+The Rev’d Dr. Delmer Chilton, a Lutheran pastor and author refers to the Peter of today’s Gospel as Rocky, stating:
Why [did] Jesus decide to give Simon-Bar-Jona the nickname Rocky... that’s what the name Peter means…. It comes from “petra” Latin for rock or stone…Most of the time people who are nicknamed Rocky are stalwart, unmovable, straight-ahead, no-nonsense kind of guys, like Rocky Balboa. Somehow the name Rocky doesn’t seem to fit Simon son of Jona. For this Rocky, this Peter, was, to [be blunt], not very dependable… hot one minute, cold the next:
I’ll walk on water, Lord. Then Oops, help, I’m drowning!
I’ll never let them take you Lord, give me that Sword. Then Jesus? Never heard of him.
Lord, I’ll stand by you forever. Then Well, Jesus is dead, I’m going fishing.
Was Jesus making fun of Simon by calling him Peter?
Was Jesus joking when he said that on this rock of questioning, unstable, doubting and undependable faith I will build my church?
Why would Jesus choose someone so flawed, someone so irritable, undependable, doubting, questioning, fearful and full of angst as Simon Peter? Someone so……….
Like us? Shouldn’t the foundation of the church, the foundation of God’s reign in this world be entrusted to someone more deserving, more capable, more reliable?
Apparently not.
You see, God rarely chooses the all put together and the likely. Consider Abraham and Sarah, the parents of our faith—an aged, childless pair who doubted, scoffed and laughed at God.
Then there’s Moses….an abandoned Levite child raised in Pharaoh’s household, chosen to lead his enslaved kindred out of slavery, into a land of milk and honey. But nothing went smoothly for Moses as , over the next forty years, he stumbled and stammered his way in and out of favor with the Israelites and God.
But God hung in there and Moses is held in high esteem by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike. Abraham, Sarah, Moses, along with countless other flawed and very human humans were all prophets. Apparently, in God’s eyes, one needn’t be perfect, one needn’t even be particularly capable, to be chose. God plucks prophets, redeemers and saints --even a messiah---out of the unlikely of places, unusual of circumstances. Who can forget the details of Jesus’ birth--a peasant girl and her stalwart partner Joseph struggling to find any place to lay their heads—ending up in a barn alongside donkeys, cows, sheep, hay and that crazy star.
So why not Simon Peter, a Galilean fisherman full of bravado and self-assurance one moment, cowering behind pillars of doubt, fear and denial the next?
Just like us.
Peter wasn’t Jesus’ favorite, or even the most devoted apostle. But Peter’s the one. Obviously Jesus saw something in Peter that he thought was perfect for the establishment of the community of the faithful-- the church. And although I don’t know that Jesus envisioned denominations, dioceses, parishes ,Church conventions, reformations and schisms (well he probably figured there’d be fights) when he mentioned “Church,” I do think the choice of Peter sheds light on the Church as an institution, it’s past, it’s present and it’s future.
You see, Peter was flawed; Jesus knew that, God knew that, we know it. But God was willing to let Peter make his mistakes and Jesus was willing to let Peter grow into his role, because they knew that a big part of learning, of growing, is making mistakes. We don’t learn without making mistakes. Mistakes are instructive and useful, as long as we review it, take corrective action and try again. Going through this process teaches us---as individuals and as communities of faith.
Admitting our mistakes and then trying again. That’s what living a faithful life is all about folks. Most Sundays we have corporate confession and absolution. We confess our sins and we are absolved, forgiven. All of us.
How can God forgive what I’ve done, you may ask. Or, how can my forgiveness be wrapped up in the forgiveness of that scoundrel a few rows over?
But, you see, forgiveness, God’s forgiveness of us is abundant, constant and without caveat. Our forgiveness by God is assured as long as we admit, that we’ve made a mistake and strive, with all our might, to learn from it. That’s reconciliation and repentance: an amendment of life. We don’t promise to never make another mistake, we simply promise to learn from those we do make and when we mess up, admit it, make it as right as we can and move on. It’s what we tell our children all the time. Admit your error, fix it and try to do better next time.
This is what the church as an institution: parish, diocese, national church, the Church universal---needs to do: reconciliation, repentance, amendment of life. The Church and churches make mistakes: some small, resulting in hurt feelings, others large, resulting in atrocities, but regardless of the magnitude, the church MUST admit its, our, mistakes. And then do better. So often the Church has not done this. We preach a God whose love knows no bounds, whose care for us is never compromised, yet we hide our mistakes, too proud or too ashamed to admit the error of our ways. When we, as a church, do this, we’re insulting God, we’re denying the lessons we’ve learned from all who’ve come before us.
Why was Peter chosen to be the cornerstone of our faith, the gatekeeper of salvation and the symbol of the Church as Institution? Because. ….
While Peter said:
I’ll walk on water, Lord.
Oops, help, I’m drowning!
We’ve said (and say)
We’ll serve the poor, just after we skim some off the top
And while Peter exclaimed:
I’ll never let them take you Lord, give me that Sword.
Jesus? Never heard of him.
We’ve proclaimed:
We’ll love everyone, no exceptions. Well, except for the Jews. And the Muslims.
And the women. And the Gays and the Lesbians, and the people with disabilities……
And when Peter exhorted:
Lord, I’ll stand by you forever.
Well, Jesus is dead, I’m going fishing.
We’ve said:
Yes, the church is greater than the sum of its parts but if you make that decision, I’m leaving.
God, chose Peter in spite of, maybe even because of , his flaws. God knew who Peter was, God knows who we are. But God also knows who we, through the help of the Holy Spirit, can be. Rocks and all.+
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