There is implied in the revelation of the Bible that human beings have a responsibility in their lifetime to share the blessings of God, which are entrusted to them for a short period of time.
In the scripture today in Matthew's Gospel, which is about the miracle of the feeding of the 5000, there is the captivating statement of our Lord to the disciples who have realized that the day is late and it is meal time and they ask Jesus what are we to do, and Jesus says: "You feed them!" In other words, you take care of this problem. You have the resources, you have the ability, you have the capabilities, and you have this unique opportunity, then handle it!
God does entrust us with responsibilities and situations which we might think are beyond our abilities and resources, but yet he charges us to handle it. Many a parent has wondered about their demanding responsibilities and their ability to handle everything. I often think about the strength it takes to be a single mother who works full time and now school is starting again. Many an employer has given to us responsibilities, which stretch us beyond our perceived ability, saying to us: "You can do this!" One sometimes wonders if perhaps God has not overestimated our abilities.
In the writings of Peter, we read: "God who has reconciled us to himself, has given to us the ministry of reconciliation." So Jesus says: To the disciples: You feed them "You heal them", he said to the disciples.
When Lazarus was raised from the dead and staggered out of the grave, Jesus said to the disciples, "You unwrap him".
And to you, who have been given so much, he says, use it! You feed them! You heal them! You help them! I was real proud this past week when Kathleen Mooney and her “Companions in Christ” group, who helped feed the children that came to us this summer, were this week purchasing for all the children new back packs and school supplies. You feed them. If their parents are not able or capable or willing to help get the children ready for school, then you do it.
I am confident that the disciples felt as we sometimes do when faced with overwhelming responsibilities and so little resources and strength, "How am I going to handle this?" Interestingly enough, this story of the feeding of the 5000 is the only miracle recorded in all four gospels. Matthew gives us the briefest sketch recalling that Jesus said, Feed them, And they fed them and food is left over". In the Gospel of John's account, we receive more details:
John 6:1-14 (NRSV)
After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberius. A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?" He said this to test him, for he knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, "Six months' wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little." One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?" Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost." So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets."
So little resources, yet when offered to God is blessed and it becomes more than sufficient. It has always been that way. When we offer to God what little we have, God blesses it and multiplies and there is always more than enough.
To Moses he asks: "What do you have in your hand? A shepherd’s staff. Use it and lead my people to freedom.
To the disciples he asks: "What do you have in your hand? Five loaves and two fish. Take what you have and you feed them.
To you God asks: "What do you have in your hand? Use it. You feed them.”
Not only is this a responsibility given to the people of God, it is also an exciting adventure to participate with God in creating something new out of nothing but a challenge. Consider what this has been done in the front of this church and the assembling of thousands of pieces of parts of this new organ. What an adventure this has been.
Now, Let us briefly see how this applies to today's world: Some of you are starting school tomorrow, and God says: "Take what you have and use it and I will bless it."
Some of you are facing challenging situations in your family or in your work, and God says: "Take what you have and use it and I will bless it."
Although you may not feel that you have the resources to do what is expected of you, yet, God has given to each the equipment to accomplish the tasks, which are before you.
Mike Wallace once interviewed billionaire H. L. Hunt who said: "I would starve to death with an income of a million dollars a week." Well I believe that I could probably make it if I had that kind of income.
For those who find themselves in a rather challenging financial situation and with the recent downturn in the stock market and unemployment reaching toward 5.5%, perhaps some of you will appreciate the interesting list in a business magazine recently of "10 ways to know that you're broke":
1. American Express calls and says: "Leave home without it!"
2. You idea of a 7-course meal is taking a deep breath outside a restaurant.
3. You're formulating a plan to rob the food bank.
4. Long distance companies don't call you to switch anymore.
5. Credit Card companies write you a final letter saying: "Don't call us, we will call you."
6. You rob Peter and then rob Paul.
7. You finally clean your house, hoping to find some loose change.
8. You think of a lottery ticket as an investment.
9. You give blood every day, just for the orange juice.
10. At Communion you go back for seconds.
Well the truth is, we are not broke, with God you are never broke. We have at times outstripped our resources, but we are blessed with resources in abundance when they are offered to God. Every six seconds a child dies because of hunger. As a result of famine, war and natural disasters, there are currently close to 50 million refugees roaming the world. And children right here in River City will go off to school tomorrow morning without breakfast with no school supplies. And like the disciples, we wring our hands asking, "What can we do?"
The scripture today is not just about feeding the hungry. It is about using what you have, to bless others.
The gift of this organ will bless thousands who will come to this worship center to praise God for the next 100 years.
The gift of a suit of clothes in the 1950's from one of our members was carried by Mary McMillan to Hiroshima and given to a young teenager by the name of Kusko Kay, and she felt pretty and good about herself and the love of God in her heart and rather than growing bitter toward Christianity and America. Because of Mary McMillan and that little gift, to this day, she loves God and works for peace.
Tomorrow morning some 30 children will sport new backpacks to school and will feel good about themselves. Such a little thing, such an important thing.
You feed them. That's what he said. That's what he says.
The best part of the day is early in the morning when darkness gives way to dawn. When the shadows fade and the sun rises in the east. When we arise from rest or the restlessness of the darkness and the light bathes every leaf, every blade of grass with the warm, welcoming light of a new day.
Jane and I have, for the 40 years of our marriage, both enjoyed sharing this time of the day together, but always with the covenant that it is a time of silence. It is not a time for talking, for worrying, or figuring things out, but rather a time for being.
I know that there are many who experience life as darkness rather than as dawn, but our worship this Sunday and every Sunday proclaims the theological truth that God will prevail over evil, that anger will fade in the presence of forgiveness, that illness will be overcome by wellness, that darkness will be erased by light, that despair will be conquered by hope.
We worship not on Good Friday, a day of darkness, not on Sabbath, a day of law, but on Sunday, the third day, the day of resurrection.
I must confess that I wonder about those who see life as darkness rather than light, whose doubt obscures their confidence, whose hate blackens out love, for the truth is we all are given the same day, sunset and evening star and then the morning rise and daily God reaffirms this rhythm of death and life, of life and death. You chose to focus on the darkness or the light, on death or resurrection and you see what you look for, you find what you seek, you receive what you chose to want the most.
Thus Wayne Dyer in one of his book titles would state: "Believe it and you will see it."
Let God break through your darkness today. Be open to God's dawning presence, today. Allow God to shine upon your life today.
Two Sundays ago, July 28, Rescue workers in Quecreek, PA broke through a coal mine wall 244 feet below the earth and miraculously rescued nine miners from what appeared would be a sure death locked in the bowels of the dark earth. From above the earth, the rescue workers drilled 'till they broke through and delivered these trapped miners. The miners had done all they could for themselves and it was left to those who were on the earth above them to provide rescue. And they did. From above came hope. Ultimate hope always comes from above.
Long ago, the prophet Isaiah wrote of God's coming to the people of Israel in a time of great national tragedy and delivering them in this way: "The people who have walked in darkness, have seen a great light."
These nine delivered men in Quecreek, PA were in the darkness of the cave and could not get out, trapped by a flood of water which had broken through the shaft of an old abandoned mine. But from above the rescue workers drilled down, penetrating the darkness of their remaining hours of breath, and rescued them. One of rescued miners describes his feelings upon hearing the drill penetrating the small pocket of air where they huddled together for warmth and then seeing the light coming from above into their darkness. "They had accomplished the impossible and they had done it for me."
That's grace, God's grace. Marvelous Grace. Amazing Grace-how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me! Jesus came to humankind from outside, from above, from beyond and delivered all who would accept his offer. He came like the dawn dispelling the darkness of the long night of struggle.
In the book of Genesis, there is the rather fascinating story of Joseph, the young son of Jacob. It was from the darkness of the water pit that God came to him, in an interesting format as slave traders paid for him and lifted him up out of the water pit. This purchase unknown at the time to the brothers, to the slave traders, even to Joseph, would ultimately lead to the salvation of Israel, as a people. As Joseph, the caretaker of the agricultural products of all of Egypt, would be the one who would provide food for starving Israel and Joseph would say to his brothers: "You meant this for evil, but God meant it for good." Even Evil can and is sometimes used by God for good. Maybe that is one of the reasons that Jesus would later say: "Bless those who persecute you and say all manner of evil against you."
One has to wonder "How much of our life, which we perceive as nothing but darkness, is but creative, imaginative ways which God is using to bring blessings to us and to his world?
In the reading from the Bible this morning, we learn of the disciples on a small boat on the sea of Galilee, trapped on a dark and stormy day by a strong storm which had blown in over the Gaza mountains. Trapped and unable to deal with the strong winds, the disciples were surprised as in the midst of the darkness, Jesus came to them from the land. He came to them from outside of the boat. He calmed the water. He pushed back the winds. And there was peace. He came to them from beyond the darkness, just as he came to the coal miners, from above.
It was another moment of grace, and there are many. God will often come in like manner, He comes through the darkness, from beyond us, and he calms the stormy winds, he sooths our anxious spirits, he lifts us up out of the darkness of the caves, which we are sometimes trapped.
Into the caves of darkness in which we find ourselves, God drills to the very spot where we are either hiding or trapped in the darkness in order to deliver us.
Paul Tillick writes: "Grace strikes us when we walk through the dark valley of a meaningless and empty life."
Psalm 40:3 "I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up out of the desolate pit, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song on my lips, a song of praise to our God."
The miners waited in the darkness. Joseph waited in the darkness of the water pit. The Psalmist waited until God inclined to him and heard his cry."
And at times our lives will be a long wait in the darkness for the coming of dawn.
Frederick Buechner has penetrated the darkness of our lives in his statement: "Faith is a way of waiting-never quiet knowing, never quite hearing or seeing, because in the darkness we are all but a little loss. There is doubt hard on the heels of every belief, fear hard on the heels of every hope" Faith is a way of waiting---for we are all but a little loss.
Perhaps today you are in the darkness, waiting. Our story affirms the fact that we are a people of grace and that we have and will experience dawn overcoming darkness. Appreciate with me this morning, these facts of spiritual story:
1. God uses even the darkness to provide his grace.
2. Dawn will always overcome darkness.
3. Grace will forever find us, no matter how dark the cave of our existence.
It is in these closing days of the summer, stormy season that Hurricanes will blow in from the Gulf. Accidents claim our loved ones. Coal miners become trapped in the dark caves below the earth. Innocent citizens working or shopping lose their lives. Disease interrupts our plans for a long life. Death steals the best ones from our family. Suicide bombers claim innocent lives. And we are helpless to do anything about it. But God is not helpless. He will come to us!!! And the dawn will dispel the darkness.
To choose Jesus Christ as one's Lord and Savior is to choose his way of life. This means love is the choice over hate.
Forgiveness is the choice over revenge.
Unity is the choice over division.
To make such choices is to align one's self with the currents of God’s intention for the human experiment; to live in any other way is to live at risk of separating ourselves from God’s intention and a habitual future.
Desmond Tutu, leader of the Christian movement in Africa, has written in his book, No Future Without Forgiveness, "There is a movement, not easily discernible, at the heart of things to reverse the awful centrifugal force of alienation, brokenness, division, hostility, and disharmony. God has set in motion a centripetal process, a moving toward the center, toward unity, harmony, goodness, peace, and justice, a process that removes barriers." I believe his statement is the word of God, for the people of God!
The Joseph stories, Old Testament events which occurred hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus and are to be found in the Book of Genesis, illustrate that forgiveness and acceptance of life's twists and turns are a part of our human journey, which leads to this desired unity.
Listen, you center your life in God, you seek to know him and to be obedient to his ways, and nothing will stand in the way of oneness and blessing. Live in any other way and you will find yourself caught in the crosscurrent against which you will not survive.
Joseph did not have an easy life. His brothers threw him into the darkness of an abandoned well in the desert and only pulled him out in order to sell him into slavery. While working as a slave in Potiphar's House, he was the captain of the guards of Pharaoh, he was approached by Potiphar's wife and when he turned down her sexual advances, she became angry, accused him of making the advances and had him thrown into prison. I am sure by then, Joseph must have thought, "What's the use?" "Why do I pray? Why do I try to do right?"
In time Joseph becomes a dream interpreter and interprets the dreams of Pharaoh, is released from prison and is elevated to a position of power as supervisor of the agricultural lands of Egypt. He takes an Egyptian wife and he claims an Egyptian name, Zephaniah and it is Zephaniah, the Egyptian, who meets his treacherous brothers who have come to Egypt seeking help during the years of famine. All that has gone before now is focused on this moment and what Joseph will do with these despicable brothers. After several cat and mouse games, Joseph who had thought that old memory of his Jewish brothers was a done deal, confronts them and with tears in his eyes, he reveals his true identity and sends them back to bring their father to Egypt.
Joseph could have chosen a different path. Let them starve they deserved it! Hang every one of them! He could have functioned out of revenge as many have over the years. When the government of Israel strikes a Palestine Village because a Palestinian terrorist has struck them, it is revenge-pay back. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. A life for a life!
A recently released movie by Tom Cruise and Paul Newman, which is not worth seeing, is “The Road to Perdition.” It is the story of a young man during gangster days who pays back the mob for killing his wife and son. “The Road to Perdition.”
Hatred, mistrust, anger, revenge, these are but the paving stones for the road to hell, and hell among other things is separation from God. Our God, who created human kind in the unity of a garden, has not lost that vision. Jesus' purpose was to reconcile a separated humanity to the Creator. Apostle Paul: God has reconciled us unto himself and given us the ministry of reconciliation.
There is an
interesting movie entitled, “Irreconcilable Differences,” which is what Joseph
could have decided about his relationship to his brothers. The movie is the
story of a 10-year-old girl who sues her parents for divorce on the grounds of
irreconcilable differences. It seems that her ambitious and upwardly mobile
parents had other priorities ahead of there child, and finally the child decides
to ask the judge to place her with the maid which is the only place where she
gets some attention. This comedy explores family dynamics and conflicting
agendas in a positive, yet lighthearted way.
"Irreconcilable differences” is an
attitude toward life.
Churches break up. Nations break up. Companies break up. But probably worst of all is when families break up, when one or both parties begin to believe that there are "irreconcilable differences." Joseph could have concluded that there were "irreconcilable differences," but he didn't. He chose reconciliation rather than revenge.
There are great
lessons of life to learn in this old story:
1. First, reconciliation occurs only when the pain of estrangement outweighs the
pleasure of revenge. Joseph could no longer control himself, he wept loudly. The
pain of his separation from his brothers overcomes him. There is a time in the
midst of ones estrangement when revenge loosens its grip on the heart and the
pain of separation rushes in to fill the void. The moment may be brief and it
may come only rarely, but when it does there is a moment of opportunity for
reconciliation. When it came, Joseph seized it. Joseph asks: "Is my father still
alive?"
2. Secondly, reconciliation occurs only when the misdeed becomes a part of a larger canvas. Against the backdrop of Joseph's life story, the narrow, self-centered actions of the brothers in the desert so many years ago and the selfish lies of Potiphar's wife, take on a different coloration when set within the framework of God's broader intentions.
It is not easy when you are in pain to look beyond the boundaries of individual injury, but I can only tell you that those who live long enough to see the bigger picture, testify as did Joseph: "You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good." And I might add, unless you are willing to reframe one injurious action into a larger perspective, reconciliation cannot occur and you will not be able to move on. Your development will be frozen in place.
I have a new friend who said to me recently: "The older I get, the more I understand God has always been involved in my life." That's the Joseph attitude.
Charles Dickens' in "Great Expectations" tells of an old maid by the name of Miss Habersham, who dresses up in her unused wedding dress every evening, because she was left stranded by a groom who never showed up on her wedding day. She was locked in the pain of yesterday. But Joseph was not frozen in the past. As Desmond Tutu advocates, through forgiveness you can claim a new future, and that’s what Joseph did.
There are larger issues in life than what is going on in your little section of the world from day to day. Whether or not you inherit this or that will not stop the world.
Whether or not you receive a $10.00 raise or a $1,000.00 raise, should not alter your commitment to do the best possible job you are capable of doing.
Whether or not your parent or you yourself dies, it will not change the world, for you are a part of something far larger than yourself.
So you’ve been hurt by someone, so what? On the larger radar screen, it is but a small blip, a brief thunderstorm. Look at life’s hard times against the backdrop of the larger canvas.
3. Thirdly, Reconciliation occurs only when silence gives way to conversation. "And after that, his brothers talked with Joseph." In the initial shock waves of estrangement, no meaningful conversation can be possible, but in time, as is true in the law of physics any shock wave will lose its potency the further away from the epicenter it moves. Now if you work at holding onto the hurt, then it will stay right with you, but that is your choice. But if one allows the waves of estrangement to work its natural dissipation, then space is created for the reverberate sounds of conversation. And when those who are estranged, begin to talk with one another, the deafening sounds of silence gives way to the music of reconciliation.
4. Fourthly, Reconciliation occurs when you are in a right relationship with God. He who has reconciled you unto Him, has given to you the ministry, the privilege of reconciliation.
Summary: Joseph made the better choice. He chose love over hate, forgiveness over revenge, unity over division. Will you?
When we are in Christ, we have a new identity. The Apostle Paul wrote of this new identity in Christ: "Once you were nobody, but now you are somebody."
When we live our lives in line with the will of the creator, we are like a new being in contrast to the old self.
In the mysteriously protected, poetic language of the Revelation, the author writes in 2:17 "To him who conquers, I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone." When we are in Christ, we are a new person, with a new identity, a new name!
It was one of the strangest situations I had come across, for the kid's biological father never had any contact with his son. Birthdays and Christmas would come and go and no gift, no call, no card, no nothing. There had been no financial support for years, but now there was just nothing. Definitely the dad would qualify to make the ten most wanted list of "Dead Beat Dads". So the son took things into his own hands and changed his name to the new married name of his mother. At least here he had an identity and a place of security, a place where someone told him he was special and loved. The family dynamics was not unlike the adult who told me he finally made peace with his feelings about his alcoholic dad when he realized when he was 44 years old that "had his dad been more, he would have been less." Adversity and neglect strengthens character.
There are instances in the Bible, where persons would change their name in order to communicate their new identity. For example, Old Abram becomes, Abraham the father of young Isaac. Jacob, meaning the deceitful one, becomes Israel, meaning "May God Rule". And you will remember that Joseph, when he went to Egypt, changed his name to an Egyptian name-a new identity.
And the scripture read today tells of a name change. It comes from a story of Jesus' dialogue with his disciples in Caesarea of Philli, where Jesus asks them "Who do the people say that I am?" Some say that you are John the Baptist, some Jeremiah." But then Jesus asked "But who do you say that I am?" And it was Simon son of Jonah who said: "You are the Christ, the Messiah, the very essence of the eternal God." And Jesus says: "Blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah, for God has revealed this to you. From this day forth, you shall be Peter, the Rock, for on this foundation I shall build my church."
The Biblical interpretation of this fascinating dialogue has led to divergent understandings. The Roman Catholic Church assumed that it meant that the Church's authority would rest upon Peter, the rock, and the man. The Pope to this very day is known as "The Successor of Peter". The Protestant Church on the other hand, of which we are a part, would assume that it meant that the Church's authority would rest upon Peter's Confession, his affirmation of faith in Jesus as God's son.
Maybe the truth, as most human understanding, lies somewhere between these two extremes. The one thing that is for sure, Simon's life would be changed forever and he would carry a new name!
One of our church children changed his first name when he went from the children's department to the youth department and it was so hard for me to get use to the new name, until I realized that it was his way of growing up and claiming a new identity. Sometimes, most all of us would like to change our name. Maybe some of you would like to change your name now. In search for a new identity? A desire to be someone else than you are?
There was an interesting article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, by Howard Bennett who presented a personal study of the various names of people in the medical profession in the US. In his study he found 22 doctors named: "Needle, Probe, Lance“ and another 20 named "Drill, Scope, Bolt and Pin." Dr. Bennett also found 19 physicians named Fix, Cure and Heal and 74-named Brilliant, Able, and Best. So far so good, but he also found others who were named Klutz and Croak. How would you like to wake up in an emergency room and be introduced to you new doctor: "Dr. Croak."
We used to have an orthodontist in Panama City who was named Dr. Pain. It always made you a bit uneasy to go to Dr. Pain.
Does one's name communicate one's identity? Jesus must have thought so or he would not have changed Simeon to Peter. Anne Todd's spent a lot of time tracing Ancestors and she maintains that one's family identity does communicate volumes.
Well here in our scripture today, we see Simon Peter given a new name. The New Testament tells us more about this disciple than any of the rest of Jesus' disciples:
It was Peter who identifies Jesus as the Messiah. In less than 20 minutes, Jesus calls Peter "His Rock" and "The Devil". Peter understood that Jesus was the Messiah, but didn't want him to leave Galilee for Jerusalem, where he felt Jesus would meet his death. But when Peter tells him not to go, Jesus calls him the devil saying: "Get thee behind me Satan." One Biblical Scholar has written that Jesus called Peter a rock "not because of his outstanding qualities, but because of his sinking qualities."
Peter was married, and we know this for we are told that it was Peter's mother in law who was the first miracle healing of Jesus.
It was Peter's enthusiasm upon seeing Jesus walking on the water in the midst of a storm, jumps overboard, not knowing where the rocks are located, and immediately begins to sink.
It was Peter, James and John whom Jesus takes with him to lonely spots on the Galilean hillside to pray into the night.
It was Peter, who draws a sword on the night Jesus was arrested and cuts off the ear of a Roman soldier. Before daybreak, it was Peter who denies his knowledge of Jesus to the Roman soldiers.
It was Peter who was the first, after the women, to discover the empty tomb, and to whom Jesus, after the Resurrection appeared beside a charcoal fire at breakfast beside the Galilean Sea. We know a great deal about him.
What Jesus did in Peter's life is to illustrate how a person can transition from being a disciple, one who learns from a master teacher, to an apostle, one who is sent forth to share the message. This is a journey which every mature Christian must make sooner or later, from hearer to doer, from learner to one sent to convey the good news to others, from one knowing about the truth of God's way to being the truth of God themselves. From knowing to doing, from understanding to being.
For Peter, it would be a difficult journey. Peter had been one of the first disciples Jesus called from the fishing nets of his father in Galilee. He had been close to Jesus but when the time of testing came Peter was Dr. Klutz.
Jesus said, "The Son of Man must suffer and die, and he must go to Jerusalem, Peter said: "We can't go there, they will kill us."
Jesus had said: "Blessed are the peacemakers. Turn the other cheek. Do not return evil for evil. Pray for your enemies." And when the Roman soldiers, what does Peter do, he draws a hidden sword and cuts off the ear of one of the soldiers. It was his ear because he missed his neck.
Jesus had called the disciples "friends" and promised that he would not desert them, but when it came time for Peter to stand up for Jesus, he denied three times that he even knew him.
Yes sir, in the high school graduating class album, Peter would have probably been elected "the least likely to succeed." Frankly, if there is hope for Peter, there is hope for you. And therein lies the good news! There was hope for Peter and there is hope for you.
Maybe the Biblical Scholar was correct in saying that Jesus called Peter a rock not because of his outstanding qualities, but because of his sinking qualities. Peter may have passed his oral exam, but like many of us have discovered just because you have the degree doesn't mean you can cut the mustard. Peter would let Jesus down. He would deny knowing him. As impossible as it is to ignore the rainstorm in the midst of a sermon, when the cock crowed in the night of Peter's betrayal, it was heard by all. The defining moments in Peter's life was not when Jesus said: "You have got it right! Your new name will be the Rock." But the defining moments were when Jesus said, "You have got it wrong:
get thee behind me Satan, I must suffer
could you not stay awake while I pray?
before the cock crows 3 times, you will deny me
put up the sword
"feed my sheep" For three times Jesus said "Feed my sheep" until Peter cried out: I've got it. And Jesus said: "I want to make sure you have got it.
It was on the rock of Peter's failures that God built his church. Peter was stubborn, impetuous, inconsistent, more times wrong than right, just like you and me. But God's grace changed Simon’s life. Surely there were others who were better qualified and less likely to embarrass the Lord than was Peter. The disciples simply did not yet know the power of Christ's grace. But that same grace is still your hope and mine today. In Peter ;you get a glimpse of that power!
Prayer: Dear God, Enable us to accept your grace today, which transforms our failures into an instrument to verify your saving grace and use us to accomplish your divine will.