“Unlikely Heroes of the
Faith: Peter”
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. Amen. Our sermon series this month is on “Unlikely Heroes of the Faith.”
Maybe sometimes you don’t feel or act like what we think a “saint” should be, a
hero of the faith. It may surprise you to learn that the great saints of
old often felt the same way. We continue this morning with today’s Gospel
Reading, and the confession of faith in Christ proclaimed by the Apostle PETER. Recently in the comic “Family Circus,” Billy was reading a Bible
storybook with a picture of Jesus as a boy. In the caption, Billy asked,
“Did Jesus get to take off his HALO to go play?” It wasn’t Christians who first pictured a glow, or halo, around the
head to represent holiness. Halos were actually a Greek, Roman, and even
Buddhist artistic invention, in the years “B.C.,” before Christianity.
Much later, Christians borrowed this symbolism as a way to designate Jesus and
other holy persons in Christian art. Halos feature prominently in the great works of Christian art from the
Middle Ages and Renaissance. But, while halos are now a beautiful part of
traditional Christian art, maybe they give us a false impression, that these
believers of old were perfect, SUPER saints, detached and other worldly.
They’re sometimes called “plaster saints,” because they seem no more lifelike
than the plaster statues used to represent them. Did these perfect,
plaster, super saints so long ago really know what it’s like for you, your life,
and the struggles that you face? But, despite their halos, Peter and the other Apostles were no plaster
saints. In fact, one strong testimony to the authenticity of the New
Testament is that it does NOT attempt to cover up the foibles, faults and
failings of Jesus’ inner circle of 12 Apostles. On the contrary, again and
again the New Testament reports, in embarrassing detail, how they doubted Jesus,
argued with him and one another, fought over who among them was the greatest.
Even at the Last Supper, it appears that they were jockeying for the best seat
at the table! And that night, one of their inner circle went so far as to
betray Jesus to death. If the New Testament was a concocted story, it
would NEVER include such unflattering portrayals of the men who became the
leaders of the early Church. At their very first encounter the Bible records, Peter doubted Jesus.
After preaching from Peter’s boat to a crowd gathered on the shore, Jesus told
him, “Put out into the deep water, and let down your nets for a catch.”
But, Peter replied skeptically, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t
caught anything.” After they miraculously caught so many fish that their
nets began to break, Peter fell on his knees before Jesus and cried out, “Depart
from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man!” So, Peter himself says that he’s
no plaster saint, not perfect or holy in himself, but he too is a “sinful man.” We see an example of that in today’s Gospel Reading. Jesus speaks
plainly about his suffering and death, and Peter takes him aside to rebuke him:
“‘Never, Lord!’ he said. ‘This must never happen to you!’ . . . But when
Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. ‘Get behind me,
Satan!’ he said. ‘You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of
men.’” Jesus actually calls Peter “Satan,” because Satan was using Peter
to try to get to Jesus, to tempt him not to fulfill his mission in this world. Another example of Peter’s doubt is the story of Jesus bidding Peter
come out to him on the water walking on the water. But, Peter sees the
sees the wind and waves and is afraid. He doubts that Jesus can make him
walk on water too, and sinks. That’s how we often are when buffeted in our
lives by the storms and winds and waves of this world. We doubt Jesus’
power and sink. “You of little faith,” Jesus says to him, “why did you doubt?” At the Last Supper, Peter solemnly swore to Jesus, “Even if I have to
die with you, I will never deny you.” But, just a few hours later, he
swore again, this time to the crowd warming themselves around the fire in the
courtyard of the palace of the high priest, where Jesus was on trial for his
life. “Surely you also were with Jesus of Nazareth,” one of them said to
Peter. And he called down curses on himself and swore to them, “I don’t
know this man you are talking about.” Matthew says, “Immediately a rooster
crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: ‘Before the
rooster crows, you will deny me three times.’ And he went outside and wept
bitterly.” Doubting, denying Peter, who was not a rabbi or scribe or trained as a
theologian, but a former fisherman, seems a MOST unlikely candidate for HEAD of
the Apostles, and HERO of the faith. This is another powerful testimony to
the authenticity of the New Testament and our Christian faith. How can it
be that the largest, most successful organization in the history of the world
started with this little group of nobodies, from a backward corner of the Roman
Empire, with all their admitted foibles, faults and failings, led by a former
fishermen? This phenomenon was already inexplicable in today’s Reading from the
Book of Acts: “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that
they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished.” Peter explains
the courage and zeal of himself and the other Apostles in today’s Epistle
Reading: “We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the
power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his
majesty.” “‘But what about you?’ Jesus asked Peter. ‘Who do you say I am?’
Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ.’” That was an extraordinary turning
point in the ministry of Jesus, in the life of Peter, and really in the history
of the world. For the first time, Peter, speaking not only for himself but
on behalf of all the Apostles, declares that they believe: “You are the Christ.” There is so much meaning packed into those four words: “You are the
Christ.” Because, “Christ” is actually not Jesus’ last name, but a title
signifying his office, like “Pastor Vogts” or “President Obama.” “Christ”
is the Greek word for the Hebrew “Messiah,” the long-awaited, promised Savior.
When Peter declares, “You are the Christ,” THAT is what he is confessing, on
behalf of all the Apostles. As they say in today’s Reading from the Book
of Acts, “We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” What
they have seen and heard convinces them of something extraordinary: Jesus of
Nazareth IS the Messiah, the promised Savior, the Christ. THAT is the
source of the Apostles’ extraordinary courage and zeal and success. THAT
is how a handful of nobodies from nowhere conquered the world, so that 2,000
years later, on the other side of the globe, in an land then unknown, we are
here today, worshipping the Christ they preached. In the first sermon given by a Christian preacher, recorded in the Book
of Acts, Peter puts it this way: “Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of
Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs,
which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was
handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the
help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised
him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was
impossible for death to keep its hold on him. . . God has raised this
Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. . . Therefore let all
Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both
Lord and Christ.” In his First Epistle, Peter explains the importance of Jesus’ death and
resurrection for you: “Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous
for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. . . you were redeemed . . . with
the precious blood of Christ.” That’s what the confession “You are the
Christ” means: Jesus is your Savior, who took all your sins upon himself on the
cross, who paid for them all and redeemed you with his precious blood. Peter continues: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can
never perish, spoil or fade—kept for you in heaven.” Because of Jesus’
death and resurrection, you have eternal life. You see, another reason God inspired the writers of the New Testament
to INCLUDE the foibles, faults, and failings of Peter and the other Apostles is
to comfort us. For, these examples show that heaven is NOT reserved for
plaster saints, but for sinners like you and me, who trust in Jesus the Christ
for forgiveness, whose sins are washed away by his precious blood, who are
saints not because we are holy and perfect in ourselves, but because the
holiness of Jesus the Christ covers over your sins and makes you a holy saint in
the sight of God. It seems Peter anticipated that some day we would paint a halo around
his head and look upon him as a super saint, a plaster saint. For, did you
notice how he begins today’s Epistle Reading? “Simon Peter, a servant and
Apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and
Savior Jesus Christ have received A FAITH AS PRECIOUS AS OURS.” What
amazing words, from the great head of the Apostles and hero of the faith, Saint
Peter: “[You] have received A FAITH AS PRECIOUS AS OURS.” Return to Top | Return to Sermons | Home | Email Church Office
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