I love the whole Peter
thing. Here is someone who has broken their word and betrayed their Master,
someone who has let God down, someone who is fearful and whose faith evaporates
at a moment’s notice, someone who, when it comes to the crunch, puts their own
interests first, ahead of not only friends, but of Jesus Himself. And what’s
more it is not a fluke: Peter keeps on doing it. It looks like we are dealing
with a treacherous, unreliable, selfish wimp of the first order.
And how did Jesus
manage to get lumbered with this spectacularly unpromising member of His team?
In Matthew 4: 18-19 we
read that Peter was Jesus’ first-pick in a recruitment campaign of shockingly
naïve simplicity: “As Jesus was walking beside the Sea
of Galilee , he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his
brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were
fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make
you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him.”
Peter is chosen by
God. No matter what Peter is like, no matter what Peter has done (or will do)
Peter is unconditionally embraced by God, loved by God and forgiven by God. And
we know what’s coming next: Peter will be empowered by the Holy Spirit and used
by God in ways that Peter could never have imagined possible.
Many of us have much
in common with Peter. Try substituting your own name for ‘Peter’ into this
reflection and seeing how much fits.
(member of the
congregation)