I’ll Call Him, Peter

I share with you this story of a couple who belonged to one of the congregations that I served several years ago.  I’ll call the husband Peter.  He stands straight and tall!  A rather imposing figure – yet whenever he entered a room, he brought with him a warm presence.

Peter was a proud man.  He was raised a Christian – brought up in the church of his parents.  He lived a regular life – with good family – and good friends.

Like most young men, he felt that he could conquer the world.  All was going well for him – he had his health, his amiable character – and a good head on his shoulders.  At age 21, he met, and married, his wife and they set out to have all the good things in life.

Isn’t that the way the story is supposed to go?

But life – and time – had something else in store for this young couple.  It seems that soon after their third anniversary, Peter and his wife had a baby.  They had all kinds of wonderful plans for that child.  The room was almost ready, the clothes had been picked out, a shower or two had taken place, and a mobile was already hanging above the crib.

And then, everything changed.  The baby was born prematurely.  She fit in the palm of a hand.  Doctors were skeptical as to whether, or not, she would make it through the first few hours, let alone the first few days.  Turned out the little one didn’t come home for almost a year.  She went, instead to a Children’s Hospital.  And then with apprehension, she finally did come home, and that beautiful nursery room converted into a hospital room with all sorts of medical paraphernalia.  She also came home with the prognosis that she would not make it through her first year!  Never-the-less, medical crews were set up around the clock, to monitor her progress and provide all different kinds of therapy.  Their home was invaded with care givers.  When I visited them, it was a madhouse!

You can imagine the shock, the disappointment – and the denial!  Denial that each of us would feel in such a situation!  We would all shout:  NO!  Lord! – Life wasn’t meant to be this way!  NO! Lord!  What about our dreams – and plans?

But try as they would, there was not a doctor – or a hospital – nor a medical center, that would give them any hope.

In his anguish and torment, Peter cried:  NO! Lord!  It cannot happen this way!

Well, he reminds us of yet another man named Peter.  A man who walked this earth many years ago – a man who shared our Lord’s journey to Jerusalem!

That Peter cried those very same words – NO!  Lord!  It cannot happen that way!  That Peter had been called to follow a man named Jesus.  And he did so with gusto – and enthusiasm.  But, as we are told in scripture, he also thought that life was to be experienced another way.

This other man named Peter had been with Jesus at the Transfiguration.  He would go with him to the garden of Gethsemane.  He was one of Jesus’ favorite – if not the favorite disciple.  In the Gospel lesson for last Sunday, we were reminded once again that it was this Peter who was called “the Rock” . . . it was this Peter upon whom Jesus had said that he would build his church!  And yet, here he is denying the way that Jesus says he must go!  NO!  Lord!  Not that way!

Both of these men, named Peter, wanted things to happen their own way.  After all, the Peter of Jesus’ time had been raised to look for a conquering Messiah – a warrior king – one who would sweep the Romans from Palestine and lead Israel to power – not a Messiah who would die on a cross, as a common criminal!  That was just too much!

And Jesus calls him a stumbling stone – not a rock this time!  And, then Jesus goes on to explain that one must not be intent upon human affairs but upon God’s – and that suffering and death are a part of it all!

He says, according to scripture, that to follow him one must take up their cross – and follow . . . thus suggesting that each one of us has a cross to carry.

And, then he says other complicated and confusing things like one must lose one’s life, for his sake, to find it!

How, in the world, are we to understand these words?

Perhaps like this:  Father Leo Booth, in his book subtitled “Walking on Water”, tells us a story about Albert Einstein and his Theory of Relativity.  It seems that when Albert was asked one time to explain the Theory, he said something like this:

“Madam, I was once walking in the country, on a hot day, with a blind friend, and I happened to remark that I would like a drink of milk.”

“I understand drink” said my friend, “but what is milk?”

“A white liquid,” I replied.

“I know liquid, but what is white?”

“The same color as a swan’s feathers.”

“I know feathers, but what is a swan?”

“A bird with a crooked neck.”

“I know neck, but what is crooked?”

Einstein said: “I lost my patience, I seized his arm, and straightened it.  Then I bent it at the elbow and said, ‘That is crooked.’”

“Ah,” said my blind companion, “now I know what you mean by milk.”

Sometimes I think that God teaches us by the Theory of Relativity.  I think that there are times that we have to be bent, too, before we can understand some of the sayings of Jesus.

After all, who do you know that would want to bear a cross?

But we all have crosses to bear – whether our name is Peter, or not.  And we are all called to lose our life for his sake, in order to find it.

What this means is that we are called to a turning upside down – or inside out, if you will, – from our usual way of thinking.  We are called to a condition of discipleship which involves, not only the bending, but the breaking of every link which ties us to ourselves.  We are called to a letting go!  A letting go of what we want!  We are called to put God in the center of our world – or better yet, in the center of our lives.

And then, when Jesus suggests that we take up our cross, he is inviting us to be involved in life, in spite of that cross.

Rather than lament, for a lifetime, the ill that has come our way, he invites us to life high that cross – and see life in a new way, as his disciples.

That means, seeing God in the pain and the confusion of life – seeing God in the decisions and never-ending doubts – and in the daily acts of courage!

Whether that be in the decision to continue to follow this man, Jesus, like our Peter of over 2,000 years ago – or in the pain and confusion and daily small acts of courage for our present day Peter and his wife and child?

This Peter and his wife struggled through the period of denial and, with God’s help, finally came to a place of acceptance.  Life has not been easy for them – there have been many hospital visits – many tests – continued therapy . . . and to everyone’s amazement, there daughter is still with us . . . a miracle we are told!

The couple are now in their late 70’s – and their daughter?

I was her pastor when she was born and when I served as their Interim Pastor before I came to Tennessee, I attended her High School Graduation party!!!!

That family’s life has not been a story without pain and suffering.  But, through it all, they have really lived – they have found their lives in the letting go!

Not in the grand life that Peter had once envisioned for himself and his wife and future family, but in the quiet places, and in the gentle word, the welcoming smile – and in the very ordinary!

Now I’m not saying that their story is, or will be, the way of every situation in similar circumstances, not all life stories have a happy ending – and I am not suggesting that we should not experience our denial – for that seems to be a very necessary step to final acceptance.  But I am suggesting that their acceptance of their situation – was their YES to Jesus’ words to take up your cross and follow!  It was their response to Jesus’ words “to lose that they might find.” That’s not to say that their years have not been difficult, and their lives have not been bitter/sweet.

Yet, just as Peter, of yesteryear, was to understand God’s promise in a new light – so this couple has experienced God’s grace in a new light!

You and I are all called to do just that!  To take up our cross, whatever that might be, and to risk – by letting go and following where he leads – that we might live in a new light, in a new and different way . . . God’s way!

Amen.