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Pastor Schaefer's Sermon |
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During WW II archaeologists were secretly at work digging under the basilica of St. Peter in Rome. In 1968, the then pope announced to the world that the bones of St. Peter himself had been found buried far underneath the high altar. Since that time there has been much debate concerning the bones’ authenticity, and at this point there is no final conclusion. The reason for all of this interest lies in who Peter was for the early church.
Since 258 AD, this Sunday in the church year has marked the commemoration of Sts. Peter and Paul because their leadership in the first century helped the early Christian church to not only survive but to spread into the entire world. The text for this day takes us to a beach in Palestine early on a morning after Easter. Still unsure of what to do with Jesus who was dead and now seemed alive, Peter and the rest resort to the only thing they know how to do; fish.
As was common, they fished at night and, as was also common, they didn’t catch anything. A stranger on the shore tells them to fish elsewhere and they reluctantly take his advice. With fish-filled nets, they come onto the beach and share breakfast with Jesus. He looks straight at Peter and says “Do you love me?” Without hesitation, Peter answers “of course”. Jesus asks a 2nd and even a 3rd time, giving Peter a chance to redeem himself for the three times that he had denied even knowing Christ on Maundy Thursday night.
“Do you love me?” is a question of only 4 words, but how one answers that question defines a relationship. A child asks a parent, a parent asks a child, partners or spouses ask each other, a friend asks a friend, “Do you love me?” and waits for the answer because love declared in words should lead to commitment in action. We serve, we put up with, we listen to, we offer who we are and what we have to encourage the people we love.
Peter’s answering “yes” to Jesus’ question defined the rest of his life. Marking this saint’s day in the Church’s calendar isn’t about long ago as much as it is realizing that Jesus asks us today that same question, “Do you love me?” Each day we live we live out our answer.
If we were to follow Peter as our role model, what we say and do in whatever context our life is being lived; working or retired, parent or grandparent, neighbor or church member, has our love for Christ as its base. Finishing a septic tank site in Appalachia many years ago, we gathered tools and prepared to leave. Suddenly, the homeowner came running after us. He thought we had been sent to his house by the county or some state agency. When told that we were Christian volunteers who had put in his septic system for free, he asked, “Why would you do that?” Responding, we said simply, “We did it because we think Jesus is pretty special”
Whether you are doing something for a patient in the place where you work, or in the neighborhood where you live, reading for kids in our school or reading with students in ESL, chopping lettuce for an International Students’ dinner or running the dishwasher after the meal is over, serving at Beebe Medical Center or New Life Thrift Store, you are answering “Yes!” to Jesus’ question, “Do you love me?” The word motivation means “ to move” and for Christians the “moving force” behind the acts of help and compassion we offer to the world is always, “Because we think Jesus is pretty special.” Like Peter, we try to live out our “Yes” to Jesus’ question.
As Peter discovered, however, trying to follow Jesus is never simple. Jesus, like the spouse, partner, child, or neighbor we try to love, is tough to figure out. Why things happen as they do, why people respond as they do, why bodies betray us and our best efforts seem sometimes useless, are questions that haunt us. Our human logic often wonders just whose side Jesus is on, and that same logic can crumble even the deepest faith.
Peter was the first to declare that Jesus was the Messiah, he also was the one who denied even knowing Jesus 3 times. He was the one who told Jesus that he shouldn’t go to Jerusalem, for which Jesus gave him the temporary nickname of “Satan”. One time he saw Jesus and tried to walk on water, but quickly sank. On Easter it was the women who went to the tomb and, when Peter finally went, he didn’t go into the tomb. Many times, Peter’s actions betrayed an inner doubting as to who Jesus really was and how risky following him was.
We can sit in church singing “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus” with the best of them, and fully mean it. Once out in the world where most of our life is lived, however, things happen that raise questions we cannot even speak out loud. A recent poll on religious life in America revealed a surprising lack of certainty in belief. Confronted with wars we cannot stop, terrorists who use God’s name when destroying innocent life, an addiction to gasoline that we cannot seem to control, climate changes that we cannot seem to undo, cancer subtly destroying people whom we love or the heart attack that quickly changes perspective on life, sometimes we feel like asking Jesus, “Do you love me?”
The gospel insists that the answer to that question is an unequivocal “yes”, and was given 2000 years ago. On a solitary cross God demonstrated a willingness to offer a love that is constant and a life that is full. We follow Jesus Christ not because he said to but because he has earned our loyalty and our trust. Like Peter, we stumble along, sometimes so sure in our faith and other times so unsure, yet the unwavering commitment of God to us stands certain forever.
Whether Peter’s bones have been or will be found is a debatable question. It could be an interesting plot for a “CSI” or “Bones” TV show! What is certain is that a truly ordinary first century fisherman committed himself to the cause of the gospel. Even when he hung upside down, having been crucified for his faith, he took the risk of believing that Jesus loved him. We don’t believe that he was disappointed. May the same be said of us.
+ Deo Gracia +