Two Lessons from Saint Peter

June 28, 2009
tags: , , ,
by Fr. Matt
ˇ˛Two Lessons from Saint Peter
Saint Peter the Apostle (observed)
Acts 12:1-11; St. Matthew 16:13-19
© 2009 Rev. Matthew L. Whitehead
In most Christian liturgical traditions, the feast we are celebrating today is not just Saint Peter s Day, it is Saints Peter and Paul Day. Some of the ancient liturgical works have as many as twenty-eight masses for this day! The festival of Saints Peter and Paul traces back to third century Rome when it was instituted as the patronal festival for the Church of Rome s founding Apostles.1
For some unknown reason, our English Reformers removed Paul from the festival, and gave it all over to Peter. Paul was already celebrated for the day of his conversion2; The  Simon  referenced on the festival of Saints Simon and Jude is Simon the zealot, not Simon Peter3; So perhaps our Reformers wanted to give Peter a day of his own, given his prominence and leadership among the Twelve. He was, after all, the rock upon which the Church was built, and he was given the keys to the Kingdom of God; we read this much in our Gospel lesson. But that passage is the subject of many centuries of theological debate; I will not even pretend to be able to sort it all out for you this morning, certainly not in the ten minutes or so that I am allotted!
In the Scripture lessons for today we see Peter experiencing and demonstrating first-hand two essential truths about the Church s gospel ministry. In the Epistle lesson, through Peter s experience in prison, we see how the world hates the gospel; he was persecuted. In the Gospel lesson we see how only God can effectively reveal the truth of Christ; It was by God s grace that Peter was able to proclaim Jesus to be the Christ.
The Epistle lesson began grimly, recounting the martyrdom of Saint James, who had been the head of the Church in Jerusalem. The murder of James was so well received by the public, that Peter was arrested with the intent that he also would be killed. But they could not kill him right away – their religion prohibited them from executing on the Passover; it also prohibited murder, but I suppose they were overlooking that one for convenience sake. They had Peter guarded by four quaternions of soldiers – that is sixteen men guarding one! He was shackled between two guards, and more guards stood at the door of his cell, which was deep within the prison. Escape seemed impossible. This all seems a bit excessive for a man whose offense was preaching the peace of the Kingdom of God!
But this is how the world receives the Christian faith. The world wants to lock away the Christian faith deep in some prison, to expel it from the mainstream; and why? Because the Church proclaims that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the King of Kings, the Name above all Names, to whom every knee shall bow. The claims of the Gospel require people to leave the religions of their own making, and to live in obedience to God s commandments; but the world likes its contrived religions and idols. The grace of God requires people to repent of their sins, and live in holiness; but people like their sins, and do not want to part from them. To accept the claims of the Gospel is to acknowledge that God is superior and that we must submit to Him. The world hates this message.
In the coming decades I believe we are going to see increasing hostility toward the Church in the Western world. Indeed, the campaign has already begun in earnest. In Britain there are atheist organizations offering  un-baptism  and media campaigns denying the existence of God. The politically correct mindset which has already turned much of Britain over to Islam, is quickly making inroads into the American psyche. What must we do? Keeping silent will not save us; Political action will not save us. We must keep on proclaiming the Gospel with boldness, knowing full well that we will likely be persecuted for it. In that persecution, we may be fortunate, like Peter, to be rescued from the threat, at least for the time being; Or we may end up like James – martyred. Either way, our job remains the same: our mandate is proclaim the Gospel to a hostile world.
By Saint Peter s example in our Gospel lesson, we learn another aspect of what it means to proclaim the Gospel: The revelation that Jesus is the Christ can only come through the work of God within an individual.
Jesus asked his disciples who people were saying he was. They answered with the fanciful conjectures people were coming with: that he was the reincarnation of Saint John Baptist or of one of the great prophets. Then Jesus asked who they themselves thought he was. Peter knew the Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God incarnate. Jesus answered that it was God who had revealed such to him. Certainly Peter could have figured it out on his own, right? He had seen Jesus do some amazing things: teaching, healing, resurrecting the dead. And yet none of these signs were convincing in and of themselves, apart from the work of God s Holy Spirit.
This is why the Gospel is so often misunderstood in the world. The world would rather have a Jesus of its own understanding: that he was just a good man, or a great teacher, or a prophet, but nothing more. All of these statements are true, but incomplete. To leave Jesus there is to deny that he is the incarnate Son of God; And unless you understand that Jesus is the Son of God, then you have no idea who he is!
Why, then, should we continue to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, if only the work of God can make it of any effect? We have already established that the world hates us for proclaiming the gospel, and that all we can expect in return is trouble. If God is the one who has to make it effectual, why do we not just save ourselves all the trouble and let Him take care of it from start to finish? The simple answer is because He commanded us to proclaim the Gospel. The more involved answer is that our witness is made easier by the work of God: We do not have have to convince anybody; we do not have win arguments. All that is expected of us to go out into the world and proclaim that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. By His grace, God will use our witness to break down the barriers of sin and pride, so that people will hear the call of God unto salvation and respond.
Saint Peter sets out two of the most basic realities of living the Christian life: Persecution and Proclamation. Our society has not experienced a great deal of persecution as in other parts of the world, but I fear that in just a few short decades it will be a reality even in our great nation. How will we respond? Will we shrink back into hiding? Will we play politics? Or will we, like Saint Peter, proclaim the gospel in obedience to God s commandment?
1 Shepherd, Massey H., Jr. The Oxford American Prayer Book Commentary. New York: Oxford University Press, 1950, 243-452 January 25. See 1928 Book of Common Prayer, pp.229-31.3 October 28. See 1928 BCP, pp.254-55.

Saint Peter the Apostle (observed)
Acts 12:1-11; St. Matthew 16:13-19
© 2009 Rev. Matthew L. Whitehead

In most Christian liturgical traditions, the feast we are celebrating today is not just Saint Peter’s Day, it is Saints Peter and Paul Day. Some of the ancient liturgical works have as many as twenty-eight masses for this day! The festival of Saints Peter and Paul traces back to third century Rome when it was instituted as the patronal festival for the Church of Rome’s founding Apostles.1

For some unknown reason, our English Reformers removed Paul from the festival, and gave it all over to Peter. Paul was already celebrated for the day of his conversion2; The  Simon  referenced on the festival of Saints Simon and Jude is Simon the zealot, not Simon Peter3; So perhaps our Reformers wanted to give Peter a day of his own, given his prominence and leadership among the Twelve. He was, after all, the rock upon which the Church was built, and he was given the keys to the Kingdom of God; we read this much in our Gospel lesson. But that passage is the subject of many centuries of theological debate; I will not even pretend to be able to sort it all out for you this morning, certainly not in the ten minutes or so that I am allotted!

In the Scripture lessons for today we see Peter experiencing and demonstrating first-hand two essential truths about the Church’s gospel ministry. In the Epistle lesson, through Peter’s experience in prison, we see how the world hates the gospel; he was persecuted. In the Gospel lesson we see how only God can effectively reveal the truth of Christ; It was by God’s grace that Peter was able to proclaim Jesus to be the Christ.

The Epistle lesson began grimly, recounting the martyrdom of Saint James, who had been one of the leaders of the Church in Jerusalem. The murder of James was so well received by the public, that Peter was arrested with the intent that he also would be killed. But they could not kill him right away – their religion prohibited them from executing on the Passover; it also prohibited murder, but I suppose they were overlooking that one for convenience sake. They had Peter guarded by four quaternions of soldiers – that is sixteen men guarding one! He was shackled between two guards, and more guards stood at the door of his cell, which was deep within the prison. Escape seemed impossible. This all seems a bit excessive for a man whose offense was preaching the peace of the Kingdom of God!

But this is how the world receives the Christian faith. The world wants to lock away the Christian faith deep in some prison, to expel it from the mainstream; and why? Because the Church proclaims that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the King of Kings, the Name above all Names, to whom every knee shall bow. The claims of the Gospel require people to leave the religions of their own making, and to live in obedience to God’s commandments; but the world likes its contrived religions and idols. The grace of God requires people to repent of their sins, and live in holiness; but people like their sins, and do not want to part from them. To accept the claims of the Gospel is to acknowledge that God is superior and that we must submit to Him. The world hates this message.

In the coming decades I believe we are going to see increasing hostility toward the Church in the Western world. Indeed, the campaign has already begun in earnest. In Britain there are atheist organizations offering  un-baptism  and media campaigns denying the existence of God. The politically correct mindset which has already turned much of Britain over to Islam, is quickly making inroads into the American psyche. What must we do? Keeping silent will not save us; Political action will not save us. We must keep on proclaiming the Gospel with boldness, knowing full well that we will likely be persecuted for it. In that persecution, we may be fortunate, like Peter, to be rescued from the threat, at least for the time being; Or we may end up like James – martyred. Either way, our job remains the same: our mandate is proclaim the Gospel to a hostile world.

By Saint Peter’s example in our Gospel lesson, we learn another aspect of what it means to proclaim the Gospel: The revelation that Jesus is the Christ can only come through the work of God within an individual.

Jesus asked his disciples who people were saying he was. They answered with the fanciful conjectures people were coming with: that he was the reincarnation of Saint John Baptist or of one of the great prophets. Then Jesus asked who they themselves thought he was. Peter knew the Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God incarnate. Jesus answered that it was God who had revealed such to him. Certainly Peter could have figured it out on his own, right? He had seen Jesus do some amazing things: teaching, healing, resurrecting the dead. And yet none of these signs were convincing in and of themselves, apart from the work of God’s Holy Spirit.

This is why the Gospel is so often misunderstood in the world. The world would rather have a Jesus of its own understanding: that he was just a good man, or a great teacher, or a prophet, but nothing more. All of these statements are true, but incomplete. To leave Jesus there is to deny that he is the incarnate Son of God; And unless you understand that Jesus is the Son of God, then you have no idea who he is!

Why, then, should we continue to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, if only the work of God can make it of any effect? We have already established that the world hates us for proclaiming the gospel, and that all we can expect in return is trouble. If God is the one who has to make it effectual, why do we not just save ourselves all the trouble and let Him take care of it from start to finish? The simple answer is because He commanded us to proclaim the Gospel. The more involved answer is that our witness is made easier by the work of God: We do not have have to convince anybody; we do not have win arguments. All that is expected of us to go out into the world and proclaim that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. By His grace, God will use our witness to break down the barriers of sin and pride, so that people will hear the call of God unto salvation and respond.

Saint Peter sets out two of the most basic realities of living the Christian life: Persecution and Proclamation. Our society has not experienced a great deal of persecution as in other parts of the world, but I fear that in just a few short decades it will be a reality even in our great nation. How will we respond? Will we shrink back into hiding? Will we play politics? Or will we, like Saint Peter, proclaim the gospel in obedience to God’s commandment?

1 Shepherd, Massey H., Jr. The Oxford American Prayer Book Commentary. New York: Oxford University Press, 1950, 243-45
2 January 25. See 1928 Book of Common Prayer, pp.229-31.
3 October 28. See 1928 BCP, pp.254-55.

from → Sermons

One Response

Trackbacks & Pingbacks

  1. The Rev. Matthew L. Whitehead: “Two Lessons from Saint Peter” (Acts 12:1-11; Matthew 16:13-19) « Prydain

Comments are closed for this entry.