Feast St Peter and St Paul

Happy feast day everyone! This past Monday we commemorated the feast of St Peter and St Paul but seeing that we do not have a service on Monday, that we should commemorate our feast day today. 

I've always wondered why Peter and Paul share a feast day. They seem like two very different apostles. One met and lived with Jesus during his ministry whereas the other never even met Jesus. But as you can see from the Book of Acts, their ministries and destinies were intertwined making them the two foundational pillars of the church. Pope Benedict XVI mentioned that they inseparably represent the entire Gospel of Christ. Peter was the chief apostle to the Jewish people, while Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles; together, they symbolize a unified, universal Church. This is quite clear when we read the Book of Acts and delve into the Epistles of Paul and Peter. 

Finally, they were both essentially to bringing the Gospel to Rome where they shared a similar date of being martyred under Emperor Nero. One was beheaded while the other crucified upside down. Celebrating them together highlights their spiritual brotherhood and their unified role in establishing the Christian faith.

But it did take a long journey to get there. For Paul, he had to see the errors of his ways as a persecutor of Christians. For Peter, it was overcoming his doubts along his journey as a disciple of Christ to finally letting go and following Jesus.

Let us focus on Peter since he is the patron of our church. Jesus always knew that Peter was special. After all, Peter was his lead apostle. Jesus even changed his name from Simon to Peter and told him that he would be the foundation of his church. On this rock, I will build my church. But Peter was also the most problematic disciple. He often questioned Jesus' judgement and defended his teacher using physical violence. Most of all he denied Jesus. First when Jesus told his disciples that he was destined to suffer and die (Jesus told Peter: get behind me, Satan) and then again at the crucifixion where his denial led to the cock crowing three times as Jesus predicted.

Peter represents all of us as human beings. Peter's foresight was limited. He could never grasp Jesus' bigger picture. He first thought that Jesus was the conquering messiah who would lead the Jews into a victorious battle with the Romans when Jesus message was a spiritual one, a one reflected by love so powerful that the strong will be eaten away by it. A love that would eventually gather all the different peoples of this earth together so much so that powerful empires and institutions would be eroded away so that the very least of us could thrive.

Peter often put himself and his safety over others. He denied Christ three times at his crucifixion seemingly to save his own skin. This theme was further reflected after Jesus death, resurrection, and ascension. He often clashed with Paul over the inclusion of Gentile Christians. In Galatians, Paul criticizes Peter's hypocrisy. Peter eats with Gentile Christians till friends of James came by and he left for fear of being criticized by them. This time, he did so to save his own face. 

But the reminder Jesus left with Peter at the shores of the Sea of Galilee no doubt would always return to him throughout Peter's travels and ministry. In today's Gospel passage we are reminded of how Jesus asked him three times to feed his lambs, tend his sheep and finally to feed his sheep to remind him of his shortcoming when he denied him at his crucifixion. Peter had to reply time and again that he loved Jesus and would do his work. Jesus then reminded Peter that though he was in control in his youth, that control would be taken away in his old age pointing to the fact that Peter would eventually realize that he had to give up his good intentions, his face, and eventually his skin in order to follow Jesus' message of radical love. Peter eventually did so and in submitting to Jesus, Peter was crucified upside down for his faith and work. 

It was in Peter finally grasping the message of Jesus that very day on the beaches of the Sea of Galilee to follow him that he achieved something so great that he would not see in his lifetime but have ramifications till this day - the birth of the Church. The spread of Christianity where everyone, Jew or gentile, male or female, slave and free could be a part of. The message that in God and through God that no matter who we are, we are welcomed at Christ's table. 

And we can still see this message in our everyday here in the United States. As we celebrate this country’s 250th Independence Day, we remember our embrace of human rights, our belief in freedom, and our understanding that no matter who we are in this country, that we are can do anything we want in order to achieve the life we want.

But the lesson of today is that if we want to continue to be that country we so love, two we must first recognize that we are like Peter. We have good intentions, we may make mistakes, but we must eventually let go of it all and follow Jesus' message of radical love and welcome. 

I think that is also the call of the church today. We must submit and follow our mission to love others as Jesus first loved us. I believe that St Peter's Episcopal Church is in the process of a reformation. We are at the crossroads once again in the midst of a dwindling national church, but I believe that St Peter's can still be the focal point of the community and of Jesus' message. But we need to let go of our ideas of what church should be and just follow Jesus. God will do the rest. Have the intention, aim for it but to let go and let God. I hope to use this period of time as I begin my ministry to recalibrate. I hope that together, we can redefine our mission here in Morro Bay, reset ourselves, and then go out into the world again. We need to trust God and pray as we walk this journey together. If we put God and spirituality first, change ourselves and our ideas as we put others before us, then we will see the change that we want.
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In Folk Christianity, because Peter holds the keys to heaven, he is seen as a saint who opens doors and removes obstacles for those who pray to him, asking for his intercession. But I believe that for that to happen, we must not only pray but to be like Peter, to let go and let God work. Make our intentions known, refocus our intentions on Christ's central message to love, and let God do the rest. Following Jesus is hard. St Peter and St Paul know that. Their stories remind us of that. Now it is the time for us to be like them. To emulate them. To follow Jesus. Amen. 

the Rev. Dr. Ollie Lim