Church of Sts Peter and Paul, Mušnikovo

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Disclaimer: This is a transcript of Pastor Fenker’s sermon. It was preached from an outline, and the transcript taken automatically from the audio. Please forgive any typographical or formatting errors.

᛭ INI ᛭

Today is, or tomorrow is St. Peter and St. Paul Day, St. 
Peter, Fisherman, called by Christ, 1st by Christ, to be an apostle, he was the spokesman for all the rest of the 12 through the ministry of IHS. We see that today, whenever Christ asked a question, generally it was Peter who was 1st and quick to open his mouth. He was eventually apostle to Jews and wrote, of course, 2 books in the New Testament that bear his name. 


And there’s St. Paul. Not fishermen, grew up, uh, learning the ways of a Pharisee under the rabbi Gamaliel. His father was a tent maker. He was a Roman citizen. Who’s Pharisee of Pharisee, Saul, persecutor of the church, and then called by Christ on the Damascus road to be an apostle. eventually becoming the apostle to the Gentiles. and writing uh, many books of the New Testament, Romans through Philemon.


What can be said on St. Peter and Paul can be really drawn from the gospel text for the day. And so it seemed good to me to work our way, walk our way through our gospel reading this morning. 
Always with our ears attuned to what Peter says. The confession praised by Christ, for that is the core of the whole gospel reading, that IHS IS, in fact, THE CHRIST THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD.

Now when IHS came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? So they said, some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. As it was in Christ’s day, So it is in our day. There are many different answers for who Christ is. And so when he asks them, they have the 1st answer, which is John the baptizer. This makes sense if you’re listening to the preaching of Jesus, and even the miracles of Jesus, Herod himself thought that Jesus was John come back from the dead, whom he had executed. But Jesus’ initial ministry and his preaching were the same as John’s.


Repent. For the kingdom of God is at hand. And Jesus was, in fact, baptizing disciples in the Jordan River just as John was. 


But that’s not the only answer. Others were saying that he was Elijah, or Jeremiah or one of the prophets. And you can get this not just from what Jesus preached, but what from Jesus did. Elijah being mentioned because Elijah was a miracle working prophet. And Jesus being a prophet is indeed, one of the answers still said today. Islam brings this out, that Jesus is just one prophet amongst many.

And still others today have other answers for who Christ is. Chief one being that he was a great moral teacher. And that’s all that he is. A Jewish man who went around the area of Judea and preached morality, and eventually got persecuted by the religious leaders and put to death by the Romans. And that, as they say is the end of that.

But that is not all Christ asks. He doesn’t care only about what others say about him. But what his disciples say. So it is, Christ said to them, but who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the son of the living God. Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father, who is in heaven. And here we see that Christ, in fact, did want to see, to hear a disciple’s answer. 


Not a non-disciples’ answer. And of course, there are false disciples, those who claim to be Christian but are not. And we only know who the true disciples are and who the false disciples are based on the correct answer. Which is the core of the text. That IHS IS THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD.

This is what Christ means when he calls himself the Son of Man. Son of man means Son of God, based on Daniel chapter 7. For the Son of Man comes before the ancient of days, and then is worshiped by all nations. For as we know from the rest of the scriptures, as summarized in the catechism, that IHS Christ is true God and true man, begotten of his father before a worlds, and born of the Virgin Mary.


That is the correct answer of who Christ is. And we know that this is the correct answer, not just because we agree with it. But because Christ agrees with it. Christ praises Peter’s answer. And by praising it, he proves that that’s his answer. Only one answer ever gets praised in the gospels. And it’s this one. The confession that Christ is the son of the living God. That is, he is eternal God, one with the Father, from forever, from before forever. It is the answer that ultimately gets Christ killed. As he claims this answer for himself before the chief priests.

So here we have the answers. But this answer means something. It means something for Peter. It means something for you and for me, for the Christian church, and it actually means something for Christ himself.


IHS continues. I also 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. 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.

Thus far our reading, but to get a few more, we’re going to do 2 more verses from Matthew chapter 16.


Then he commanded his disciples. That they should tell no one that he was IHS the Christ. From that time, IHS began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised on the 3rd day. 


Now, This 1st answer means something for how the answer is given. Christ confesses to Peter that Peter didn’t cook up this answer on his own. that it is actually the father’s answer. And it is given to Peter to say, given by the Holy Spirit to say. For we know elsewhere from St. Paul that no one can say, IHS is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit. And faith comes by hearing. Hearing the word of Christ. I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him. The catechism summarizes. And that’s exactly what Jesus says to Peter. You didn’t say this. The Father said it through you. And we know from the scriptures, that means by the Spirit.

And so also for you and for me. When we confess Christ, that we believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, we can rejoice that it’s not us. That the one who gives us those words to speak about Christ, is the Holy Spirit who has been given to each of us.

But it means more. That Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. It means that there is an office of the keys. It means that there’s an office of preaching. It means that there is an office that hands out the means of grace. Because Christ talks to Peter about having the keys of the kingdom. That is to open and close the gates of heaven. And this is, of course, spoken to Peter here, but from elsewhere in the Bible, we know, it’s to all the apostles, and also to all ministers. 


And so we rejoice that the forgiveness of sins is delivered out in the church. And it means that it’s not just that forgiveness was long ago. But that we are forgiven now. that the absolution spoken actually absolves sin. That baptism is indeed the washing away of sin. That communion is, in fact, the body and blood of Christ given and shed for you for the forgiveness of all your sins. And all of those things are because IHS is the Christ, the son of the living God, and appointed Peter, the rest of the 12, and appointed men on down through the ages to continue the preaching of this gospel and the delivering of the sacraments. 


And this is so also because Jesus being the Christ means something for him. It means that he must suffer. It means he must die. 
For you and for the sins of the whole world. For he was delivered up for our transgressions and raised for our justification. He is the great and mighty God, who suffered in your place that you might be saved.


And because he is, in fact, risen from the dead, the 1st born among many brothers, it means something for the church, it means that his word is true. On this rock, I will build my church. The gates of Hades, the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 


It means that the Christian church will endure until Christ returns. So when we worry, about dwindling numbers or that somehow the church will fade away into nothing. But that’s a lie of the devil. 
It’s a lie because Christ says, The gates of hell shall not prevail against my church, the place where my word is preached, the place where my sacraments are delivered. It will endure until the end of time. And we know this is true because Christ is himself raised from the dead. 


And Jesus being the Christ means something for you and for me, that we should always be ready. To have a reason for the hope that we have within us, our hope in Christ Jesus, crucified and raised, who’s baptized us and forgiven us and gives us his body and blood to eat and to drink. It means that we are his disciples, that we are baptized into his name. 


In the name of the Father and the Holy Spirit, that one name. It means that we cherish all that Christ has said, and we believe it. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 


It is true. It means that we should be dutiful disciples clinging to all that Christ has said. that all Christians should know what Christ has said, at least a summary. We should know. 


The Ten Commandments. We should know the apostles’ creed. We should know the Lord’s prayer. 


We ought to know. Our Lord’s words spoken in the last chapter of Matthew. In the last chapter of Mark concerning baptism. 
We should know by heart what Christ says in the upper room as recorded in John chapter 20. And we should know by heart, the words of our Lord, by which he gives us his body to eat and his blood to drink. For if we know all these things, Then our faith would never fail. 


Not because we know them. But because the spirit is in these words, the spirit, who creates and strengthens faith in our hearts, the spirit, who, when called to ask, will speak through us, to others, of the hope we have within us, of all that we believe and trust about Christ, and chiefly being that Jesus is the Christ, The Son of the living God. That’s what St. Peter and St. Paul’s Day is all about. Rejoicing in what Christ did through them. 


Rejoicing what Christ has done for us. And with sure and certain hope of what Christ will continue to do in his church, and what he will do through us by the power of his Holy Spirit.

᛭ INI ᛭