Peter's Chains

“Behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands .”

How does someone become a saint? What kind of material is God looking for when He picks the man or woman who will be a great saint? Is it intellect, great heart, perfect morals, undaunted spirit? Are saints born that way, or does something happen to them along the way? What makes a person a saint?

Simon washed his nets by the lakeside. Disappointed by a long night's empty toil, his weary fingers worked loose the bits of weed and debris, and the rocks that clung to them. His strong arms pulled at the nets, bringing them yard by yard out of the great lake and onto the shore.

Simon was a simple man. Fishermen are. They may have a bent for philosophy; some become great chess players or poets, and some just good and loving husbands and fathers. Seldom do fishermen become priests, let alone preachers. Able to keep their feet on the surging deck of a ship in a storm, the man who brings in the fish is above all practical, feet squarely on the ground, unmoved by winds and changes of weather or doctrine.

But John Baptist had intrigued Simon, son of John. His excitement at hearing of the coming of Messiah was fulfilled as he actually met the man John called the Lamb of God. On this day, the Lamb of God walked through a crowd gathering by the lakeside and right up to Simon and He asked to use his boat.

The story is our own. Jesus speaks , touching familiar issues of our lives, but seeming to mean something deeper. Deep were His words, and Simon couldn't help listening intently, tired as he was. “Cast out into the deep,” Jesus commanded Simon. He began to object, then shrugged and began playing out the great nets over the dark blue of the noonday waters. The catch was unbelievable. In practical terms, Simon was suddenly rich. In personal terms, he was caught : caught off guard, caught in the act of his own humanity, caught being a sinful man in the presence of One he knew was Messiah. “Depart from me,” he said, trying to protect the great man from this sinner. “Come, follow me and catch men.”

Simon Johnson began following the Lamb of God. Impressed by every miracle, every word, His merest action, Simon's heart grew a huge love for this Man. He would leave home, the fish, the lake, his way of life to follow this Man. Once Jesus asked them all: “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” …“Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,” answered Simon. …“Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven,” said the Lord. “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:13-19 So it was that Simon became Peter , the stone , “ Rocky .” That was not necessarily a compliment, in that this blocky man with his bluff forwardness could be stubborn, slow-witted, and often just plain wrong. But Jesus was chiseling this stone to be the leader of His Church at His departure. The changes needed were daunting. This rough man was not cut of fine cloth at all: no, not at all.

Jesus took Peter wherever He went, with his former fishing partners, John and James. These three saw Jesus transfigured , saw a dead girl raised to life . Peter was privy to the innermost secrets. He was being groomed for leadership. But compulsive, headstrong, and carnal, he would speak out of turn, suggest stupid things, even give Jesus advice . He boasted at the Last Supper how he was ready to die for Jesus. Later that night he rejected the suggestion that he even knew Christ three times, fear of suffering so strong in him.

After Jesus' Resurrection, Peter would try to go fishing again. Jesus was way ahead of him and sat cooking fish by the familiar shores. Again, a great catch of fish, and again Peter was called away from the flopping mass of sea life to come to Jesus. “Do you love me?” the Lord demanded three times. Peter was cut to the bone. “Of course! You know I do.” “Feed my sheep.” Do not go back to fishing. You are not the same man you were. Get on with your mission. You are Peter.

The first to enter the tomb; the first to speak to the crowds on Pentecost; arrested by Herod: the impetuous Peter lay in prison, chained to the stones, guarded by soldiers who feared an uprising of this new Messiah cult. The Church prayed for his release. He was awakened by an angel who smacked Peter on his side: “Get dressed and follow me!” Peter, groggy and fuzzy headed, saw his chains fall from wrists and ankles, and he followed the orders of this dream-angel, sleepwalking until he found himself indeed outside the garrison, a free man. His chains, like his former life, broken off of him.

Some people become saints at their first encounter with God. Their souls soar to new heights as though they were born eagles and had, until that moment, been bound by gravity and the weakness of youth to the earth. Christ arrives and they fly. Others, like Simon Peter, common clay, ordinary work-a-day men and women, need a lot of prodding. Their clay yields slowly to the demands of sainthood. They seem earthbound forever. Who would choose such people? They don't seem worth the effort. Their spiritual nature seems so poky and stunted sometimes: how could such people lead the Church at any time?

I am such a person. My testimony speaks for itself—I have been such a late bloomer, such a slow coach in getting my life in order, so late arriving, making such little progress while others soar. So I really like the Apostle Peter. His story is like my own. I might have remained a painting estimator until I retired, or chased another one of my talents to a predicable end. God called me to be His priest. Though I immediately began my seminary studies, it took ten years for me to leave contracting. I even go back to building and painting from time to time, as you can see. I goof and use painters' language sometimes, you must forgive me. Like Peter, I am a most unlikely saint.

But saint I intend to be. And a saint you all are intended to become as well. God does not call us into His Kingdom to be average people who are members of an organization called the Church of Jesus Christ . An “average Christian” is to us someone who is constrained from really horrible sins by a code of life, while he amuses us with his ordinary sinful “humanity” and his listless wandering into church for infrequent worship, nothing fanatical . His giving is solid, but not sacrificial. He serves on the Vestry, and occasionally brings coffee hour with his wife. He's in. What more does God want?

God has no interest in making you an average Christian . He has called you to Himself, and He did so at great cost to Himself. He has an eternal, powerful, awesome Kingdom ready for the real Christians He is making out of ordinary lives like yours . They come fast and they come slow. These saints of God come from every walk of life, some are even priests . And as they come, God takes them apart. Like the trainer in the movie Chariots of Fire told the Jewish runner: “I'll take you apart piece by blinkin' piece.” Those pieces have to come apart, because we are like the nets Simon washed by the lakeside, full of junk. You can't catch men in those. And it's better that those pieces get found and determined to be unworthy now and discarded , rather than find them in us at the Judgment. Hay, wood and stubble will burn. It better go now.

With nobler materials we build our lives as saints. Rocky Peter wrote: “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ… you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a HOLY NATION, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” 1 Peter 2:4-9

No one is called to become an average Christian. There is no such thing . Our lazy American experience of Christian life has created a myth of easy grace and instant salvation, granting us without charge a credit card with unlimited spending power and no payments to make. We are free to do as we please and just charge it to Jesus on the cross. He'll pay the bill. He did indeed . But He said something else. “Follow me.” Trust me. I won't lead you wrong. Walk on the water. Pray an hour with me. Listen to my voice. What I have called clean, don't call unclean. You will share my fate and be lifted up where you don't want to go. Satan wants to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you. Strengthen thy brethren. Feed my sheep. Get dressed and follow me.

This is not the walk of the average Christian . The common Christian is a saint . Every Christian is a saint, and every saint a Christian. There is no second meaning to the word. We may be doing a meager job of it, resisting with our flesh everything God tries to change in us. It will change . Resist at your own peril. Everything will be tested by fire. St. Peter wrote so. “Greatly rejoice, even though… you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:6

Peter was executed on a day like today in the city of Rome. His method of execution: crucifixion just like the Lord had said. He didn't want to compare himself to Jesus Christ, so he asked to be crucified upside down. The rough handed fisherman, blunt and faithful and loyal and true, died at the center of the world, a triumphant saint. There was nothing left of Him but God's work in a man made a saint. Gone was the rude man who smelled fishy. Gone were the chains of his past. Rome killed many saints, but this day they put to death a man whose legend lives eternally, the Stone upon whom Jesus built His Church. A saint of God, a great saint, but a man who had been at one time just like you and me.

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