The Rev. Dan Rondeau
St. Margaret's Episcopal Church & School
Jeremiah 15:15-21 | Psalm 26 | Romans 12:1-8 | Matthew 16:21-27
In the love of the Father, in the light of Christ, in the leading of the Spirit, we place ourselves today. The Open Gate, p. 13
How could this happen? In the space of a few words, surely it couldn’t have been
more than a few minutes, how could it be that Simon, now proudly carrying the
name Peter, goes from blessed to cursed? And how can it be good news for us to
witness such a fall from glory? What does it mean, what can we learn from it?
Just last Sunday we heard this: “[Jesus] said to [the disciples], “But who do
you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “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 to 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.” (Matthew 16:15-18)
“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! …You are Peter, and on this rock I will
build my church….”
And today, quite a different picture is painted: “From that time on, Jesus began
to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering
at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on
the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him,
saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” But he turned and
said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you
are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” (Matthew
16:21-23)
“Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me….”
Peter is my hero.
Passionate for the will of God, there is evidence suggesting that he was a
disciple of John the Baptist prior to Jesus’ invitation, “Follow me.” We are
told that Peter left his boat and his livelihood at the invitation of Jesus. We
were treated last Sunday to his recognition of the true identity of Jesus.
Peter, we can say, was seeking to fill the God-shaped hole in his heart; he held
nothing back in his quest to find God and do God’s will. And, when he got it
right, he really got it right! This is the same quest that inspires us this
morning and it is a good thing to take up the quest with the same dedication
shown by Peter.
And yet, he wasn’t perfect; far from it. Throughout the year we’ll share stories
of Peter’s adventures and misadventures. The church never tires of telling the
stories of our older brother in the faith. The stories are potent, and yes, they
present an all-too-human portrait of a hero of the faith. It is this
all-too-human portrait which allows him to be my hero and which gives me hope as
I hear Jesus say today “If any want to become my followers, let them deny
themselves and take up their cross and follow me. (For those who want to save
their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find
it.)”
Peter is my hero, Peter inspires me today and always to try to live into the
words of Jesus because the stories centering around Peter, including the two we
have heard today and last week, stories shared within the Christian family for
centuries now, clearly show that the they are not about Peter at all; rather,
they are about the God who created him, the God who loved him, the God who, with
great love, sent Jesus Christ, the only and eternal Son, to die for him.
Peter was himself: curious about God, eager to know and do God’s will, longing
for relationship with God, yearning to usher in the Kingdom, the Reign, of God,
and he was impulsive, weak, cowardly, and dense. The good news revealed in the
scriptures as we marvel at Peter’s words and actions, is that God was God
faithful and true: creating Peter in love, inspiring Peter to ask questions, to
take risks, to be his best and truest self, and when Peter fell short, when he
was impulsive or weak, cowardly or dense, God remained God—loving Peter,
speaking with him, guiding him, correcting him, dying for him. Peter didn’t
scare God off.
If you have ever felt as if you must be the worst Christian ever, if you have
ever wondered at your own inexhaustible ability to sin, or your inability to do
good, if you have ever gone to sleep discouraged because of your failure to live
up to (or into) the great commandment to love God and love your neighbor as
yourself, if you have ever berated yourself for failure to follow through on a
promise, or live up to the expectations of others, especially God, if you have
ever fallen short (and haven’t we all) here is Peter, our brother, to remind us:
“been there, done that,” so get up and get on with living because it isn’t all
about you, rather it is all about God’s tremendous and unconditional love for
you.
From blessed to chastised, God never stopped loving Peter. Impulsively walking
on the water to be with Jesus and quickly losing focus and sinking, God never
stopped loving Peter. Believing in his powerful love for Jesus Peter brashly
proclaims that he will go with him even to death; hearing that he will deny
Jesus three times before the dawn comes, Peter is speechless. In the garden he
draws his sword to fight for the life of Jesus—he still didn’t get it and sure
enough, before the dawn comes Peter, in his cowardice, three times denies even
knowing Jesus. Through this darkest moment in Peter’s life, God never stopped
loving him.
Can any of us claim to be perfect in discipleship? Can any of us claim to be
perfect in our love of God? Can any of us claim to be perfect in loving our
neighbor as we love ourselves? Can any of us claim perfect understanding of
Jesus’ words to deny the self, and take up our cross and follow? Can any of us
claim that we are perfect in daily losing our life for the sake of Jesus? Of
course not.
Like Peter, we are so imperfect. Like Peter, in imperfection, in longing to know
and love God, to follow God more nearly, we return to God’s faithful love in
hope and expectation. And so we come, and so we pray every time we gather
“[Almighty God,]… we confess that we have sinned against you…by what we have
done, and by what we have left undone…. We are truly sorry and humbly repent.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we
may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name.”
And every time we confess, we hear again of God’s unfailing and unconditional
love as the priest says “Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you all your
sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the
power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life. Amen.”
Finally, the Prayer of Humble Access from Rite I has become the summary of the
Good News I hear in the story of Peter (which is so much my own story): “We do
not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own
righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much
as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord whose
property is always to have mercy.”
All you who come with doubts and worries, all you who come keenly aware of your
own failings or suspicious of your ability to really be a disciple and follower
of Christ, take heart in the story of Peter. Discover, as did Peter, the
faithful, the unconditional, the life-giving love of God who sent his only and
eternal son, Jesus Christ, to live and die for you. No matter what you may feel
about yourself, believe it when the priest offers the bread and cup saying “The
gifts of God for the People of God. Take them in remembrance that Christ died
for you….”
Blessed or chastised, successful or miserable failure, Peter was always and
everywhere loved by God in Jesus Christ. And so are we. And that is very good
news. Take heart, keep trying, for God is faithful.
Amen.
_______________________
Almighty God, whose beloved Son willingly endured the agony and shame of the
cross for our redemption: Give us courage to take up our cross and follow him;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
Collect Of the Holy Cross, BCP, p. 252