SAINTS PETER & PAUL – June 29, 2008

SCRIPTURES – Ps. 89; Acts 15:1-12; Galatians 2:1-10; Matt. 10:34-42

Today we remember, honor, and give thanks to God for two great leaders in the Church of Jesus Christ: Peter and Paul, two men who were put to death because of their faith in Jesus. These men are known for their faithfulness in testifying to Jesus as the Son of God and Savior. Both traveled extensively to preach the good news about Jesus, with Paul, who traveled throughout the Mediterranean, being perhaps the greatest missionary in the history of Christianity. Both wrote about Jesus: Peter gave us two letters in the New Testament, and is probably the source for the Gospel of Mark; Paul has given us about half of the New Testament, as he wrote most of its letters. Both men were also rather combative and argumentative. This morning in our first two readings we hear about disputes in which they were involved. Paul tells us in his letter to the Galatians that they even argued with each other.

Arguments; dissensions; although we might think that they should have no place in the Christian faith – after all, Jesus welcomed everyone to Him and told us that we are to love even our enemies – we find dissensions and great disagreements, sometimes resulting in church splits and even bloodshed, littering the history of the Christian Church.

q   Our 1^st lesson from Acts 15 tells us of some men from the party of the Pharisees rising up and demanding that Gentile converts be circumcised and made to follow the laws of Moses. These men were Christians, fellow believers. There was such a great disagreement and division that the apostles and other leaders of the Church had to gather in Jerusalem to settle it.

q   A couple of centuries later a division within Christianity over who Jesus is – is He true God, one with the Father, or is He less than God the Father? – was threatening to divide the entire Roman empire. It was resolved by the Emperor Constantine calling for a meeting of 220 bishops of the Church in the city of Nicea to study the Bible and come up with a resolution. They composed the Nicene Creed as the confession of the correct teaching of the Bible about Jesus.

q   Then, of course, there was the great division of the 16^th century: the questioning of some of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church by Martin Luther, his subsequent excommunication, and the formation of the Lutheran Church and other Churches. The Reformation not only divided Christianity; Europe itself was divided.

And, lest we think that we in the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod are pure as the driven snow and above the fray, we have our own history to consider. We began with division, and then dissension. Our Church began in northern Germany, in Saxony, in the 1820’s. The Christian faith was suffering greatly in those days from a movement called “Rationalism.” Man’s reason ruled. In the Church, mystery gave way to reason, worship and reverence to instruction. And so, for instance, when a Rationalist Lutheran pastor (and most were Rationalists) preached on Christ’s parable of the sower, in which Jesus compares God’s Word to seed that is scattered and grows, he would talk about how and when to plant crops. Sermons became long and dull lectures, worship became drudgery, and the people stopped going to church.

 

But then there came a Pastor named Martin Stephan. He believed the Bible to be true. He began preaching about Jesus as our God and Savior, and calling people to turn to Him. His preaching inspired people and drew many, to the consternation of both church and governmental officials. They pressured him to stop preaching and teaching, and so he began to teach people in the middle of the night. Eventually, the pressure became so bad that he decided the only thing to do was to leave. He persuaded about 800 people to join him, and in 1838 these Lutherans boarded five ships and sailed for the United States.

 

Before they arrived, the pastors among the people – among whom was C.F.W. Walther, who would become the 1^st President of the Missouri Synod – wrote up a document in which they named Pastor Stephan their bishop. It began:

“Right Reverend Sir, Beloved Father in Christ: Your Reverence has, according to the gracious council of God, remained standing as the last, unshakable pillar on the ruins of the now devastated Lutheran Church in Germany…” They referred to him as “highest shepherd of souls.” They asked him: “Accept, Reverend Father,… the office of bishop among us, bestowed upon you by God, and grant that we may now already express with this name our unqualified confidence in your fatherly love and pastoral faithfulness toward us, and the assurance of our sincere, complete, and childlike obedience toward you.”

They also promised him:

“we solemnly pledge ourselves… to submit with Christian willingness and sincerity to the ordinances, decrees, and measures of his Reverence in respect to both ecclesiastical and community affairs…”

In other words, they would obey not only what Bishop Stephan taught from the Bible but also his rules regarding how they organized their new communities. Whew! Such high regard they had for him. They made him a new Pope!

 

And then, shortly after they landed just south of St. Louis, several women came forward and confessed to having committed adultery with Bishop Stephan. This was investigated and found to be true. The people were devastated. In their anger, they ousted Bishop Stephan, threw him into a boat, and sent him away. And then, in their sorrow, they wondered: having left the Church in Germany, are we really God’s people, Christ’s Church? Are our pastors valid? Or, are we just pretending?

 

Why do I bring all this up on this celebration of Saints Peter and Paul? What are we to make of this? What are we to do?

 

Today, many point to the history of such disagreements and divisions and conclude that there is no certainty, no truth; or, that truth cannot be known. And so, beliefs should be left up to the individual. After all, even the Apostle Paul speaks of the “freedom that we have in Christ Jesus.” This freedom must be emphasized.

 

Today’s Christians have embraced this freedom. Many feel no need to go to church and hear the Word of God, and yet feel that they have a good relationship with Jesus, that they are ok with God. Many think that they are free to live however they want. “What does the Bible say?” or “What would Jesus do?” are not the final say. 

How was that first disagreement that threatened Christ’s Church, the question of whether Gentile converts should be circumcised and made to follow the laws of Moses, settled? Peter stands up and says: “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.” The Word of the Gospel, the teaching of and about Jesus, gives faith, says Peter. By this faith, and not circumcision or any obedience of ours, are our hearts are cleansed, made pure and clean before God. But, such faith is “by my mouth,” says Peter. Faith is created by and rests upon God’s words. For, Jesus promised, “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.” This means that when His words are read and sung and preached here, they’re not just words, just blabbering. Christ Himself is present. Through the words of the Bible He and His Father are heard and received. This, ultimately, is what brought our Lutheran forebears through their crisis of faith. They studied the Word of God, and God assured them of His love, His favor, and His presence among them in Christ. 

Hold onto the words of God, especially when opposition arises. They will bring division. We should expect this, for Jesus Himself said: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” His words cut like a sword and hurt. For this reason, many will not listen to them or accept them. 

But, like a surgeon’s scalpel, they cut in order to heal. Jesus reveals our sins in order to forgive and heal us. Do not fear His words, or the dissension and division they bring. Jesus is drawing you away from yourself and your works to Himself: His life of good works, His death as payment for your sins, and His resurrection as your new life. “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it,” Jesus promises. 

Peter and Paul, two stubborn and argumentative men, found that life in Christ, and they enjoy it now in heaven. God cleansed their hearts by faith in Jesus and brought forth great works of faith through them, works that help us to this day. By His holy Word He will continually cleanse our hearts by faith and bring forth great things through us, also, for we have the same Savior, Jesus Christ, our Lord. To Him be honor and glory forever!