Ninth Sunday After Trinity

You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church

Nicknames serve all kinds of purposes. Sometimes they are teasing like the six-foot-six tall man who is nicknamed ‘Tiny’ or the man with White as a surname who is called Chalky.

A friend of mine at school rejoiced in the nick name ‘Moth’ His Surname was Eaton and so ‘Moth Eaton’

Jesus was good at nick names. He called the Pharisees whited sepulchres – not a nick name I suppose but very descriptive of those whose malice was hidden behind flattering words. And of course he gave nicknames to some of his disciples. The two brothers James and John were called ‘Sons of Thunder’.

We may wonder what it was about them that deserved such a nickname – argumentative or short-tempered’. They were brothers so maybe it was a case of sibling rivalry. But of course the most famous nickname is that given to Simon – the nickname Peter. Peter, Cephas meaning the rock.

I remember going to a series of talks given by the great Redemptorist  Gospel teacher Fr Dennis Mcbride. He made quite a lot out of Simon Peter’s name, pointing out that we know from elsewhere in the Gospels that Simon‘s father was called Jonah or John. Simon bar Jonah was Simon’s  proper designation in the convention of the time Simon son of John. We might say Johnson.

Simon Johnson or, to use his nickname, Rocky Johnson. The prince of the apostles rejoiced in the name Rocky Johnson. We have that on the good authority of the Redemptorist congregation.

I bet there was some laughter and leg-pulling amongst the disciples when Jesus first gave the nickname Rocky to Simon. What they know of Peter is far from rock-like in the sense of being solid and reliable. Except to say that he could always be relied upon to put his foot in it. He is the one who speaks first and thinks after. He would be the one who would say to Jesus even if they all desert you I never will. But when it came to it Peter would run away and desert Jesus with all the rest.

The Peter that comes through from the Gospels shows nothing of the unshakeable reliability that the name rock might suggest. So maybe Jesus was being truthful and honest about Peter in giving him this nickname. Maybe he was a bit rocky in the sense of being unreliable. Well events would prove that that was indeed the case. But still Jesus chose and called him to be the leader of his band of followers. And subsequently he would become the acknowledged leader of the church.

On the north shore of the Sea of Galilee there is the little church of the Primacy of Peter. It commemorates the first meeting of Jesus with Peter after Peter had denied Jesus three times. The risen Lord Jesus gives to Peter the threefold commission to Feed the sheep in other words to Pastor the flock – to lead the church.

‘Peter do you love me?' asks Jesus three times of Peter.  "Yes Lord. You know that I love you" replies Peter.  Then feed my sheep commands Jesus

By the church of the primacy of Peter just by the shore of the Sea of Galilee there is a beautiful bronze statue. It  has Peter kneeling before Jesus standing with his arms outstretched over Peter. Commissioning him for the task of leading the church - caring for the flock. Peter the rock on which the church would be built. And yet that rock was a bit rocky. But isn’t that just the point. Peter had to recognise that he could fail. That he could get things wrong. That he could even fail really quite badly – and yet despite that or even because of that the Lord still called him. Even at the moment of commissioning to feed the sheep – note the threefold commissioning – there was the shadow or the echo of the threefold denial. I am sure that the point wasn’t  lost on Peter. Nor should it be lost on us either.

Despite or because of his all too recognisable human frailty, Peter could still be a true pastor in the church. For one thing he would have to recognise his own weakness and therefore his reliance upon the grace of God. As Peter’s great sparring partner St. Paul  writing of the ministry entrusted to him said:

 ‘We contain this treasure within frail earthen vessels to prove that the power to do this comes from God, for it is not ourselves that we proclaim but Christ Jesus as Lord....’

A true realisation of our own weakness and  frailty and vulnerability is a very necessary component in the Christian life. In that Peter shows us the way. For I guess that all of us are a strange mixture of the rock that be relied upon and the rocky that can’t. We too can tell our stories of our failures. Of the times when we have let the Gospel down. Of the times when we thought that we were strong only to discover our own weakness. But praise God we can also tell of the loving saviour who forgives us. And restores us. And goes on trusting us and using us – even us - to build his church and his kingdom.

For the plain truth is that perfection has never been a qualification for God to use someone in his service. Which is just as well because there would be very few recruits? We shouldn’t court scandal nor condone it. But nor should we be surprised to discover that all of the Lord’s servants are in fact those frail earthen vessels that St. Paul spoke about. And yet God can use them by his grace.

I am sure that Peter was a much more effective caring and compassionate pastor because of his own weaknesses which he had had to face up to and to accept. That could help him surely to understand the frailty of others. In the words of Henri Nouwen the wounded healers are the most effective. Peter is not the rock on which the church is built because he always did the right thing. Or had the right answer. Or had the deepest insight into what God was doing in Jesus. Sometimes he did – often he didn’t. He is the rock because that is what Jesus called him to be with love and with humour. And he could be the rock because he discovered that the grace of Jesus could be relied upon to make up for human frailty. That is rock-like reliability indeed.

To be the worthy successors of Peter that’s all that we have to sign up to. To be prepared to let Jesus call us by name. To allow him to work through us and in us despite our weakness. Despite our frailty and failure – or even because of it. However many times we get it wrong we are still the rocks upon which the church can be built.