Wednesday, March 9, 2022 – Lent Two: The Peter Principle

“God himself, let you in on this secret of who I really am. And now I’m going to tell you who you are, really are. You are Peter, a rock. This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out.”  (Matthew 16: 17 -18, The Message Bible)

                 I have been reading a book lately in which the author,  Joe Polanski, lists his personal list of the top 100 baseball players of all time.  Baseball players have great nick names: Babe, Scooter, Hammerin’ Hank, Cool Papa, Yogi, The Kid, Dizzy, Catfish, etc. If you are a baseball fan like me, you might be able to fill in the last names of those baseball stars by just reading their nick names.

                Jesus hung quite the moniker on his disciple, Silas, now to be forever known as Peter or The Rock (not to be confused with the pro wrestler The Rock). This came with a lot of expectations, hopes and responsibilities for Peter. He gets the keys to the kingdom and guards the doors of heaven, apparently. His confession that Jesus is the Messiah (v.15) has put Peter at the forefront of Jesus’ mission to build the kingdom of God

                But let us not get carried away just yet. Peter was sometimes more crumbling shale than a rock of granite. He could be and was more often standing on rocky ground than building his foundation of faith and discipleship on solid rock. There were times his resolve sank like a stone when confronted with conflicts and trust issues.  There were times when his path in following Jesus was a rocky road, or like seed which fell on rocky ground, struggling to flourish and bear fruit.

                But I am sure that Jesus understood all this about Peter. He saw past the cracks in the stone and  gave Peter, the Rock,  the lead role in his master plan of building the Kingdom. Jesus saw the potential, the possibilities, the gifts, the strengths in Peter and gave Peter the somewhat, for sure, ironic title The Rock.

                There are some characteristics of being a rock which are not part of this mode of discipleship. Being a rock doesn’t mean being an unmoveable object, for instance, or an impenetrable, unassailable cold, hard presence in the world. I recall the Simon and Garfunkel song:

    I've built walls
    A fortress deep and mighty
    That none may penetrate
    I have no need of friendship, friendship causes pains
    It's laughter and it's loving I disdain

    I am a rock,  I am an island
A rock feels no pain. And an island never cries.

                Yes, to be a rock means to stand firm in our faith, to know with assurance our core values, and to maintain our integrity when it comes to following Jesus. It doesn’t mean being stubborn, cold, aloof, or unfeeling but to be aware of the flow of life around us and not be swept away  in the currents of culture or fear or worry or distress or the news or pandemics. It is not so much that we are rocks but rather we stand on the Rock.

                Hear Jesus’ words: “These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.”  (Matthew 7: 24 -25, The Message Bible)

                Jesus looks past all that might make you or me a curious choice for his Kingdom project. We’ve got stones in our shoes that causes us to limp after Jesus. But he places his blessing upon us and calls us into his service. He believes that you and I have something to offer, something to give, something to accomplish.

And you know the old saying, a rolling stone gathers no moss.

 Dale