Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen

Our text for today’s meditation is the Gospel reading.

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" ¹⁴ And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." ¹⁵ He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" ¹⁶ Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." ¹⁷ 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. ¹⁸ 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. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." ²⁰ Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

Jesus and the disciples were in the area north of the Sea of Galilee at the headwaters of the Jordan River. The disciples had mingled with the local people and Jesus wanted to know what their attitude was toward Him. The disciples reported that the people thought He was a prophet of God with several options as to who He might be. They regarded Him as a man of God but they didn’t regard Him high enough as the one true Son of God. Jesus turned His attention to His disciples attitude toward Him and asked who they thought He was now that they had been with Him for two years. Once again Peter is the first to step up and speak for the whole group. He gives an amazing confession "You are the Christ, the living Son of God." Christ is another word for "Anointed" or "Messiah." Either way Peter recognized Jesus as the long awaited savior of the world. Of course, Peter does not come by this confession on his own does he. Jesus is quick to give credit to the Father for revealing this truth to Peter. Luther states in his explanation of the third article of the Apostle’s Creed, "I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, My Lord, or come to him." Our children memorize this in confirmation class and affirm it at their confirmation. The apostle Paul says it is the Father that grants us faith in 1 Corinthians 12:3, it reads, "Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says "Jesus is accursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except in the Holy Spirit." Remember, the father and the Holy Spirit is one. As you can see Peter and we cannot come to faith on our own. Jesus gives Simon the name Peter which means rock and very quickly says that on this rock He will build His church. This is where the Greek language can make large distinctions with variations of the same word. Jesus distinguishes between Peter’s name, (Petros) Πέτρος, which means a rock from (Petra) πέτρᾳ, the rock on which Christ will build His church which Jesus is pointing to Peter’s clear and explicit confession of faith that Jesus is the Son of God. That confession is what the church is built on not the person of Peter. This is the passage that the Catholic Church interprets for the position of Pope which they believe to be the long line of successors to Peter.

So, what does it mean that Jesus is the Christ, the living Son of God? It means cross and crucifixion. It means resurrection and redemption. It means bread of life. It means victory in the battle against sin, death, and the devil. That victory gave us the bread of life that saved us from starvation, starvation as real as the union soldiers starving at Camp Starvation in Chattanooga in 1863.

Let’s return to Chattanooga in November of 1863, one month after the "Cracker Line" began to bring much needed food and supplies to the Union soldiers cut off in Chattanooga. With their supply line secured; in one month they received enough supplies to give the soldiers full rations and mount an attack on Lookout Mountain. They never lost sight of their mission. Their mission was not the supply line; the mission was the battle, the war. The supply line served the mission not the other way around. On November 23^rd 1863 the Union forces intercepted a message between rebel forces. This message contained rebel attack plans for November 25^th and troop strength which confirmed to the union forces that they outnumbered the rebel forces 10 to 1. The union

forces in Chattanooga surprised the rebel forces on the morning of November 24^th a day before the planned rebel attack. This battle is called the "Battle above the clouds" because a dense fog rolled in the valley and obscured the vision of the rebel forces. Ultimately the Union forces captured Lookout Mountain because they never lost sight of their mission.

Our soldiers today just like the soldiers of the Civil War take an oath when they are inducted into the military. I remember it well as some of you may too. I John Howard Ninke, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations of the Uniformed Code of Military Justice. So help me God. With this oath the soldiers are ready to receive their mission. We have an oath as Christians that is similar. In our hymnal is the Rite of Confirmation that contains a series of confessions about our faith. Most of us stood before an altar like the one here at Trinity and confessed these words before God and our congregation. With these words we, the soldiers of Christ are ready for our mission. What is our mission and do we have a secured supply line? Our mission is to proclaim that Jesus is the Christ, the living Son of God. In John 6:44 we read – "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the Prophets, 'And they will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me—". We are God’s instruments by which people hear His Word and are drawn in. I am confident that our supply line is secure. What supply line am I talking about? We know from the feeding of the five thousand that God provides the bread of life for our daily needs, we know from Jesus walking on water that God commands the earth and sky, we know from the healing of the Gentile’s daughter that through faith we are in the household of God. These supply lines and provisions are good and necessary but I contend that the supply line that Christ secured for us is the means of grace; the word of God, our Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. Through the means of grace you became a member of God’s family through baptism, you are fed with the word of God which increases your faith, and your sins are forgiven through Christ’s death and resurrection which we celebrate in the Lord’s Supper. This is your supply line and it is more secure than the gold in Fort Knox.

How do we carry out our mission to proclaim that Jesus is the Christ, the living Son of God? First and foremost, live your life as a child of God where your actions are pleasing in the sight of God. Your actions must show that you are a sincere Christian. We are here to serve our fellow men in love, to be a friend in need. Turn to the back cover of your bulletin where you see a quote from Abraham Lincoln who once said, "If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend." We have an opportunity to serve our fellow man every month at first Monday. With sincere Christian Love we give people water; it is our hope that the community will see that we are a sincere friend and that through the work of the Holy Spirit we can win them for our cause, which is Jesus the Christ, the living Son of God. We pray that our sincere efforts show Trinity Lutheran Church to be a friend to all and it will open future doors of opportunity to proclaim Christ. We can also carry out our mission just as others here at Trinity have done in the past. We can learn about how to carry out that mission from our own membership. How did most of you become a part of the body of Christ here at Trinity? Most of you were not raised in a Lutheran church, so how did you come to be here? Someone asked you to come to church with them to hear the Word of God and the Holy Spirit worked faith in you through the hearing of the Word. We can bring others into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ through our own example; ask someone to come to church with you where they will hear God’s Word.

We can go forward with our mission to proclaim the living, remember He rose from the dead and is still living, Son of God confident in our secure supply line, the means of grace. We are soldiers for Christ ready and able to carry out our mission to proclaim Jesus is the Christ, the living Son of God.

Amen