Confessing Christ Before Man (Sermon for the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul: June 29, 2025)

Texts:  Psalm 46

Acts 15:1–21

Galatians 2:1–10

Matthew 16:13–19

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

The text that serves as the foundation for our sermon for today is our antiphon to our Introit, “I will speak of your testimonies before kings, [O Lord,] and shall not be put to shame” (Psalm 119:46).

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus,

June 29th—the day on which the church has historically celebrated the Martyrdom of St. Peter and St. Paul. Tradition holds that on the same day in the year AD 64 both Peter and Paul were executed because of their confession of Christ. Emperor Nero was wanting to blame the Great Fire of Rome on the Christians, and, as sign of this, he killed the two great leaders whom he had in prison. Peter traditionally was said to have been crucified upside down at his request, as he did not want his crucifixion to be confused with his Lord’s. At the same time, Paul was beheaded. Yet both willingly were imprisoned and died for the sake of the Gospel. Both followed their Lord and Savior unto death knowing that waiting for them was the crown of life. So it is with us. It is no secret that the world hates us for our faith. Yet, today, as everyday, we hear that call to follow Christ’s example, forsake the world, and bear witness even if it means death. Today in our readings we learn that God calls us to confess before men all that He has done to save us.

Let us pray: Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, you desire that all would come to know who You are and the salvation that comes through Your Son’s death on the cross for the sins of all mankind. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer, that we may always faithfully confess You before men as St. Peter and St. Paul did, fearing neither death nor persecution, knowing that You have taken care of salvation for us, so that all might come to a right and saving faith in You; through Your Son’s name we pray. Amen.

It is easy to try to be silent before men, especially as our world seems to become more and more hostile towards Christians. As we look around the world, as we look around Christendom, there seems to be this growing idea, especially among many online Christians, that want to say, “You know what? Let's leave the sinful world to itself. Let's withdraw. Keep our heads down. Mind our own business. Let them suffer. Let them burn. We will take care of ourselves.” These people—good, faithful, well-meaning people who put forward this idea of Christians withdrawing from the society—is a dangerous group because if the church had withdrawn from the society, well then, the church never would have spread. Imagine back that first Pentecost. The twelve gathered still in the upper room praying. The Holy Spirit comes on them. Imagine if instead of going out and sharing the gospel with the crowd, they just went off into the desert, kept to themselves, and did nothing. Instead of 3,000 souls being baptized, the church effectively would have died then and there. In our first reading for today from the book of Acts, we see Saint Peter and Saint Paul together at the Council of Jerusalem. Controversy had arisen. Should the Gentiles have to be circumcised or not? Imagine if they hadn't gotten together. The church effectively split. Disunity so early on in the fledgling church. 1700 years ago this month, Christians were meeting in Nicaea. They were called there by Emperor Constantine. Christianity was now finally legalized. And so they gathered. They gathered in Nicaea to discuss what it meant to be Christian. What was the confession of faith that they were to have if the Christian church was going to gather? If the Christian church was going to remain? Imagine if they hadn't. The fractured church that came out of the two hundred years of persecution preceding would have just continued on. Even just a couple weeks ago, all of the churches in the Indiana district met to share and to make sure that we're all still working together for the sake of the Gospel.

Yet it's so easy in our world to try to be silent. Sure, it's easy when you get the safety of a large group of numbers, but what about yourself? What about in your own daily interactions? I know as a kid in high school, as on my college campuses, it was at times easier to be silent about what I believed than it was to be vocal about it. It was easier to keep quiet, to not get my head, stick my head out. when groups saying anti-Christian things were being quite vocal.

And yet this is not what God has called us to do. This is not what we, dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, are called to do because we have the one who suffered for us. Jesus is the Christ. He is the One promised from of old. He's the One promised in the Garden of Eden, promised to the serpent that God would send one who would crush Satan. Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, promised to Judah, promised to David. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God who suffered under Pontius Pilate and died for us men and for our salvation, who took your sins, my sins, the sins of all humanity upon himself at the cross, suffered and died for that. Even the times that we protect our own neck. Even the times that we don't speak up about our Christian faith. Christ even suffered and died for that. Because that's how great His love is for us. That is how great His desire to reconcile us to the Father is. that even in the times by our actions or our inactions we deny Him, He still forgives us. He still has won for us salvation. He has given us His Holy Spirit in the waters of Holy Baptism who comes and dwells in us. That same Holy Spirit that was poured out upon the Apostles that first Pentecost, that same Holy Spirit that emboldened them to go out and make that confession even unto death just as Saint Peter and Saint Paul were killed for the faith, that same Holy Spirit has been given to each and every one of you to enable you to go out and make that same bold confession.

“I will speak of your testimonies before kings, [O Lord,] and shall not be put to shame. I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations” Psalm 119:46, Psalm 89:1). This is what each and every one of us here is called to do. You may not do it in the way that Saint Peter and Saint Paul did, going out to many and various nations, going out and proclaiming to them, converting hundreds and thousands at a time. You may not do it even by being put to death for the sake of this confession and gospel. The confession you make is nonetheless important. The confession that you make is no less crucial as you make that confession starting in your own homes, to your children, to your grandchildren, to your friends, to your family, to your neighbors, as you make that confession to them in what you do and how you live, in your words and your deeds, as you confess before them that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. You never know what impact your words and actions will have. And all this we can do knowing that no matter what persecution may come, whether that's we lose a few friends or we lose our life. God has already won for us the crown of life and more. God has already won the victory for us in His son's death on the cross. And therefore no matter what happens, we already have the victory through Him.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, Peter and Paul were able to make the faithful confession not by their own strength but because of the work of the Holy Spirit in them. They were able to confess that both in their lives and in their deaths. Throughout the last 2000 years, Christians have been making that same faithful confession of faith, facing all, even death, rather than falling away from the faith. Today, we are still called to make that same confession of faith. We may not die because of our faith, but we fully acknowledge that as a possibility. In your confirmation vows, you were asked, “Do you intend to live according to the Word of God, and in faith, word, and deed to remain true to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit even to death?” and again, “Do you intend to continue steadfast in this confession and Church and to suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from it?” To both of those you answered then, as I’m sure you do now, “I do, by the grace of God.” By the grace of God, may you continue in that confession today and everyday. May God, who have begun this good work in you, bring it to completion at the Day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Now may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.