I Will Build My Church

I Will Build My Church

Colossians 1:15-23

Matthew 16:13-18

He is Risen!

He is Risen indeed! Halleluiah!

Grace, Mercy, and Peace to each and every one of you in the name of our Risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I am Steve Garrabrant, and I am blessed to serve as Vicar here at Gloria Dei and the Head of School at Lutheran South Academy.

Friends, today is a very special day in the life of our congregation, but more importantly, an opportunity for you to take this next step in growing in your faith and understanding of who Jesus is and what He has done and is doing for you!!!! Today, you are re-affirming the belief and promises made for you in your baptism, but today, you are saying that they are mine!

This is also a very special day for moms and dads, grandparents, aunts, uncles, God-parents, extended family and friends (take a look around you….) as they are watching what God is doing in you since your baptism. And so, as we celebrate this day with them, I pray that each you (congregation) will also hear these words and apply them in your own life. What does your faith in Jesus Christ and your confession of Him as Lord and Savior mean to you?

But first, I want to take you back to your youth perhaps…help me out a bit with this…

Little pig…little pig…let me in!

Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin!

Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I will blow your house in!

You remember that, don’t you! The big bad wolf on the prowl to terrorize those 3 little pigs. And he huffs and he puffs and he blows down a house made of straw…he then blows down a house made of sticks…but he is not able to blow down a house made of bricks!

The big bad wolf could not do it. The structure was too strong. The foundation was too strong.

In our Gospel reading this morning, we heard about the strong foundation of the church.

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 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. 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. (Matthew 16:13-18)

You see, the Church is built upon the rock. The rock is the foundation.

The rock is not Peter.

Rather, the rock is Peter’s confession.

In our text, Jesus used a play on words. Peter in Greek is a masculine noun, petros. Rock is a feminine word, petra. Jesus did not mean that He would build His church on the person of Peter, but that He would build His church on the confession Peter had just made….about the true rock…..the truth that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God”

Basically, Jesus was saying, “Peter, your name means rock. But you’re not the rock on which the Church is founded; that Rock is My Father. But Peter, you are the rock, or the initial foundation stone of the whole church. Peter, you are the first one to discover and grasp who I am… Therefore, you are the first stone, one in a tremendous group of living stones, that I will call My Church. And in ages to come, everyone who makes this same discovery, this same confession is another living stone added to Christ’s Church.

You see, that is how the church is built…People receive the forgiveness that God offers through His Son, Jesus Christ…Forgiveness for people who think that they could never be forgiven…Forgiveness to take away the guilt, the stain, the anger, the bitterness, the sting of past mistakes…to be washed away and remembered no more…

But Jesus said that this is “MY” church. It is to be built on Him and that cross that assures all believers of the incredible peace, hope, and joy that comes through the forgiveness of sins. The church is not built on programs, social ministry, buildings, finances, people, a pastor…but rather the church is built on the forgiveness of sins and on the peace with God that He has achieved for us, because He is “the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God!”

And, all of this is done in Jesus…through Jesus…by Jesus. Jesus, says, “I will build my church.”

And, in the building of His church, Jesus asks, “But who do yousay that I am?”

Peter responded with a confession that is the sure, strong, true rock that Jesus is the Christ—the Son of the living God. Is that yourconfession, too?

Friends, we are Easter people! He is Risen…He is Risen indeed Halleluiah!

Friends, we are also creedal people. We believe in something. We confess something. We, like Peter, confess in the truth that Jesus is the Christ—the Son of the living God. We confess this because we are the Church!

The creeds to which we confess our faith together as one voice—one Church—the bride of Christ—are all a confession of beliefs about what we believe God to be.

The Apostles Creed and Nicene Creed both use “I believe” in its confessional statements.

Think about that…I believe…what we believe…what these creeds center upon…what our Gospel text sheds light upon…all deal with the confession of who is God…who is Jesus…who do we say Jesus is—Jesus is the Christ—the Son of the living God!

It’s what we believe about God’s story.

We confess God’s story and the role of Jesus as confessed by Peter and our connection to that all-encompassing story. When I talk about our connection to that master story, I liken it to what I talk with our seniors before their graduation from high school—that it is all about you but not just about you. It’s your graduation but someone—most likely your parents and grandparents—they are coming to watch you and they have supported you all along your high school journey—and so when you walk across that stage—yes it is about you but not just about you!

In the same way, confirmands, your confirmation is about you but not just about you! It is your confirmation. It is your celebration of your confession of faith. It is your faithful conviction of who Jesus is. But it is also about the Church at large. The Church at your baptism vowed with the help of God to bring you up in the faith. The Church has walked side by side with you in your instruction. The Church has prayed for you. The Church is confessing along with you—that Jesus is the Christ—the Son of the living God!

In the same way, your connection to God’s story is about you but not just about you!

So, what is God’s story?

Paul in his letter to the Corinthian church sheds light on what is God’s story:

Paul says, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.” (Colossians 1:15-23)

This is God’s story…

God created all things. He created all things by speaking them into existence. His Word was present at creation. And then He created man and woman special from the rest of creation. He shaped man from the dust of the ground. He formed woman from the rib of man. And everything He created was perfect.

But, sin entered into God’s perfect creation. And sin brought a curse. And sin brought death. And God’s perfect creation was cursed. And man and woman that were created in the image of God were lost into sin and now were subject to disease and to death.

But God loved his creation so much that He promised to send a savior to reclaim His creation and redeem man and woman.

And throughout the Old Testament, God made promises with men like Abraham and David and despite His covenant promises, man continued to sin and stray away from God.

But God continue to love his creation so much, that in the fullness of time—at the right time, God sent His son to enter the world. The Incarnate Christ took on flesh. The Word of God at creation became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

Yes, Jesus came into the world to fulfill the promises and covenants made by God.

For from his fullness, we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:16-17)

And Jesus the Christ—the Son of the living God—came into the world to fulfill God’s love of His creation. He came to reclaim God’s creation. He came to redeem God’s people. He came to give forgiveness, and life, and salvation to God’s people…to God’s church…to you and to me.

And so, Christ journeyed to the cross. He sojourned to the cursed tree to reclaim the cursed creation. He sojourned to the cross to take upon his shoulders the sins of the world. He took upon God’s wrath of sin so that we would be spared. Christ the sinless took our sins, so that we sinners would be righteous in Christ.

And Christ died. He was laid in the tomb. And on the third day He rose from the dead. Sin was defeated. Death was defeated. Satan was defeated. He is Risen…He is Risen Indeed…Halleluiah!

And later this morning, we live the story. We participate in the story. We receive the true body and the true blood of Christ—the Son of the living God—in, with, and under the bread and the wine. And we receive that which Christ won for us on the cross—forgiveness, life, and salvation!

And Christ ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.

And that is God’s story. The story of creation. The story of reclamation and redemption. The story of glory and everlasting eternal life. And we are a part of His story.

And the grace and truth that came through Jesus Christ is our truth. It is the truth that we confess that Jesus is the Christ—the Son of the living God.

3 John 4 tells us I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. That is definitely my joy. To know my children Jonah, Eli, and Silas walk in the truth…to know that each and every one of you walk in the truth…to know that our confirmands walk in the truth in our confession that Jesus is the Christ—the Son of the living God.

This morning there are prayer cards with the confirmands’ name on them that you can pick up when you leave worship. We get the opportunity as Jesus’ Church to continue to lift up in prayer our confirmands as they continue to walk in His truth.

Jesus is the Truth.

Chapter 7 of Matthew tells about the rock of this truth: “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a 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.” (Matthew 7:24-27)

Kind of reminds you of the 3 little pigs doesn’t it?!?

Little pig…little pig…let me in!

Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin!

Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I will blow your house in!

But Truth prevails. Christ prevails. The rock of the Church’s confession prevails. Jesus is the Christ—the Son of the living God. And just like the big bad wolf who could not take down the strong house, Satan and the gates of hell cannot prevail against the confession of the Church. For the Son of the living God is the rock and the Truth and He prevails and has victory...and, it is He who builds His church! Praise be to God. Amen.