Sunday the 29th of June 2025 - Saints Peter and Paul

Acts 12:1-11/ Ps 34(33)/ 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18/ Matthew 16:13-19

Today we celebrate two of the great founding saints of our church, Peter, the rock on which Jesus built his church and to whom he gave his authority on earth, and Paul, who was dramatically converted from his previous life to become the apostle to the gentile world, who’s teachings resonate down the ages and are as relevant today as they were when he wrote them.

The world today is quick to judge people. We can be only known for the one mistake we made. Look at the way the popular press and various social media platforms can both build up someone only to knock them down again. All the good we may have done, or importantly may be able to do, is wiped away as we are ‘cancelled’ due to a mistake made, one ill thought-out action or a word uttered before engaging our brain properly. We can be defined by the world for the mistakes and slips we make rather than the good we do. We should not judge others, and we should not be judged by others and never defined by the best or the worst we have done. We are all fallen, a mixture of good

Fortunately, God, the only one qualified to judge us justly, does not operate as the world tends to do. With God there is always a way back, we are not ‘cancelled’ by God rather our mistakes are cancelled, blotted out, and forgotten. However far we have fallen there is always a way back with the God of love, compassion, and endless mercy. How do we know this, from where do we get this confidence in redemption?

A way to start is to look at the people Jesus chose to found his church on. Peter and the other eleven apostles were not highly educated religious leaders of their community. They were simple, predominantly uneducated working men with little standing other than their various trades. They were very human with their faults and failings as we all are. Peter, at that time called Simon, was a fisherman who worked with his brother and companions on the Sea of Galilee. He was an impulsive man, headstrong, and outspoken. There are a number of occasions in the gospels were Peter’s human weaknesses are recorded but importantly we also see the repeated responses of Jesus as he transformed Peter into the solid rock of foundation, even changing his name from Simon to Cephas, Aramaic for rock, or Petros the Greek for rock which gives us Peter as we know him now.

Paul was an educated devout Jew; he was active in persecuting the new faith founded by Jesus. He was present at the stoning to death of the first martyr, the Deacon Stephen, even holding the clothing of those whose actions he fully approved of. Jesus dramatically stopped Paul in his tracks even as he was on his way to arrest other early Christians. ‘Why are you persecuting me’ was the accusation Paul heard from the blinding light, not why are you persecuting them, but me. This was the turning point for Paul who became the great evangeliser of the gentile world.

A metaphor for many of our lives is seen in the account of Peter walking on the water. Jesus had sent Peter and the others ahead in their boat while he sought some solitude to pray. Night fell and the weather became stormy with the boat battling a head wind. The disciples were terrified to see Jesus walking towards them on the water. He cried out to them using the most often quoted phrase in scripture, ‘do not be afraid’. Jesus called Peter to join him and stepping out of the boat Peter started walking towards Jesus on the water. Realizing what he was doing, and becoming aware of the wind and waves Peter’s initial faith failed him and he started to sink. Peter called out in terror and Jesus stretched out his hand and saved him.

This is often what can happen to us. We cling to the perceived safety of our everyday lives, sometimes battered by the storms of life. If we have the faith and courage to answer the Lord’s call to step out of the safety of the boat we can quickly become aware of our own vulnerabilities, lose faith in God, and start to drown in the cares and worries of the world as we forget to rely on God rather than ourselves. All we have to do is to call to the lord for help and he will instantly stretch out his arm to save us. We need to keep our eyes on Jesus rather than being distracted by the storms that surround us.

In the passage from Matthew’s gospel for today we hear of Peter’s profound statement of who he said Jesus was. ‘you are Christ, the son of the living God’. Jesus knew that God his Father had revealed this knowledge to Peter, still known as Simon at this time. It was at this point that Jesus changed Simon’s name to Peter, The Rock, the solid foundation that he would build his Church upon. Jesus recognised that this very human person was the person he could ultimately depend upon to lead his Church after he returned to Heaven. Uneducated and with many flaws he would shamefully deny even knowing Jesus three times before making his three fold declaration of love to the risen Christ and ultimately dying for him.

If we were looking for a solid dependable person to lead an organisation that would have to operate under a state of occupation with a hope that it would spread and grow to all nations think of the human resource procedures we would have to invoke these days. I’m pretty sure that the desired traits in the job description would not encourage uneducated tradesmen to apply. As for Paul he was actively trying to stop the spread of this new way of worshiping God and would be the last on the list for being recruited. The difference with Jesus is that being God he sees beyond the surface into our very being. He sees us not as we see ourselves, nor how others see us, God sees us as the people he created us to be. He sees what we are destined to become, the people created in his image and likeness but for now scarred by the damage inflicted by original sin. Damage that he has personally repaired through his cross and resurrection.

Peter and Paul give us all hope in that however weak and human we might be God can work with and through those weaknesses to accomplish his purpose. It is not us that achieve this but God working through us. We must not rely upon ourselves or doubt the ability of God to work with and through us. We must submit in trust to God’s will, open our eyes, minds, and hearts to experience the risen Lord coming into our lives through the Holy Spirit. We can change the direction of our lives; we can step out of the safety of the boat confident that we can walk on the waters of life. If we lose faith and start to rely on ourselves we might still start to sink but we know that Jesus is always there to stretch out his hand to us and lift us back up to safety.

Let us take Saints Peter and Paul as our role models today, bring our frequent human failings to God time after time, submitting ourselves to the compassionate love God has for us, recognising who Jesus is, affirming  ‘you are Christ, the Son of the living God’ relying totally upon him to save us from drowning, to change our direction of travel and purpose in life, submitting to his will to work through us to build up his kingdom in our world.

God Bless Brendan.