a hypocritical sham, and nothing more.

If you're so rock-like, how come you still lose your temper? How come you grow impatient? How come you keep falling back into that same sin? How come you still nag? How come the half-dressed girl on TV still turns your head? How come you still pass on gossip and make groundless assumptions about people?

How come you don't always keep promises, and sometimes make promises to your kids that you have no intention of keeping? How come you're excited about being a Christian at times, and so dissatisfied with it at others? How come, even when it's your own fault and failing, your first instinct is to blame others?

And how come, even after all this, you still want to trust yourself? You see, you're not a rock. You roll, too. You are not a solid foundation, but a sinner in need of forgiveness.

This is why we go back to Peter's confessions of faith. This is why we turn once again to Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

Jesus Christ remains the Cornerstone. He does not waver, roll or change His mind toward you.

Do you become angry or impatient? He patiently, gently calls you to confess your sin so that you might be forgiven. Do you give in to temptation, greed, lust? The One who selflessly and sinlessly bore your sin to the cross unfailingly offers forgiveness.

Do you break promises, tell lies? The Lord speaks the truth and keeps His promises. Do others roll and abandon you? He remains, as He promised.

Do others forsake you? He says, "I will never leave you nor forsake you....Lo I will be with you always to the very end of the age.”

As we just sang in our sermon hymn, "On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand,

Christ is risen. AMEN