August 23, 2026 - "The Wrong Question"

August 23, 2026-OVUMC 10:30 Spirited Traditional Worship

Pastor Justin Wells

The Scriptures are Matthew 16:13-20.

To help with the cost of our ministries, please go to www.ovumc.org/donation

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:22

Oh, you come to bring peace, to be love, to be nearer to us, oh, you come to bring light, to be light, to shine brighter in us, so we met you well. In your presence, we find our trade. Over the way, we didn't just die.

SPEAKER_05 3:20

Everybody enjoy the rain that we had. Well, you know, we got rain on somehow on this and the out and not the other. But it's good to see you all here this morning. Today, on that, we were here back when we were working in the APRA, we're working with us. I love you. Alright, so I'm gonna turn over to my own.

SPEAKER_00 4:50

Grace and peace be in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, and in his name, good morning. Then you let me know if I don't have the one you were wanting. But uh several things I want to mention very quickly. You have the insert about the rededication of our fountain uh next Sunday at 10. So I encourage you to come for that. Then the Emmaus have an ice cream, this is for people, the reunion, uh, ice cream social at Seaside United Methodists today at 3. Tomorrow, Monday, we will have our first handbell practice at 6 p.m. And I don't know how many years since there was an active handbell, but it's been a lot. Janet, I I remember your name, Janet. Do you want to say anything else about handbells? And they can just show up. You're out of order. Uh and then Tuesday night is meet me at the beach. Uh at uh 6 p.m. and it's right at the pier. Did I get it? Oh, the pad, fellowship pads, yes. Uh if you would if you haven't done so already, if you would please fill out the fellowship pad in each of you. Uh that helps us to keep track of your attendance, and the reason we want to keep track of it is if all of a sudden you quit coming, we're going to check on you, make sure you're okay. And uh so that's how we can do that. And if you're a visitor, we would really appreciate you filling it out. And uh any contact information you're willing to give us uh would be greatly appreciated. Please stand as you're able for our choral introit. Please remain standing for our call to worship, which is in the bulletin or on the screen. We come with many questions carrying hopes, doubts, and dreams. Jesus asked, Who do you say that I am? Christ gathers us, not because we have all the answers, but because Christ is faithful. Come, let us worship the one who calls us to follow. And our uh hymn is five hundred and fifty-five in the hymnal forward through the ages.

SPEAKER_01 13:31

But you can't move when you're sitting back.

SPEAKER_03 13:54

Humble to a sinner's cross. You brought my shame and sent for us, you rose again, victory. Faithfulness none can deny through the storm and through the fire. There is a truth that sets me free. Jesus Christ who lives in me. You are stronger, sin is broken, you have saved me. It is written Christ is prison, Jesus, our Lord of all No beginning and no end. You're my hope and I defence. You came to speak and save the law. You made it all upon the cross. You are stronger, you are strawberry, spirit frogen, you have saved me, it is wooden crust to fruit, Jesus, a lot of all You are strawberry, you are stronger, spirit frogen, you have saved me, it is written Christmas, Jesus, a lot of all that your name, we lifted higher, be lifted higher, we lifted higher, so that your name We lifted higher, we lifted higher, we lifted higher, the journey, we lifted higher, we lifted higher, we lifted higher, the journey, we lifted higher, we lifted higher, we lifted higher, you are stronger, you are stronger, send it from you have saved me, it is risen Christ is risen, Jesus Jews, O Lord of all you are stronger, you are stronger, send it from you have saved me, it is written Christ is risen, Jesus Jews, O Lord of all.

SPEAKER_00 17:13

Maybe seated? Let us be in the spirit of prayer as we come before our God. We give thanks to you, O Lord, with our whole hearts. For your steadfast love and faithfulness endure forever. We will sing of your glory as long as we have breath. You care for us and are a present help in times of difficulty and sorrow. When we walk in times of difficulty and sorrow, you reach out your hands to deliver us. We know that you will never forsake us. For your steadfast love and faithfulness endure forever. And so we pray, Lord, that you will take our lives and consecrate them to service in your kingdom. Take our hands and feet and use us to do your works of love and righteousness in this world. Take our voices and lips that we may praise you to the world. Take our money and our intellect, that we might dedicate all that we have and all that we are to your kingdom work on earth. Take our will and make it conform to your guidance in our daily life. Take our heart and love that we might serve you with all that we have and all that we are. We pray for the church. We pray for the church throughout the world, regardless of its denomination. We pray for the United Methodist Church and specifically for our beloved Ocean View Church. Lead and guide us, that we might fulfill your desire for who we might be and how we minister to Oak Island, Brunswick County, North Carolina, the United States, and all the peoples of the world. We thank you that you have promised that the gates of hell shall not revail against your church. We pray for the sick and dying. We pray for those who mourn the death of loved ones, and those who know that death is near. We pray for those addicted to alcohol and other drugs. Pray for their families. We pray for the hungry, the homeless, and those who are mourned. We do not ask for forgiveness because we come to church, or because we tell ourselves that we are good people, or because we give to the church. Forgive us, we pray, because only the love and sacrifice of Christ on the cross can make us whole. And we give you these prayers in his name and pray together the prayer that he taught us. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. And will the ushers come forward for our offering at this time. We offer these first fruits to you, O Lord, with joy and gladness, and pray that you will bless them, that they will be of service to this world, that more people might know the love of Christ and live in His name. Amen. Our hymn is 399, Take My Life and Let It Be. 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, Don't say John the Baptist, but others, Elijah, and still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He said to them, But who do you say that I am? You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered him, Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this unto you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you lose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. This is the word of God for the people of God.

SPEAKER_02 30:51

And it's only through your house to see for my shirt I need.

SPEAKER_05 34:50

Thank you, Clark, for the beautiful music. Let us pray. Holy Spirit, open our hearts to the story of your love. Open our minds to new ways of knowing you and open our doors to all knowing you will know. May the words of your servant amount and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your sight of the Lord. Questions have a way of revealing what matters. And some questions are fairly easy. Like, what would you like to drink? Now, I am a coffee guy. I like coffee, I like my coffee shop. But I'm also one who really likes what I like. My wife calls me warning. But I can walk in the door with my cup that I bring because I like to keep my coffee warm. And they already know what I'm going to order before I even get to the cartridge. They know that I'm going to get this very specific drink every time when I bring that certain cup in. I've changed it up a little bit over the summer. I bring in a bigger cup for my cold one because I want the frat version of the same hot one that I get. So I don't even change the type of drink I get. I just get it over hot. But we all know those people or have been in the coffee shop with those people who can walk in. The server behind their counter goes, What can I get you? And they know exactly what they want. Exactly. They walk up with incredible precision, precision that I would have to practice to be able to get, and I'm going to have to read it to be able to do it correctly. They will look at them and go, I'll have a 50-hat oatmeal, two pumps of milk of hazelnut, extra hot lights on. If I was taking that word, I'd go, do what? Can we do that a little slower so that I can understand what you want? I know you know. But it's remarkable how we can't know exactly what we want. We know exactly how to ask for what we want. We can be very confident, specific, and unapologetic. We can do it without hesitation. Now, let's compare that with conversations about our faith. So you ask someone who Jesus is, and suddenly the confidence disappears. Well, um, I um I think he was a good teacher. Um religious leader, I know. Um I try to live by his example. We can become very vague and very careful and even hesitant when we answer that question. But this isn't him. We've heard it today, and it happens in Jesus' time. Matthew tells us that Jesus and the disciples have traveled to Caesarea. The location is not just a place on the map. But Matthew wants us to notice where the conversation takes place. Because here in this place it was filled with competing voices about who deserved equal loyalty. It was a home of the temples honoring Roman emperors, and there were shrines dedicated to the Greek god Khan. Everywhere you looked, someone was claiming power. Someone demanding allegiance, and someone that was promising security. Now standing in the middle of all of these voices, Jesus asked us a question. Who do the people say that the Son of Man is? And the disciples just began lifting of hands. Some say John Elapis, Elijah, some say Jeremiah or one of the prophets. So in other words, everyone had an opinion who the son of God. Two thousand years later, two thousand years later, not much of a really channel. Ask any people who Jesus is, and you might get a two different answer. Some call him the world. Some see him as a revolutionary challenge and powerful others admire him as a lot of a lot of them.

SPEAKER_04 39:39

There are some of the dismissal.

SPEAKER_05 39:43

Everyone has Jesus is not a document. Republican. He listens to the disciples. He doesn't argue with them. He simply lets them finish. But then he goes and asks the question, yeah, but he changes a word. You say that I am the conversation from the proud to the disciple from the day. From public opinion to possible conviction. And that's where faith always becomes real. You cannot inherit someone else's relationship with the right. There comes a moment when every disciple, every disciple has an answer to Jesus' question. As though he doesn't know what people already say, right? As though he is uncertain about his own identity. He's not asking for his benefit. He's asking for speaking of faith aloud has a way of shaving. Maybe what we believe forces us to wrestle with where we actually believe. So perhaps the title of today's sermon is a little misleading. Maybe it's exactly right. The one that will echo throughout the rest of this passage is who are you becoming because of who you say Jesus is? That question Peter is about to answer. Even if he doesn't answer. Before anyone else can say anything, Peter. You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God! It is one of the clearest and most important confessions of the scriptures. We hear those words so often that it is easy to miss how old they are. Peter says, You are the son of the Son. He says, You are the Messiah in the head of myself. He is not simply saying Jesus is a remarkable person. He is declaring that Jesus is the one Israel has anointed for. Some expected that strong military leader who would overthrow all. Some imagined a political king who would restore Israel's independence. Others anticipated a prophet like Moses or Elijah. We know that because just a few verses later, Jesus will begin speaking about suffering and the cross, and Peter can't accept it. But even so, in this moment, in this moment, Peter gets something profoundly right. He recognizes that Jesus is more than another prophet, more than another teacher, more than another miracle worker. Jesus is God's promised Messiah. But then Peter goes even further. He says, the Son of the living God. Now this statement stands in sharp contrast to everything that is surrounding them at this moment. Remember, they're in this place filled with temples to gods carved from stone, statues of emperors claimed who claimed divine authority. Everywhere people look were reminders of human power. Human power dressed up as divine. And Peter points to Jesus and says, in effect, not them, but you. Not the idols people have created. You are the Son of the living God. And Jesus' response is beautiful and remarkable. Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. Peter did not arrive at this confession through logic alone. He didn't solve some theological equation. This was a revelation. This was grace. And in the Wesleyan tradition, we often speak of provenient grace. Grace before we ever reach for God. And God is already reaching for us. Before we understand who Christ is, God is already at work opening our hearts and our minds. And Peter's confession is evidence that God has been working in Peter long, long before Peter realized it. And the same is true for us. Every moment of faith begins with God's initiative. Every glimpse of truth is first a gift. Then Jesus says something that Christians have discussed for centuries. You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church. Now entire libraries have been written debating what Jesus meant by Peter on this rock, I will build my church. Is Peter the rock? Is Peter's confession the rock? Is Christ the rock? These are some worthwhile conversations, but I wonder if we sometimes become so focused on identifying the rock that we forget who the builder is. Because Jesus did not say, Peter, build my church. No, he says, I will build my church. The church has never belonged to Peter. It has never belonged to bishops, denominations, or congregations. The church belongs to Christ. That should humble us and give us hope. Because if Christ is the one building the church, then its future does not rest on our perfection. Anybody perfect? I thank God it's not built on my perfection. Because if it did, the church would have collapsed centuries ago. Human beings have a remarkable ability to complicate what God intends for good. Instead, Christ builds the church with ordinary people, with fishermen, with tax collectors, with doubters, with people who get it right one moment and stumble the next. Peter is not chosen because he is flawless. He is chosen because he encountered Christ. And allowed that encounter to change him. And that brings us back to Jesus' question. Peter's confession was not the finish line, it was the beginning. By saying you are the Messiah is only the first step. The harder question is whether Peter's life will begin to reflect the confession that he just made. Now that same question comes to us. If this story ended with Peter's confession, it would make a wonderful ending. Tied up in a boat. Peter gives the right answer. Yes, for Peter. Jesus blesses him. Yes, for Peter. The church is born. Yay! Everyone lives happily ever after. Except that is not how Peter's story goes. Peter will misunderstand Jesus. He will speak when he should listen, and he still sinks while walking on water. He will still deny Jesus on the night of his arrest. Getting the answer right did not make Peter perfect. It did, however, put him on the path of transformation. For generations, the church has done a good job of asking people what they believe. Do you believe in Jesus the Christ? Yes. Do you believe in the creed? Yes. Do you believe in the Bible? Yes. Belief matters. Theology matters. What we believe shapes how we live, but sometimes we stop there. As though Christianity is simply about giving the correct answer. As though faith were a multiple choice test. And I hated this test. As though at the end of our lives, Jesus will hand us a theological exam and say, let's see how many you get right. That's not what discipleship looks like. Jesus never says, Congratulations, Peter, you passed. Instead, Jesus immediately begins leading Peter into a different way of living. Confession is never meant to end with words, it is meant to become a life. The wrong question is simple, is simply who is Jesus? That question matters. It is the foundation of our faith, but Jesus already knows who He is. So who am I becoming because of who I say Jesus is? If I confess Jesus is Lord, does my life reflect that? If Jesus is the Messiah, how does that shape the way I treat my neighbor? How does it shape the way I spend my money? How does it shape the way I speak about people with whom I disagree? How does it shape how I forgive? How in the way I welcome the stranger? How does it shape the way that I love? Those are the questions that move faith from our lips to our lives. The world has never been short on people who can talk about Jesus. Just go look at my office and you'll see tons of books. We study those different things in our different Bible studies. Podcasts have been recorded. Arguments have been hailed. Social media has become a never-ending stream of opinions about faith. Everyone seems ready to tell you what Christians should think, what churches should do, and why everyone else is wrong. So apparently the internet has ordained millions of theologians without requiring a single seminary class. It's one of humanity's more ambitious accomplishments. Jesus did not say the world will know you are my disciples because you win every argument. He said they would know us by our law. Our confession is spoken with our mouths, but our discipleship is spoken with our lives. Every act of kindness, every act of mercy, every time we choose forgiveness over revenge, compassion over indifference, welcome over exclusion, we are answering Jesus' question. Not with words, but with our lives. That's why Peter's confession matters. It is not simply the moment that he identified Jesus correctly, it is the moment his life began to belong to Christ. And that same invitation stands before us. Not merely to believe something about Jesus, but to become someone. To become someone because of Jesus. So where does all this leave us? Jesus is still asking the same question. He asked it in Caesarea Philippi. He asked Peter. He asked us. Who do you say that I am? It's a question that we answer every single day. We answer it when we leave worship and return to our lives, to our work, to our retirements, to things that happen out of this building. We answer it when we speak to our spouse and our children, our neighbors, and the stranger in the grocery store. We answer it when someone disappoints us. We answer it when someone needs our help. We answer it when we decide whether to hold on to anger or extend forgiveness. Every choice that we make becomes part of our confession. That's why Jesus is not looking for right words. He's looking for faithful disciples. And the church has never been built merely on people who can say the right things. I'd argue that, but I'm not. And it's always been built on the people on the people whose lives point to Christ. So think about the people who shaped your faith. That wasn't because they had all the right answers, but it's because of the way they lived. Maybe it was a Sunday school teacher or a grandparent or someone who sat beside you during a difficult season and never tried to explain your pain. And that's what Jesus is inviting Peter into, and it is what Jesus is inviting us into. Here at Ocean View, we often remind ourselves that we that we are called to be a lighthouse for all. You saw our mission statement if you were paying attention to the slides at the beginning of the service. A lighthouse for all, making disciples of Jesus Christ, loving, preparing, and serving from the sand and sea. That is one way to we answer Jesus' question. We say Jesus is the Messiah, then our doors should reflect his welcome. If we say Jesus is Lord, then our compassion should reflect his heart. Not because we've earned God's love, not because we have finally become perfect disciples. Peter certainly hadn't. We live this way because grace has already found us. Because Christ is still building the church, because the Holy Spirit is still transforming ordinary people into faithful disciples. That gives me hope. Hope for the church, hope for this community, hope for each of us. Because Jesus has always built a church with imperfect people who are willing to follow. People like Peter. Got it right. But also I got it wrong. People like you. People like me. So perhaps we're asking the wrong question. Who am I becoming? Because Jesus is the Messiah. Who am I becoming because Jesus is the Messiah? Because if Jesus truly is the Christ and the Son of the living God, then our lives cannot remain the same. May our confession be heard not only in the words that we speak, but in the lives that we live. Preach a sermon every day and when needed, use words. Let our confession be seen in the way we love, the way we forgive, the way we serve, the way we welcome. And in the way we follow the one who first called us. Go now into the world. With more than the right words on your lips. Go with Christ in your heart, in your hands, and in your life. And when the world asks you who Jesus is, may your compassion answer. May your generosity answer. May your forgiveness answer, and may your hope answer. And as you follow Christ this week, may God continue to shape you. Continue to shape you into the disciple you were called to be. May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house.