Blessings of the Feast! We’re reminded on this day of the Feast of the Holy Apostles that God came to give us salvation, life with Him for all eternity and that God receives and restores the penitent. We’re reminded of what’s really important in life, why we’re here: to seek first the Kingdom of God and see Christ’s deifying affect on our lives. We celebrate the Feast of the Apostles because in doing so we find encouragement and strength through their witness for our own journey of salvation in Christ. We’re emboldened by their witness to prioritize our life in Christ and His Kingdom above all else.
Christ asks His disciples in today’s Gospel, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” And we read that they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” And Christ again asks, “But who do you say that I am?” And we hear those words of confession, of faith, of knowledge of the truth from Peter who responds, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
We’re reminded today that the same Peter upon whose confession and witness Christ’s holy Church is built, denied Christ three times and forsook Christ upon His arrest and crucifixion. Not only did Peter deny Christ, but he pridefully boasted beforehand, that, “even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble” (Matt. 26:33). In other words, he set himself over the other disciples. So great was his fall. Great was his lesson in humility.
In today’s Gospel reading, we see that Peter truly repented. He learned humility through this trial. Like David after being convicted by Nathan, he repents, he grows, he gains in virtue: in this case, growing in humility which is so necessary to grow in Christ-likeness, in communion with Christ God, since God Himself is humble, willing to condescend to us, to become Incarnate for us, to receive us in repentance too, to love us even when we reject His love and to forgive us over and over for our sins and transgressions.
As David becomes the greatest of the Old Testament Kings, the greatest of the Psalmists, so too Peter becomes the greatest, the foremost of the Apostles, together with St. Paul.
After His resurrection, Christ restores Peter who has opened himself to be changed through His experience, through his sin, his denial of Christ, his giving into fear, pride, cowardice. Christ three times asks Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these” (meaning the other disciples) and three times, Peter is commanded by Christ, “feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep.”
No longer does Peter lift himself up over the other disciples, over his brother Apostles. No, Peter simply says in the strength of the humility that he’s gained, “Lord, You know all things, You know that I love You” (John 21). Peter’s pride is gone, replaced by the humility of repentance, of knowledge of his weakness and the strength of his dependence on the Lord as His Savior, as the One who lifts him up, as King David says, “The Lifter of my head” (Psalm 3:3).
It’s this attitude, this humble strength and courage, this repentant Peter, who’ll be used by God to found and build up His holy Church, together with St. Paul. We’re reminded of Christ’s words elsewhere to His disciples where He says, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. 26 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant” (Matt. 20:26).
This “servant of the servants of God” ministry is that to which St. Peter is called and in which He excels, and for which he will lay down His life for love of the sheep to which Christ has called him as the foremost shepherd among the Apostles.
St. Paul too, as we know, began as a persecutor of Christ God who sought to imprison and kill the faithful of Christ God. We read that the zealots who stoned the beatific St. Stephen, the proto-martyr, laid their clothes at the feet of a young Saul (Acts 7:58).
Paul’s conversion and restoration from such depths, his growth in love and zeal for the truth was even greater than his hardened ignorance and error was before. With the opening of his physical eyes came the opening and expanding exponentially of his spiritual eyes within. The love of Christ compelled him to give his life for the sake of the Gospel, for the sake of others coming to the knowledge and love of Christ, that is, to salvation and eternal life.
Our Epistle today bears witness of all that St. Paul suffered for the sake of the Gospel. In the end, he says he will boast of nothing else. As he says in Philippians: “I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (Phil. 3:8).
Together, their example of repentance, their witness for the truth, their love for the sheep of Christ’s pasture, their zeal for the life-giving Gospel and the salvation of the human race, emboldens us, encourages us to press forward in our own repentance and growth in Christ, in putting first our pursuit of Christ and His Kingdom, of prioritizing our life in Him in His Church above all else, so that we too can become fellow inheritors of Christ’s Kingdom.
Together these two Apostles proclaim to us this day: “All things are possible for those who trust in Christ and seek first His Kingdom.” No passion, no habit, no trouble is too great for the power of Christ to restore, to transform, to heal, to save. We too never despair of our salvation as long as we’re willing to repent and be restored, as they were. God is the One who quickens us, grows us, heals us of our spiritual maladies, and uses us to the glory and honor of His holy name, filling us to overflowing with His love, power, and grace. This is the spiritual fruit and encouragement of keeping the Feast of the Apostles.
Holy Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us sinners that we too may have the courage and strength to follow your lead, to humble ourselves through confession, to learn through our sins and weaknesses, and to grow in love for the Truth of Christ which you brilliantly exemplify for us.
Fr. Robert Miclean
Holy Archangels Orthodox Church
Sunday, 29 June 2015
Feast of Saints Peter and Paul
Epistle: II Cor. 11:21-12:9
Gospel: Matt. 16:13-19
