Homily #2 Peter’s Denial

John 18:12-27

Judas was eager to turn Jesus over to the people in power.

Peter was eager to protect Jesus from his chosen path.

And now Peter’s denial.

Peter who seems to be in no eminent danger is making sure that no one thinks that he’s with Jesus.

That’s what stands out for most of us in this story.

Kind of like with Judas, we don’t see ourselves like Peter here.

We may not be perfect Christians.

But we’re not betrayers or deniers thank goodness.

Maybe the most dangerous way to think about ourselves is as good Christians…not perfect, but good.

Good so easily becomes good enough.

And then one thing after the other gets in the way, becomes a roadblock, is a reason for not living up to our ideals.

Instead of telling ourselves that we would never be like Judas or like Peter…

What if we actually heard what Jesus is saying here?

The high priests are asking Jesus to explain his teachings.

We do that, don’t we?

We ask for explanations.

We talk about how confusing the Bible is.

How are we supposed to know what to take literally and what is meant figuratively, metaphorically, contextually?

We talk about not hearing answers to our prayers, not knowing exactly what Jesus wants us to do.

We ask over and over again about Jesus’ teachings, like these high priests are doing.

And how does Jesus answer them and us?

I have said nothing in secret…ask those who heard what I said to them; they know what I said.

One of Mark Twain’s great quotes is this:

It ain’t those parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.

Who are we kidding that we can’t understand the Bible and that we don’t know what God wants us to do?

Why are we standing around saying how we’re not as bad as Judas or Peter?

Jesus says…I have said nothing in secret.

Love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

The cup of water that you offer to the least among us is the same as offering it to Jesus.

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Don’t settle for being a good enough Christian.

Don’t settle for being better than Judas the betrayer or Peter the denier.

Don’t settle for pretending that the Bible is a pure mystery or that following Jesus is too confusing.

Following Jesus is hard, but not because it’s hard to understand what Jesus wants from us.

It’s just plain hard to do the stuff Jesus says for us to do.

To love God, to be servants, to be merciful, to love our enemies.

Back to that song…All For Love.

This is the part that made me cry.

It came after communion and I started thinking about the people I had just served.

I looked out at the congregation and thought about their stories.

The ones I know.

Their pains, their struggles.

And I looked inside myself at my own pain and struggles and failures.

I couldn’t even sing these words.

King of all, you became a servant.

Leaving everything to rescue me.

Never looking back, never looking back

You embraced the cross.

All for love, Jesus did it all for love.

Leaving everything behind to rescue us.

Never looking back he embraced the cross.

All for love…