The following sermon is the second of six in the series titled The Easter People, presented by the Reverend John W. Howe, Rector of Truro Episcopal Church in Fairfax, Virginia. The title is Peter. Last Sunday we looked at a woman I called the first of the Easter people, Mary Magdalene. Today and for the next four weeks, I want to extend that into a brief series of meditations as we consider some of the other Easter people. People whose lives were transformed, were revolutionized by their encounters with the risen Christ.

In 1 Corinthians 15, St. Paul begins his summary of the resurrection appearances this way. He says, I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received. That Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures.

That he was buried. That he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures. and that he appeared to Cephas, or Peter, then to the twelve.

Actually, the eleven, Judas has already hanged himself in remorse by this point in the story, and actually on that first Easter evening, Thomas wasn't present. Jesus had to make a special encore appearance just for him a week later. But collectively, they were still called the twelve.

and Paul says Jesus appeared to Cephas in a private meeting and then to the others later. You know we have absolutely no account of that private meeting. It's referred to in two places here in 1 Corinthians and also in Luke's gospel when it tells about Cleopas and his friend who come running back into Jerusalem having met the Lord on the road to Emmaus and they come bursting into the upper room where the apostles and others are hiding really out of fear of the Jews and they find that group is already buzzing with the word the Lord has appeared to Simon.

But we have no details of that meeting. Can you imagine it? Can you put yourself into the story and imagine what that meeting must have been like.

If ever there was a character in scripture that most people find themselves having to love, it's Simon Peter. He dominates the band of apostles from the very beginning of the story. Andrew's principal claim to fame is simply that he was Peter's brother, And he had the privilege of introducing Peter to the Lord Jesus.

Peter is so much larger than life, it seems. He is consistently the first one to speak, the first one to volunteer, the first one to step forward, and he invariably gets it wrong. Big, brawny, bold, courageous, impetuous, impulsive.

He was a three-letter man, I don't know if you know that. top sailor in Galilee, fastest swimmer on the North Shore, and the best fisherman in the whole region. The only problem was he suffered from an incurable case of foot-in-mouth disease.

Somebody told me after I made that comment that Jim Kennedy said recently that Peter must have hopped through life on one foot because he kept the other one in his mouth all the time, you see. At Caesarea Philippi, turning point, pivot point in the gospel story, when Jesus presses home the question, who do you say that I am? And it's Peter who gives the answer, and it's the right answer, if you'd only stop there.

You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus says, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hasn't revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And now that you've seen who I am, let me tell you what I've come to do.

And it says, from that moment, from the moment of recognition of who he is, from that moment, not before, he began to teach them that he had to go to Jerusalem and he'd suffer many things at the hands of the chief priests and the Pharisees. and he would be put to death. And Peter hears that and his response is, God forbid, Lord, this will never happen to you.

What a marvelous phrase. God forbid, Lord. You are the Lord.

You are the Christ. You are the Son of the living God, but you don't understand what you're about. And Jesus whirls around.

You can just picture this happening in your mind and says to him, get behind me, you devil. Having just called him, blessed of God, for having seen who I am, he now says, you devil, for having so completely missed the point. He says, you're not seeing things from God's perspective, you're seeing them in a human fashion.

Foot in mouth disease. An amount of transfiguration. Peter, James, and John have the privilege of seeing what no one else has seen, but one day all creation will.

They saw Jesus transfigured, resplendent in his glory, standing there with Moses on one side and Elijah on the other, as if surrounded by the law and the prophets. They're talking together. And Peter captures the moment with the great suggestion, let's make three tabernacles, one for each of you.

You know, you can just see him say, our guy has really made it into the big time, you know. And God speaks from heaven. A cloud descends and covers the whole scene, and God says, this is my beloved son.

Listen to him. And when the cloud lifts again, it says they saw Jesus only. At the Last Supper, Jesus rises from table and ties a towel around his waist and goes and washes the feet of his disciples one after another.

And he comes to Peter and Peter says, you'll never wash my feet. And Jesus says, if I don't wash you, you have no part of me. Well, then wash my hands and my head too.

No, no, Peter, I don't need to do that. Only your feet. Because they keep going in your mouth.

In the garden, Jesus asks his disciples three times, watch with me while I pray. And three times they fall asleep. Can't you hear him saying, Peter, not even an hour?

Can't you stay awake for one hour? The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Jesus teaches on the absolute necessity of forgiving our brother, no matter what unbelievably obnoxious thing he's done to us.

And it's Peter who jumps forward and says, Lord, how many times do I have to do that? As many as seven times, He figures nobody could ask seven times of me, but he knows Jesus really likes the number seven. And Jesus says, not seven times, 70 times seven times, which really means an unlimited number of times.

It seems to me that the whole career, the whole life of this man is kind of epitomized by that episode on the Sea of Galilee. The disciples are out there. They're rowing.

They've been rowing for quite a long time. It says they're going against the wind and the waves and they're making very little headway. And all of a sudden somebody spots Jesus walking on the water.

And it says they are freaked out with fear. They think they're seeing a ghost. Except for our boy Pete.

Lord, if that's you, bid me to come with you. That's pretty gutsy, don't you think? And Jesus says, come on.

So he goes over to the gunnels. Picture this thing in your mind. Here the wind is going and the waves are roaring and he's hanging on with one hand, you know, as he sort of tests it out.

Hey, hey, look at this, guys. No water skis. And all of a sudden he catches sight of this breaker coming in from the starboard side and you go, That is a literal translation of Thou art Peter and like a rock thou shalt sink.

How can you hate somebody like that, you know? but certainly the most poignant moment was on the evening of the betrayal Jesus says you will all fall away because of me this night for it is written I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered what does Peter say though all the rest of them fall away Lord I will never fall away from you. And Jesus says Peter before the cock crows a second time you will have denied me three times.

And Peter protests that. He says Lord even if I must die with you I will never deny you. I want you to be very clear about the fact that that was no idle boast.

Peter meant what he said. Moments later, Judas arrives with a little band of soldiers to arrest Jesus, and Peter springs to the fore, whips out his sword, lunges at the first person he can see, chops off the ear of the slave of the high priest. He's obviously aiming at his neck.

He's a good fisherman. He's not too good with a sword. But he's putting his life on the line.

If I die with you, I'll never deny you. He meant it. Until Jesus says, Peter, put away your sword.

There is not going to be any fight. And within moments we find him denying that he even knows this man. And in a very real sense, he doesn't. Because Peter and all the others are following a Jesus of their own imagining.

They've got it all figured out what sort of a Christ he's going to be. Is it consistent from the very beginning? You are the Christ, the Son of the living God, but when he starts to tell us what kind of a Christ he is, God forbid, Lord.

We know what kind of a Christ we want. One who's going to bring in the kingdom, overthrow the Roman tyranny, reestablish the throne of David, trample our enemies underfoot, and raise us up to a place of supreme importance. Thank you very much.

That kind of a Christ will follow to the death. But one who says there's not going to be a fight, and who's led like a lamb to the slaughter, I don't even know what he's about. well I don't know if you've ever thought of it this way but I want to suggest to you that Jesus' statement Peter you're not going to make it till breakfast may have been the kindest thing he ever said to Peter one of the kindest things he ever said to anybody because when that rooster crowed for the second time Peter was suddenly overwhelmed at the enormity of what he had just done, appalled at the fickleness of his shallow commitment, shocked at his own defection, he had to realize in the same moment that Jesus wasn't surprised at all.

Jesus knew it before it happened and loved him anyway. In fact, in that episode on the previous evening, Jesus had said, Simon, Simon, Satan desired to have you that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith fail not, and when you have been converted again, I'm going to use you to strengthen your brethren. You may be surprised, Peter, But I knew about it before it happened.

Before it happened, I prayed for you that you'd go through that thing and your faith wouldn't fail and you would be converted again. And when that happens, I'll use you to strengthen your brethren. And we saw in Peter's letter him doing exactly that.

We see him doing it all the way through the New Testament. Didn't you love how he put it? as a fellow witness of Christ's sufferings and a beholder of His glory.

Let me tell you how to live in the light of that. Peter eventually became the rock. You know what Simon means?

It means sandy, shifty, unstable. Can't build anything on sand. that's why Jesus changed his name Peter a rock and he eventually became that Peter I've prayed for you I knew about it before it happened and I prayed for you before it happened I think Peter hung on to that as the long hours ticked by from good Friday evening until Easter Sunday morning you think he had any vested interest in running to the tomb and checking out the women's story that it was empty?

You know, it says that when John looked in and saw the grave clothes lying there, probably still in the shape of Jesus' body, it's as if His body just passed through them. He could do that. He appeared in the upper room.

He just passed through the locked door. He passed through the grave clothes. They were probably still in the form the shape of his body just kind of crushed down a little bit by the weight of the spices, looking for all the world like the chrysalis after the butterfly has departed.

John looked in and he saw that and it says he believed. But Peter said, I want to see him myself. And so it was.

We don't have any record of what actually took place, but sometime on that first Easter day, Jesus had a private meeting with the big fisherman, and he was converted again. It's interesting, isn't it, that later that evening when Jesus appeared in the upper room, there's no record that Peter said, See, I told you guys. In fact, there's no record that Peter said anything.

That braggadocio spirit seems to have left him already. Peter's a changed man. Man, what took place?

What did Jesus say to him that afternoon? What did Peter say to Jesus that afternoon? What kind of shame was there?

What kind of sorrow and remorse was there? And how was it swallowed up in Jesus' reassurance? I know, Peter.

Don't you remember what I said? I knew about it beforehand. It's okay.

This is the day of new beginnings. I wonder if you find yourself in this story. have you made your profession of faith have you nailed your colors to the mast have you stood up to be counted have you declared your allegiance to this Lord Jesus in public and maybe even taken some flack because of it have you worked out your theology you got it all sorted out now have you watched as others have stumbled and you've said that will never happen to me and then when the crunch came it did and you were horrified you were appalled at your own weakness at your own fickleness you were shocked at your compromise I've got good news for you you may be shocked didn't surprise Jesus at all see he's making a masterpiece out of dust if you think of yourself as jewels and gold and silver and platinum you're going to miss the point Isaiah says he knows our frame he remembers that we are dust he's not surprised when we mess it up but he's prayed for you just as he prayed for Peter He knew before the compromise.

He knew before the denial. And He's prayed for you. That your faith would not ultimately fail.

That you'll go through that thing. That you'll be converted again and again and again if need be. And then He's going to use even you.

And even me. That's how our heads do that. Lord Jesus, we want so much.

To say the right thing, to do the right thing, to be in the right place at the right time. So often we fail. Sometimes we find it very hard to forgive ourselves.

sometimes we're shocked thank you Lord that you're not thank you Lord that you love us anyway thank you for the encouragement of this story of Peter thank you that you prayed for him and you prayed for me I count this as a day of new beginnings for your name's sake Amen Amen.