Sermonstudio

The Witness of Peter
Matthew 14:22-30; 17:29-36; 26:67-75

Opening Hymn
"Christ the Life of All the Living"

Meditation
I had always been the one. At least I had always thought I was the one. I was the one who was always there for Jesus. I was always the one who knew just what to say. All the rest of them were either so negative or just silent that it killed me to have Jesus stand there feeling like none of us were getting it. Well, it turned out that none of us were getting it. Least of all, me. But I just couldn't hack the silence. So I filled it.

It turned out to be a bad habit. I should have remained silent that terrible night. I can't say I know what would have happened to me had I done so, but whatever it was, it would have been better than what did happen. Because of what I said, now I have a burden I will never ever shake. And the worst part about it is that he warned me that it would happen. And as usual, I didn't listen. Had I, I might have avoided feeling the way I am feeling. I have come to the conclusion that feeling, wanting to feel a certain way, wanting to keep feeling a certain way, not wanting to feel a certain way, one way or another, feeling has been the root of my problem all along. When Jesus took us up to that mountain, and we saw him looking almost like God, and we saw him there with who we knew had to be Moses and Elijah, I never wanted to stop feeling the way I was feeling, feeling like I was in the presence of God and his greatest servants.

Well, according to the two Zebedee kids, I sounded pretty stupid, like I wanted us all to stay up there and live there.

Well, I didn't care then what they thought, and I don't care now. I still wish we were up there. Things were a lot clearer up there. And that feeling stayed with me for a long time. But even before that, I knew. Earlier, Jesus asked us who we thought he was. As usual, I was the only one who spoke up. "You are the Christ of God," I told Jesus. I was so sure. All I ever wanted was to be with Jesus. Even when Jesus was walking on the water. If he could do it, I believed I could too as long as I stayed with Jesus. And he asked me. He asked me to come out with him. For a split second there, I felt safe. Then I felt the wind and I saw the wave and I didn't feel safe anymore. That's sort of how I felt on that night.

After we fell asleep there in Gethsemane, I told myself I wasn't going to let him down ever again. I tried. I really did. I was the only one who stayed. Well, it was me and the younger Zebedee kid, you know, the squirt, John. But you know, nobody pays attention to kids. Anyway, things were going all right until that one maid came up to me and asked me if I knew Jesus. Suddenly, all I felt was fear. Instead of feeling that Jesus loved me, I thought about how he couldn't help me now. He couldn't even help himself. So I denied ever even knowing him. Now, for the rest of my life, no matter what I feel, I will always feel ashamed.

Opening Prayer
Pastor: Let us pray:
Congregation: Great God in heaven, quell our fear, dispel our remorse, and humble us before your might, your forgiveness, and your love. Teach us that we need never live without any of them. In the name of your Son, we pray. Amen.

Fear
A Reading
Numbers 14:1-4
The word fear comes from an old English word that means not fear but something of which we are often afraid. It comes from the word for ambush. I found that very instructive considering the fact that whenever I think of Peter's fear, I think most powerfully of the moment when he saw the wave coming at him, as he saw the wind ambush him. For years, I thought I had misinterpreted what happened on that day when Peter asked our Lord if he could come out onto the water and join him.

When I was younger, I thought that the error Peter made was in losing faith when he saw the wave. Later in my life, I came to the conclusion that he made the error long before then. I believe his error was in thinking he had to try to show Jesus what he was made of. Before we go ahead with this theme, I have to tell you that this story, like many in the gospel, brings up a lot of questions for me.

First of all, why was Jesus on the water in the first place? The only rational explanation would be that he wished to communicate his power to his disciples. Were that the case, then truly, Jesus should have expected one of the boys, probably Peter, to try to join him on the waves. For years, I thought that the sin Peter committed was in thinking he had to show Jesus what he was made of. I no longer believe that to be a sin.

It is true that Peter gave into his fear. But what he did with his fear was exactly what he was supposed to do. It is true that in denying his Lord, Peter showed his fear. Only instead of clinging to his Savior in that courtyard outside the high priest's palace, he denied him. Peter made the right choice out there on the waves. In what was probably his attempt to show Jesus what he was made of, or just as probably in his desire to, no matter what, be where his Savior was, Peter found himself in trouble out there on the waves. But he made a good choice. True, fear out there on the Sea of Galilee was his problem, but by reaching out for his Savior, he reached out for salvation. Outside the high priest's palace, he took the same option the children of Israel facing the armies of Canaan. He chose to retrench, to back up into the trap of the known, the despair of the familiar, and let his Savior die alone.

Pastor: Let us pray:
Congregation: Protect us from the danger of getting in our own way and blocking our experience of you. Our pride, along with our fear, can lure us away from the only thing that will ever keep us truly safe and truly joyous: your precious presence. In the name of your Son, we pray. Amen.

Primitive Hymn Anonymous sung to "All Saints New" the tune of "The Son of God Goes Forth to War"

What poor, despised company
Of travelers are these,
Who walk in yonder narrow way,
Along the rugged maze?
Ah! these are of a royal line,
All children of a King,
Heirs of immortal crowns divine;
And lo! for joy they sing.

Why do they, then, appear so mean,
And why so much despised?
Because of their rich robes unseen
The world is not apprized.
But why keep they that narrow road,
That rugged, thorny maze?
Why, that's the way their Leader trod,
They love and keep His ways.

Why do they shun the pleasing path
That worldlings love so well?
Because that is the road to death,
The open road to hell.
What! is there then no other road
To Salem's happy ground?
Christ is the only way to God,
No other can be found.

Egotism
A Reading
Proverbs 26:12

A Meditation
It is easy to see where the word egotism comes from. Before Freud made ego a technical term for part of the personality, it was a good solid Latin word meaning the first person "I." Over the last few years, there has been a tussle in the Christian church over the heavy use of the word "I" in the new songs the body of Christ sings. However, the briefest look at the Psalms will tell you that that word was very important in the life of the Hebrew community. Still, many people in our denomination take a dim view of all of the first-person language in our newer songs, saying that in their praise and confessions, they do not communicate the praise and the confession of the whole community.

So now I was dreadfully confused. How can we criticize the newer songs coming out of Christianity for being "I" centered when the oldest songs sung to God, the Psalms, couch their praise and confession in terms of the first person as well?

A few years ago, I attended a continuing education event and the presenter was an Old Testament professor, so I took the opportunity to pose her this problem. She told me that none of the songs, new, old, or very old, were the problem. In our society today, we simply do not understand the corporate

I. The corporate I. I have to confess, I stood there rather stupidly, and therefore, making her point, repeating out loud, more than once, "the corporate I." Proving that at the very least, this particular modern person did not understand "the corporate I." Well, I was rescued. Last Thursday, at our midweek Bible Study, the text of Exodus gave me the opportunity to mention this "corporate I" business.

It seemed to confuse them not at all. We are all confessing that we believe and hope for the same things, but we are not assuming the right to confess the belief and hope of anyone else. I found as I always do, great understanding in our folks that come together on Thursday mornings. The more I thought about it, the more it became clear to me that not only do people have the opportunity to praise and confess their faith individually while singing with other Christians; the community is strengthened by the remembrance that God loves each one of us individually.

I am considering emailing that Old Testament professor and telling her that I have a whole class room full of people who have a perfect understanding of the "corporate I." I believe that even though Peter has taken it on the chin for the last 2,000 years, I believe he too understood the "corporate I." But he also had the gift from God of self-love: not only the ordinary human instinct to survive, but also that wonderful gift of self-love that comes whether we have a community that upholds it or not.

For this reason, we must work together, as a Christian community to uphold our individual member's gifts of self-love and not tear each other down. Peter had this gift and because of it, he acted and spoke when others would not or could not. The only time he did not was when he finally denied his Savior.

Pastor: Let us pray:
Congregation: Teach us, dear God, that we are not alone and that you have placed us in a world of people who need our example and whose help we need. Help us, God of all, to cheat ourselves of none of your blessings. In the name of your Son, we pray. Amen.

Impulsive
A Reading
Proverbs 29:20

A Meditation
Broken down into its roots, the word impulsive means to push before. This makes a lot of sense because one who is impulsive pushes before he or she has time to really think about it. These are the non-looking leapers we hear so much about. We see this in almost everything the Bible tells us about Peter. It shows up in the stories of the transfiguration, the walking on water business, and most terribly, in Peter's denial of his Lord.

Impulsiveness is a trait I fear I share with Peter. However, I have to confess that over the years it is something I have come to rely on more than reject as something that causes me trouble. I believe the same is true with Peter. It is pretty clear that he not only got into trouble when he tried water walking, he also looked just plain stupid. And because of his impulsiveness, he sounded like a babbling fool at our Lord's transfiguration. But his impulsiveness also kept him from being at his Lord's side when he denied him in the courtyard of the temple the night before Jesus died. But you have to ask yourself if he would have been the lion of faith that he was without all of those experiences.

Impulsiveness is a gift from God without which many things would not be done and many would not hear the good news. While it is true that the things for which Peter is best known shows us the negative side of impulsiveness, it is impulsiveness that made use of Peter's egotism and ended Peter's fear.

There are going to be times in our lives as Christians when we are weighed down by our fear. And it is only going to be our impulsiveness that will set us free to push out into the rest of the world before we have a chance to think about it. Before long, the lovely gift of self-love will be overshadowed by the darker gift of survival and unlike our dear friend Peter, we will not act, we will not speak out. Our Lord knows, as he knew with Peter, that we will deny him. Our impulsiveness is one of the gifts we have to set us free from our fear, and with Peter, to act and to speak on behalf of the world.

Offering

The Prayers of the People

The Lord's Prayer

Closing Hymn
"O Sacred Head, Now Wounded"