Peter Metzger

August 23, 2026

Confessing Christ Bulletproofs Your Faith

Peter Metzger

August 23, 2026

Matthew 16:13-20

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Confessing Christ Bulletproofs Your Faith

Over the years, there have been several times when my security was in question. I was a block away from a car bomb that exploded in Bulgaria. I’ve had thieves try to pry the bars off the windows of my house. My apartment was broken into and my computer stolen. My identity has been stolen and thousands of dollars charged to my credit card.

We live in a dangerous world, with threats all around us. Some of them are bigger than others. They can take different shapes and come in various frequencies, but they’re there – an ever-present reality in life. So, the question is, How can you stay safe? How can you keep secure? Updating your passwords helps. Installing a security system with alarms and cameras will go a long way. Locking your door is a great place to start.

That works for your stuff, but what about your faith? How can you keep your faith safe? How can you be secure in what you believe? Jesus told us in our Gospel today. He told us the one thing that will ensure that gates of Hades themselves will not persevere – that we will overcome hell, death, and the devil. The question is, How? The answer is, Who.

Jesus asked his disciples: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”[1]

To which they replied: “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”[2]

Now, obviously, Jesus wasn’t any of those people, if only for the fact that according to the Bible there’s no such thing as reincarnation. A man is destined to die once and return to the Lord. But without getting lost in the weeds, what I will say is that there is a certain logic to all three.

Jesus and John the Baptist preached the exact same message: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” Malachi prophesied that another Elijah would come to announce the arrival of the Saviour; it’s just that that “Elijah” was John, not Jesus. And when you compare Jesus to the prophets it’s clear that they all spoke from God and that they all did things that only people touched by God could do.

All three options make a certain sense. They are all informed by both the Bible and observation. But they’re still all miles away from reality.

So, Jesus shifts his focus from what the people are saying to what his disciples believe: “But what about you? Who do you say I am?”[3] And Peter knocks it out of the park: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”[4]

This is our answer to how we can be secure and safe in our faith! Jesus explains: “I tell you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”[5]

Jesus is making a play on words. In Greek, the name Peter is Πέτρος, which means “rock” or “stone.” But just like we have different words for rock and stone and pebble and boulder, so does Greek. Πέτρος is the word Jesus uses for Peter; πέτρᾳ is the word he uses for the foundation of his church, which helps us to understand that Jesus doesn’t build his church on Peter; he builds his church on what Peter just said, i.e. that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. And it’s that confession that bulletproofs your faith.

Now, this sentence may not be as groundbreaking to you as it was 2,000 years ago. After all, you walked into a “Christian” church today and I would guess that you expected to hear about Jesus, because Jesus is the Christ. It’s a fact that has been known worldwide for centuries. You’ll even hear those two words coming out of the mouths of complete unbelievers when they stub their toe.

That Jesus is the Christ is not new or novel. But what that means is still not always clear. If we were to take a survey of our neighbourhood and ask that simple question, Who is Jesus Christ? you’d get all kinds of different answers. He’s a teacher; a moral role model. You might even hear that Jesus was a social justice pioneer, or that he is a figment of Christians’ collective imaginations.

But, like Jesus, I’m not so much concerned about what the world thinks about Jesus. I care about what you believe about him. Who do you say he is?

Now, I believe it when you confess that Jesus is much more than a teacher or a role model or a spiritual guru. I believe you when you confess that Jesus is your Saviour. But I also know me and I’m all too familiar with the human condition of actions not always matching up with confession.

If Jesus is your Saviour from sin, then why do you keep rushing headlong into it, even when you should know better? If we believe what we sang in our last hymn – that our salvation and hope is found in Christ alone – then why is it that before we confess our sin and throw ourselves at his mercy, we try to fix it first or justify our behaviour or ask for his help to overcome, as if all we need is just that little extra push instead of the completely new heart we need him to create inside of us?

You and I may sincerely confess that Jesus is the Christ, our Saviour, but our behaviour often betrays what we think that means. And whether we imagine Jesus as the guy who gets faith started and then walks away to let us take it from there, or that Jesus waits for our best effort to be exhausted before carrying us over the finish line – if we think of Jesus in any way less than our complete and sole Saviour from our own sin, than we may as well think that he was John the Baptist or Elijah or one of the prophets.

When it comes to the identity of the Christ, close isn’t close enough. Even the next nearest approximation is still miles away from salvation. Without Jesus being our Saviour from ourselves, then we are lost in our sin.

But that is who Jesus is, and that’s what it means that he is the Christ. If our problem is thinking too little of Jesus as our Saviour and too much of ourselves that we need to be helped more than saved, then Jesus is the exact opposite. He didn’t think too much of himself that he didn’t need to get involved in the mess that we made. Instead, he willingly endured ignorance and skepticism and doubt. He willingly exposed himself to rejection and hatred and death.

Jesus didn’t think too much of himself to refuse to be your Saviour, because in love Jesus couldn’t think of you enough. You are all that he had in mind when he confronted confusion about the Christ. You are all that he had in mind when he climbed his cross. He thought so much of you that the Son of the living God was willing to live and die as a man, so that all humans could live through the forgiveness he won for us on the cross.

Jesus lived up to the name of Christ. He is your Saviour from yourself and your sin, so that you could live with the Son of the living God forever in heaven.

It’s no wonder that Jesus would say to Peter: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.”[6] In the same way you are blessed with this knowledge that Jesus is the Christ. And even though a man is saying those words to you today, it’s the Holy Spirit sent by the Father into your heart to enable you to believe it. That’s God’s ongoing gift of grace to you every day, that even though Jesus came as the Christ 2,000 years ago, he still continues to come to you every time you hear his name proclaimed.

Which is why it is so important that we confess that name. There are still so many people who don’t know who Jesus is or who are so close, but still so far away. It’s only through the confession of Christians that Jesus’ saving name is still proclaimed for the salvation of all who believe.

It’s important that we confess his name for others. It’s also important to confess that Jesus is the Christ to bulletproof your faith.

One of the devil’s favourite temptations is to convince you that Jesus is in any way short of your Saviour, whether that is by stoking your pride to the point that you don’t feel like you need a Saviour – that you’re not irretrievably lost or as bad off as others are – or by sowing the seed of doubt that you’re too far gone to be brought back. The devil loves to try to convince you that Jesus is in any way short of your Saviour.

But when you confess him to be the Christ, you bulletproof your faith by holding God to his promise – the promise he made to Adam and Eve and Abraham and David, the promise he made through Elijah and Jeremiah and John the Baptist – that Jesus is the Son of God, the Lamb of God, your long-promised Saviour. None of us is so great that we don’t need him. And no amount of sin is too great to be forgiven by him. Jesus is the Christ and that makes him your Saviour. And it’s that confession that makes your faith secure.

It’s no big secret. It’s not complex. There is no padlock or antivirus or alarm system you can install that would make you safer than your confession that Jesus is your Saviour. That’s why this truth is the most important truth, the chief article of our faith, and the foundation of God’s church. Jesus is the Christ, and therefore also your confidence and security in faith and life, now and forever. Amen.

[1] Matthew 16:13

[2] Matthew 16:14

[3] Matthew 16:15

[4] Matthew 16:16

[5] Matthew 16:18

[6] Matthew 16:17

Peter Metzger

August 16, 2026

Is Everyone Really Welcome Here?

Peter Metzger

August 16, 2026

Ephesians 2:13-22

13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Is Everyone Really Welcome Here?

There was a church I used to drive by every day on my way to work. It had a big neon sign hanging in the window above the front door, with just two words: Everyone Welcome! It’s a beautiful sentiment, right? Coming to church can be so hard, for all kinds of reasons, for all kinds of people.

Some of you have told me that you were afraid that lightning was going to strike you down as soon as you crossed the threshold – because of how long it had been since you had last been in church. Many of you walked through those front doors the first time without knowing a soul inside. How scary is that wherever you go, let alone a church!

Even for some of you who have been walking through those doors for years, coming to church can be hard because of the grief you’ve been carrying all week; because you know that you haven’t lived up to your own standard this week, let alone God’s; because you’re tired – physically, mentally, spiritually – and you’re not sure if you’re up for the effort.

Coming to church can be hard, which is why a sign like “Everyone Welcome!” hanging over the front door can be a wonderful message.

Maybe I’m cynical, but that wasn’t my first thought – or my repeated thought every time I drove past that church. My thought was, “Isn’t that what every church would say?” “Is there a church out there that would say, ‘Only the right kind of people are welcome’?” “Would anyone ever be bold enough to say, ‘You aren’t welcome here’?”

The answer, sadly, is, Yes. And sadder still, of all places, it happened in the temple of the Lord. They didn’t have neon signs back in Herod’s day but they did have something called the “Soreg.” The Soreg was a literal dividing wall that separated the inner courts of the temple from the outer court of the Gentiles.

The inner courts are where all the good stuff happened: where the priests would pray and offer sacrifices; where you would find the altar, past that the Holy Place with its lamp stands and show bread and altar of incense, and at the centre of it all, the Most Holy Place, where the ark of the covenant sat as the visible throne of God.

The inner courts are where all the good stuff happened. The outer courts are where the Gentiles were kept at arm’s length. And the Soreg is what separated them. It was the ancient version of a velvet rope that separated the worthy from the unworthy, the VIPs from the please-go-aways. And the worst of it is that of all the beautiful things that God baked into the blueprints of his dwelling place on earth, the Soreg was never part of God’s design.

We heard God’s design this morning: “Foreigners who… love the name of the Lord – these I will give joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”[1]

God had always wanted his temple to be a house of prayer for all nations, not just the Jews. And yet, the Jews still built that Soreg, because they couldn’t abide the thought that after all their long years of obedience to God’s commands, these Gentile outsiders, who weren’t circumcised, who ate unclean food, who didn’t dress the right way – who, in short, didn’t put in nearly the same effort – could in any way be considered on the same level as them.

It’s a good thing we don’t live back then, right? It’s a good thing we don’t have a velvet rope at the door of our sanctuary. Technically speaking, anyway.

But is there a velvet rope in your heart? Who would you have a hard time welcoming here – welcoming into the inner circle of your church family? Is it the person who doesn’t look like you, or talk or act or dress like you? Is it the person who from your perspective isn’t putting in the effort or hasn’t done the work? Is it the person who hurt you or who doesn’t share your values or even your lifestyle?

We may not set up literal velvet ropes or brick and mortar barriers, but we still live in a world divided by our own hostility, by the differences that separate the “insiders” from the “outsiders,” that divide “us” from “them.”

And in that way, we’re no better than the Jews of Jesus’ day. They assumed this air of superiority, i.e. they thought they were better than the Gentiles because they put in more effort than the Gentiles and they despised them for it, viewed them as second class citizens. And you can imagine how that would make the Gentiles feel – resentful, bitter, disillusioned by the thinly veiled hypocrisy of the so-called Chosen People of God. It’s no wonder they were divided.

But that’s exactly why Jesus came. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.[2]

Paul is talking to Gentiles, to people like you and me who didn’t grow up in orthodox Judaism with all its rites and ceremonies, who for centuries were held at arm’s length on the outside. Paul is saying that Gentiles – non-Jews – have complete access to God too.

But here’s the thing about this sentence, it applies to everyone no matter what your background is. You don’t have to be a Gentile or someone who’s never been to church before. You can be a lifelong Christian who’s made every effort to lead a Christian life, and Paul wants you to know that you were once far away too. You just might not have known it.

Leading a Christian life has never the pathway to God. No one has ever been able to earn God’s approval by their actions. The point of all the commands God gives us is to show us that we could never keep them, to keep us humble and honest about our own weaknesses and failure and sin, to remind you that no matter where you are today, you weren’t always there. There was a time when you were once far away from God too.

And as hard as that is for us to accept – as much as our self-righteous inner Pharisee wants to object – this honest humility finally allows us to see two beautiful gifts God gives us through the cross of Christ: For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations.

His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.[3]

Jesus came to be peace and to bring unity, so that no matter who you are, where you’re from, what you’ve done, you can know that you belong here and that we all belong together, and that whatever former hostility, animosity, disagreement or disunity once stood between us now stays at the door, because we are all united by the cross. Which is the bigger benefit by far.

As great as getting along with each other is, we all needed peace with God, because we’re all sinners. We each bring different guilt to the table, e.g. sinful lifestyles we gave ourselves over to in the past, secret sins we still indulge today. But Jesus reconciled all to God through the cross.

Picture it – two disparate groups, several segments of society that struggle even to coexist, all being loved by Jesus, who set aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. God commands were never the path to heaven, because we could never keep them. But Jesus did, for you. He obeyed every one perfectly in your place, so that when he died, his perfection could be applied to you.

The sinless Son of God came to earth to climb a cross and extend his arms in both directions, taking on himself the self-righteous sins of the “insider” and the helpless sins of the “outsider” and die for them both, i.e. to pay for them, so that he could pave the way for you to your Father in heaven. So that you can live at peace with each other, but especially with your God knowing that your guilt is forgiven and your sins atoned for. You have been reconciled to God through the cross of his Son Jesus Christ.

And that allows you, now, to look at yourself and each other differently. There are no “insiders” or “outsiders.” You are no longer foreigners and strangers.[4] We are all fellow citizens together and members of God’s household together – not because we’re all human, not because all paths lead to God, but specifically because we are being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.[5]

Jesus and his cross and – and the Word of God that publicly proclaims it – fashions us into that one new humanity Jesus died to create.

So don’t let old differences divide you. Don’t subvert the sacrifice of Christ or take him off the cross of peace by continuing to live at odds with each other or looking askance at people who look or act differently than you. Don’t forfeit your forgiveness by refusing it to those who have wronged you.

Instead rejoice in the reality that though you were once far away, now you have been brought near and that’s true of everyone here. You have been brought near, both to each other by a common faith, but also and especially to God through your common Saviour.

Everyone is welcome here. And even though we don’t have it shining in neon above our front door, we have a better sign there. It’s the cross of Jesus, where God declares that sinners are welcome, because it’s here in his house that you are reconciled to him and you are being built into his holy temple in which he lives by his Spirit.

You are at peace with God. Live in peace with each other. Your peace is Jesus. Amen.

[1] Isaiah 56:6,7

[2] Ephesians 2:13

[3] Ephesians 2:14-16

[4] Ephesians 2:19

[5] Ephesians 2:20