THE FEAST OF ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL
29 June Anno + Domini 2008
"The Good Confessionâ€
Matthew 16:13-19
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
We remember this day the blessed Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, missionary preachers to the Jews and Gentiles. We thank God for them. For they were men obsessed not with speculation about what Jesus would do or about how we should behave or believe. They were men inspired by God to care for nothing but the saving reality of who Jesus is. Red adorns the altar this day to remind us of the blood that these faithful men shed, but also, more importantly, to remind us of the Blood by which they were transferred into heaven. For that Blood, shed for them and for us, by God in our Flesh, is also poured forth this day from the Chalice to cleanse your lips and inspire your confession.
For it is what men say that reveals who they are. None of us really has the ability to conceal what is in our heart. It always comes out in the end. That is why we try to cover up so much. That is why spin doctors exist, because no politician has yet been born who could keep his mouth shut. How many times have you pretended that you forgot something that you hadn't? How many times have you pretended that you didn't mean what you said, when you did? How many times have you feigned shock and hurt because you had been misinterpreted, when you hadn't? How many times have you used the same lips with which you praise your Lord here in the Divine Service to gossip and bad-mouth your brothers and sisters in Christ behind their back?
It is "what comes out of the mouth that defiles a man." Because the mouth reveals the heart. If you cannot tell the truth about the simplest things; if you always color the facts, exaggerate, and edit; if you tell other people's stories as though they were your own; if you act like you are better than you are; if you put on a different face at church than the one you wear outside of church; if all this causes you to feel deep down inside like a phony, it is because your heart is black with sin. Repent. There is hope for you - for even you.
For notice this: Our Lord did not ask St. Peter what he was doing, whether his life was in order, whether he was improving the world, whether he was trying hard and making a difference, or whether he was honest. For the Kingdom of God is not built upon the good works of men. Nor did Our Lord ask Peter what he believed, if he was rational or consistent, if his theology was accurate. For the Kingdom of God is not built upon faith. Jesus asked Peter, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter's answer was not his own. Flesh and blood did not reveal it to him. The Spirit who once hovered over the primordial chaotic waters of the universe, who lit upon the Messiah in the form of a dove, opened Peter's lips. Out came the Word of God: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Upon this, the Word of God, the revelation of His love in the Messiah, on the lips of men, Christ builds His Church.
This is the way God builds. What Peter could not say, God said for Him. God purified Peter from the inside out. He entered into Peter. Sure, Peter was a sinner, a terrible sinner. He was a blow-hard, an angry man, a Pietist who tried to force his dietary laws upon freed men. But still, God loved Peter. He entered into Him and opened his lips, and cleansed those lips for confession. Peter's mouth, by grace, declared God's praise: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. That is the way God builds. He is the actor, the architect, and the builder. He even provides the material. He does for Peter what Peter could not do for himself. He gives Peter His Word.
The same is true for Paul. If calling Peter to be one of His apostles seemed like a radical thing for the Lord to do, how much more radical was it for Him to call Paul? Here is a man who was committed to destroying the Christian Church. He wanted absolutely nothing to do with Jesus, whom he considered to be a fake and a false teacher. He hated Jesus and all who followed Him. And yet, the Lord loved Paul and decided to make him the leading apostle to the Gentiles. Who could possibly deny that the conversion of Paul was completely the Lord's doing? Paul didn't make a decision to accept Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior. Instead, the Lord chose him, entered into him, and opened and cleansed his lips for confession. He did for Paul what Paul could not do for himself. He gave Paul His Word. And, Paul's mouth, like Peter's, declared God's praise. He preached Christ crucified for the rest of his life, right up to the day he was put to death for making the good confession.
Dear friends in Christ, this is how the Lord works also in you. Like St. Peter and St. Paul, there was nothing in you to attract the Lord to you. You came into this world spiritually dead, spiritually blind, and enemies of God. What's more, you could do nothing on your own to change your condition. But, the Lord loves you and chose you to be His. He did for you what you could not do for yourselves. He gave you His Word. He placed His Divine Name upon you at the baptismal font, where the Spirit Himself lit upon you, and the Son took up residence within you. He has opened and cleansed your lips, so that you can make the good confession, like Peter and Paul, and all the saints who have gone before you, declaring Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but it has been given to you from the Father by the Holy Spirit who reveals the Son.
And, the same Lord who shed His Holy and Precious Blood on the cross to atone for your sins desires that you continue to abide in Him, and He in you. Do not think that the Lord chose Sts. Peter and Paul, called them to be His, and then left it up to them to remain in His grace. If that were the case, we would not be celebrating their Feast day this morning, for they would have surely fallen away. The fact that these blessed apostles of our Lord continued steadfast in the faith until the day of their martyrdoms is solely due to their ongoing reception of the Lord's grace, mercy, and love delivered unto them through His Holy Word and Sacraments. They received forgiveness, life, and salvation, and the perseverance to make the good confession even unto death through these precious means of grace.
So it is with you, dear friends. Your Lord, the same Lord who lived and died for you, the same Lord who called you to be His, the same Lord who washed you clean in the water and Word of Holy Baptism, continues to visit you with His grace, mercy, and love here in His Holy House during the Divine Service. He comes to feed you with His Holy Word, and to strengthen and preserve you in the faith through His very Body and Blood in the Most Holy Eucharist. He does not leave you on your own, but continues to visit you with forgiveness, life, and salvation through these means of grace, that you may remain holy, righteous, and innocent in the Father's eyes.
So, come to the altar this day, dear friends, in repentance and faith. Leave your sins here upon the Lord and receive the sustenance your faith needs, so that you may be strengthened to make the good confession, declaring Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and that you may at all times be ready to lay down your life for Him who laid down His life for you. Lord, grant this unto us all. In Jesus' Holy and Precious Name. Amen.
Now the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, unto life everlasting. Amen.