Readings: Isaiah 51-1-6; Romans 12.1-8; Matthew 16.13-20
Peter, as he is presented in the gospels, sometimes gets things spectacularly wrong but in today’s gospel, he gets something spectacularly right. Jesus is asking the disciples who the crowds think that he is. The crowds show a limited understanding of Jesus. In one way or another, all the responses indicate that Jesus is seen simply as a prophet. The crowds are looking beyond Jesus for someone who is yet to come. But Peter is spot on. He sees that Jesus is the one and there is no need to look further. “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.”
Peter’s comment shows great faith, insight and openness to God. In response, Jesus tells Peter who he is in God’s eyes and gives him a new name. Perhaps you could call this Jesus’ faith in Peter! “You are Peter, “Jesus says and “on this rock, I will build my church.” There is a pun here of course for the name Peter comes from the Greek “petrus” meaning “rock.”
I offer you three things to think about from this great passage.
First of all, God is personal and we can relate to God on a personal level. Have you ever received or sent one of those round-robin Christmas letters? They are valuable in themselves. We don’t have time to individually write to everyone that we know but we know they are not the same as an individual letter written to an individual with that person in our minds. A hand-written letter can be nicer to read than a typed one; as long as you don’t have illegible hand-writing of course! A phone call can make us feel more connected than an e-mail. There is something about the personal touch which is very important in relationships.
The Christian understanding of God as personal means that God is not some kind of mysterious force who brought the universe into existence with a big bang but who is otherwise impossible for us to relate to. God is personal and therefore has a relationship with each one of us. He is not only the creator of the universe. He is our creator. “O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away!” (psalm 139). “You are Peter”, Jesus says. Jesus knows who Peter is. Actually, he knows who Peter is better than Peter does. God knows who we are. His relationship with us is personal.
Following on from this, the second thing is calling. Jesus has a purpose for Peter. It is a purpose beyond Peter’s wildest imagining. It is a purpose which draws upon his character. Jesus will draw on who Peter is to fulfil that purpose. We remember that passage at the call of Peter and the other fishermen by Lake Galilee. “Come with me and I will make you fish for people.” I wonder whether there were things about who they were as fishermen which Jesus will use as he teaches them to love and serve other people by helping him build his kingdom. I wonder whether Jesus’s nickname for Simon, Son of John; his nickname of “Rocky” was based upon elements of Simon Peter’s character; perhaps a quality of leadership, perhaps a boldness or toughness.
God has a purpose or a ministry for each one of us. We all have particular things to offer which are based on the gifts and the personality God has created us to be and is calling us to be. I love the line from the old hymn “Jesus shall Reign” which goes: “Let every creature rise and bring, peculiar honours to their King.” “Peculiar” here meaning “unique to the giver” rather than “odd”! Christian ministry happens whenever we use our talents, our abilities and who we are to give God glory.
St Paul urges the Romans to live their whole lives as living sacrifices or offerings to the Lord and points out the way in which they all have different things to offer. He uses his great image of the church as the Body of Christ though to remind them, that they offer their lives together with others and that the gifts we have need to be alongside the gifts other people have. Our gifts, if they are properly used bring us together. We need each other and God needs us to work together.
Of course it can be difficult to trust in what God can and will do with us. I said at the beginning that Peter sometimes got things spectacularly wrong and he sometimes got things spectacularly right. We will hear in next week’s gospel how Peter straight away puts his foot in it after his great confession of faith. I wonder how Peter would have felt about Jesus commission to him to be his rock on that Good Friday when he denied Jesus three times.
Peter, as we see him in the gospels, is a work in progress and is not yet fully the rock he would become. So perhaps there is something for us here in trusting in God’s future. We have to live the present in the light of God’s future. The prophet we call second Isaiah gave a message of comfort to a people living in Exile. He told them that God was not finished with them. He had not forgotten his promises. The God who created the world and who made Israel would also rebuild Israel.
“You are Peter and on this rock, I will build my church.” The words are not just a commission they are also a promise. Amen.