21.08.05 Colin Matthew 16.13-20, Peter The Rock
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What made you and me the kind of people that we now are?
As I was reading the story of Peter in today’s Gospel, I was mulling over how I came to be the person I am today. What were the steps that brought me to Christian commitment such that I have been part of St James for most all my adult life? What were the factors that took me into the career I eventually landed up in, working with children? How did I develop a passion for eliminating poverty and injustice? What were the turning points of my life that led me to being a Christian?
Well known people have died this week and I wondered also how they came to be the kind of person they were:
Brother Roger for example, who was brutally and sadly murdered this week, founded the Taize community in 1940 when he first sheltered Jews. The community grew to be international with aims of breaking down divisions by bringing people together from all denominations. Thousands of young people flocked to the Taize community from Europe and Eastern Europe and across the world. He has been described as one of the most saintly people on earth. What were the factors in the life of Brother Roger that made him take that first step of sheltering Jews and founding the Taize community?
Mo Mowlam, well known politician, also died this week and her unusual character is illustrated in some of the comments made about her:
‘Surely one of the most remarkable and colourful personalities ever to come into politics. Great company, utterly irrelevant, full of life and fun’
‘Her persistence, toughness and humour were legendary’
‘A very unconventional politician’
‘Where others tiptoed around us, Mo Mowlam wore hobnail boots (referring to her time as Northern Ireland Secretary)
‘Whirlwind who brought an all-too-brief era of honesty and courage into politics’
What were the factors in Mo Mowlam’s upbringing and life which led to her being the kind of person she was?
Famous or not, there are factors and decisions in all our lives which have influenced the kind of person we now are.
Wilma was telling us last week how she felt about the life of Peter and today’s Gospel story marks a seminal point for both Peter and the Church that was to be. The story of Peter, as we all know, is a tempestuous one. He was the first of the disciples to be chosen by Jesus, and from that moment on his story is one of passionate commitment and terrible failures. Peter was utterly loyal to Jesus but sometimes denying him or doing things that illustrated his weakness, or perhaps his humanity. I think that sometimes Jesus must have despaired of the disciples and whether they would ever learn. Earlier on in chapter 16, he calls his disciples ‘men of little faith’. But here, just a few verses later, Peter is making this seminal confession of faith to Jesus. What were the factors that made Peter the kind of person that he was?
Before we think a bit further about the reading from Mathew’s Gospel, I want to invite you to quietly reflect on the nature of the kind of person that Peter was, and also on the factors which have influenced your life:.
What factors made you the kind of person you are today?
Which people influenced you in the direction you took?
How did your Christian commitment grow into what it is today?
So, for a few minutes, let’s just quietly reflect before God on the journey that our life has taken.
A PERIOD OF QUIET REFLECTION
There was a big variety of opinions amongst the people of his time about who Jesus was. In verse 14 of today’s reading the disciples rehearse some of these opinions in response to Jesus question to them asking ‘who do men say that I am?’ The disciples respond by quoting the variety of opinions there was at the time: ‘some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets’. But Jesus, with his usual insightful questioning puts the disciples on the spot personally asking them what they think. He says to them, ‘but who do you say that I am?’
This then is a significant turning point for Peter. I wonder in your reflection on your own life path if you recalled a moment when you thought, or said or did something that changed the course of your life. This was such a moment for Peter when he makes this unequivocal declaration of faith – ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God’. I reckon that Jesus must have felt pleased at this moment in time. All the years of living with the disciples and teaching them and working with them, all the frustrations about lack of understanding, are now put into perspective when the spiritual faculties of Peter are finally opened and he makes his confession of faith
Peter said of Jesus ‘you are the Christ’ and Jesus now responds with similar wording saying and ‘You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church’. Peter, the fluctuating, impulsive disciple, has, by the grace of God, become the starting point for the church. Peter, the ordinary working man, at this point in his life, becomes Peter who preaches the Gospel which founded the church and in Acts 2, we read of Peter preaching the Gospel and 3,000 people are added to the church on that first day in the history of the church.
Peter was the first disciple to be called by Jesus; the first to make this great confession of faith and the first to preach the Gospel which began the creation of the living church of people confessing Christ as Saviour and Lord. Peter, despite all his faults, his impetuosity and his denials of Jesus, is the one chosen by God to have the spiritual insight to recognize Jesus as ‘The Christ, the Son of the Living God’.
This moment of commitment, when Peter first declares his faith that Jesus is ‘The Christ, the Son of the Living God’ is one of the most important factors to influence his life. It was a life changing decision for Peter; a life changing commitment.
So we learn that
In God’s kingdom, the variability of our own life which sometimes bothers us so much, is very much secondary to our willing commitment to Christ, the Son of the Living God.
In God’s kingdom, what is looked for is not some kind of human perfection, which will never be achieved on this earth. Rather it is the commitment to sharing Christ’s life by giving to those in need, partaking in the breaking of bread and praising God; it is in the generosity of our hearts in response to God’s love.
The reading today portrays a seminal moment in the life of Peter. Whatever Peter thought of his own life and his erratic discipleship, he now responds to the challenge presented and publicly declares his faith and commits himself to Jesus.
Perhaps during these last moments we might reflect again a bit on our own life:
God used Peter, and similarly wants to use us today to do his work. It is of no consequence whether we are famous; important, or just an ordinary person going about their life. Perhaps the way that God uses us will not be as spectacular as Peter. God may just want us to witness to the truth of the Gospel in our daily routine life.
Let us not then dwell on our imperfection and failings as human beings for there is no room for wallowing in guilt about our imperfections in the life a Christian. But, like the imperfect Peter, let us declare for ourselves afresh to Jesus that ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God’, and I am ready and willing to serve you in any way that I can.