My mom always said she could tell when I was lying because
my voice went up an octave.
“You’re lying to me,” she’d say.
“No, I’m not,” I’d answer in a tone only stray dogs and
observant mothers could hear.
I would spend most of my teenage years learning how to
modulate my tone into something that didn’t scream “liar, liar pants on fire.”
Surprisingly, I’m willing to bet that Peter’s voice did not
go up when he told Jesus in today’s Gospel reading that he would not deny him.
I believe Peter. I
think he honestly believed that he would never betray Jesus. He loved Jesus. He had given up his life to follow Jesus, and
at that moment he was ready to die for him too.
No, I don’t believe Peter was lying when he told Jesus he
would not deny him.
But deny him, he did.
And Peter’s denial is one of the reasons why I love Peter so
much.
Because it shows Peter as human.
Because Peter does something we have all done hundreds of
times.
He says something he desperately wishes he could take back.
Jesus is betrayed twice in the Gospels, once by Judas and
then by Peter. We can argue that Judas’
betrayal is worse as he delivers Jesus to the people who will crucify him. But an argument can also be made that Peter’s
denial is the worse betrayal because it’s more intimate, it goes to the heart
of their relationship. Peter turned his
back on Jesus when Jesus needed him most.
And again, we’ve all been there.
Though Judas and Peter both betray Jesus, their stories have
very different endings. Both have deep
regrets over their behavior, but Judas deals with his regret by taking his own
life, while Peter somehow manages to continue, plugging along with life, but
unsure of anything now and where his life is leading.
Thankfully, for both us and Peter, his story does not end there.
God gives Peter one last chance at redemption, a chance that
many of us pray for, a chance that God shows us, through Peter, is available to
each of us.
It is through Peter that God shows us just what Jesus’
sacrifice on the cross meant.
Forgiveness is not for the select few. Forgiveness is out there for anyone who wants
it.
Recently, I went to the movies for the first time in years
to see I Can Only Imagine, the true
story of Bart Millard, the lead singer of the group, MercyMe.
In the movie, Bart grows up with an abusive father, a father
whose abuse eventually drives Bart’s mother out of the house, leaving Bart
alone to endure his father’s wrath.
As Bart grows older, he discovers that he has a talent with
music, a talent at singing and crafting songs.
Driven to pursue his dream, he leaves home and forms the
group MercyMe.
But, part of the reason MercyMe cannot break through and
become the hit maker they know they could be is because Bart, despite his faith
in God and his love of church, is holding back.
In order to be a successful singer, a successful songwriter,
you can’t hold back. You have to be your
whole self. You have to be authentic.
And due to his abuse, Bart can’t let go.
Bart loves God, but he cannot forgive his father.
Just when the band hits its lowest point, Bart leaves and
returns home to see if he can make something of his relationship with
father. He has no faith that such a
thing can happen, but by simply going home, he gives God the opening He needs
to work a miracle.
Bart returns home to find his father a changed man, a
changed and dying man. His father has
pancreatic cancer. His father claims to
have found God, claims to want another chance to be a father to Bart, but Bart
still can’t forgive his father.
He acknowledges that while God may forgive his father, he
can’t.
But again, Bart sticks around. He gives God that tiny little opening and God
has a history of working wonders with a whole lot less.
Forgiveness doesn’t happen overnight--even in the movies.
And by the time Bart and his father reconcile, quite a bit
of time has passed.
But in the end, Bart has forgiven his father.
How can we forgive people who do such horrible things to
us? How can we forgive abusers? How can we forgive those who have betrayed
us?
Through the grace and love of God.
After the crucifixion, Jesus appears to Peter and a few
others while they are out on a boat, fishing.
They’re not having much luck, but then a man appears on the
shore and suggests which way they should cast their nets. They don’t recognize the man—perhaps he’s
standing too far away, but they do what he says and suddenly they have so much
fish, they can’t even haul it back on the boat.
Just then, they realize who the man is.
It’s Jesus.
And here’s the part that I love.
As the others prepare the boat to turn it around back to
shore, Peter is so excited, he cannot wait for the boat and he jumps off and
swims to shore.
I call it Peter’s Forrest Gump moment. If you remember in the movie, Forrest Gump, when Forrest sees
Lieutenant Dan sitting on the dock, he is so excited, he jumps off his
shrimping boat and swims over to him.
It’s a moment of pure joy.
Can you imagine what Peter is feeling in that moment?
Are you not envious of what he has?
How many of us would do anything for one last minute with a
loved one?
How many of us would do anything to have one last chance to
make amends for something we said or did?
And Jesus gives Peter that chance.
“Do you love me?” he asks Peter three times.
And three times Peter answers, “You know that I love you.”
Forgiveness is available to everyone. Listen to my voice. I’m not lying.
Amen.
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