Homily for the Feast of the Confession of St. Peter presented in Christ Chapel on January 18, 2005, by the Rev. Robert H. Blackwell to Mission Orientation of ECUSA at ETSS.

Robert and Kay Blackwell, newly-commissioned missionaries from the Diocese of Alabama, will be planting a new church in Damascus, Syria, within the Diocese of Jerusalem

But what about you, who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Today is the feast day called the Confession of St. Peter. It begins what we call "the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity," which ends next Tuesday with the Feast Day of the Conversion of St. Paul. St. Peter and St. Paul are probably two of the most unlikely apostles; two men who could not be more opposite in their apostolate. Perhaps it is not a coincidence that we spent most of yesterday talking about the Windsor Report from the Lambeth Commission on Communion, a call for Christian unity.

Peter's confession is an interesting thing. As a matter of fact, Peter's entire life is an inspiration to me, because Peter is so...so human. The account of Peter's confession we hear from Matthew's gospel is followed almost immediately by Peter's first denial. Jesus tells the disciples that He is on his way to Jerusalem where He will suffer and die. Peter rebukes this thought, saying: "Never Lord. This will never happen to you." Jesus then rebukes Peter, saying: "Get behind me, Satan." A lot happens between the account of Matthew, and what we hear from Luke's account in the Book of Acts. It took great courage for Peter to speak to Annas the high priest and Ciaphas with such boldness and truthfulness in his confession of faith we hear in our lesson, today. What had happened to Peter?

Peter had first met Jesus by the Sea of Galilee where he was a fisherman. Jesus called this plain and simple man to follow him. He preached from Peter's boat. He then caught Peter's attention by telling him "how to fish": where to put down his nets. Then He said: "Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men." Peter did follow Jesus, though he was often putting his foot in his mouth.... from the Mount of Transfiguration, where Peter wanted to stay and build three booths,...to that night before the crucifixion when he denied him three times. Peter never seemed to get it completely right.

Finally, after the resurrection, when Jesus is about to depart, He asks Peter: "Peter, do you love me?" Three times Jesus asks Peter: "Do you love me?" "Yes, Lord, I love you." "Lord, you know I love you." And finally, Peter is hurt when Jesus asks the third time. "Lord, you know all things, you know that I love you." And Jesus says: "Peter, feed my sheep."

Peter has come a long way.

It seems like we have been here together for a month, rather than a week. We've come a long way in these few short days we've been together. And we still have a long way to go. We can use Peter's story as a springboard of consolation as we go forth... to learn, and to put our feet in our mouths, to rebuke our Lord, to deny our Lord, and to confess our Lord and His salvation.

I heard some of you talking about Tony Campolo the other night, and it reminded me of a story I heard, about a group of young college students who thought they might want to be missionaries, or do mission. This one young man went to a Tony Campolo conference on evangelism in Philadelphia one summer with his church group. He was eager to share his faith with others. The church Tony is associated with does things a little differently that we do. This conference was at a large Baptist church in a suburb of Philadelphia. After about an hour of singing, Dr. Campolo arrived on stage and preached for about an hour. By the time he had finished, people were really worked up and enthusiastic and ready to go. Tony shouted: "Okay, gang, are you ready to go out there and tell folks about Jesus?" Everybody stood up and yelled back: "Yeah, let's go!"

So Tony led them out to waiting buses, which took them to downtown Philadelphia. On the buses, they were singing and clapping and getting more excited. But as the buses drove deeper and deeper and deeper into the depths of the inner city, and there were not in such a nice neighborhood, anymore, the singing began to fade, and soon everybody was quiet, looking out the windows of the buses. They were scared.

The bus stopped in front of one of the worst looking housing projects in Philadelphia. Tony stood up and said: "Alright gang, let's go tell them about Jesus. The bus will be back here at 5:00 oclock." The student wrote this about his afternoon: "I walked down the sidewalk and stopped in front of a huge tenement house. I gulped, said a prayer, then ventured inside. There was a terrible odor. Windows were knocked out. No lights in the hallway. I walked up one flight of stairs and knocked on a door where I heard a baby crying. "Who is it?", a loud voice said from inside. The door cracked open and there was a woman holding a naked baby. "What do you want?", she asked in a harsh voice. I told her I wanted to tell her about Jesus. With that, she swung the door open and began to curse me. She cursed me all the way down the hall, down the stairs, and out on the sidewalk.

I felt terrible. I felt like a failure. I sat down on the curb and cried. Then I looked up and noticed a store on the corner with the windows boarded up and bars on the door. I went into the store and looked around. Then I remembered, the baby had no diapers and the woman was smoking. I bought a box of disposable diapers and a pack of cigarettes. I walked back to the tenement, said a prayer, and walked back in... up the stairs, down the hall, and knocked on the door. "Who is it?", the voice called out. She opened the door and I slid the diapers and the cigarettes through the crack. She looked at them, looked at me, and said: "Come in."

I stepped into the grimy apartment, and she said: "Sit down." I sat on the sofa and began playing with the baby. I put a diaper on the baby, even thought I had never diapered a baby before. I even had a cigarette, even though I don't smoke. I stayed there all afternoon: talking, playing with the baby, and listening to the woman. Finally, the woman asked: "What's a nice college kid like you doing in a place like this?" In just a few minutes, I had told her everything I knew about Jesus. She asked me to pray for her and her baby, that they would make it out of that neighborhood alive. By the time I got back on the bus, I had not only shared Jesus,.... but I had met Him, myself."

Peter was called to become a "fisher of men," but somehow along the way, he got caught himself. That is my prayer, for each of us, as we leave to go fishing ... that somewhere along the way, we will get caught...again, and again, and again.

The Confession of St. Peter, is not just when he got it right, but all along the journey. It is the journey, that allowed him to, every now and then, get it right.... and eventually get caught, himself. It is the journey, that becomes our confession. AMEN.